Bystanders watch along the Seine as a fire burns in Notre Dame cathedral Monday evening. FOUAD MAGHRANE / AFP / Getty Images
A fire broke out in Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral Monday evening. It burned for almost five hours, destroying two-thirds of the roof and causing its spire to collapse.
The church, which has stood in Paris since the 1200s, has come to embody "the permanence of a nation," Henri Astier wrote for BBC News. It was last seriously damaged during the French Revolution and survived both World Wars.
<p>Around 500 firefighters worked to control the blaze. In the end, the church's structure, including its two towers, was "saved and preserved as a whole," Fire Chief Jean-Claude Gallet said. No one was killed, though one firefighter was seriously injured. The fire also had a profound emotional impact on those who watched it burn.</p><p>"It is like losing a member of one's own family," 45-year-old marketing director Pierre Guillaume Bonnet told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/world/europe/notre-dame-fire.html?action=click&emc=edit_MBE_p_20190416&module=Top+Stories&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=886312940416&pgtype=Homepage&section=topNews&te=1" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "For me there are so many memories tied up in it."</p><p>As expressions of grief and solidarity poured out from around the world, environmental leaders were among those who responded to the tragedy.</p><p>Primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall wrote <a href="http://news.janegoodall.org/2019/04/15/dr-goodalls-thoughts-on-the-fire-of-notre-dame/" target="_blank">on her website</a> about how much the cathedral had meant to her. She shared an excerpt from her book <em>Reason for Hope</em> in which she described how visiting the church had helped her through a difficult time in her life.</p><p>"[T]he experience I had there, when I visited in 1977, marked an epiphany in my thinking about my place on Planet Earth and the meaning of my life," Goodall wrote.</p><p>In the excerpt, Goodall describes hearing Bach's <em>Toccata and Fugue in D Minor </em>play on the cathedral organ while the Rose window glowed with morning light. She said she could not believe that the moment was the work of chance alone, and so came to believe in God.</p><p>"My thoughts and prayers are with the firefighters tackling the frightful flames, and all those in France for whom Notre Dame is a integral part of the French nation and especially for all who worship there," Goodall wrote Monday. The fire comes as Catholics celebrate Holy Week, which leads up to Easter next Sunday.</p><p>Other activists drew a connection between the loss of Notre Dame and the loss of the natural world due to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> and other human actions.</p><p><a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> founder Bill McKibben tweeted that watching the cathedral burn reminded him of how he felt diving along sections of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef" target="_self">Great Barrier Reef</a> impacted by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching" target="_self">coral bleaching</a>.</p><p>"Beauty and meaning can be so vulnerable — not to be taken for granted, ever," he wrote.</p>
<div id="ea418" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SYXQRZ1576661742"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1117867245735071747" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This was my first thought today too.
It's not at all the same thing — most importantly, it seems like the fire at… https://t.co/uXuyndcBC9</div> — Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus)<a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/statuses/1117867245735071747">1555355295.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><a href="https://grist.org/" target="_blank">Grist</a> writer Eric Holthaus agreed.<br></p><p>"The profound sense of permanent loss is heartbreaking," he tweeted.</p><p>French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to see the church rebuilt.</p><p>"Notre Dame is our history, our literature, part of our psyche, the place of all our great events, our epidemics, our wars, our liberations, the epicentre of our lives ... So I solemnly say tonight: we will rebuild it together," he said, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/15/notre-dame-fire-paris-france-cathedral" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>French billionaire and Kering CEO and Chairman François-Henri Pinault has promised 100 million euros to the cause.</p>
<div id="2f605" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4NMHD81576661743"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="853716804006555648" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">These Jane Goodall Quotes Will Inspire You to Save the World https://t.co/qSNKD11FqW @JaneGoodallInst @NRDC @SierraClub @CenterForBioDiv</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/853716804006555648">1492376922.0</a></blockquote></div>
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'Historic First': Nebraska Farmers Return Land to Ponca Tribe in Effort to Block Keystone XL
15 June 2018
Energy
By Jessica Corbett
In a move that could challenge the proposed path of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline—and acknowledges the U.S. government's long history of abusing Native Americans and forcing them off their lands—a Nebraska farm couple has returned a portion of ancestral land to the Ponca Tribe.
<p>At a deed-signing ceremony earlier this week, farmers Art and Helen Tanderup transferred to the tribe a 1.6-acre plot of land that falls on <a href="http://chiefstandingbear.org/trail-map/" target="_blank">Ponca "Trail of Tears."</a></p><p>Now, as the Omaha World-Herald <a href="http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/in-possible-roadblock-for-keystone-xl-pipeline-opponents-gift-land/article_cbcf6d2b-1862-5d11-b4dd-5ad81d0378ee.html" target="_blank">explained</a>, rather than battling the farmers, "TransCanada will have to negotiate with a new landowner, one that has special legal status as a tribe."</p><p>The transfer was celebrated by members of the Ponca Tribe as well as environmental advocates who oppose the construction of the pipeline and continue to demand a total transition to renewable energy.</p><p>"We want to protect this land," Larry Wright Jr., the chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, told the World-Herald. "We don't want to see a pipeline go through."</p><p>"While TransCanada is trampling on Indigenous rights to fatten their bottom line, Native leaders are resisting by building renewable energy solutions <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/12/putting-solar-panels-pipelines-path-campaign-combine-power-sun-power-people" target="_blank">like solar panels</a> in the path of the pipeline," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/06/15/350org-nebraska-farmer-repatriating-land-ponca-tribe-keystone-xls-path" target="_blank">said</a> 350.org executive director May Boeve.</p><p>"Repatriating this land to the Ponca Tribe raises new challenges for the Keystone XL pipeline and respects the leadership of Native nations in the fight against the fossil fuel industry," she added. "Tribal sovereignty is central to the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground and build a more just society for all."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="ec992" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TRR2UI1576661695"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1006159787908792320" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: In Historic First, #Nebraska Farmer Returns Land to #Ponca Tribe Along "Trail of Tears":… https://t.co/Cw6EAG7DpN</div> — Bold Nebraska (@Bold Nebraska)<a href="https://twitter.com/BoldNebraska/statuses/1006159787908792320">1528722161.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>Author and 350.org cofounder Bill McKibben called the land transfer an "important strategic move," while also noting that "it's sacred ground."<br></p><p>In recent years, the Tanderups have worked with Ponca leaders to grow the tribe's sacred corn on the land that's now been returned. The signing ceremony featured the fifth planting of the corn and a performance by Ponca singers and grass dancers.</p><p>"It's an honor to be here today to celebrate this gracious and generous donation nation to the Ponca Nation," Wright said at the ceremony. "This event is another step to healing old wounds and bringing our people together again to a land once ours."<br></p><p>The Tanderups—who have joined with Indigenous and environmental advocates to protest Keystone XL—said the possibility of blocking the pipeline was only one of the factors that contributed to their decision.</p><p>"The Ponca and people of this community continue to build strong relationships as they work in collaborative efforts," Art Tanderup <a href="http://norfolkdailynews.com/news/nebraska-farm-couple-return-land-to-ponca-tribe-along-trail/article_94ac20ac-6d81-11e8-8733-031241be2957.html" target="_blank">told</a> the Norfolk Daily News. "It is only fitting that out of the tragedy of the Ponca Trail of Tears that a small piece of this historic trail be transferred to them."</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/15/historic-first-nebraska-farmers-return-land-ponca-tribe-effort-block-keystone-xl" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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Trump Kills NASA Carbon Monitoring Program as CO2 Levels Soar Past 'Troubling' 410 ppm Threshold
14 May 2018
Science
By Jessica Corbett
As the Trump administration charges forward with its war on science by canceling a "crucial" carbon monitoring system at NASA, scientists and climate experts are sounding alarms over atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) that just surpassed a "troubling" threshold for the first time in human history.
<p>"The reading from the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii finds that concentrations of the climate-warming gas averaged above 410 parts per million [ppm] throughout April," Chris Mooney <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/05/10/earth-atmosphere-just-crossed-another-troubling-climate-change-threshold/IBD9sBH4cLHHKaYSTPQE4K/story.html" target="_blank">wrote</a> for the Washington Post. "The first time readings crossed 410 at all occurred on April 18, 2017, or just about a year ago."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<em></em></p><div id="3cb7f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F65GOB1576662686"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="992261040804016129" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Atmospheric CO2 set a new record last month: 410PPM https://t.co/eZCakkHnEP</div> — Climate Central (@Climate Central)<a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateCentral/statuses/992261040804016129">1525408442.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>While the planet's concentrations of carbon dioxide fluctuated between roughly 200 ppm and 280 ppm for hundreds of thousands of centuries, as the NASA <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/" target="_blank">chart</a> below details, CO2 concentrations have soared since the start of the industrial revolution—and, without urgent global efforts to significantly alter human <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">activities that produce greenhouse gas emissions</a>, show no sign of letting up.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzY1NDY1OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTQ0MjcyM30.Y0lf1xuWUUZRXElqEr6xQVSCP__MihlD69I9squjDYk/img.jpg?width=980" id="a250b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d992c0798d36b70c78c8fb49ca21f089" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
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<p>"As a scientist, what concerns me the most is not that we have passed yet another round-number threshold but what this continued rise actually means: that we are continuing full speed ahead with an unprecedented experiment with our planet, the only home we have," Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, told Mooney.<br></p><p>While CO2 levels have passed 400 ppm in the Earth's history, "it has been a long time. And scientists are concerned that the rate of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">change</a> now is far faster than what Earth has previously been used to," as Mooney explained:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">In the mid-Pliocene warm period more than 3 million years ago, they were also around 400 parts per million—but Earth's sea level is known to have been 66 feet or more higher, and the planet was still warmer than now.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">As a recent federal climate science report (coauthored by Hayhoe) noted, the 400 parts per million carbon dioxide level in the Pliocene "was sustained over long periods of time, whereas today the global CO2 concentration is increasing rapidly." In other words, Earth's movement toward Pliocene-like conditions may play out in the decades and centuries ahead of us.<br></p><p>As climate scientists continue to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/05/co2-levels-hit-record-april-temp-hits-record-and-we-keep-burning-fossil-fuels" target="_blank">warn</a> about the global consequences of rising levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases—such as more intense and frequent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> events—the Trump administration has pursued a multi-pronged anti-science agenda that includes <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/03/30/among-stupidest-policies-yet-proposed-trump-epa-lower-car-emissions-standards" target="_blank">rolling back</a> regulations that aim to limit emissions and blocking future research.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="59519" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="T9JBES1576662686"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="994666243843022848" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">On the eve the planet crossed the highest measured CO2 levels, 410 ppm, NASA quietly cancels carbon monitoring rese… https://t.co/uBj6lsIcn3</div> — Peter de Menocal (@Peter de Menocal)<a href="https://twitter.com/PdeMenocal/statuses/994666243843022848">1525981887.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>News of the record-high levels of atmospheric carbon came as Science <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/trump-white-house-quietly-cancels-nasa-research-verifying-greenhouse-gas-cuts" target="_blank">reported</a> that the Trump administration "quietly killed" NASA's $10-million-a-year Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), which "has helped stitch together observations of sources and sinks into high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon"—because, as 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben remarked sarcastically, "what you can't see can't cook you."<br></p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="2c838" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Y3EK2L1576662686"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="994443792496365570" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump kills crucial NASA work to measure carbon and methane. Because what you can't see can't cook you. https://t.co/aZedBKmRFI</div> — Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben)<a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/statuses/994443792496365570">1525928850.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>Citing a NASA spokesman, Science explained: "The White House has mounted a broad attack on climate science, repeatedly proposing cuts to NASA's earth science budget, including the CMS, and cancellations of climate missions such as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3). Although Congress fended off the budget and mission cuts, a spending deal signed in March made no mention of the CMS. That allowed the administration's move to take effect."<br></p><p>Canceling CMS likely has global ramifications, Kelly Sims Gallagher, director of Tufts University's Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, pointed out, because the system monitors the Earth's CO2 levels as nations that have signed on to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>—from which Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/06/01/destructive-fossil-fuel-puppet-trump-ditches-climate-deal-fact-free-speech" target="_blank">plans to withdraw</a>—pursue policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p>"If you cannot measure emissions reductions, you cannot be confident that countries are adhering to the agreement," Gallagher said, calling the decision to kill the system "a grave mistake."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="57e44" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WI76UD1576662686"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="905552496101351428" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump Nominates Climate Change Denier to Head NASA https://t.co/QnaUy2XJr2 @OccupySandy @TheCCoalition</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/905552496101351428">1504735514.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/05/11/co2-levels-soar-past-troubling-410-ppm-threshold-trump-kills-nasa-carbon-monitoring" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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Northern Great Barrier Reef, October 2016. Greg Torda / ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
The Australian government announced Sunday its largest investment in the Great Barrier Reef to date. More than $500 million Australian dollars (US $379 million) will go towards helping the highly vulnerable site that's under threat from climate change.
However, some have criticized the move as a "band-aid plan" as the fossil fuel-friendly government promotes the building of new coal mines, which fuels global warming that harms the reef.
<p>
"It is an investment not only in the future of the Great Barrier Reef, but also in Australian jobs and our economy through the tourists the reef attracts every year," Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull's office, along with the ministers for foreign affairs, energy and environment, said in a joint statement.
</p><p>
The government
<a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/record-investment-great-barrier-reef-drive-jobs" target="_blank">said</a> the site is a critical national asset providing AUS $6.4 billion a year to the Queensland and Australian economies and supporting 64,000 jobs. The $500 million will go towards the improvement of water quality, tackling coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, reducing pollution into the reef, mitigating the impacts of climate change and implementing scientific reef restoration.
</p><p>
But environmentalists
<a href="https://350.org.au/press-release/reef-at-risk-until-turnbull-stops-adani/" target="_blank">pointed out</a> the government is simultaneously backing a new coal mine in Central Queensland and subsidizing fossil fuel industries.
</p><p>
"If the Turnbull government was serious about saving the reef they would be willing to take on the industry responsible for the damage," said
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bill-mckibben">Bill McKibben</a>, founder of <a href="http://www.350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a>.
</p><p>
"To simultaneously promote Adani's coal mine, which would be one of the world's largest, pretending to care about the world's largest reef is an acrobatic feat only cynical politicians would attempt," he said.
</p><p>
Zelda Grimshaw, spokesperson for
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/StopAdaniCairns/" target="_blank">Stop Adani Cairns</a>, added: "To protect our beautiful reef we need to stop paying enormous subsidies to the big polluters—the coal, oil and gas industries."
</p><p>
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahinthesen8/status/990362702382972929" target="_blank">tweeted</a> a similar sentiment:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="991e3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="VOR39T1576683826"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="990362702382972929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">If Malcom Turnbull wants to save the Great Barrier Reef they should stop Adani - and get serious about reducing carbon pollution. #StopAdani</div> — Sarah Hanson-Young💚 (@Sarah Hanson-Young💚)<a href="https://twitter.com/sarahinthesen8/statuses/990362702382972929">1524955842.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The most significant environmental threat facing the iconic reef is climate change, according to the 2014 report from the Australian government.
</p><p>
"The Great Barrier Reef is being killed by climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels,"
<a href="https://www.greenpeace.org.au/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Australia Pacific</a> climate and energy campaigner Nikola Casule said.
</p><p>
"Not only does this funding continue to focus on peripheral issues without tackling the real problem, it also ignores the fact that if we continue to roll out the red carpet to projects like the Adani Carmichael mega-mine it won't matter how much money the government sets aside—the waters will continue to warm," he noted.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f0e16" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CIIOD81576683826"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="990396070394904576" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This is The Big Lie.
You cannot ‘preserve’ the Great Barrier Reef without cutting carbon emissions.
That means… https://t.co/FThUmt9fbJ</div> — David Ritter (@David Ritter)<a href="https://twitter.com/David_Ritter/statuses/990396070394904576">1524963798.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Rising ocean temperatures are increasing the frequency and intensity of
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching">coral bleaching</a>, which has had major detrimental impacts on the Great Barrier Reef. Researchers have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/think-the-decline-of-the-great-barrier-reef-is-no-big-deal-think-again-1881643542.html">directly attributed</a> this problem to rising atmospheric greenhouse gases, and warn that bleaching mortality will almost certainly increase as temperatures continue to rise.
</p><p>
A study published in
<a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0041-2" target="_blank"><em>Nature</em></a> this month found that a record-breaking marine heatwave in 2016 across the Great Barrier Reef left much of the coral ecosystem at an "unprecedented" risk of collapse.
</p><p>
<span></span>Another factor in reef decline is nutrient runoff from agriculture, which has led to rising populations of coral-consuming crown-of-thorns starfish.
</p><p>Still, Terry P. Hughes, director of a center that studies coral reefs at James Cook University in Queensland, <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/status/990084301185171456/" target="_blank">tweeted</a> that the government's plan to fight the starfish outbreak would not be enough to save the imperiled reef.
</p><div id="9faeb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="RRPZDO1576683826"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="990084301185171456" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We're not going to fix the challenge of climate change for coral reefs by killing a few starfish in Queensland… https://t.co/Yue0zXROff</div> — Terry Hughes (@Terry Hughes)<a href="https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/statuses/990084301185171456">1524889466.0</a></blockquote></div><p>
Greenpeace's Casule said that no amount of money would help the reef if extreme heat driven by climate change continued to warm the waters surrounding the coral.
</p><p>
"Any Australian government that wants to protect the reef must outline and commit to a credible science-based plan to tackle climate change and move to rapidly reduce both our domestic emissions and those that we export," Casule said.
</p><p>
"You can have coral or coal. You can't have both."
</p><p>
Jon Brodie, a professor at James Cook University's Coral Reef Studies Centre of Excellence also raised skepticism, telling
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-barrier-reef-funding/australia-announces-379-million-funding-for-great-barrier-reef-idUSKBN1I0036" target="_blank">Reuters</a> that the government's funding was an extension of existing failed programs.
</p><p>
"It's not working, it's not achieving major water quality improvements," he said.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="55d14" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7Z3PTZ1576683826"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="987257088312270849" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Great Barrier Reef at ‘Unprecedented’ Risk of Collapse After Major Bleaching Event https://t.co/pjOOir60Au @TheCCoalition @CarbonBrief</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/987257088312270849">1524215406.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Chicago Science March, April 22, 2017. Tim Skirvin / Flickr
From the Women's March on Washington to the March for Science, the first year of the Trump administration saw an increase in highly-publicized mass demonstrations, leading to the sense that the president's policies are mobilizing people with progressive beliefs to defend their views in the streets.
Now, a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll reported by The Washington Post on Friday provides the numbers to confirm that narrative.
<p>The poll, the most in-depth look at U.S. protesters in more than a decade, found that 20 percent of Americans have joined a political rally or street demonstration since the start of 2016. For 19 percent of them, that rally was the first they had ever attended. </p><p>According to the poll, dissatisfaction with Trump was a major motivator for demonstrators: 70 percent of them disapproved of the job the president is doing compared with 30 percent who approved. Half of demonstrators attended events at least partly because of Trump.</p><p>Concerns about the environment were also a key motivating factor for American rally-goers. Thirty-two percent of demonstrators who attended a rally in the past two years did so to express their views on "the environment and energy issues," according to the results. It was the issue that attracted the second-largest percentage of demonstrators, after women's rights at 46 percent.</p><p>A vast majority of those environmental demonstrators supported environmental protections and action on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/page/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2018/04/06/National-Politics/Polling/question_20150.xml?uuid=QZ2EhDmaEeivPCEjcV943w" target="_blank">Deeper analysis</a> of the data shows that 29 percent of rally-goers attended "an event in support of protecting the environment or fighting climate change" and only two percent raised their voices "in support of increasing access to oil, natural gas, or coal." </p><p>The data did not indicate how many environmental protestors were new to the game or how many were specifically motivated by the Trump administration's reversal of environmental regulations and denial of climate <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>. </p><p>However, vocal opposition to Trump's environmental agenda has been a big part of the anti-Trump "resistance" from day one. </p><p>Days after the inauguration, the Badlands National Park <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/badlands-national-park-trump-2213976759.html" target="_self">made headlines</a> for tweeting out facts about climate change after Trump suspended the National Park Service's Twitter usage because of tweets unfavorably comparing the size of his inauguration crowds to Obama's. </p><p>The April 2017 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/march-for-science-truth-to-power-2375041158.html" target="_self">March for Science</a>, a response to Trump's disregard for scientific facts, mobilized a group that has traditionally preferred the lab to the street. </p><p>"Scientists have not been eager to get politically involved, but in the face of unceasing attacks and organized denial, they're putting their credibility to good use," <a href="http://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> co-founder <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/community/bill_mckibben/" target="_self">Bill McKibben</a> said of the march. </p><p>Polls have also suggested that the majority of Americans' views on climate change do not match the rhetoric of the Trump administration. For example, a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-policy-polling-2493266686.html" target="_self">2017 poll</a> by <a href="https://epic.uchicago.edu/news-events/news/infographic-where-americans-stand-climate-and-energy" target="_blank">AP-NORC and the Energy Policy Institute at The University of Chicago</a> found that 61 percent of Americans thought climate change was a threat that the federal government should act to mitigate. </p><p>The Washington Post poll questioned a random sample of 1,850 U.S. adults and was conducted in January and February of 2018. </p><p>Overall, it has important implications for the upcoming midterm elections which will determine which party controls the House and Senate. Eighty-two percent of demonstrators, who are largely upset with Trump, said they would be "certain" to vote in 2018.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e1fb1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="J2L34O1576661697"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="954371771351912449" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Why We'll March Again https://t.co/aJVR5nzzxL @SierraClub @greenpeaceusa @foe_us @CleanAirMoms @MomsRising… https://t.co/BT9Ftewduu</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/954371771351912449">1516374936.0</a></blockquote></div>
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An oil rig near downtown Midland, Texas. RT Eichman / Flickr
By John R. Platt
The number of oil and gas rigs in the U.S. has increased an astonishing 38 percent over the past year. That's according to S&P Global Platts Analytics, which reported this week that the country had 1,070 rigs at the end of January, up from just 773 a year earlier.
Experts expressed fear that all of this new development does not bode well for the planet. "This will have a very significant climate impact," said Romany Webb, climate law fellow with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. "The oil and gas industry is a huge source of methane, which is a really potent greenhouse gas. And then on top of that you also have the carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of this oil and gas. So this is very concerning from a climate perspective."
<p>Webb links the increase in drilling, in part, to the recent rise in prices for crude oil and natural gas. "Oil is now <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/CL1:COM" target="_blank">above $60 a barrel</a>, which is what the industry always said that they needed to ramp up production," she said.</p><p>Experts also connect the boom to the policies of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration, which has prioritized the extraction of oil, natural gas and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a> over the development of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energies</a> even as the planet continues to warm. "That the hottest years in human history coincide with a dramatic increase in U.S. drilling for oil and gas is a reminder of what a rogue nation we now live in," said noted environmentalist <a href="http://www.billmckibben.com/" target="_blank">Bill McKibben</a>.</p><p><strong>The Boom</strong></p><p>The extraction boom took place nationwide, with all but one of S&P's reporting regions (see below) gaining new rigs. The fastest growth occurred in two states in the natural gas-rich Permian Basin: Texas gained 141 rigs, while New Mexico added 43. S&P also noted that extraction companies are moving outside the Permian Basin, which, according to senior analyst Trey Cowan, indicates "future growth being led from other regions in the months ahead."</p><p>The analysis includes rigs located on U.S. land, as well as in inland waters and the Gulf of Mexico.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzE4OTY0MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTA2NTkxOX0.CGA8mdMp3l3qasWOUZ2qhZbNg24HrkxRQJ12DBLb014/img.png?width=980" id="3caf7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2acd029c686e456b065a204dc2dde652" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>It doesn't look like this will slow down any time soon. The number of rigs has already increased in the few days since January ended. The weekly <a href="http://rigdata.com/rigdata-insights/blogpost?BlogName=the-rig-count-february-5-2018" target="_blank">Platts RigData Locations & Operators Report for Feb. 5</a> revealed that there are now three additional rigs in operation, for a total of 1,073, with 61 more facilities "waiting to spud" (industry terminology for getting ready to start drilling).<br></p><p><strong>The Future: More Drilling, More Impact</strong></p><p>S&P released its data the same day the U.S. Energy Information Administration issued its annual <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/index.php" target="_blank">Energy Outlook report for 2018</a>, which projects U.S. oil production will soar past 11 million barrels a day by the end of this year.</p><p>The report also found that natural gas use in this country will increase at an annual rate of 0.8 percent through the year 2050. The use of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> energies is also projected to increase at a similar rate. Coal and oil are expected to decline, but that won't be enough to offset the increase in emissions caused by the use of natural gas. The Energy Information Administration predicts that the U.S. carbon footprint will dip slightly over the next few years and then increase by mid-century.</p><p>The impact won't just occur in the U.S., as the agency found that the U.S. will become a net energy exporter by the year 2022, pushing an additional rise in emissions worldwide. As <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06022018/eia-trump-greenhouse-gas-emissions-rise-climate-change-natural-gas-wind-solar-energy" target="_blank">Inside Climate News</a> put it, "the U.S. would almost single-handedly exhaust the whole world's carbon budget by midcentury."</p><p>The total effect of this mad rush to drill may be felt for even longer than that. "Our short-term folly will be felt for tens of thousands of years in the geologic record," said McKibben.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="http://therevelator.org/38-percent-more-oil-gas-rigs/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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On Jan. 31—the day after President Trump's State of the Union address which lauded "beautiful clean coal" and completely ignored climate change—environmental activists gathered in Washington, DC to launch a new campaign to combat fossil fuel development and drive forward a renewable energy revolution from the ground up.
"Fossil Free U.S." is a grassroots strategy for passing local resolutions in cities and states nationwide that ban new fossil fuel projects. As a press release for the campaign stated, "Stopping Trump's climate-wrecking plans won't come from the beltway, but from communities everywhere fighting for justice from the ground up."
<p>
350.org co-founder <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/community/bill_mckibben" target="_blank">Bill McKibben</a> said, "2017 was tough—we resisted, but we lost a lot of ground. 2018 we take that ground back, and we'll do it with this Fossil Free campaign that helps unite progressive environmentalists to move us off oil and coal and gas and on to a world that works."
</p><p>
The <a href="http://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a>-hosted event was held at George Washington University and broadcast live to more than 300 watch parties around the country. It featured a number of prominent climate advocates, including Sen. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bernie-sanders">Bernie Sanders</a> of Vermont.
</p><p>
"Donald Trump spoke last night for over an hour. He talked about many things, but somehow he forgot to mention the words 'climate change.' What an outrage. But we should not be surprised, because Donald Trump―one of the great scientists of our time―has determined, after years and years of exhaustive study, that climate change is a hoax brought to us from China," Sanders quipped to a cheering crowd.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="be5fb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HICG9X1576661701"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="958871470700224512" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Donald Trump spoke for over an hour last night on many issues, yet somehow he forgot to mention the words "climate… https://t.co/FSMV823DII</div> — Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/statuses/958871470700224512">1517447748.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
"But not only does he not talk about climate change, but horrifically and dangerously, has as appointed administrators of the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">EPA</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/department-of-energy">Department of Energy</a> who are doing everything they can to stop the movement towards sustainable energy," the senator continued.
</p><p>
"What we are about is telling Donald Trump and the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/koch-brothers">Koch brothers</a>, and all of these people, that their days are numbered, fossil fuels' days are numbered, we are going to transform our energy system."
</p><p>
Sanders once again committed to refuse campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry and called on other politicians to do the same. Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who own the coal, oil and gas conglomerate Koch Industries, plan to spend a
<a href="http://time.com/5121930/koch-brothers-fall-elections/" target="_blank">record $400 million</a> for the midterm elections.
</p><p>
Other speakers included Cherri Foytlin, Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Antonique Smith, Naomi Klein, Jacqueline Patterson and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
</p><p>
According to
<a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/climate-state-of-the-union_us_5a72679ce4b05253b27578b3?section=us_green" target="_blank">HuffPo</a>, the event highlighted cities' efforts to combat fossil fuels, including <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nyc-divestment-2524285373.html">New York City's plans</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/divest" target="_blank">divest</a> its $5 billion in pension funds from fossil fuel investments and its lawsuit against five oil giants for their role in contributing to the climate crisis.
</p><p>
"Big oil may think they are living in Trump's America," de Blasio said. "They are wrong. They are living in your America."
</p><p>
McKibben outlined the Fossil Free campaign's three main components in a
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/01/climate-change-action-trump" target="_blank">Guardian</a> article:
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"The first—joining in work pioneered by groups like the Sierra Club—is to persuade towns, cities, counties, and states to pledge to make the transition to 100 percent renewable energy. This is now easy and affordable enough that it doesn't scare politicians—cities from San Diego to Atlanta have joined in, and they will help maintain the momentum towards clean energy that the Trump administration is trying so hard to blunt.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
"Job two is to block new fossil fuel infrastructure. In some places, that will be by law: Portland, Oregon, recently passed a bill banning new pipes and such, over the strenuous objections of the industry. In other places it will take bodies—tens of thousands have already pledged to journey to the upper midwest if and when TransCanada decides to build out the Keystone XL pipeline that Trump has permitted.
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">
<span></span>"And third is to cut off the money that fuels this industry—by divestment, which has now begun to take a real and telling toll ($6tn worth of endowments and portfolios have joined the fight, and studies show it is cutting the capital companies need to keep exploring for oil we don't), and by the kinds of lawsuits that New York, San Francisco and a host of other cities have already filed."
</p><p>
<span></span>Find more details about the campaign <a href="http://gofossilfree.org/usa/" target="_blank">here</a>.
</p>
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Christine Irvine / 350.org
By Jamie Henn
Let's talk for a moment about how the climate movement is going to fight back in 2018.
But first, a public service announcement.
This Jan. 31, movement leaders like the one-and-only Bernie Sanders, 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, Jacqueline Patterson of the NAACP, and more, are coming together for an event called "Fossil Free Fast: The Climate Resistance," to lay out a movement game plan for 2018.
<p>If you're in the DC area you should attend the event (<a href="http://bit.ly/fossilfreetickets" target="_blank">tickets here</a>). If not, <a href="http://bit.ly/fossilfreefast" target="_blank">you can host or join a house party</a> to tune into the broadcast with fellow activists in your community. There are more than 100 parties already registered nationwide. This isn't an evening you want to miss.<br></p><p>OK. Now let's get down to the business of resistance.</p><p>After a year of watching the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration wreck havoc on our communities and the climate, we know that 2018 is going to bring an onslaught of new assaults. On the climate front, those attacks will take the form of cutting environmental protections and easing the way for more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> extraction.</p><p>We got a preview of horrors to come in January, when the administration announced it would be opening up our coastlines for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling">offshore drilling</a>. That's on top of plans to expand mining on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands">public lands</a>, allow for drilling in the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> National Wildlife Refuge, and rubber stamp any and all new fossil fuel projects the industry can come up with.</p><p>Even more insidious is the way in which <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency</a> Administrator <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt">Scott Pruitt</a> is attempting to dismantle decades of environmental regulations. If there's a rule in place to protect public health or the environment, you can bet Pruitt is taking a hatchet to it. At the top of his kill list for 2018 is the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-power-plan">Clean Power Plan</a>, the Obama-era policy to limit pollution from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a> fired power plants and one of our most important tools to combat rising emissions.</p><p>But there's an Achilles heel to Trump and his cronies' plan to smother the nation with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipelines</a> and smog, because no matter the actions they take in Washington, DC, these fossil fuel projects need to get built in towns, cities and counties across America. Trump can crow all he wants about coal, oil and gas, but ultimately, it's not his little hands doing the construction. Even with the full backing of the White House, the only way a fossil fuel project moves forward is if it can secure all the necessary permits and local support. That can be tough for new mines and it's especially difficult for major pipelines, which often run through multiple states and dozens of towns and counties along their proposed routes.</p><p>Which brings us to the first way that we're going to fight back in 2018: organizing in our communities to stop all new fossil fuel projects.</p><p>Right now there isn't a project in North America that doesn't face some form of community resistance. From British Columbia to Pennsylvania, local groups are building alliances to resist any new project the industry throws our way. By working together, we can hold back fossil fuel projects long enough so that <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewables</a> take over and the economic case for building these pipelines and mines disappears. We're not going to win every fight, but so far, the resistance is working and even the most inevitable seeming projects are now facing stiff opposition.</p><p>Take the case of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl">Keystone XL</a>. One of Trump's first actions when he was elected was to approve the federal permit for the project. Since then, he's been bragging that they " built the Keystone XL pipeline." Meanwhile, the actual pipeline is still rusting above ground somewhere in the Dakotas waiting to be assembled. In the real world, Keystone XL is still miles away from construction. TransCanada, the company building the project, may have a permit, but they're still struggling to line up enough buyers for the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands">tar sands</a> oil they want to ship down to Texas (the company announced last week it had secured two-thirds of the commitments it needs, but even those pledges are shaky and had to be propped up by the government in Alberta). TransCanada also hasn't secured construction rights from farmers and ranchers along a new route they've been forced to take through Nebraska.</p><p>There's even a bolder roadblock facing Keystone: you. Over the past few months, nearly 15,000 people have signed the <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-the-promise-to-protect?source=direct_link&referrer=group-198-methods" target="_blank">Promise to Protect</a>, a pledge to travel to the route of the pipeline if TransCanada attempts to start building and peacefully resist construction in every way we can. The Promise to Protect should send a chill down the spine of TransCanada and any of their financial backers. Our organizing has held this pipeline back for over seven years and Trump can't do anything about it. You could have the CEO of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/exxon">ExxonMobil</a> in the White House (oh wait, he's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rex-tillerson">secretary of state</a>) and Keystone still wouldn't get built. This resistance isn't going anywhere.</p><p>Even if you don't live near a pipeline or a <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/">fracking</a> well there's still a way to contribute to stopping projects. Just like in the fight against Big Tobacco or <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear">nuclear power</a>, we're going to be using the model of local resolutions to beat back the fossil fuel industry everywhere they rear their head. Our goal is to pass hundreds of "Fossil Free" resolutions in cities and towns across the country that ban the construction of new fossil fuel projects. In doing so, we'll help tie up the industry in a web of resistance and helping protect our communities in perpetuity.</p><p>That's job number one: stop all new fossil fuel projects. But playing defense isn't enough—we also want to go on offense to build the world that works for all of us, not just a wealthy few. Which brings us to job number two.</p><p>The second way we're going to fight back in 2018 is driving forward a fast and just transition to 100 percent renewable energy for all.<br></p><p>Together, we're going to use 2018 to build a groundswell for 100 percent renewable energy in cities and towns across America. By the end of the year, our goal is to have won at least 100 commitments from communities to go to 100 percent renewable in a just and equitable way. More than that, we want to show the inevitability of the entire country moving in this direction. That means a lot of public education to show people this world is possible, and a lot of political pressure to make sure that every candidate for elected office has signed onto our goal of 100 percent for all.</p><p>For many climate advocates, the 100 percent piece will seem clear. Over the last decade, advances in renewable energy technology have made it possible to get all of our power from the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">sun</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hydropower">water</a>. New breakthroughs in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">battery storage</a> mean that old concerns about the "reliability" of renewables are quickly fading away. The vision of a carbon-free world is quickly coming into focus.</p><p>But what about the justice and equity piece? We know that our current fossil fuel-based energy system, and all the pollution that comes with it, didn't just get built on a whim. It was enabled by and has perpetuated deep social inequality. While predominantly white, affluent communities can flip on the light switch and still enjoy clean air and water, poorer communities of color are often stuck with a power plant or oil refinery polluting their neighborhoods and threatening their <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/childrens-health">children's health</a>. Meanwhile, because of corporate monopolies and a lack of worker protections, the vast wealth being created by the fossil fuel economy has flowed in one direction: upwards. As fossil fuel billionaires have pocketed ever more profits, workers and entire communities have been left behind. Climate change just exacerbates these pre-existing inequalities. The same communities who have born the brunt of our pollution-based economy are often on the frontlines of climate impacts.</p><p>With the transition to 100 percent renewable energy, we have perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity to rebuild our economy in a more just and equitable way. Through public investments, we can guarantee that it's not just the rich who can afford to put up solar panels, but those who live in public housing or rental units who are first in line for retrofits and upgrades. With worker training programs and the right incentives, we can make sure that there are enough jobs created so that both workers in the fossil fuel industry and those who never had a shot at a good paying, union job, can get employment in the renewables sector. By making sure that everyone has a seat at the table, we can design transition plans that make sure we truly have 100 percent "for all" rather than just the 1 percent.</p><p>That's the work we need to continue in 2018. There are already great 100 percent efforts underway, from <a href="http://sierraclub.org" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>'s "Ready for 100" campaign to the NAACP's "Solar For All" effort. Our job is to double, triple, and quadruple these efforts. Remember those "Fossil Free" resolutions I mentioned above? This is the second piece of that puzzle. As we call on our cities and towns to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure, we'll also ask them to commit to "100 percent for all" and then work with them to make sure they're implementing these plans.</p><p>These two pieces of local resistance, fighting projects and promoting renewables, can make up the bulk of our efforts in 2018, but there's another key way we need to make progress. That's because as beautiful and brilliant our distributed resistance is going to be, we still need a way to strike at the heart of the fossil fuel industry. As we work from the bottom up to flip our energy mix, we also need to hit the industry where it hurts: their pocketbooks.</p><p>The third way we're going to fight back in 2018 is by continuing the fossil fuel divestment movement and ensuring that not a penny more goes to new fossil fuel projects.</p><p>Over the last five years, the fossil fuel divestment campaign has grown from a handful of college campuses to the largest divestment effort in history. By now, nearly 700 institutions representing $6 trillion in assets have made some form of divestment commitment. In December, the trillion dollar Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund announced that it was expanding its coal divestment to include oil and gas. Soon after, the World Bank announced that it was no longer going to finance new oil and gas development.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="be92d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PX5TKD1576661702"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="951176884292857856" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">'Tide Is Turning': Cheers Erupt for NYC's Suit Against Fossil Fuel Giants and Divestment https://t.co/KaBVYn0JmN… https://t.co/hspjQtAHy6</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/951176884292857856">1515613215.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>Perhaps the most amazing series of announcements came just a couple weeks ago. Governor Andrew Cuomo kicked things off by announcing that New York State was going to pursue fossil fuel divestment. Not to be outdone by Albany, Mayor Bill de Blasio took an even bolder step forward, announcing that New York City would not only be divesting from fossil fuels, but also suing the five largest publicly held oil companies for damages caused by climate change. It's hard to overstate the significance of this move. The world's most iconic city and heart of the global financial industry has declared war on fossil fuels.</p><p>It feels like fossil fuel divestment may be reaching a tipping point. With New York city and state taking a steps forward, the excuses for others to hold back are looking increasingly lame, and risky. Oil, coal and gas are quickly becoming the guns and tobacco of the 21st century: investments-non-grata for institutions with a conscience. Even those without a conscience are dropping their stocks, however, since nobody wants to be the last one holding onto fossil fuels when the rest of the world realizes the industry is doomed.</p><p>Our job in 2018 is to push divestment over the top. Every new city, state and institution that makes a divestment commitment helps hasten the day when the entire economy moves away from fossil fuels and into clean energy. Forget trying to engage with fossil fuel companies—we've had three decades of those sorts of efforts and little show for it—it's divestment that will send a clear signal that business as usual is no longer possible. As fossil fuel stocks become increasingly tainted, it will becomes less and less acceptable for banks (who worry deeply about their brands) to finance new coal, oil and gas development, putting the industry in even more of a precarious situation.</p><p>Bring these three pieces together—stopping fossil fuels, building momentum towards 100 percent, and divestment—and we've got ourselves a game plan for 2018. Now here's the timeline. This year, we've got two key dates to work towards.</p><p>The first is Sept. 8, 2018. That's the weekend before the Global Climate Action Summit, a major conference being held in San Francisco to drive forward local action on climate change. The summit is connected with the United Nations climate talks, but instead of focusing on national governments, the meeting in September will focus on the commitments from "non-state actors," i.e. cities, states, investors, businesses and other institutions.</p><p>Our goal is to leverage this summit as a way to drive forward the three demands above: no new fossil fuel infrastructure, 100 percent renewable energy for all, and fossil fuel divestment. Since every one of our mayors and governors is being invited to make a commitment for the summit, every one of them can be pressured to meet our demands before that September deadline. Just to make sure, we're planning a mobilization the weekend before, on Sept. 8, at city halls and state houses across the country. Whether those rallies are a celebration of the commitments our elected officials have made, or a protest demanding they do more, will depend on them.</p><p>After we take to the streets in September, we'll focus on the next key date on the calendar. You guessed it: Nov. 8. If it isn't abundantly clear by now, elections have consequences. We need to make sure that this election day, every single person that cares about climate justice is registered to vote and knocking on doors to send a clear signal to the establishment that we need elected officials who don't just believe in climate change, but are ready to do something about it. Nonprofits that can't engage in electoral activity will be investing in public education and voter registration, while political organizations will be promoting climate champions and taking down deniers and industry puppets. As activists, our job will be to figure out how we can make the biggest difference locally and support any and all national efforts that support our end goals.</p><p>So, let's get to work. <a href="http://bit.ly/fossilfreefast" target="_blank">Fossil Free Fast</a>, the event on Jan. 31, is when the action begins. It's also the perfect opportunity for you to get a group together in your community, or meet up with an existing crew, and lay out your game plan for working on the goals above (and whatever other priorities you want to take on) over the coming year.<br></p><p>2018 isn't a year to sit on the sidelines or behind the comfort of your screen. It's a year to get out and organize. The resistance is everywhere and it's brilliant and beautiful and brave. The deepest thanks to all of your who are already deeply involved in driving it forward. To the rest of you, join us.</p><p><em>Jamie Henn is co-founder and director of strategic communications for the international climate campaign <a href="http://www.350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a>. </em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/01/25/fossil-free-fast-climate-resistance-game-plan-2018" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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'Tide Is Turning': Cheers Erupt for NYC's Suit Against Fossil Fuel Giants and for Divestment
10 January 2018
Energy
350.org
By Andrea Germanos
Climate advocates hailed what they say is a "watershed" moment on Wednesday following two announcements by New York City: that the city would seek to divest its pension funds from fossil fuels within five years, and that it filed suit against give five fossil fuel giants for their role in driving the climate crisis.
<p style="">"This is a first-in-the-nation step to protect our future and our planet—for this generation and the next," said Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.</p><p style="">Stringer <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/20/undeniable-victory-cheers-follow-proposals-divest-massive-new-york-pensions-fossil" target="_blank">announced</a> last month that he would soon bring a proposal to the trustees of the pension funds that included divestment. Following through on that promise, a statement from the city released Wednesday says that he and Mayor Bill de Blasio "will submit a joint resolution to pension fund trustees" to begin the steps needed to purge the funds from the dirty industry, which will first entail an analysis on the financial impacts to be carried out by the City Comptroller's Bureau of Asset Management.</p><p style=""><a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> co-founder Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/951051243908190208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2018%2F01%2F10%2Ftide-turning-cheers-erupt-nycs-suit-against-fossil-fuel-giants-and-divestment" target="_blank">said in a tweet</a> responding to the news that it was "One of the biggest days in 30 years of the climate fight."</p>
<p style="">The city's five pension funds hold $189 billion in assets, and roughly $5 billion of that amount are held in the securities of over 190 fossil fuel companies, the city said.<br></p><p style="">The new lawsuit names BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell and seeks billions of dollars in damages for harm already inflicted on the city as a result of the climate crisis as well for preparing for effects yet to come, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/10/investing/new-york-climate-change-exxon-divest/index.html" target="_blank">including</a> "imminent threats to its property, its infrastructure, and the health and safety of its residents."</p><p style="">New York's lawsuit follows similar suits <a href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/12/20/california-cities-sue-oil-gas-coal-companies-climate-change/" target="_blank">filed</a> by seven cities and counties in California.</p><p>The city's statement references the industry's deliberate misinformation campaign to cover up the effects of fossil fuels.</p><p>"We're bringing the fight against climate change straight to the fossil fuel companies that knew about its effects and intentionally misled the public to protect their profits," de Blasio said in a statement. "As climate change continues to worsen, it's up to the fossil fuel companies whose greed put us in this position to shoulder the cost of making New York safer and more resilient."</p><p style="">Daniel Zarrilli, the city's senior director of Climate Policy and Programs and Chief Resilience officer, echoed that statement, saying, "Today, after a decades-long pattern of deception and denial by fossil fuel companies, New York City is holding them to account. By seeking damages for the investments necessary to protect New Yorkers from the impacts of climate change, and divesting our pension funds from fossil fuel reserves, we are taking the largest action by any city to confront the growing climate crisis and demonstrate the leadership necessary to win this fight against fossil fuels and the damages they've caused."</p><p>Among the state lawmakers praising the city's action was Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger who said, "Divestment sends the clear message that it is no longer acceptable to support companies whose fundamental business model puts our entire society at risk."</p><p style="">Climate campaigners heaped praise on the city as well.</p><p style="">McKibben <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/01/10/new-yorkers-celebrate-nyc-mayor-announces-divestment-fossil-fuels-files-climate" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>, "New York City today becomes a capital of the fight against climate change on this planet."</p><p style="">"With its communities exceptionally vulnerable to a rising sea, the city is showing the spirit for which it's famous: it's not pretending that working with the fossil fuel companies will somehow save the day, but instead standing up to them, in the financial markets and in court," he added.</p><p style="">The announcements also drew praise from Carroll Muffett, president of <a href="http://www.ciel.org/" target="_blank">Center for International Environmental Law</a>, who <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2018/01/10/new-york-city-takes-bolds-steps-protect-new-yorkers-climate-impacts-and-risks" target="_blank">said</a> they marked "a watershed in corporate accountability for climate change and a wake-up call to investors that the risks facing fossil fuel companies are real, material, and rapidly growing."</p><p style="">The city's move also follows New York State's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/20/undeniable-victory-cheers-follow-proposals-divest-massive-new-york-pensions-fossil" target="_blank">announcement</a> last month that it was putting forth a "a de-carbonization roadmap" that included divesting from fossil fuels.</p><p style="">With NYC becoming the first major U.S. city to call for divestment—a call more than 800 institutions have <a href="https://gofossilfree.org/divestment/commitments/" target="_blank">heeded</a>—and a growing number of municipalities filing suit against the industry, climate activists say it's clear "the global tide is turning."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed" style="">
</p><div id="3a193" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="GAPQMR1576661703"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="951163494199713792" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“Justice also means that the corporations who did the most to get us into this mess will have to pay their true sha… https://t.co/7uyiHpSWgV</div> — 350 dot org (@350 dot org)<a href="https://twitter.com/350/statuses/951163494199713792">1515610023.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p style="">According to Betámia Coronel, U.S. reinvestment coordinator at 350.org, "Divesting our city's pensions from the dirtiest companies is an enormous hard-won first step; holding companies like Exxon accountable for their role in climate deception is next. Today's announcement is a rallying signal to cities all over the world that the dawn of a fossil free world has arrived."<br></p><p style="">"The signal is clear," McKibben added in <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/applaud-mayor-de-blasio-nyc-climate-leadership-article-1.3748536?cid=bitly" target="_blank">an op-ed</a>. "The oil industry is not the future, it's the past. And indeed it will be held responsible for what it's done in the past: namely, push climate denial when it knew the truth."</p><p style="">"They should light up the Empire State Building in green tonight—for the money the city is going to save, and for the planet it will help protect in the process," he concluded.</p><p style=""> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/01/10/tide-turning-cheers-erupt-nycs-suit-against-fossil-fuel-giants-and-divestment" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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Neighborhood homes destroyed in the Thomas Fire burning in the Ventura area of California. KTLA / Twitter
By Joe Sandler Clarke and Unearthed reporters
From the finest American journalism chronicling the worst excesses of the Trump administration to international stories showing the impact of climate change on the developing world, here are the stories we wish we had written this year.
<p><strong><u><span></span>On our changing climate</u></strong></p><p><strong>Alaska's permafrost is no longer permanent</strong> – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/climate/alaska-permafrost-thawing.html?_r=0" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, Henry Fountain <a href="https://twitter.com/henryfountain" target="_blank">@henryfountain</a></p><p>This striking New York Times piece is one of those rare pieces of journalism that communicates an issue so effectively and with such clarity that the reader is able to immediately grasp the complex <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> that too often makes environmental journalism impenetrable.</p><p><strong>The perfect storm</strong> – <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/the-perfect-storm/" target="_blank">Reveal</a></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a> pummelled Houston in August, and Reveal reporter Neena Satija was there to document the city's unpreparedness for the storm. This piece is a follow-up to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/houston/" target="_blank">Hell and High Water</a>, the extraordinary 2016 joint investigation by ProPublica, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2017/08/31/devastation-houstons-fifth-ward-and-trouble-rebuilding/" target="_blank">The Texas Tribune</a> and Reveal.</p><p><strong>One of the clearest signs of climate change in Hurricanes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-maria">Maria</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-irma">Irma</a>, and Harvey was the rain</strong> – <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/9/28/16362522/hurricane-maria-2017-irma-harvey-rain-flooding-climate-change" target="_blank">Vox</a>, Umair Irfan <a href="https://twitter.com/umairfan" target="_blank">@<strong>umairfan</strong></a></p><p>We were crying out for a piece of forensic reporting setting out the links between climate change and this summer's storms in the Caribbean and southern America, and Umair Irfan delivered. This is the kind of explanatory journalism Vox excels at.</p><p><strong>The U.S. flooded one of Houston's richest neighborhoods to save everyone else </strong> <em>– </em><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-11-16/the-u-s-flooded-one-of-houston-s-richest-neighborhoods-to-save-everyone-else" target="_blank">Bloomberg Businessweek</a>, Shannon Sims <a href="https://twitter.com/shannongsims" target="_blank">@<strong>shannongsims</strong></a></p><p>Another piece on the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. This cover story from Bloomberg Businessweek gives an insight into what a natural disaster looks like in one of America's most important economic areas. As Sims herself said, this is an article about "what justice looks like in a changing climate."</p><p><strong>Why climate change is creating a new generation of child brides</strong> – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/26/climate-change-creating-generation-of-child-brides-in-africa" target="_blank">The Observer</a>, Gethin Chamberlain <a href="https://twitter.com/newsandpics" target="_blank">@newsandpics</a></p><p>Stories that connect climate change with real human consequences should be the gold standard of environmental reporting. This piece from the Observer does just that, showing how increased <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought">droughts</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">floods</a> are forcing farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to give away their daughters to stay out of poverty.</p><p><strong>'Not a single thing was dry': Mumbai's residents count the cost of floods</strong> – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/mumbai-residents-count-cost-rain-floods" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, Amrit Dhillon and Carlin Carr</p><p>Devastating floods in South Asia made for one of the most dramatic environmental stories this year. In this piece, Mumbai residents talk to the Guardian about facing up to the torrential rains.<br></p><p><strong>Mapped: How UK foreign aid is spent on climate change</strong> – <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-how-uk-foreign-aid-is-spent-climate-change" target="_blank">Carbon Brief</a>, Rosamund Pearce <a href="https://twitter.com/@_rospearce" target="_blank">@_rospearce</a> and Leo Hickman <a href="https://twitter.com/@LeoHickman" target="_blank">@LeoHickman</a></p><p>Rich countries are providing aid to help developing nations adapt to climate change. But how much is being spent? Who is spending it? And where is the money going? Back in October, Carbon Brief set out to answer these questions. A month later, they also mapped how <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/mapped-where-multilateral-climate-funds-spend-their-money" target="_blank">multilateral climate funds spend their money</a>.</p><p><strong><u>On Trump</u></strong></p><p><strong>Under Trump, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa">EPA</a>) has slowed actions against polluters, and put limits on enforcement officers</strong> – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/us/politics/pollution-epa-regulations.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news" target="_blank">New York Times,</a> Eric Lipton <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLiptonNYT" target="_blank">@EricLiptonNYT</a> and Danielle Ivory <a href="https://twitter.com/danielle_ivory" target="_blank">@danielle_ivory</a> </p><p>While the president's agenda has largely floundered in Congress, EPA Administrator <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt">Scott Pruitt</a>'s efforts to undo Obama-era environmental rules have happened at a rapid pace. This New York Times piece sets out just what the agency has been up to in the first year of the Trump presidency.</p><p><strong>Why the scariest nuclear threat may be coming from inside the White House</strong> – <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/department-of-energy-risks-michael-lewis" target="_blank">Vanity Fair</a>, Michael Lewis </p><p>Michael Lewis has done some amazing work chronicling the Trump administration. We could easily have picked his piece on the administration's actions against <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/usda-food-stamps-school-lunch-trump-administration" target="_blank">scientists in the U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>. But with the news dominated by fears over North Korea, this look at U.S. nuclear policy at home was timely and fascinating.</p><p><strong>America's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-refugee">climate refugees</a> have been abandoned by Trump</strong> – <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/10/climate-refugees-trump-hud/" target="_blank">Mother Jones</a>, Kyla Mandel <a href="https://twitter.com/kylamandel" target="_blank">@<strong>kylamandel</strong></a></p><p>With Puerto Rico and the Gulf Coast devastated by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes">hurricanes</a> this year, Kyla Mandel reported on the Trump administration's efforts to cut support for American communities at the forefront of climate change.</p><p><strong>Bombs in your backyard</strong> – <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/bombs/#b=35.77748406426424,-147.1318359375,53.8750347692004,-87.1025390625&c=shrink" target="_blank">ProPublica</a></p><p>It turns out that the U.S. military spends more than a billion dollars a year cleaning up sites it has contaminated with explosives and toxic chemicals. Some of these areas are near schools and residential neighborhoods. We know this because<em> </em>ProPublica<em> </em>went ahead and mapped them.</p><p><strong><u>On the shifting energy system</u></strong></p><p><strong>How China floated to the top in solar</strong> – <a href="http://time.com/china-massive-floating-solar-field/" target="_blank">Time</a>, Charlie Campbell <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlieCamp6ell" target="_blank">@CharlieCamp6ell</a></p><p>This was the year the world got serious about green energy, and this feature from Time magazine tells the story of how <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/category/china/" target="_blank">China became a leader in renewable energy</a>. We liked this line from Sang Dajie, a former coal miner who now works on the world's largest floating solar farm: "The coal mine was very hot and the air was bad. But here I feel safe. The new energy is safe."</p><p><strong>The story behind this days-long traffic jam in Mongolia</strong> – <a href="https://qz.com/1129087/chinas-coal-demand-is-causing-a-massive-traffic-jam-in-mongolia/" target="_blank">Quartz</a>, Johnny Simon</p><p>China may be leading the world on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>, but it still loves coal. This photo gallery was a clear illustration of the country's energy conundrum.</p><p><strong>The race to solar-power Africa</strong> – <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/26/the-race-to-solar-power-africa" target="_blank">New Yorker</a>, Bill McKibben <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben" target="_blank">@<strong>billmckibben</strong></a></p><p>Activist and journalist Bill McKibben reported on how American start-ups are competing with Chinese and European firms, and homegrown companies, to provide cheap, reliable power to a continent where fossil fuels have failed to spark development.</p><p><strong>The town that disappeared</strong> – <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/the_town_that_disappeared" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, Jenny Norton</p><p>Across Russia, hundreds of small towns have been abandoned in the past ten years as coal mining becomes increasingly unviable in the country and the fallout from the collapse of the Soviet Union continues.</p><p><strong>Russia-backed hackers try to hijack Britain's power supply</strong> – <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-backed-hackers-try-to-hijack-britain-s-power-supply-55bj9790r#" target="_blank">The Times</a>, Aaron Rogan and Mark Bridge</p><p>Amid the flurry of concern about hacking in the U.S. election, The Times reported in June that Russian hackers attacked networks running the national grid in the UK. A couple of days later, <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9kwg4a/gchq-says-hackers-have-likely-compromised-uk-energy-sector-targets" target="_blank">Motherboard</a>, Vice's sister tech publication, reported that GCHQ believed the hackers had already compromised UK energy sector targets.</p><p><strong><u>On the new and persistent threats to the environment</u></strong></p><p><strong>Series: So I can breathe</strong> – <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38853910" target="_blank">BBC World Service</a></p><p>There have been plenty of <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/category/air-pollution/" target="_blank">air pollution stories</a> in the media over the last 12 months, but this series of programs broadcast across BBC platforms in March caught our eye for reporting on solutions to the global crisis.</p><p><strong>Vladimir's Venezuela: Leveraging loans to Caracas, Moscow snaps up oil assets</strong> – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-russia-oil-specialreport/special-report-vladimirs-venezuela-leveraging-loans-to-caracas-moscow-snaps-up-oil-assets-idUSKBN1AR14U" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, Marianna Parraga and Alexandra Ulmer </p><p>Venezuela's economy is unravelling and, as this special report from Reuters in August shows, the country's socialist government is taking increasingly drastic measures to survive.</p><p><strong>Attack of the bee killers </strong> – <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-lost-colonies-bees-neonicotinoids/" target="_blank">Politico</a>, Giulia Paravicini <a href="https://twitter.com/giuliaparavicin" target="_blank">@giuliaparavicin</a> and Simon Marks <a href="https://twitter.com/MarksSimon" target="_blank">@MarksSimon</a></p><p>2017 saw <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2017/06/29/bees-major-new-study-neonics/" target="_blank">even more scientific research</a> linking <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bees">bee</a> deaths with controversial pesticides called <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/neonicotinoids">neonicotinoids</a>. This piece in Politico methodically and forcefully lays out how <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals">chemical</a> giants Bayer and Syngenta have lobbied EU politicians for years to weaken regulations.</p><p><strong>There's an army of Indian Twitter accounts pushing suspiciously identical pro-mining tweets</strong> – <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/adani-mine-army?utm_term=.fkMdm7kdM#.lv" target="_blank">BuzzFeed,</a> Mark Di Stefano <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef" target="_blank">@MarkDiStef</a></p><p>With Indian mining company Adani seeking support for a controversial <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a> project on the edge of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef">Great Barrier Reef</a>, the company's boss Gautam Adani visited Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in April. As BuzzFeed reported, his visit was wildly cheered on by a bunch of definitely real Indian tweeters who all believed that Adani would bring coal jobs to Queensland.</p><p><strong>A fight for Brazil's Amazon forest</strong> – <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9c750b08-92f0-11e7-83ab-f4624cccbabe" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>, Sue Branford</p><p>Since Michel Temer became president in August 2016, Brazilian politics has been dominated by rollbacks for key environmental and Indigenous protections. In September, as part of the FT's <a href="https://www.ft.com/reports/brazil-road-ahead" target="_blank">'Brazil: the Road Ahead'</a> series, Sue Branford reported on the new scramble for natural resources in the Brazilian Amazon.</p><p><strong>Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally, new research reveals</strong> – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/13/environmental-defenders-being-killed-in-record-numbers-globally-new-research-reveals" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, Jonathan Watts <a href="https://twitter.com/jonathanwatts" target="_blank">@jonathanwatts</a> and John Vidal <a href="https://twitter.com/john_vidal" target="_blank">@<strong>john_vidal</strong></a></p><p>Protecting the environment is an increasingly dangerous thing to do. This research by <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defenders-earth/" target="_blank">Global Witness</a> found that in 2016, 200 environmental activists and others protecting their land from destructive industries were killed—and the rate only increased in 2017. This story launched <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/the-defenders" target="_blank">The Defenders</a>, an ongoing collaboration between the Guardian and Global Witness tracking such killings.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2017/12/26/best-environmental-journalism-of-2017/" target="_blank">Unearthed</a>.</em></p>
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Definers Public Affairs, Group Known for Stalking and Harassing Climate Advocates, Hired by EPA to Run Media War Room
18 December 2017
Popular
Joe Pounder, president of Definers Public Affairs, at Web Summit 2017 in Portugal. Web Summit / Flickr
By Graham Readfearn
A Republican-aligned research group with links to a campaign to stalk and intimidate environmental groups, journalists and campaigners has been handed a $120,000 contract to help the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shape its media coverage.
Virginia-based Definers Public Affairs was given the 12-month "no bid" contract to provide "news analysis and brief service" to the EPA, as reported by Mother Jones.
<p style="">Definers is the corporate arm of <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/america-rising-llc-pac-america-rising-squared-definers-public-affairs" target="_blank">America Rising LLC</a>, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/america-rising-llc-pac-america-rising-squared-definers-public-affairs" target="_blank">America Rising PAC</a> and its opposition research and tracking service, <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/america-rising-llc-pac-america-rising-squared-definers-public-affairs" target="_blank">America Rising Squared</a>—known as AR2.</p><p style=""><strong>Republican Activists</strong></p><p style=""><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/america-rising-llc-pac-america-rising-squared-definers-public-affairs" target="_blank">Definers </a>Public Affairs was founded and launched in 2015 by America Rising founders Matt Rhoades and Joe Pounder.</p><p>Pounder is a Republican strategist and former research director for the Republican National Committee and worked on Marco Rubio's failed 2016 nomination campaign. Rhoades was Mitt Romney's campaign manager in 2012.</p><p style=""><strong>Green Attack Plan </strong></p><p>America Rising <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/05/25/introducing-america-rising-squared-republicans-creepy-new-assault-climate-action" target="_blank">ran a concerted campaign to attack environmentalists and targeted individuals</a> such as climate campaigner Bill McKibben, who was followed and filmed by the group's trackers. </p><p style="">Others targeted with attack tactics and adverts include billionaire philanthropist and environmentalist <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/conservative-group-plans-to-go-after-steyer/article/2589925" target="_blank">Tom Steyer</a> and New Yorker journalist <a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/01/america-rising-pac-sets-sights-for-koch-chronicler-jane-mayer-218081" target="_blank">Jane Mayer</a>, whose work has uncovered the influences of petrochemical billionaires and Republican donors <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/koch-brothers">Charles and David Koch</a>.</p><p>Brian Rogers, an <a href="http://www.arsquared.org/america-rising-squared-ar2-names-brian-rogers-new-executive-director/" target="_blank">executive director</a> at AR2 and a senior vice president at Definers, said his campaign would "hold Steyer and the Environmentalist Left accountable for their epic hypocrisy and extreme positions which threaten America's future prosperity."</p><p style="">Speaking about the accusations leveled at him, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/james-okeefe-accidentally-stings-himself" target="_blank">Steyer said</a>, "They have to know they're lying. It's completely dishonest, unethical, and pitiful. And it's creepy."</p><p style="">America Rising <a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/01/america-rising-pac-sets-sights-for-koch-chronicler-jane-mayer-218081" target="_blank">attempted to discredit Mayer</a> by alleging a distant relative that worked for Lehmann Brothers once did business with Nazi Germany—an accusation that was shown to be without any evidence.</p><p style="">One of the group's earliest targets was 350.org founder McKibben, who wrote about his experience in the New York Times. Describing the photos and videos taken of him, McKibben wrote:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"In one series, my groceries are being packed into plastic bags, as I'd forgotten to bring cloth ones. In other shots, I am getting in and out of … cars. There are video snippets of me giving talks, or standing on the street. Sometimes I see the cameraman, sometimes I don't. The images are often posted to Twitter, reminders that I'm being watched."</p><p>America Rising also sent an operative to Texas Tech University to request copies of everything in the 54 boxes that make up an archive of McKibben's papers. This, said McKibben, "resulted in all kinds of odd things appearing on right-wing corners of the web."</p><p style=""><strong>Global War Room</strong></p><p>An EPA spokesperson told Mother Jones the Definers contract was "for media monitoring/newsclip compilation."</p><p>According to Mother Jones, the contract would include EPA using the <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3d6ea3_39967c97020043f58795c3bbf924f3bf.pdf" target="_blank">Definers War Room</a> console that helps clients track media coverage and the output of opponents.</p><p>In November 2017, it was <a href="https://www.dentons.com/en/whats-different-about-dentons/connecting-you-to-talented-lawyers-around-the-globe/news/2017/november/dentons-announces-strategic-alliance-to-create-3d-global-affairs" target="_blank">announced that Definers had joined law firm Denton's</a> to launch a global research firm called 3D Global Affairs.</p><p style="">Among the services offered at 3D Global Affairs would be "governmental relations and lobbying support to shape the environment" and "communications and rapid response professionals to direct the narrative."<br></p><p style=""><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/15/definers-public-affairs-group-known-stalking-and-harassing-climate-advocates-hired-epa-run-media-war-room" target="_blank">DeSmogBlog</a>.</em></p>
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