Climate Coalition Pressures Biden to Reject 'Corporate Shill' Ernest Moniz as Energy Chief
4h
Politics
Former U.S. Sec. of Energy Ernest Moniz listens during the National Clean Energy Summit 9.0 on October 13, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Isaac Brekken / Getty Images for National Clean Energy Summit
By Jake Johnson
Amid reports that oil industry-friendly former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz remains under consideration to return to his old post in the incoming Biden administration, a diverse coalition of environmental groups is mobilizing for an "all-out push" to keep Moniz away from the White House and demand a cabinet willing to boldly confront the corporations responsible for the climate emergency.
<p>On Tuesday night, climate campaigners <a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa/status/1331405987425685506" target="_blank">projected</a> onto the primary Department of Energy building messages urging President-elect Joe Biden to say "yes to a sustainable future" and no to Moniz, who currently serves on the board of the polluting utility giant Southern Company.</p>
<p>Following the demonstration, the coalition on Wednesday morning debuted <a href="https://nomoniz.org/" target="_blank">NoMoniz.org</a>, a website that warns the policies of Obama's former energy secretary "might be good for his friends in the coal, oil, and gas industries, but they're a death sentence for us and our planet."</p><p>"It's unacceptable that Ernest Moniz is being considered for a role in the Biden administration — his policies, his financial ties to fossil fuel companies, his contempt for youth climate activists, and his overall unwillingness to do what it takes to protect our future should disqualify him immediately," reads the site, which was launched by Oil Change U.S., Greenpeace USA, Sunrise Movement, the Climate Justice Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth U.S., and dozens of other groups.</p>
<div id="a6564" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d27a41c6b56d432ce974b11d22bbe6e6"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1331587846411603968" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It is absolutely imperative that @JoeBiden keep @ErnestMoniz out of his cabinet, and any of his protégée like Liz S… https://t.co/7x2WN6nxgs</div> — Evan Weber 🌅🔥 (@Evan Weber 🌅🔥)<a href="https://twitter.com/evanlweber/statuses/1331587846411603968">1606310256.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Previously an <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/159357/ernie-moniz-biden-energy-gives-climate-nightmares" target="_blank">adviser to major companies</a> such as BP and General Electric, Moniz's tenure as head of Obama's energy department as well as his public statements since leaving office make clear that he is opposed to the kind of sweeping climate action that environmentalists and scientists say is necessary to avert planetary catastrophe.</p><p>Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last year, Moniz endorsed what he <a href="https://www.axios.com/ernest-moniz-green-real-deal-climate-change-policy-4090206b-3f36-4747-9b3c-2655e15402d5.html" target="_blank">dubbed</a> a "Green Real Deal" that would welcome a "broad coalition" of supporters — including the fossil fuel industry. In an interview months earlier, Moniz — a proponent of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/30/gas-loser-and-its-time-move-report-debunks-big-oil-myth-natural-gas-can-help-fight" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">natural gas</a> as a bridge to a clean energy future — <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/23/joe-biden-fight-climate-crisis-ernest-moniz" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">denounced</a> what he described as "often completely unrealistic proposals for the pace at which we can decarbonize."</p><p>"With his deep ties to the fossil fuel industry and promotion of false solutions like carbon capture and sequestration, Ernest Moniz is not a forward-thinking choice for the cabinet," Anthony Rogers-Wright, policy coordinator for the Climate Justice Alliance, said in a statement Wednesday. "The Department of Energy must be led by someone open to concrete ideas for a fossil-free future, not continued dominance by a corrupt, heavily-subsidized industry whose existence hinges on maintaining an antiquated all-of-the-above strategy."</p><p>Janet Redman, climate campaign director at Greenpeace USA, warned that Moniz's fossil fuel connections "spell danger for the nation's efforts to mitigate the climate crisis" as atmospheric carbon dioxide <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/23/no-time-lose-climate-action-atmospheric-co2-continued-rise-2020-despite-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">continues to rise</a> in 2020 despite widespread coronavirus lockdowns.</p><p>"We need a true climate leader who understands that we must phase out fossil fuels, not a corporate shill with 'all of the above energy' policies who wants to prop up fracked gas and pipelines," said Redman. "The American people have given Joe Biden a mandate to take bold action in service of climate justice, public health, economic prosperity, and racial equity. Moniz would only be holding him back."</p><p>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/25/planet-stake-climate-coalition-pressures-biden-reject-corporate-shill-ernest-moniz" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </p>
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Just 1% of Farms Control 70% of Global Farmland: Study Finds 'Shocking State of Land Inequality'
6h
Food
Sprinklers irrigate a field of onions near a Castilian village in Spain. According to a new study, the average farm size in the EU has almost doubled since the 1960s. miguelangelortega / Moment / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
A new report released Tuesday details the "shocking" state of global land equality, saying the problem is worse than thought, rising, and "cannot be ignored."
<p>Among the key findings is that the largest 1% of the world's farms operate 70% of farmland and "form the core of production for the corporate food system." What's more, "given the trends in the agriculture and food systems, land consolidation will inevitably increase further."</p><p>The warning is laid out in "<a href="https://www.landcoalition.org/en/uneven-ground/" target="_blank"><em>Uneven Ground: land inequality at the heart of unequal societies</em></a>." Released by the International Land Coalition in collaboration with Oxfam, the publication synthesizes new research and existing data and shows how land inequality is linked with other issues including poverty, intergenerational justice and migration, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis.</p><p>"These findings radically alter our understanding of the extent and far reaching consequences land inequality has, proving that not only is it a bigger problem than we thought but it's undermining the stability and development of sustainable societies," said Ward Anseeuw, a co-author of the report.</p>
<div id="79f64" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bd50807364597fe98806eb08bea91ecb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1331254927746883593" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The shocking reality of #LandInequality
Read more about rising land inequality 📈 on:
💻 https://t.co/uRxTpE4fm7… https://t.co/Q3OyiJ4hCV</div> — Land Coalition (@Land Coalition)<a href="https://twitter.com/landcoalition/statuses/1331254927746883593">1606230882.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>According to the analysis, the issue of land inequality should encompass a broader range of dimensions than typically used to capture not only differences in land ownership but other factors such as the size and quality of land and the ability to have real decision-making power over how the land is used.</p><p>The report lays out the scope of the issue:</p><blockquote>Land is a common good, providing water, food, and natural resources that sustain all life. It is the guarantor of biodiversity, health, resilience, and equitable and sustainable livelihoods. It is immovable, non-renewable, and inextricably connected to people and societies. How we manage and control land has shaped our economies, political structures, communities, cultures, and beliefs for thousands of years.</blockquote>
<p><br>Who gets that control is not decided by accident, says Giulia Baldinelli of ILC and co-author of the report.</p><p>"What we're seeing is that land inequality is fundamentally a product of elite control, corporate interests, and political choices. And although the importance of land inequality is widely accepted, the tools to address it remain weakly implemented and vested interests in existing land distribution patterns, hard to shift," Baldinelli <a href="https://www.landcoalition.org/en/newsroom/new-report-reveals-land-inequality-worse-we-thought-and-fueling-other-inequalities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>The impacts of the imbalance are far-reaching, with links stretching to the coronavirus pandemic. From the report:</p><blockquote>Covid-19 is the latest zoonotic disease to emerge from a combination of unsanitary animal farming and pressure on wildlife populations. While its main impact has been on urban populations, Covid-19 has further exposed inequalities faced by land-disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous peoples, lower castes, the elderly, women, youth, and migrants, as well as casual workers (common in agribusiness) and landless tenants (UNDP, 2020; FAO, 2020; ILC, 2020). Land inequality diminishes resilience to disease shocks and, at a household level, may lead to loss of shelter and lack of access to infrastructure and services, traditional community networks, and institutions of social reciprocity. Women's resilience and coping strategies are limited by weaker land rights, which puts them at even greater disadvantage in these situations, with a knock-on effect on children and youth in their households (FAO, 2020; FAO, IFAD and UNIDO, 2016). Land grabbing and forced evictions have been documented in the context of Covid-19 (ILC, 2020), exacerbating land and land rights inequalities, particularly in societies that are heavily policed.</blockquote>
<p>"As we move towards a post-Covid world, we will see increased pressure for fast economic gain at the expense of people and nature," warned Mike Taylor, director of the International Land Coalition Secretariat He added that "there is always, however, a more inclusive path to rebuilding our economies, that emphasizes sustainable use of natural resources, respects human rights, and addresses systemic causes of inequality."</p><p>While low-income countries have seen an "increasing number of mega-farms, each taking up thousands, even tens of thousands, of hectares," the issue of land inequality stretches globally. "After 1980, in all regions, land concentration has either been increasing significantly (North America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific) or a decreasing trend is being reversed (Africa and Latin America)," the report finds.</p><p>In North America, for example, the report points to the decades between 1960 and 1990 when there was a "drastic increase in land and agricultural concentration" and the number of farms plummeted by 1.6 million, dropping to 2.1 million. The same time period also saw the average farm size swell from 122.6 hectares to 187 hectares.</p>
<p>Although there has been a more recent stabilization in the number of farms in North America, that doesn't capture the whole story:</p><blockquote>What the figures on farm size do not reveal, however, are the even more substantial increases in the concentration of large-scale production on a shrinking number of farms. Almost 1 million farms (980,000) in the USA have less than $5,000 in sales per annum, while the largest 7% of farms account for 80% of production value (MacDonald, 2016). This leaves a situation where some 1.3 million, or 60%, of the farms in the USA produce only 6.6% of the total production value (Gollin, 2019). These include farms of below five hectares, many of which are known as "retirement farms" or "off-farm occupation farms," with owners who do not depend on agricultural production for their livelihoods."</blockquote><p>So what is to be done?</p><p>The report outlines a number of possible steps: democratize land governance; strengthen land-related regulation; invest in well-functioning land registries; strengthen transparency and monitoring of land holdings; legally enforce responsible corporate practice; Protect common and customary rights; recognize and protect women's land rights; respect and strengthen civil society institutions and capacities; and build more sustainable and equitable production models and food systems.</p><p>"A transformative agenda of this magnitude is not optional," the report concludes. "It is urgent and is in the interests of all humanity, for more resilient, sustainable, and equitable societies."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/24/just-1-farms-controlling-70-global-farmland-study-reveals-shocking-level-land" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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Members of the San Carlos Apache Nation protest to protect parts of Oak Flat from a copper mining company on July 22, 2015 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty Images
In yet another attack on the environment before leaving office, the Trump administration is seeking to transfer ownership of San Carlos Apache holy ground in Oak Flat, Arizona, to a copper mining company.
<p>The administration pushed to finish the environmental review process, a necessary step to transfer ownership to copper mining company Resolution Copper, and its two parent companies Rio Tinto and BHP, to December 2020, almost a full year ahead of the planned completion. </p><p>"The Trump administration is cutting corners and doing a rushed job just to take care of Rio Tinto," Democratic Arizona representative Raúl Grijalva told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/24/trump-mining-arizona-holy-land-oak-flat-tribes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Guardian</a>. Grijalva has been outspoken in his <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/11/16/rio-tinto-copper-mine-not-protect-oak-flat-look-australia/6245846002/" target="_blank">opposition</a> to the mine plans.<br></p><p>"And the fact they are doing it during Covid makes it even more disgusting. Trump and Rio Tinto know the tribes' reaction would be very strong and public under normal circumstances but the tribes are trying to save their people right now," Grijalva said.</p>
<p>Oak Flat is a high desert wonderland full of rock spires, choppy hills, ancient oaks, medicinal plants and long stretches of desert flatland. It contains many Indigenous archaeological sites dating back 1,500 years, and is near Tonto National Forest, the largest of six national forests in Arizona. For centuries, the Apache have considered the site holy, using the area for ceremonies. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><p>However, what is estimated to be one of the world's largest copper deposits resides 7,000 feet underneath the site. If mining proceeds, more than 11 miles of Indigenous sacred sites, burial grounds and petroglyphs would be destroyed, The Guardian reported. Not only that, but Resolution Copper intends to extract 1.4 metric tons of ore, which would create a crater stretching almost two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep. </p><p>Rio Tinto, the world's second largest mining company, is no stranger to controversy. The Anglo-Australian company was <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/top-rio-tinto-executive-says-iron-ore-boom-unravelled-indigenous-ties-20201125-p56hwk.html" target="_blank">recently involved</a> in destroying a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in order to mine iron ore, against the wishes of the land's traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people. </p>
<p>In 2014, a proposal called the Southeastern Arizona Land Exchange was tacked onto the end of a spending bill to exchange federal land for privately owned land for Resolution Copper. Several Arizona legislators supported it, despite<a href="https://www.energy.senate.gov/services/files/bd432593-9e7c-4f18-8a61-4e74bc6edb34" target="_blank"> opposition from regional Arizona tribes</a>.<span></span></p><p>Currently there is no federal law that allows control of ancestral lands outside of Native reservation boundaries. </p><p>After the environmental review process is complete, the transfer must occur within 60 days, potentially before President-elect Joe Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration. </p>
<p>The move marks one of many attempts by the outgoing administration to keep pushing for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-environmental-rollbacks-election-2648378494.html" target="_blank">environmental rollbacks</a> as it leaves office, including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-anwr-oil-leases-2648954756.html" target="_blank">opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge </a><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-anwr-oil-leases-2648954756.html"> the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge </a>for drilling and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-migratory-bird-killing-protection-2644987725.html" target="_blank">weakening migratory bird protections</a>.</p><p>"We are looking at the destruction of some of the Apache's most significant cultural and historic sites with this project," Kathryn Leonard, an Arizona state historic preservation officer, told The Guardian. </p><p>"Our preservation laws are not set up to prevent this level of loss. It weighs heavily on me."</p>
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Jobs and justice are two key areas where Biden can focus attention to push transformative climate action. DisobeyArt / Getty Images
By Steve Trent
Joe Biden's election is a huge positive in a year that has been extremely difficult across the globe. I speak for a vast number of people who watched anxiously from outside the United States when I heartily thank those who mobilized, campaigned and voted to make it happen. Your hard work affects us all.
But we're not at the end of the line. Far from it.
<p>Biden shows promise, but there can be no backsliding and or watering down. In fact, the ambition needs to grow. Now is the time for truly bold vision, leadership and action. For instance, Biden has said repeatedly that he will not ban fracking, a destructive and polluting practice that uses high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand to suck yet more fossil fuels from the ground. Instead he turns to carbon capture to offset these emissions, a plan that relies on untested technology and does nothing to deal with fracking's <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/fracking-boom-tied-to-methane-spike-in-earths-atmosphere/" target="_blank">methane release</a>, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fracking-can-contaminate-drinking-water/" target="_blank">water pollution</a> and <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/12/e1603021" target="_blank">health issues</a>.</p><p>He can and must do better. And there are two key areas where he can focus to help push transformative climate action: jobs and justice.</p><h1>Jobs</h1><p>The fact that Biden ran and won with a proposal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 highlights one key aspect he got right: A transformation to sustainability means innovation, new livelihoods, revitalization and importantly, jobs.</p><p>The green economy in the United States already <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219927-us-green-economy-has-10-times-more-jobs-than-the-fossil-fuel-industry/" target="_blank">employs</a> 10 times as many people as the fossil fuel industry, and Biden's plan specifically focuses on the economic opportunities that tackling climate change will bring.<span></span></p>
<p>But climate action is not a flail that we must use to flog ourselves in penitence, seeking absolution for past sins. Action for our planet creates untold opportunities for us. It will provide different ways of living that will reimagine and reinvigorate our relationship with the natural world, making us <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/02/nature-fix-brain-happy-florence-williams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">happier</a> and <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/reports/why-ban-commercial-wildlife-markets" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">healthier</a>.</p><p>It will give us livelihoods that are truly sustainable, not based on the myth of infinite growth on a finite planet.</p><p>Biden's plan for net zero in energy production by 2035 is a good example of how a climate-smart jobs boom could work. At present <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/07/30/biden-calls-100-percent-clean-electricity-by-2035-heres-how-far-we-have-go/?arc404=true" target="_blank">62%</a> of energy in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Wind, hydroelectric and solar power are all growing industries, and renewable energy is expected to be the biggest global energy source <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/10/renewable-energy-covid-19-record-growth-2020" target="_blank">by 2025</a>. Shifting U.S. energy production to net zero will create solid, reliable and well-paid jobs across the nation as renewable energy truly takes off. Funding training to enable workers to shift from fossil fuels will be a key part of that transition.</p>
<h1>Justice</h1><p> Biden has also referenced the need for equality in climate action, setting a goal for disadvantaged communities to receive 40% of all the clean energy and infrastructure benefits his plan would generate.</p><p>While this goal is a relatively small step for a big problem, the recognition is important. Ninety-nine percent of all deaths from weather-related disasters occur in the <a href="http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">world's 50 least developed countries</a> — countries that have contributed less than 1% of global carbon emissions.</p><p>In every nation around the world, including the United States, this is played out again on a smaller scale. We can't continue to allow the poorer, marginalized and more vulnerable communities to bear the brunt of a crisis they did not cause. </p><p>The U.S. government is uniquely placed to drive forward international progress on climate.</p><p>Biden's climate plan <a href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">explicitly includes</a> environmental justice as a key target. Within the United States this encompasses standing up to polluters who disproportionately harm marginalized communities.</p>
<p>The United States must reduce its own emissions and maintain strong diplomacy with its international partners. This leadership will allow the Biden-Harris administration to champion environmental justice around the world.</p><p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1324941240731840512" target="_blank">swift congratulations</a> on Biden's victory offered by Frank Bainimarama, the Fijian prime minister, show what can now be achieved. The United States being back in a leading role on global climate action means that small island nations, responsible for minimal emissions but suffering outsized, unjust climate impacts, may have a chance of survival. <a href="https://ejfoundation.org/what-we-do/climate/protecting-climate-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tens of millions</a> of people have already been displaced by climate breakdown, a grave global environmental injustice. The new administration has a chance to reverse this.</p><p>As a major developed economy and one of the worst emitters, action from the United States would put pressure on others — such as China — to do more. Meaningful progress within the United States and European Union, and strong, progressive voices from both parties at the negotiation table could be the change we need.</p><p>The votes for this election have been counted, but now the real work begins. We will all be needed — both in and outside the United States — to show again and again that we are watching and we will fight for our future, and our planet, with everything we have.</p>
<p class=""><em></em></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/author/stevetrent/" target="_blank"><em>Steve Trent </em></a><em>is executive director and co-founder of the </em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Environmental Justice Foundation</em></a><em> and has more than 30 years experience in environmental and human rights campaigning. He also co-founded WildAid serving as president for over a decade, and leading WildAid's work in China and India. </em><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" target="_blank">https://ejfoundation.org</a></em></em></p><p><em><em><a href="https://ejfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-climate-plan-trent/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Fossil fuel companies received $110 billion in direct and indirect financial assistance during the coronavirus pandemic, including up to $15.2 billion in direct federal relief. Andrew Hart /
By Bret Wilkins
In a year in which the United States has already suffered 16 climate-driven extreme weather events causing more than $1 billion in economic damages, and as millions of American workers face loss of essential unemployment benefits due to congressional inaction, a report published Monday reveals the Trump administration has given fossil fuel companies as much as $15.2 billion in direct relief — and tens of billions more indirectly — through federal COVID-19 recovery programs since March.
<p>The report by BailoutWatch, Public Citizen, and Friends of the Earth — titled <em><a href="https://www.citizen.org/article/bailed-out-and-propped-up/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=94926f68-3c0f-462d-87c9-ae6d05950810" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bailed Out and Propped Up</a> —</em>tracks taxpayer funds flowing to fossil fuel companies since pandemic-related bailouts began. It found a total of $110 billion in direct and indirect benefits went to 66 companies, including between $10.4 and $15.2 billion in direct disbursements to coal, oil, and gas companies that are largely responsible for the worsening climate emergency. </p>
<p>Here's a breakdown, according to the report:</p><ul><li>At least $5.5 billion went to 70 money-losing polluters via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.</li><li>$582 million in direct, subsidized loans were approved for 37 mid-sized fossil fuel and related companies through the Federal Reserve's Main Street Lending Program.</li><li>$4.3 to $9.1 billion in forgivable loans went to at least 25,931 companies through the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program.</li><li>At least 229 oil and gas companies received waivers for fees normally paid to drill on public land — giveaways that cost the government a minimum of $4.5 million in lost revenue, and likely far more.</li></ul><p>The report found that five fossil fuel companies — Diamondback Energy, EOG Resources, Marathon Petroleum, Phillips 66, and Valero — received more than 10% of the $110 billion in direct benefits, including tax refunds, and indirect support through the issuance of bonds, even if they were losing money. Reassured by the Fed's actions, private investors purchased more fossil fuel bonds, generating some $100 billion in additional indirect benefits.</p>
<div id="dbef0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2841b587ecc5cf0041553e90425d4397"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1330888073228427264" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: The fossil fuel industry has received up to $15,000,000,000 in direct COVID relief since bailout programs… https://t.co/znbkDW2f0M</div> — Public Citizen (@Public Citizen)<a href="https://twitter.com/Public_Citizen/statuses/1330888073228427264">1606143418.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"When the pandemic hit last spring, Trump's corporate cronies made sure the fossil fuel industry was able to squeeze whatever favors they could out of the resulting economic rescues," wrote Alan Zibel, research director of Public Citizen's Corporate Presidency Project and a co-author of the report. "The Biden administration and the next Congress will have a golden opportunity to ensure our efforts to rescue the economy no longer benefit the very companies most responsible for the devastation caused by climate change."</p><p>Christopher Kuveke, a BailoutWatch analyst and a co-author of the report, added that "the fossil fuel industry took advantage of the pandemic to put their hands out for help escaping a financial mess of their own making, and their allies in the federal government rode to the rescue."</p><p>"By artificially delaying the industry's inevitable decline at taxpayers' expense, the government has made it that much harder to make the necessary transition to clean energy sources," he added.</p>
<p>The report comes just after members of Congress <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/11/23/21575394/stimulus-covid-relief-bill-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">headed home</a> on vacation without having passed a new coronavirus relief bill, and as millions of Americans <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/18/about-be-catapulted-cliff-study-shows-12-million-set-lose-jobless-benefits-after" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">face the grim prospect</a> of losing essential unemployment benefits as the CARES Act is set to expire at the end of the year.</p><p>Last week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) <a href="https://the-beam.com/finance/how-to-finance-a-global-green-new-deal-and-stop-climate-change-at-1-5c/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">excoriated</a> Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on the floor of the House of Representatives, accusing him of "abandoning our people."</p><p>"While... thousands of people in Texas lined up for food lines... hospitals no longer have beds to house the sick... [and] 30 million Americans are on the brink of eviction, [McConnell] dismissed the Senate," said Ocasio-Cortez. "Every single day, when we go back to our communities, people are asking us, 'Where is there going to be help? Is there going to be a second stimulus check? Are we going to get the resources that we need?"</p>
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<p>Climate activists and many economists argue that giving money to those most culpable for carbon emissions is the exact opposite of what governments should be doing. One economist says that instead of selling fossil fuel bonds, governments should be promoting "Green Climate Bonds."</p><p>"With a mere fraction of the Covid-19 recovery funds, central banks could support climate protection," <a href="https://the-beam.com/finance/how-to-finance-a-global-green-new-deal-and-stop-climate-change-at-1-5c/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> World Future Council chief economist Matthias Kroll last week. He continued:</p><blockquote>The price for coping with the systemically relevant climate crisis... appears almost to be a bargain: with a fraction of the funds used to overcome the Covid-19 crisis (or the banking crisis of 2008), the central banks could trigger investments in climate protection of a magnitude that would make the 1.5°C target [under the Paris agreement] achievable. The central banks would not even need to create additional money for this. It would be sufficient to replace expiring assets from previous purchase programs with new types of "Green Climate Bonds."</blockquote><p>A May 2020 <a href="https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/press-release-study-pandemic-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> by the World Future Council estimated the cost of a global "climate bailout" at a relatively modest $175 million per year, resulting in a one-third reduction in worldwide carbon emissions by the end of the decade.</p><p>"We need to start thinking about how to practically finance a Green New Deal and a swift transition to 100% <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>, and central banks should start playing a proactive role," wrote Kroll. "Let's treat the climate emergency as what it is, and let's bail out the climate, too!"</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/23/time-cut-dirty-energys-lifeline-report-details-how-fossil-fuel-industry-feasted" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is seen on October 19, 2015 in Madrid, Spain. Denis Doyle / Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden announced Monday that former Secretary of State John Kerry will sit on his National Security Council (NSC) as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
<p>Kerry's appointment was announced alongside other key foreign policy and national security roles and signals that the Biden administration plans to make fighting the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> an integral part of its foreign policy.</p><p>"This marks the first time that the NSC will include an official dedicated to climate change, reflecting the president-elect's commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue," the transition team said in a statement.</p>
<div id="7aab6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4bff71c40172c15736f73fe73ed18078"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1330967606585593857" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today, I’m announcing the first members of my national security and foreign policy team. They will rally the world… https://t.co/bAisIQk5P6</div> — Joe Biden (@Joe Biden)<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/statuses/1330967606585593857">1606162380.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Kerry has a long history of engaging in climate diplomacy, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/23/kerry-climate-change/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. He has represented the U.S. at every major climate conference for the past 30 years and, as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, played a key role in negotiating the 2015 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a>. More recently, he started the organization <a href="https://worldwarzero.com/" target="_blank">World War Zero</a> to unite people from all political persuasions and walks of life around the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Kerry also co-chaired the Biden campaign's climate task force with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), which was designed to make policy suggestions and bridge the gap between party moderates and supporters of Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.</p><p>"The work we began with the Paris Agreement is far from done," Kerry <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnKerry/status/1330945088080457731" target="_blank">tweeted</a> in response to his appointment. "I'm returning to government to get America back on track to address the biggest challenge of this generation and those that will follow. The climate crisis demands nothing less than all hands on deck."</p><p>Biden's choice of Kerry won wide approval from environmental groups.</p><p>"The big question has been, 'How serious is the new administration about climate change?'" senior <a href="https://www.edf.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Environmental Defense Fund</a> (EDF) vice president Nathaniel Keohane told <a href="https://grist.org/politics/with-john-kerry-envoy-biden-plans-to-tackle-climate-change-abroad/?utm_campaign=sprout&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1606165955" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Grist</a>. "This is a tremendously important signal. It says that the Biden administration is committed to making climate change front and center in terms of how we engage with the world."</p>
<p>While Kerry is seen as a moderate, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/23/john-kerry-biden-climate-envoy-appointment?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1606170161" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, his role on the campaign's climate task force has earned him the respect of the more progressive wing of the climate movement.</p><p>"He was quite the diplomat in terms of trying to make sure that all sides were represented and that we could reach compromises that we could all live with," Alabama environmental activist and panel member Catherine Coleman Flowers told The Washington Post. "He had a good understanding of the climate crisis."</p><p><a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/?ms=SunriseMovement" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> co-founder Varshini Prakash also spoke favorably of Kerry's role on the panel.</p><p>"I served with Sec. Kerry this summer on the Biden-Sanders taskforce and one thing is clear: he really does care about stopping climate change. That's something we can work with," she <a href="https://twitter.com/VarshPrakash/status/1330948342776557568?s=20" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a>. "An encouraging move from the Biden team — now I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a domestic equivalent!"</p>
<p>Biden is expected to name a White House climate policy coordinator in December who will focus on domestic climate policy, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/climate/john-kerry-climate-change.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>However, the effectiveness of both roles may depend on whether Republicans retain control of the Senate after the Georgia runoff elections in January. Kerry's position does not require Senate confirmation, but he may have a harder time convincing other countries to take more aggressive action if the U.S. does not seem to be pulling its weight. Diplomatically, he faces a challenge no matter what, given President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>'s decision to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-us-withdrawal-2648618695.html" target="_self">withdraw the U.S.</a> from the Paris agreement Kerry helped negotiate. While Biden intends to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-climate-agreement-biden-2648649350.html" target="_self">rejoin the agreement</a> immediately upon taking office, the U.S. departure still burned the international community.</p><p>"Kerry's challenge is 'fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me,'" Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, told The New York Times.</p>
<p class=""><em>Correction: A previous version of the headline stated that John Kerry is the first-ever climate envoy. That is incorrect, as the Obama administration also had a climate envoy. Kerry is the first full-time climate official to sit on the National Security Council. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Young climate leaders. Biel Calderon / Greenpeace
The official 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) to discuss the international response to the climate crisis has been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. But young people aren't letting that stop them from taking action.
<p>A <a href="https://www.mockcop.org/about-us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">group</a> of 18 student staff members and 216 volunteers from 118 countries is launching an event today called <a href="https://www.mockcop.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mock COP26</a>, a two-week, virtual conference that will conclude with a statement addressed to world leaders with suggestions for the official COP26.</p><p>"We decided we had to do something because we are in a climate emergency," co-organizer 21-year-old Dom Jaramillo of Ecuador told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54990281" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. "We want to raise ambitions and show world leaders how a COP should be run. We are not the leaders of the future. We are the leaders of today."</p>
<p>COP26, which was supposed to take place this November, was billed as the most important international climate crisis since the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> was reached in 2015. Each participating country was supposed to come to the table with more ambitious plans for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. However, it was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cop26-delayed-2646106662.html" target="_self">pushed back</a> a full year to November of 2021.</p><p>This frustrated Jaramillo and other young activists, who argued that there was no time for delay.</p><p>"I was very disappointed because it showed that political leaders think we can give ourselves a year more, when we just can't do that; the climate crisis is happening right now," 14-year-old Mock COP26 delegate Lavinia Iovino told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/10/we-want-real-action-young-activists-aim-to-fill-void-on-climate-with-mock-cop26" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p>
<p>So the young activists decided to organize their own conference, and to improve on the COP26 model in two key ways.</p><p>1. Lower Emissions</p><p>The Mock COP26 event will take place entirely online, featuring a combination of keynote speeches, panels, workshops and regional caucuses, the website explained. As an online event, it will lower emissions by 1,500 times compared with a traditional COP, organizers told BBC News.</p><p>"At a normal COP summit, delegates fly in from around the world. They can emit more than 50,000 tonnes of CO2 – whereas ours will emit around 39 tonnes of CO2," 18-year-old Josh Tregale of the UK said. "If each year those carbon savings were made by government meetings that could have a huge impact."</p><p>2. Centering Frontline Communities</p><p>Mock COP26 also seeks to be more inclusive and to center the voices of young people in the Global South, who will bear the brunt of the climate crisis. It was pushed back from the start time of the original COP26 to take place after Diwali, The Guardian reported. It is also allowing up to five delegates from Global South countries vs. three from countries in the Global North and giving the Global South delegates more time to speak.</p><p>"They're making sure that the voices of the most affected areas are amplified, and making sure that we have a space and we're not just tokenised," 22-year-old volunteer Mitzi Jonelle Tan from Manilla in the Philippines told The Guardian.</p>
<p>The two-week event will feature more than 350 delegates from more than 145 countries and last until Dec.1, according to a <a href="https://www.mockcop.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mock_COP26_press_release_October.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a>. Its events are available to watch on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/mockcop26" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</p><p>However, the event aims to influence the climate debate long after it concludes. Delegates will receive mentorship in how to put pressure on their countries in the leadup to COP26. In addition, participants will vote on a final statement to world leaders, The Guardian explained. Charity <a href="https://www.clientearth.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ClientEarth</a> will then help them to write that statement into a treaty that can be adapted by national governments.</p><p>"We can show world leaders that young people can do more than just protest, we can come up with ideas and put things in place as well," Tregale told BBC News.</p>
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The new rule would allow the U.S. Forest Service to log or manage 2,800 acres of national forest in the Western U.S. PxHere / CC0
The Trump administration has finalized yet another environmental rollback that would allow more logging in national forests without environmental review.
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<p>The new rule, finalized Wednesday, would allow the U.S. Forest Service to log or manage 2,800 acres of national forest in the Western U.S. without first conducting an environmental review, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/18/forest-service-wilderness-trump/" target="_blank">The Washington Post explained</a>. However, the rule is written in such a way that nearly 200 million acres of forest could be impacted.</p><p>"This is yet another blatant attempt to undermine bedrock environmental law and public input, while giving companies free rein over our treasured natural resources," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> (NRDC) Director of Federal Affairs Kabir Green said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Add this rule to the long list of ill-conceived actions the Biden administration is going to have to toss and redo the right way."</p><p>The new rule works by expanding the Forest Service's ability to use "categorical exclusions," The Washington Post reported. These exclusions allow the Forest Service to bypass requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that require it to study the environmental impact of any planned development and share the scientific analysis with the public.</p>
<p>The Trump administration argued that the change would make it easier to perform necessary maintenance.</p><p>"The new categorical exclusions will ultimately improve our ability to maintain and repair the infrastructure people depend on to use and enjoy their national forests — such as roads, trails, campgrounds and other facilities," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/11/18/usda-forest-service-announces-key-changes-nepa-procedures" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>Federal Forest Resource Coalition Executive Director Bill Imbergamo, who supports the change, told The Washington Post that the exclusions could be used to perform the forest maintenance needed to prevent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a>.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> groups worried that the new categorical exclusions would be used to approve activities beyond trailmaking and brush clearing.</p><p><a href="https://www.wilderness.org/" target="_blank">Wilderness Society</a> senior attorney Alison Flint told The Washington Post that the exclusions would act as "permission slips" for loggers and road-builders. Green from the NRDC agreed.</p><p>"Rather than addressing the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> crises we face, the Trump administration continues to make our problems worse," Green said. "Today it's ramming through sweeping changes that will open national forests to large-scale logging, roadbuilding — and even <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> drilling and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mining" target="_self">mining</a>. Each of these will exacerbate our climate crisis."</p>
<p>The Trump administration has now initiated or completed 104 environmental rollbacks, according to a running tally from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. It is unclear whether Democrats in Congress will be able to reverse the new Forest Service rule, along with other rules passed in the last days of the Trump administration, The Washington Post reported. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to accept or reject late-term rules, but control of the Senate hinges on two run-off elections in Georgia in January.</p><p>Either way, environmental groups have promised to fight it.</p><p>"The final Forest Service NEPA rule epitomizes the Trump administration's disastrous approach to the environment — it shuts out the public, ignores the science, and delivers favors to special interests, regardless of the harm to forests, water, wildlife and the climate," <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife</a> President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark said in statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Our national forests are a national treasure and act as strongholds for endangered species conservation. Defenders of Wildlife will not sit idly by and witness the willful degradation of forest lands."</p>
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Largest Dam Removal Project in U.S. History Restarts With Interstate Partnership
18 November
Popular
The John C. Boyle Dam is one of four dams on the Klamath River to be removed. Bobjgalindo / CC BY-SA 3.0
In a historic move to resurrect the largest dam removal project in the U.S., Oregon, California, the Yurok Tribe and the Karuk Tribe signed an agreement on Tuesday to push forward on dam removal.
<p>The two states take on the liability of the project, along with the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the nonprofit in charge of the demolition, after the project stalled in July.</p><p>The dam removal project is essential to the tribes in the region — the Klamath River on the Oregon-California border — and will reopen hundreds of miles of river access to salmon that have been blocked for more than a century, in what is seen as one of the largest salmon restoration attempts in U.S. history. The removal would drain large reservoirs and reshape California's second-largest river.</p>
<p>The dams are not a part of the irrigation infrastructure in the region and are used only for power generation.</p><p>If U.S. regulators approve the plan, the project will remove four hydroelectric dams on the lower Klamath River. Legal challenges have stymied the plans from coming to fruition, as environmentalists and tribes had hoped demolition would start by 2022.</p><p>"The Klamath River is a centerpiece of tribal community, culture and sustenance and a national ecological treasure," California governor Gavin Newsom said in a <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/11/17/governor-newsom-oregon-governor-brown-tribal-leaders-and-klamath-dam-owner-announce-agreement-to-advance-historic-salmon-restoration-plan/?utm_source=California+Trout+List&utm_campaign=5380e844e9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_Trout_Clout_Klamath_MOU&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cf2a51cf18-5380e844e9-232605593&mc_cid=5380e844e9&mc_eid=eeeff31369" target="_blank">statement</a> about the partnership. "With this agreement, we are closer than ever to restoring access to 400 miles of salmon habitat which will be a boon to the local economy."</p><p>In July, the project <a href="https://apnews.com/article/123f20f9e4b8948cf7d948482a8eec1d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was stalled</a> due to questions by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concerning cost overruns and accidents, and if the Klamath River Renewal Corporation was in a fecund position to handle any upcoming issues.</p><p>However, the new state partnership adds an influx of $45 million to the project's $450 budget. The $45 million will be paid between Oregon, California, and the utility PacifiCorp as a contingency fund. PacifiCorp operates the dams and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, one of billionaire Warren Buffett's companies.</p>
<p>Back in July the FERC found it necessary to keep PacifiCorp on the project as a co-licensee, although PacifiCorp was always in line to be removed from the deal, as it promised public utility commissions in Oregon and California, to better serve its ratepayers. If left on the deal as a co-licensee, by federal law PacifiCorp could end up paying itself to install fish ladders — concrete chutes in structures that fish pass through — to help the salmon migrate to spawning waters upstream.</p><p>In the new agreement, if approved by regulators, PacifiCorp would be removed as a co-licensee.</p><p>"As Yurok tribal people, it is our sacred duty to bring balance to the Klamath River," Yurok Tribe Chair Joseph James said in a <a href="http://www.klamathrenewal.org/bi-state-agreement-with-klamath-dam-owner-advances-historic-salmon-restoration-plan/?fbclid=IwAR0PixUu9UBM18PIx3FpPZOZJSo6XFNF2EZfydf1mTN7-k-j2AAO70XAN4A" target="_blank">KRRC statement</a>.</p><p>"At its heart, dam removal is about healing and restoration for the river, for the salmon, and for our people. We have never wavered from this obligation and we are pleased to see dam removal come closer to reality through this agreement. Reaching this important milestone would not be possible without the many tribal people who have dedicated their lives to restoring the river."</p>
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As the Trump Administration’s Tiny Windows Close, Giant Doors Open for Science Advice
18 November
Insights + Opinion
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) is seen during an NBC News town hall event in Miami on October 15, 2020, and President-elect Joe Biden (R) participates in an ABC News town hall event in Philadelphia on October 15, 2020. Brendan Smialowski and Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
By Genna Reed
In his first week as president-elect, Joe Biden instituted an advisory board of experts to provide science-based recommendations to respond to COVID-19. This could be a signal that independent science advice under a Biden administration is valued. After four years of watching the norms of science advisory structures eroded and undermined, especially at the EPA, it is hard to visualize the possibilities of a government informed by experts. Once Biden takes office in January, here are the actions I hope his administration will take to shore up the government's fifth arm of external expert advice:
1. Rescind EO 13875 and Reinstate Disbanded Committees
<p>In Executive Order 13875, titled "Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees," issued in June 2019<strong>, </strong>President Trump mandated the elimination of one-third of federal advisory committees with an aim of <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/trump-executive-order-advisory-committee" target="_blank">reaching the arbitrary total of 350</a>. Some agencies followed the order, cutting committees like <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/the-first-cut-of-epa-advisory-committees-is-the-deepest" target="_blank">EPA's Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board (ELAB) and the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT)</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/465001-trump-officials-eliminate-board-that-advised-on-smart-grid" target="_blank">The Department of Commerce's Smart Grid Advisory Committee</a> and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/science-advice-shouldnt-be-at-the-whim-of-a-president-and-his-appointees" target="_blank">Marine Protected Areas Advisory Committee, and DOI's Invasive Species Advisory Committee</a> and CDC's <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/science/" target="_blank">Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's Board of Scientific Counselors</a> and its <a href="https://www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/apex/FACAPublicCommittee?id=a10t0000001gzkCAAQ" target="_blank">Advisory Committee to the Director</a>. Yes, you read that right. As the CDC director responded to a national public health crisis, he did not have a sounding board of leading public health experts to help guide a federal response, as <a href="https://www.facadatabase.gov/FACA/apex/FACAPublicCommittee?id=a10t0000001gzkCAAQ" target="_blank">had been readily available since 1962</a>.</p><p>Neither the White House nor federal agencies released criteria or a full justification for disbanding these committees to the public. This is likely not an exhaustive list. Thus, the Biden administration should allow agencies to bring back disbanded committees quickly so that they can get back to work on projects left unfinished and take on new ones, especially those with direct relevance to providing expertise to the government on responding to COVID-19.</p>2. Issue a Proactive Executive Order to Affirm the Value of Advisory Committees
<p>The president-elect should issue an executive order affirming the value of advisory committees and direct agencies to improve the integrity and transparency of processes to ensure committees meet their chartered objectives. <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/si-of-federal-advisory-committees.pdf" target="_blank">Our fact sheet</a> includes a long list of measures that should be included in that order, but the goal of the executive order should be threefold:</p><ul><li>address committee membership by requiring agencies to be more transparent and make decisions based solely on experience and technical qualifications in the topic the committees address, and not based on inappropriate criteria (e.g., party affiliation, political opinions, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/michael-halpern/the-epa-science-advisory-board-is-being-compromised-heres-why-that-matters" target="_blank">having received a government grant</a>);</li><li>protect the independence and integrity of advisory committees by protecting against <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/conflicts-of-interest-at-federal-agencies.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conflicts of interest</a>;</li><li>ensure that the processes used to establish and terminate advisory committees are clear and transparent and that the government seeks out the advice it needs.</li></ul><p>An order that sets a high ethical bar for external advice can help protect against some of the more egregious violations we saw under the Trump administration, like the appointment of a majority of members with <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/biased-science-board-threatens-fetal-tissue-research" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">clear issues of impartiality to the HHS's Human Fetal Tissue Ethics Advisory Board,</a> which then issued sweeping rejections of grant proposals for critical research using fetal tissue.</p>3. Go Back to the Drawing Board at the EPA
<p>The Biden administration should begin to reverse the damage done by former Administrator Pruitt and Administrator Wheeler to <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/512063-americans-need-the-best-science-more-than-ever-from-government" target="_blank">gerrymander science at EPA</a> and signal a commitment to balanced, independent advice by instituting a new nominations process for all EPA committees, while promoting transparency and public input and listening to its own staff recommendations. The administration should begin by scrapping the <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/521044-shuffle-of-epas-science-advisors-elevates-those-with-industry-tries" target="_blank">Science Advisory Board</a> and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/gretchen-goldman/the-epa-cut-science-out-of-air-pollution-standard-setting-were-putting-it-back" target="_blank">the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee</a> and start over. Here's why.</p><p>There are still qualified experts on EPA's advisory committees, but since the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/epas-chance-to-get-science-advice-right" target="_blank">process barred EPA-funded scientists from applying from fall 2017 to 2020</a>, the expertise is not balanced and not the most relevant for the issues currently facing EPA. Further, it is unclear whether membership was adequately vetted for conflicts of interest. These are all fair questions, since <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-280" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we know Wheeler's administration failed to provide documentation on its selection process</a>.</p><p>The only way to fix a broken process is to start from scratch, instituting some of the norms and processes that were in place before the Trump administration came in, but also updating them to ensure even more transparency. For example, <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/si-of-federal-advisory-committees.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we recommend</a> that all agencies, including EPA, publish relevant basic information about each committee member on a public online portal (e.g., integrity.gov), including qualifications, background, employers, and funding sources for the previous five years, along with any conflict-of-interest waivers granted. Additionally, the decisionmaking processes used for committee formation, including how agencies screen members, how they assess committees for balance, and which political officials are involved, should be made public.</p><p>All members of committees re-formed could reapply if they wished to remain. But importantly, a new vetting process would ensure that expertise was prioritized and that conflicts of interest or appearance of impartiality was avoided.</p>4. Work With Congress on Bipartisan Legislation That Would Increase Transparency and Public Input
<p>The <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/improving-transparency-and-disclosure-of-conflicts-of-interest-for-science-advisory-committees" target="_blank">Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2019</a> would require agencies to open nominations for committee positions, select and publicize from those nominations, and clearly distinguish independent scientists from those representing a particular interest group. The bill would also require disclosure of conflicts of interest to the agency and the public and greater transparency of the meetings themselves. Also, political party affiliation cannot be used as a criterion for selection for a committee, which is important as such political litmus tests have been used in the past to <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/center-for-science-and-democracy/scientific_integrity/abuses_of_science/a-to-z/fogarty-international-center.html" target="_blank">distort and stack</a> advisory committees under previous administrations.</p><p>Congress could also consider legislation that would institute a formal petition process for the public to request an agency assemble a federal advisory committee for an issue based on a set of criteria. This could ensure a more inclusive and equitable approach to deciding what issues get paid adequate attention by agencies.</p>Making a Sound Investment in Science Advice
<p>We have studied the ways in which science advisory committees have been sidelined or hijacked and over the past four years saw very clearly how changes to norms and the erosion of processes built to uphold integrity can wreak havoc on environmental and public health policy decisions.</p><p>As a new administration takes office, I hope that it takes advantage of this hindsight and sees the opportunities I see: not just bringing back old policies and signaling the importance of government science advice, but finding new ways to make it more responsive to the public than to special interests, and more inclusive of a diverse set of scientists and experts whose voices need to be heard right now. There's no time like the present to modernize our government advisory infrastructure, and <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/si-of-federal-advisory-committees.pdf" target="_blank">our recommendations feature actions that can help get us there.</a></p>From Your Site Articles
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Greenpeace Releases Sweeping Policy Plans To Fight Inequality, Racial Injustice, COVID-19 and Climate Crisis
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18 November
Politics
A Greenpeace activist protests in Warsaw, Poland on April 22, 2020. "Going back to normal is not an option," a new report from Greenpeace USA insists. Rafal Wojczal / Greenpeace Polska
By Andrea Germanos
The "just, green, and peaceful future we deserve is possible and together we can build the power to manifest it."
So declares Greenpeace USA's new "Just Recovery Agenda." Released Tuesday and packed with more than 100 sweeping policy recommendations for President-elect Joe Biden and members of the next U.S. Congress to embrace, the visionary document plots out a path for erecting new systems that no longer put corporate greed above the public and planet's well-being.
<p>"Going back to normal is not an option," the report bluntly states, because what "we knew as 'normal' was a crisis." The coronavirus crisis has thrown that truism into relief, says Greenpeace, but the worsening climate and ecological crises and deep inequality have long made the case for a bold transformation of the dominant economic system.</p><p>With post-pandemic policies now being charting out —and a new presidential administration just months away — Greenpeace says it's crystal clear now is the time for pivotal change.</p><p>"The policy choices we make in this disruptive moment will shape the path forward for millions of people—the Covid-19 crisis and clarion call for racial justice in 2020 must mark a turning point for federal policy-making," the report urges.</p>
<p>Greenpeace USA campaigns director James Mumm put the new report in the context of former Biden's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/16/no-you-didnt-trends-after-trumps-latest-election-result-lie" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">victory</a> over President Donald Trump.</p><p>"We the people have chosen Joe Biden, who will arrive in the White House with a forceful mandate to lead our recovery from Covid-19, address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first," Mumm said in a statement.</p><p>"Over the past four years, we have cared for one another," he continued. "Now, we must come together to ensure that Joe Biden and the new Congress care for us, and to see that everyone — no matter their race or where they come from— has what they need to thrive."</p>
<p>The report expands on what that means by pointing to "dignified work, healthcare, education, housing, clean air and water, healthy food, and more." In this new work, says Greenpeace, the world must "shift from an economy that is extractive and exploitative to one that regenerates and repairs."</p><p>Centering all the prescriptions — which range from boosting voting rights to expanding renewable energy — are values of equity, community justice, freedom, compassion, and creativity.</p><p>Actions demanded of federal lawmakers include establishing a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour; strengthening the National Environmental Policy Act; enacting and enforcing new antitrust standards to curb corporate power; "passing bold and just recovery legislation in line with the THRIVE Agenda to lay the groundwork for a Green New Deal and world beyond fossil fuels"; enacting the pro-democracy the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/04/no-brainer-anyone-who-actually-cares-about-american-democracy-house-democrats-hr-1" target="_blank">For The People Act</a> of 2019; banning permits for new or expansions of existing factory farms; "enacting The BREATHE Act to police brutality and racial injustice by investing in Black communities and re-imagining community safety"; and enacting a ban on deep sea mining.</p>
<p>"As we look to recover from the interlocking crises we face as a nation," said Mumm, "it's time to use the tools and power of the federal government to solve problems rather than exacerbate them."</p><p>"This moment calls us to be bold and advance solutions at the scale science and justice demand," he continued. "It calls us to be holistic and navigate out of multiple crises at once. And it calls us to be visionary in our pursuit to people — not corporations or wealthy elites — at the heart of governance and public life."</p><p>Make no mistake — the "us" Mumm refers to really means all of us.</p><p>"Telling our story will not be the job of a single, appointed messenger, be it a politician, celebrity, CEO, or activist," says the report. "That responsibility lies with everyone who believes in the vision of a better world."</p><p>"Together we will build a movement broad, inclusive, and powerful enough to deliver the future our communities need and deserve," it states. "Together we will rewrite the rules of society."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/17/greenpeace-releases-far-reaching-just-recovery-agenda-tackle-interlocking-crises" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Activists Are Alarmed as Biden Picks White House Official Who Took Fossil Fuel Money
18 November
Politics
President-elect Joe Biden is greeted by U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond, D-LA, as he arrives in Columbus, Georgia, on October 27, 2020. Jim Watson / AFP / Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden is starting to assemble his White House team, and one of his picks has already alarmed climate activists.
<p>Biden has chosen Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond as a senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/us/politics/cedric-richmond-biden.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported Tuesday</a>. As part of his role, Richmond will reportedly serve as a liaison between climate activists and business interests, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/16/louisiana-congressman-to-join-biden-administration-436903" target="_blank">POLITICO</a>. However, <a href="https://www.dailyposter.com/p/news-bidens-first-climate-appointment" target="_blank">The Daily Poster</a> noted that Richmond has received $341,000 in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> money during his 10 years in Congress.</p><p>"[T]oday feels like a betrayal, because one of President-elect Biden's very first hires for his new administration has taken more donations from the fossil fuel industry during his congressional career than nearly any other Democrat, cozied up to Big Oil and Gas, and stayed silent and ignored meeting with organizations in his own community while they suffered from toxic pollution and sea-level rise," <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/?ms=SunriseMovement" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> Executive Director Varshini Prakash said in a statement reported by <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/17/today-feels-betrayal-sunrise-movement-blasts-biden-pick-big-oil-backed-cedric" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Common Dreams</a>. "That's a mistake, and it's an affront to young people who made President-elect Biden's victory possible."</p><p>The Sunrise Movement made contact with 3.5 million young voters in swing states, and now wants to leverage its get-out-the-vote efforts to hold Biden accountable to his promise to act on the climate crisis, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/16/joe-biden-climate-crisis-ennvironment-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Guardian reported Monday</a>. Biden has called climate an "existential threat" and promised a $2 trillion plan to create millions of jobs while transitioning to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>. Since winning the election, Biden has also made climate change a priority on his <a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">transition website</a>.</p>
<p>However, Richmond's appointment concerned activists who are worried it signals that fossil fuel interests will have an outsized say in Biden's administration.</p><p>"If Joe Biden continues making corporate-friendly appointments to his White House, he will risk quickly fracturing the hard-earned goodwill his team built with progressives to defeat Donald Trump," Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas said in a statement, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-16/cedric-richmond-to-leave-congress-join-biden-white-house?sref=PqmVp1JY" target="_blank">Bloomberg News</a> reported.</p><p>Richmond, who represents much of New Orleans, has received the fifth highest amount of money from the oil and gas industry of all House Democrats, according to The Daily Poster. That includes $40,000 from ExxonMobil and $10,000 each from Chevron, Phillips 66 and Valero Energy.</p>
<p>Richmond has also broken with the Democratic Party to support increased fossil fuel exports and oppose pollution restrictions on fracking. Further, he voted in favor of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/526405-progressive-group-slams-biden-white-house-pick-over-fossil-fuels" target="_blank">The Hill reported</a>.</p><p>Rep. A. <a href="https://thehill.com/people/aston-donale-mceachin" target="_blank">Donald McEachin</a> (D-Va.) defended Richmond's actions, arguing that he had been trying to preserve jobs for his constituents.</p><p>"That's the tragedy that Americans up to now have been faced with, that it's either fossil fuel jobs or bad-paying jobs. His district has been dependent on fossil fuels," McEachin told The Hill.</p><p>However, New Orleans and Louisiana have also disproportionately suffered from the impacts of the fossil fuel industry. Richmond represents seven of the 10 U.S. census tracts with the worst <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a>, The Daily Poster reported. And <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a> like Katrina have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-hurricanes-wetter-2619851055.html" target="_self">become more extreme</a> because of climate change.</p><p>In response to activist criticism, the Biden-Harris transition team reaffirmed its commitment to climate action.</p><p>"The incoming White House staff members are committed to building an administration that will tackle the climate crisis and fight for environmental justice," an official told The Hill.</p>
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