A thousand Google employees send an open letter to bosses demanding they take action on climate change and ditch contracts with fossil fuel companies

More than a thousand Google employees have signed an open letter urging the company to 'commit to and release a company-wide climate plan' in accordance with 'the gravity and urgency of the global climate crisis and its disproportionate harm to marginalized people'.

Those who added their signatures to the Monday letter agreed they wanted the company to reach 'zero emissions by 2030, zero contracts to enable or accelerate the extraction of fossil fuels and zero funding for climate-denying or -delaying think tanks, lobbyists, and politicians'.

The note for Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer at parent company Alphabet, included a four-point list that adds Google should also commit to 'zero collaboration with entities enabling the incarceration, surveillance, displacement, or oppression of refugees or frontline communities'.

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Letter calls on Google to commit to and release a climate plan, saying many of their billions of global users 'are already bearing the brunt of climate disaster'

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By Tuesday afternoon 1,137 staff members had signed letter to Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat

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The letter quotes similar action taken by tech rivals and references a letter written by Amazon staff. It states that Google's 'code of conduct requires respect for users'

The letter had been signed by 1,137 staff members early Tuesday afternoon.

The workers pointed to examples of employees at other technology giants that have expressed their concerns.

The note published on Medium, said: 'These demands have been set by workers across the tech industry, including Amazon and Microsoft.'

It goes on to quote an open letter from Amazon from April that states: 'Climate change is an existential threat. The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report predicts that a warming of 2° Celsius, which we're currently on track to surpass, will threaten the lives of hundreds of millions of people and put thousands of species at risk of extinction.

What 'Google Workers For Action on Climate' wants

1. Zero emissions by 2030.
2. Zero contracts to enable or accelerate the extraction of fossil fuels. 
3. Zero funding for climate-denying or -delaying think tanks, lobbyists, and politicians. 
4. Zero collaboration with entities enabling the incarceration, surveillance, displacement, or oppression of refugees or frontline communities. 
5. 
   

'We're already seeing devastating climate impacts: unprecedented flooding in India and Mozambique, dry water wells in Africa, coastal displacement in Asia, wildfires and floods in North America, and crop failure in Latin America. Vulnerable communities least responsible for the climate crisis are already paying the highest price.'

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared a plan on September 19 which agreed to zero emissions by 2040. 

The following day hundreds of Google employees protested at Global Climate Strike ahead of the United Nations Summit, as did staff from Amazon.

In September, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company 'could achieve zero emissions by 2030', according to the Financial Times. 

However Google has contributed to organizations that deny climate change, such as Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the Guardian reports. 

The letter authored by 'Google Workers For Action on Climate' tell Porats and Google to do what employees interpret as what's being asked of them.

'Google is a global company with billions of users across the world, many of whom are already bearing the brunt of climate disaster,' the letter adds. 

'Google's code of conduct requires respect for users and for opportunities. As Google workers, we are committed to putting our users first, and Google must do the same.'

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The letter references 'unprecedented flooding in India and Mozambique, dry water wells in Africa, coastal displacement in Asia, wildfires and floods in North America'.  Pictured the Maria Fire moves down a hill in Santa Paula, California on Friday

Wildfire spreads across hilltop north of Los Angeles

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In the past three years Google employees have created change from within. 

Protests contributed to the termination of a Pentagon contract to build AI for drone videos in August 2017. 

It was dubbed Project Maven and was viewed as a foot in the door for winning the bigger Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract, a $10 billion, 10-year deal held by Amazon, but up for renewal.

Google also pulled out of a project to build a censored search app in China, Project Dragonfly. 

However, Google continues to maintain a controversial AI research lab in Beijing, which its website says is focused on 'university education, research on natural language understanding and market algorithms, user experience, and development of our globally available tools.' 

Customs agents in Georgia seize record breaking 2,133LBS of cocaine worth $31MILLION from shipping container that was packed in South America and destined for EUROPE

US Customs and Border Protection officers in Georgia managed to seize a record breaking 2,133lbs of cocaine from a South American vessel worth a staggering $31million. 

Officers with the CBP Southeast region were conducting a non-intrusive examination of a shipping container aboard the vessel on October 29 when they noticed the anomaly, according to a release from the agency.  

The ship had been docked at the Savannah, Georgia, port. The container was shipped from South America and was destined for Europe. 

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Officers with the CBP Southeast region noticed the drugs while conducting a non-intrusive examination of a shipping container on October 29

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Agents discovered 21 duffel bags filled with 818 bricks of 'a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine' in the ship container that was headed to Europe

Upon opening the container, agents discovered 21 duffel bags containing 818 bricks of 'a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.'  

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Contents of the container were manifested as 'aluminum/copper waste and scrap'

Homeland Security Investigations is looking to see when the cocaine was placed in the container and where the package was destined. So far, no arrest have been made. 

According to the release, the contents of the container were manifested as 'aluminum/copper waste and scrap.'  

'In response to emerging narcotics smuggling trends and threats in the maritime environment, Customs and Border Protection has enhanced our enforcement strategy on targeting high-risk shipments from source narcotics nations that are either destined to Ports in the United States, or that pass through sovereign United States waters,' said Donald. F. Yando, Director of Field Operations Atlanta. 

'The scourge of illicit narcotics is a very serious international health and security threat, and CBP will continue to partner with our federal, state, local and international partners by intercepting these dangerous drugs when and where we can.' 

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The drugs weighed 2,133LBS and had a street value of roughly $31million

The seizure last month marked the CBP's largest cocaine seizure at the Port of Savannah. 

It also marked the fifth narcotics interception in the seaport during the past five months. 

Their previous record for cocaine seizure occurred in May 2019, which was 1280lbs - or roughly $19million in street value. 

Scar of the Kincade Fire: Satellite image shows the damage left behind by the largest wildfire to rip through California this year

The latest satellite image of Northern California’s Sonoma County reveals the scar the destructive Kincade Fire left behind.

Snapped by NASA's Terra satellite, the picture reveals ominous dark gray splotches of a burned area that will forever remind residents of this life-changing event.

Hotspots, areas still on fire, also appear in the photo as yellow dots that were captured by the satellite’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument. 

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Snapped by NASA's Terra satellite, the picture reveals ominous dark gray splotches of a burned area that will forever remind residents in and around the town of Healdsburg, of this life-changing event

The Kincade Fire is the biggest inferno to rage in Northern California in Sonoma County, in the heart of wine country, as Southern California reels from a spate of close wildfires.

The blaze, which sparked October 23, has burned 77,758 acres of land and destroyed 374 structures, but is 84 percent as of November 5. 

The latest image highlights an area around the town of Healdsburg, which is home to more than 11,000 people.

The ‘scar’ stretches what looks like miles across the area and parts are still burning – these hotspots are shown in yellow.

Other images captured by NASA's Terra and a privately owned satellite were released in October that showed the blaze in full force when flames had engulfed 20,000 acres in less than 48 hours. 

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The Kincade Fire is the biggest inferno to rage in Northern California in Sonoma County, in the heart of wine country, as Southern California reels from a spate of close wildfires. This picture was taken on October 24th, a day after the fire had started

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Other images captured by NASA's Terra (pictured) and a privately owned satellite were released in October that showed the blaze in full force when flames had engulfed 20,000 acres in less than 48 hours 

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Imagery from the WorldView-3 satellite, also released last month, captured the blaze from space. The images highlighted burnt vegetation in several vineyards in Geyersville and around the River Rock Casino

Pictures from the WorldView-3, which highlighted the western edge of the fire in natural-color and shortwave-infrared images, gave some of the greatest details of the burnt vegetation. 

Some 3,000 firefighters were working round the clock in October to put the blaze out and satellites captured the devastation from space.

NASA's Terra satellite snapped an image of the on October 24th using its MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on the Terra satellite.

It pinpointed the area of the fire which is located in the scenic wine country of northern California and has forced the evacuation of over 2,000 people so far.

Imagery from the WorldView-3 satellite also captured the blaze from space.

The pictures show the western edge of the Kincade fire as it burns close to Geyserville, which use shortwave infrared sensors to show where the fire has burned near the town.

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The images showed the western edge of the Kincade fire as it burned close to Geyserville, which use shortwave infrared sensors to show where the fire has burned near the town

They also highlight burned vegetation in several vineyards in Geyersville and around the River Rock Casino.

The eastern edge of the fire was burning into more sparsely-populated mountain areas and several active fire spots are visible.

The low humidity and wind in the area had contributed to the fast movement of the fire, as it burned through some 10,000 acres in just a few hours - some gusts had been reported at up to 70 mph.

Although the fire is fairly contained now, the outbreak is still unknown and under investigation. 

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The eastern edge of the fire was burning into more sparsely-populated mountain areas and several active fire spots are visible

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The low humidity and wind in the area had contributed to the fast movement of the fire, as it burned through some 10,000 acres in just a few hours last month. Some gusts had been reported at up to 70 mph. Pictured is an image captured by the WorldView-3 satellite

Another fire broke out north of Los Angeles on Halloween night that burned thousands of acres and forcing countless residents to evacuate their homes.

The so-called Maria Fire has spread to 8,730 acres, with zero containment, according to Cal Fire, the state's firefighting agency.

It broke out atop South Mountain, just south of Santa Paula in Ventura County, just after 6pm and was moving toward Somis and Saticoy, two small agricultural towns, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities ordered evacuations for around 8,000 people in an area, the Fire Department said.