The Daily Populous

Friday April 21st, 2017 night edition

image for First U.S. sugar tax cuts soft drink sales by 10%

The nation’s first sugar tax (one cent per ounce) in Berkeley, California has led to a decline in soft drink consumption, a new study shows.

Furthermore, the sugar tax raised $1.4 million for child nutrition and community health programs.

If someone in Berkeley buys a 12-ounce soda, 365 days a year, they are spending a little over $40* more annually due to the new tax.

The American Heart Association’s CEO, Nancy Brown, has applauded the tax on sugary drinks and the follow-up study.

Two years after implementation of a peso-per-liter tax in Mexico, consumption of sugary drinks decreased 9.7% and sales of non-sugary drinks increased by 2.1%.

If a soda tax stuck nationally as it has in Mexico, it could mean savings billions in health care expenditures.

*Editor’s note: A former version of this article read that the extra cost of soft drinks with the tax inclusion was $400. »

Britain set for first coal-free day since Industrial Revolution

Authored by theguardian.com

The UK is set to have its first ever working day without coal power generation since the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Grid.

The control room tweeted the predicted milestone on Friday, adding that it is also set to be the first 24-hour coal-free period in Britain.

The longest continuous period until now was 19 hours – first achieved on a weekend last May, and matched on Thursday. »

BP oil spill did $17.2 billion in damage to natural resources, scientists find in first-ever financial evaluation of spill’s impact

Authored by vtnews.vt.edu
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The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill did $17.2 billion in damage to the natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists recently found after a six-year study of the impact of the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

This is the first comprehensive appraisal of the financial value of the natural resources damaged by the 134-million-gallon spill.

Survey participants were informed of pre- and post-spill conditions in the Gulf of Mexico and what caused the oil spill. »