A truck spreads lime on a meadow to increase the soil's fertility in Yorkshire Dales, UK. Farm Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
As we look for advanced technology to replace our dependence on fossil fuels and to rid the oceans of plastic, one solution to the climate crisis might simply be found in rocks. New research found that dispersing rock dust over farmland could suck billions of tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year, according to the first detailed large scale analysis of the technique, as The Guardian reported.
<p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2448-9" target="_blank">study</a>, published Wednesday in the journal <em>Nature,</em> found the technique could pull enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to remove about half of the amount of that greenhouse gas currently produced by Europe. To put it another way, that would mean pulling more CO2 from the atmosphere than the current total emissions from global aviation and shipping combined, according to a <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/applying-rock-dust-to-croplands-could-absorb-up-to-2-billion-tonnes-of-co2-from-the-atmosphere-research-shows" target="_blank">press release</a> from the University of Sheffield where the study was conducted.</p><p>"Spreading rock dust on agricultural land is a straightforward, practical CO2 drawdown approach with the potential to boost soil health and food production, said David Beerling, director of the Leverhulme Center for Climate Change Mitigation at the University of Sheffield and lead author of the study. "Our analyses reveal the big emitting nations – China, the US, India – have the greatest potential to do this, emphasizing their need to step up to the challenge."</p>
<p>The research showed that if the world's three largest emitters of CO2 — China, the U.S. and India — adopted the practice on a large scale, they could collectively clear about 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/07/08/spreading-rock-dust-ground-could-pull-carbon-air-researchers-say/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The technique of spreading rock on the ground is known as enhanced rock weathering. The researchers took a realistic approach to perform a global analysis of the technique. The researchers say their modeling of enhanced rock weathering is the most realistic yet because it factors in how much rock is available and the energy countries would be willing to use for grinding it up, as <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2248222-a-sprinkle-of-rock-dust-could-help-avoid-catastrophic-climate-change/" target="_blank">The New Scientist</a> reported.</p>
<p>Looking at each country's climate, farmland and energy infrastructure, they found that rock dust could remove between 0.5 and 2 gigatons of CO2 annually by 2050. Right now, global dependence on fossil fuels emits around 35 gigatons of CO2 each year, according to The New Scientist.</p><p>Enhanced rock weathering is a system where crushed rock is layered into the soil. As The Washington Post explained, when silicate or carbonate minerals in the dust dissolve in rain, carbon dioxide is drawn from the atmosphere into the solution to form bicarbonate ions. The bicarbonate ions then run off into the ocean, where they form carbonate minerals and store their carbon indefinitely.</p><p>The Guardian noted that while researchers are clear that the most important step to fighting the climate crisis is drastically reducing emissions, a reduction in emissions won't be enough to keep the world from breaking the targets of the Paris agreement keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius. In order to achieve lasting success, the excess carbon in the atmosphere also needs to be removed.</p>
<p>"We have passed the safe level of greenhouse gases. Cutting fossil fuel emissions is crucial, but we must also extract atmospheric CO2 with safe, secure and scalable carbon dioxide removal strategies to bend the global CO2 curve and limit future climate change," said James Hansen, a partner in the study and director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program at Columbia University's Earth Institute, in a press release. "The advantage of CO2 removal with crushed silicate rocks is that it could restore deteriorating top-soils, which underpin food security for billions of people, thereby incentivizing deployment."</p><p>The researchers say that enhanced rock weathering has several advantages, according to The Guardian. First, many farmers already add limestone dust to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil">soils</a> to reduce acidification, and adding other rock dust improves fertility and crop yields, meaning the application could be both routine and desirable.</p><p>"CO2 drawdown strategies that can scale up and are compatible with existing land uses are urgently required to combat climate change, alongside deep emissions cuts," said Beerling. "Enhanced rock weathering is a straightforward, practical approach."</p>
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Although natural gas produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants than coal or oil, it is a major contributor to climate change, an urgent global problem. Skitterphoto / PIxabay
By Emily Grubert
Natural gas is a versatile fossil fuel that accounts for about a third of U.S. energy use. Although it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants than coal or oil, natural gas is a major contributor to climate change, an urgent global problem. Reducing emissions from the natural gas system is especially challenging because natural gas is used roughly equally for electricity, heating, and industrial applications.
<p>There's an emerging argument that maybe there could be a direct substitute for fossil natural gas in the form of renewable natural gas (RNG) – a renewable fuel designed to be nearly indistinguishable from fossil natural gas. RNG could be made from biomass or from captured carbon dioxide and electricity.</p><p>Based on what's known about these systems, however, I believe climate benefits might not be as large as advocates claim. This matters because RNG isn't widely used yet, and decisions about whether to invest in it are being made now, in places like <a href="https://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/blog/influx-of-california-rng-fuels-local-economy-protects-climate" target="_blank">California</a>, <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/energy/Get-Involved/Pages/RNG-Advisory-Committee.aspx" target="_blank">Oregon</a>, <a href="http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/15172/inslee-signs-bill-to-promote-rng-in-state-of-washington" target="_blank">Washington</a>, <a href="https://energynews.us/2019/12/03/midwest/michigan-utilities-see-role-for-renewable-natural-gas-but-cost-barrier-remains/" target="_blank">Michigan</a>, <a href="https://investor.southerncompany.com/information-for-investors/latest-news/latest-news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Southern-Company-Gas-grows-leadership-team-to-focus-on-climate-action-innovation-and-renewable-natural-gas-strategy/default.aspx" target="_blank">Georgia</a> and <a href="https://www.epa.gov/natural-gas-star-program/rng-interconnect-guideline-new-york" target="_blank">New York</a>.</p><p>As someone who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3RI02dcAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">sustainability</a>, I research how decisions made now might influence the environment and society in the future. I'm particularly interested in how energy systems contribute to climate change.</p><p>Right now, energy is responsible for most of the pollution worldwide that <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/" target="_blank">causes climate change</a>. Since energy infrastructure, like power plants and pipelines, <a href="http://emilygrubert.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/eia_860_2017_map.html" target="_blank">lasts a long time</a>, it's important to consider the climate change emissions that society <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1364-3" target="_blank">is committing to</a> with new investments in these systems. At the moment, renewable natural gas is more a proposal than reality, which makes this a great time to ask: What would investing in RNG mean for climate change?</p>
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What RNG Is and Why it Matters
<p>Most equipment that uses energy can only use a single kind of fuel, but the fuel might come from different resources. For example, you can't charge your computer with gasoline, but it can run on electricity generated from coal, natural gas or solar power.</p><p>Natural gas is almost pure methane, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/" target="_blank">currently sourced</a> from raw, fossil natural gas produced from <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/where-our-natural-gas-comes-from.php" target="_blank">deposits deep underground</a>. But methane could come from renewable resources, too.</p><p><span></span>Two main methane sources could be used to make RNG. First is <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks" target="_blank">biogenic methane</a>, produced by bacteria that digest organic materials in manure, landfills and wastewater. Wastewater treatment plants, landfills and dairy farms have captured and used biogenic methane as an energy resource for <a href="http://emilygrubert.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/eia_860_2017_map.html" target="_blank">decades</a>, in a form usually called <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/biomass/landfill-gas-and-biogas.php" target="_blank">biogas</a>.</p><p>Some biogenic methane is generated naturally when organic materials break down without oxygen. Burning it for energy can be beneficial for the climate if doing so prevents methane from escaping to the atmosphere.</p><p>In theory, there's enough of this climate-friendly methane available to replace <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9335/meta" target="_blank">about 1% of the energy</a> that the current natural gas system provides. The largest share is found at landfills.</p><p>The other source for RNG doesn't exist in practice yet, but could theoretically be a much larger resource than biogenic methane. Often called <a href="https://www.powermag.com/why-power-to-gas-may-flourish-in-a-renewables-heavy-world/" target="_blank">power-to-gas</a>, this methane would be intentionally manufactured from carbon dioxide and hydrogen using electricity. If all the inputs are climate-neutral – meaning, for example, that the electricity used to create the RNG is generated from resources without greenhouse gas emissions – then the combusted RNG would also be climate-neutral.</p><p>So far, RNG of either type isn't widely available. Much of the current conversation focuses on whether and how to make it available. For example, <a href="https://www.sempra.com/socalgas-takes-next-step-toward-offering-renewable-natural-gas" target="_blank">SoCalGas in California</a>, <a href="https://energynews.us/2019/01/30/midwest/minnesota-utility-wants-to-offer-customers-renewable-natural-gas-option/" target="_blank">CenterPoint Energy in Minnesota and Vermont Gas Systems in Vermont</a> either offer or have proposed offering RNG to consumers, in the same way that many utilities allow customers to opt in to renewable electricity.</p>
Renewable Isn’t Always Sustainable
<p>If RNG could be a renewable replacement for fossil natural gas, why not move ahead? Consumers have shown that they are <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/green-power.html" target="_blank">willing to buy renewable electricity</a>, so we might expect similar enthusiasm for RNG.</p><p>The key issue is that methane isn't just a fuel – it's also a <a href="https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/ghg_report/ghg_overview.php" target="_blank">potent greenhouse gas</a> that contributes to climate change. Any methane that is manufactured intentionally, whether from biogenic or other sources, will contribute to climate change if it enters the atmosphere.</p><p>And <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7204" target="_blank">releases</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.07.029" target="_blank">will happen</a>, from newly built production systems and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-methane-emissions-matter-to-climate-change-5-questions-answered-122684" target="_blank">existing, leaky transportation and user infrastructure</a>. For example, the moment you smell gas before the pilot light on a stove lights the ring? That's methane leakage, and it contributes to climate change.</p><p>To be clear, RNG is almost certainly better for the climate than fossil natural gas because byproducts of burning RNG won't contribute to climate change. But doing somewhat better than existing systems is no longer enough to respond to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2923" target="_blank">urgency</a> of climate change. The world's <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/" target="_blank">primary international body on climate change</a> suggests we need to decarbonize by 2030 to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.</p>Scant Climate Benefits
<p><a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9335/meta" target="_blank">My recent research</a> suggests that for a system large enough to displace a lot of fossil natural gas, RNG is probably not as good for the climate as <a href="https://investor.southerncompany.com/information-for-investors/latest-news/latest-news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Southern-Company-Gas-grows-leadership-team-to-focus-on-climate-action-innovation-and-renewable-natural-gas-strategy/default.aspx" target="_blank">is publicly claimed</a>. Although RNG has lower climate impact than its fossil counterpart, likely high demand and methane leakage mean that it probably will contribute to climate change. In contrast, renewable sources such as wind and solar energy do not <a href="https://www.eia.gov/environment/emissions/carbon/" target="_blank">emit climate pollution directly</a>.</p><p>What's more, creating a large RNG system would require building mostly new production infrastructure, since RNG comes from different sources than fossil natural gas. Such investments are both long-term commitments and opportunity costs. They would devote money, political will and infrastructure investments to RNG instead of alternatives that could achieve a zero greenhouse gas emission goal.</p><p>When climate change first <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html" target="_blank">broke into the political conversation</a> in the late 1980s, investing in long-lived systems with low but non-zero greenhouse gas emissions was still compatible with aggressive climate goals. Now, zero greenhouse gas emissions is the target, and my research suggests that large deployments of RNG likely won't meet that goal.</p>From Your Site Articles
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More than 200 Indigenous Nations demonstrated against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Canon Ball, ND on Sept. 2, 2016. Joe Brusky / Flickr
A federal judge ruled Monday that the controversial Dakota Access pipeline must be shut down and drained of oil until a full environmental review of the project is completed.
<p>The decision is a major victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/historic-day-for-standing-rock-as-pipeline-company-told-to-shut-down-remove-oil-KkDdhNzafUONvPvkmBc66A" target="_blank">Indian Country Today reported</a>. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe fears the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a> will pollute their <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a> and sacred lands if it leaks from where it flows beneath the Missouri River, and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation sits adjacent to the Standing Rock Sioux and the river.</p><p>"Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline," Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Mike Faith said in a <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/judge-orders-dakota-access-pipeline-to-shut-down" target="_blank">press release from Earthjustice</a>, the group that litigated the case. "This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning."</p>
<div id="348d2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="744af6e4e53916e3c963b0271aa1c6b3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280155991833706497" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Breaking: Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline to be SHUT DOWN! #NoDAPL #ProtectTheSacred https://t.co/UxhUgdfA2Q</div> — Indigenous Environmental Network (@Indigenous Environmental Network)<a href="https://twitter.com/IENearth/statuses/1280155991833706497">1594047947.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The ruling is also a major blow to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas" target="_self">oil and gas</a> industry and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="_self">Trump administration</a>, which has pushed to keep major pipeline projects like the Dakota Access and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl" target="_self">Keystone XL</a> afloat. It comes less than 24 hours after Dominion and Duke Energy <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-canceled-2646347475.html" target="_self">announced</a> they were cancelling their planned <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline" target="_self">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a> because extensive legal challenges had led to delays and uncertainty. Together, the pipelines' fates bode ill for the future prospects of large-scale <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/energy" target="_self">energy</a> pipeline projects, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-06/demise-of-gas-project-shows-u-s-pipelines-becoming-unbuildable" target="_blank">Bloomberg pointed out</a>.</p><p>"I would expect this to be a turning point for new investment," Katie Bays, co-founder of Washington-based Sandhill Strategy LLC, told Bloomberg. "There is real investor fatigue around this parade of legal and regulatory headwinds to energy projects."</p>
<p>The decision by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to shut down the pipeline marks the first time that a judge has closed an operating pipeline for environmental reasons, Southern Methodist University energy law professor James W. Coleman told Bloomberg.</p><p>"The Court does not reach its decision with blithe disregard for the lives it will affect," Boasberg wrote Monday, as <a href="https://apnews.com/be393de49dae81a2198ef30976212290" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. "Yet, given the seriousness of the Corps' NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) error, the impossibility of a simple fix, the fact that Dakota Access did assume much of its economic risk knowingly, and the potential harm each day the pipeline operates, the Court is forced to conclude that the flow of oil must cease."</p>
<p>In its press release, Earthjustice pointed out that a full environmental review could take several years, and then additional permits would have to be issued, meaning the ultimate permitting decision might be made by another administration.</p><p>But the pipeline's owner Energy Transfer vowed to challenge Boasberg's decision.</p><p>"We believe that the ruling issued this morning from Judge Boasberg is not supported by the law or the facts of the case. Furthermore, we believe that Judge Boasberg has exceeded his authority in ordering the shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been safely operating for more than three years," Energy Transfer spokesperson Lisa Coleman said in a statement to <a href="https://pgjonline.com/news/2020/07-july/energy-transfer-vows-to-keep-dakota-access-oil-flowing" target="_blank"><em>Pipeline & Gas Journal</em></a>. "We will be immediately pursuing all available legal and administrative processes and are confident that once the law and full record are fully considered Dakota Access Pipeline will not be shut down and that oil will continue to flow."</p><p>Earthjustice staff attorney Jan Hasselman, who represented the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, noted on Twitter that Energy Transfer had already filed an appeal.</p>
<div id="e2278" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="355c2287182da682e80cc16f070c3738"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280275895228305409" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Well, that didn't take long: DAPL just filed its appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal seeking to overturn th… https://t.co/lav9hmwlIU</div> — Jan Hasselman (@Jan Hasselman)<a href="https://twitter.com/JanHasselman/statuses/1280275895228305409">1594076534.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile pipeline currently carries 570,000 barrels of oil a day from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois, according to The Associated Press. It was the subject of high-profile <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous" target="_self">Indigenous</a>-led <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/what-standing-rock-gave-world-2549906333.html" target="_self">protests</a> in 2016 and 2017.</p><p>In <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/army-corps-permit-dakota-access-pipeline-2128363393.html" target="_self">December 2016</a>, the Obama administration and the Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit for the pipeline, and the Army Corps was set to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement to seek alternative routes. But when he came into office in January, President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-dakota-access-pipeline-2211697835.html" target="_self">sped up</a> the pipeline approval process via executive order and the review was never completed. The pipeline began operating in June 2017, according to The Associated Press, but the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe continued to fight it in court.</p><p>Judge Boasberg <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/dakota-access-pipeline-environmental-review-2645577384.html" target="_self">ordered a full review</a> in late March of this year and asked both the Army Corps and the Standing Rock Sioux to submit briefs explaining why the pipeline should or should not continue to operate while the review was taking place. On Monday, he sided with the tribe.</p><p>"I applaud the actions of the US District Court in finding what we knew all along, that this pipeline, like many other actions taken by the US government, is in fact illegally operating," Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Frazier said in a statement reported by Indian Country Today. "The fact that this operation had been operating illegally for three years before this conclusion was finally made shows you the power that money holds on the American government."</p>
<div id="ed115" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5ddb18e2f74bd9e197943aee19fd1cbd"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280288707585720321" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I have been getting "congratulations" today. Today was about our planet and everything for which she provides life.… https://t.co/m3lwwbikhj</div> — CRSTChairman (@CRSTChairman)<a href="https://twitter.com/CRSTChairman/statuses/1280288707585720321">1594079589.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Members of the Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative hiked into the George Washington National Forest to document tree felling for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Ben Cunningham / YouTube
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), which would have carried fracked natural gas through 600 miles of West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, will never be completed.
<p>Pipeline owners Dominion and Duke Energy <a href="https://news.dominionenergy.com/2020-07-05-Dominion-Energy-and-Duke-Energy-Cancel-the-Atlantic-Coast-Pipeline" target="_blank">announced</a> Sunday they were cancelling the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> project due to mounting delays and uncertainty. They said the many legal challenges to the project had driven up the projected costs by almost half, from $4.5 to $5 billion when it was first announced in 2014 to $8 billion according to the most recent estimate.</p><p>Environmental and community groups, who have long opposed the project on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> and racial justice grounds, welcomed the news.</p>
<p>"If anyone still had questions about whether or not the era of fracked gas was over, this should answer them," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. "Today is a historic victory for clean water, the climate, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a>, and our communities. Duke and Dominion did not decide to cancel the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — the people and frontline organizations that led this fight for years forced them into walking away. Today's victory reinforces that united communities are more powerful than the polluting corporations that put profits over our health and future."</p>
<div id="7760c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="02fa5b9ea441fd87a18bdc09cdeb8193"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1279897090894835721" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">VICTORY! Dominion and Duke Energy abandon the Atlantic Coast Pipeline https://t.co/hJhEdmooRj #NoACP #breakingnews https://t.co/iqavGTa4nr</div> — SELC (Environmental Law) (@SELC (Environmental Law))<a href="https://twitter.com/selc_org/statuses/1279897090894835721">1593986220.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The utilities' announcement comes a little less than three weeks after the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a> scored an important legal victory when the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-appalachian-trail-supreme-court-2646182413.html" target="_self">Supreme Court ruled</a> that it could pass beneath the Appalachian Trail. But environmental groups at the time pointed out that the project still needed eight other permits.</p><p>Early this year, a federal court <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-black-community-2644561804.html" target="_self">vacated</a> a permit the pipeline needed to build a natural gas compressor station in Union Hill, a historic Black community in Virginia, after community members successfully argued that it would disproportionately harm the health of the mainly African American residents who lived nearby.</p><p>"We the People have overcome today!" <a href="http://www.friendsofbuckinghamva.org/friends/" target="_blank">Friends of Buckingham</a>, a community group instrumental to the compressor opposition, tweeted Sunday. "Many many hands, hearts n minds are singing it out!"</p>
<div id="edad6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cb21ef5fa539806d655539c27c675b7d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1279886821510479877" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">David & Goliath. We the People have overcome today! Many many hands, hearts n minds are singing it out!… https://t.co/kaqRMQJrH2</div> — Friends of Buckingham (@Friends of Buckingham)<a href="https://twitter.com/FriendsofBucki1/statuses/1279886821510479877">1593983772.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Courts have also tossed permits over the pipeline's plans to cut a visible scar through the forest as it crosses beneath the Blue Ridge Parkway, its crossing of more than 1,500 streams and rivers in West Virginia and its impact on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a> like the Indiana bat and Madison cave isopod, <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/atlantic-coast-pipeline-risky-and-costly-and-unnecessary" target="_blank">Sierra Magazine pointed out in 2019</a>.</p><p>"All of the ACP's problems are entirely self-inflicted," Greg Buppert, a senior attorney for the <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center</a>, told Sierra Magazine at the time. "It was never a good idea to build this pipeline through two national forests, a national park, across the Appalachian Trail, and through the steepest mountains in West Virginia."</p><p>But the legal climate described by Duke and Dominion in their statement reflects the growing vulnerability of all fossil fuel pipeline projects. The utilities' cited as a major challenge the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/keystone-xl-pipeline-waterways-endangered-species-2645978077.html" target="_self">decision</a> of the United States District Court for the District of Montana cancelling Nationwide Permit 12, a stream-and wetland-crossing permit used by the Army Corps of Engineers to fast-track infrastructure projects. The ruling was prompted by a legal challenge to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl" target="_self">Keystone XL</a> pipeline in particular, but it ended up cancelling the permit for all new oil and gas pipeline projects without further review of their impact on endangered species.</p>
<p>"We regret that we will be unable to complete the Atlantic Coast Pipeline," Dominion and Duke Energy chairs, presidents, and chief executive officers Thomas F. Farrell, II and Lynn J. Good said in Sunday's statement. "For almost six years we have worked diligently and invested billions of dollars to complete the project and deliver the much-needed infrastructure to our customers and communities. Throughout we have engaged extensively with and incorporated feedback from local communities, labor and industrial leaders, government and permitting agencies, environmental interests and social justice organizations. We express sincere appreciation for the tireless efforts and important contributions made by all who were involved in this essential project. This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States. Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country's energy needs will be significantly challenged."</p><p>But the pipeline's opponents insist that pipelines like the ACP are not in fact necessary to meet the country's energy needs.</p><p>"The costly and unneeded Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have threatened waterways and communities across its 600-mile path," <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> attorney Gillian Giannetti said in a statement reported by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/business/atlantic-coast-pipeline-cancel-dominion-energy-berkshire-hathaway.html#new_tab" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "As they abandon this dirty pipe dream, Dominion and Duke should now pivot to investing more in energy efficiency, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind" target="_self">wind</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" target="_self">solar</a> — that's how to provide jobs and a better future for all."</p>
<div id="380f1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dfd22eb3c95f7d1f1f8c8c3d3150891a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1279966961657659398" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Today's changes to the @ACPipeline #wiki are pretty remarkable. #was #cancelled https://t.co/iiouuZRazQ</div> — Gillian Giannetti (@Gillian Giannetti)<a href="https://twitter.com/GillianEnergy/statuses/1279966961657659398">1594002878.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>But someone still thinks there is money in fossil fuels. Also on Sunday, Dominion Energy announced that it was selling its natural gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire Hathaway Energy for an estimated $10 billion, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063511423" target="_blank">E&E News reported</a>.</p>
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Climate campaigners and Indigenous peoples across Canada have spent the past several years protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline. Mark Klotz / Flickr / cc
By Elana Sulakshana
Rainforest Action Network recently uncovered a document that lists the 11 companies that are currently insuring the controversial Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline in Canada. These global insurance giants are providing more than USD$500 million in coverage for the massive risks of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, and they're also lined up to cover the expansion project.
<p>The existing Trans Mountain pipeline is a major environmental and public health hazard with a <a href="https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/frequently_asked_questions_regarding_the_kinder_morgan_pipeline_proposal" target="_blank">long history of disastrous spills</a>. Earlier this month, 50,000 gallons of crude oil <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trans-mountain-pipeline-oil-spill-british-columbia-2646173087.html" target="_self">spilled</a> from a pump station located above an aquifer that supplies the Sumas First Nation with drinking water.</p>
<p>The Trans Mountain Expansion Project would multiply these risks tremendously. Though it is officially called an "expansion," this is no minor renovation. The Canadian government, which owns Trans Mountain, is attempting to build a parallel pipeline that would ship more than 890,000 barrels per year of highly-polluting tar sands crude oil to the coast of British Columbia.</p><p>For more than a decade, the expansion of Trans Mountain has been delayed in the face of powerful, Indigenous-led resistance on the ground and in the courts. It has not secured the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous communities that are directly in the pipeline's route. Right now, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Squamish Nation, and Coldwater Indian Band are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/trans-mountain-tmx-first-nations-supreme-court-1.5525266" target="_blank">actively engaged in legal challenges</a> on the project, and <a href="http://tinyhousewarriors.com/" target="_blank">land defenders</a> are asserting their rights and title along the route. </p><p>Furthermore, pushing forward this project flies in the face of Canada's commitment to cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. To keep global warming under 1.5ºC, we must stop expanding tar sands — and all fossil fuels — and instead invest in a just transition to phase out existing operations. </p>
<p>In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the government and corporations are doubling down on their destructive plans to build new fossil fuel projects. Bulldozers that are laying the initial pipe on Trans Mountain have not quieted, even though this construction poses <a href="http://www.tinyhousewarriors.com/2020/04/shut-down-the-man-camps/" target="_blank">major risks</a> to Indigenous and rural communities in its path, as well as workers that are housed together in close quarters. In Alberta, <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/05/13/news/alberta-didnt-contain-it-covid-19-outbreak-oilsands-camp-has-spread-across-country" target="_blank">viral outbreaks</a> have been linked to<a href="http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/un-special-rapporteur-oil-gas-mining-operations-brings-increased-sexual-violence/" target="_blank"> man camps </a>at tar sands extraction sites, and yet the province's energy minister <a href="https://www.coastmountainnews.com/news/gathering-limits-make-it-a-great-time-to-be-building-a-pipeline-alberta-minister/" target="_blank">proclaimed</a> that now is a great time to construct a pipeline, due to social distancing protocols that limit public protest. </p><p>The risks of these pipelines are so great that under federal law, the current pipeline and its expansion are not able to transport any oil without insurance. So if we can stop the flow of insurance money, we can stop the flow of oil.</p><p>We're ramping up the pressure on the insurance companies that are providing critical financial support.</p>
Who’s insuring the pipeline? (2019-2020)
<p>Here's the list of insurance companies that are providing coverage from August 2019 through August 2020:</p><ol><li>Zurich (Switzerland)</li><li>Lloyd's (UK) </li><li>Liberty Mutual (US)</li><li>Chubb (US)</li><li>AIG (US)</li><li>WR Berkley (US)</li><li>Starr (US)</li><li>Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting (Canada)</li><li>Energy Insurance Mutual (US) </li><li>Temple Insurance (Germany), a Canadian member of the Munich Re group</li><li>HDI (Germany), which is owned by Talanx / Hannover Re</li></ol><p>These insurance policies are being arranged by the biggest insurance broker in the world: Marsh. Fun fact: Marsh is also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/mar/04/worlds-largest-insurance-broker-under-pressure-over-support-for-adani-and-other-coal-projects" target="_blank">currently under fire</a> for facilitating insurance for the Adani Carmicheal coal mine in Australia.</p><p>Trans Mountain's insurance policy is up at the end of August, so we are urgently calling on these companies to:</p><ul><li>Publicly commit to not renew their insurance policy for Trans Mountain for 2020-21;<br></li><li>Moving forward, rule out insurance for all tar sands extraction and transport projects and companies;<br></li><li>Adopt a policy to ensure that projects and companies they insure have obtained the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of impacted communities.</li></ul><p>We've made some progress. In late June, <a href="https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/news/environmental/talanx-group-dropping-support-for-trans-mountain-pipeline-226532.aspx" target="_blank">Talanx indicated</a> that it already dropped the pipeline, and Munich Re signaled that it will not renew its policy. These two German insurers recently adopted policies restricting tar sands business. </p><p>A global coalition of environmental NGOs, First Nations, and insurance campaigners is demanding that the rest of Trans Mountain's insurers follow suit and stop being complicit in the violation of Indigenous rights, spread of COVID-19, and the desecration of sacred waterways and the global climate.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/elana-sulakshana" target="_blank">Elana Sulakshana</a> leads <a href="https://www.ran.org/" target="_blank">Rainforest Action Network</a>'s campaign pressuring the U.S. insurance industry to stop making the climate crisis worse. She has been active in the climate justice movement for the last eight years, most recently organizing for just and equitable climate policy in Washington State, fighting fracking in the U.K., and campaigning for universities to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in communities.</em></p><p><em></em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/07/04/whos-insuring-trans-mountain-pipeline" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A Chesapeake Energy drilling rig is located on farmland near Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 2012. Melanie Stetson Freeman / The Christian Science Monitor / Getty Images
By Eoin Higgins
Climate advocates pointed to news Sunday that fracking giant Chesapeake Energy was filing for bankruptcy as further evidence that the fossil fuel industry's collapse is being hastened by the coronavirus pandemic and called for the government to stop propping up businesses in the field.
<p>"Fracking giant Chesapeake Energy just declared bankruptcy thanks to its massive $9 billion debt," <a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/status/1277644540866965505" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Friends of the Earth. "Meanwhile the Trump administration continues to try and bail out this garbage fire industry with our tax dollars—despite clear risks."</p>
<div id="e5f24" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6e7171f8e2904f47ed8066a7a21bd48a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1277573943340171264" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The poster company for US fracking has fallen. https://t.co/n1MWs3sszT</div> — Andrew Thaler (@Andrew Thaler)<a href="https://twitter.com/DrAndrewThaler/statuses/1277573943340171264">1593432338.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The company, which at its peak in 2008 was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/28/chesapeake-energy-once-power-gas-business-files-bankruptcy" target="_blank">valued</a> at $37 billion, had a market capitalization of just $115 million on Friday.</p><p>"The debt bubble made it unable for Chesapeake to maneuver when the pandemic ruined demand for energy," David Dayen <a href="https://prospect.org/coronavirus/unsanitized-medicare-for-coronavirus/" target="_blank">wrote</a> of the bankruptcy for <em>The American Prospect</em>.</p><p>News reports put most of the blame for the bankruptcy on former CEO Aubrey McClendon, who bought up leases and rights around the country as the fracking industry boomed. </p><p>As <em>Forbes</em> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2020/06/29/chesapeake-energy-finally-succumbs-with-chapter-11-filing/#52549bb56b58" target="_blank">reported</a>, a number of bad business decisions and moves left Chesapeake in bad condition even before gas prices collapsed due to the slowed demand from the pandemic.</p>
<p>According to <em>Forbes</em>:</p><blockquote>As natural gas prices <a title="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/rngwhhdm.htm" href="https://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/rngwhhdm.htm" target="_blank">collapsed in the late 2000s</a>, McClendon next turned to sales of his own company's assets or portions of working interests in big play areas as a means of continuing to finance and pay down that debt. He sold shares of the company's working interests in the Barnett, the Eagle Ford, the Marcellus and the Haynesville to various other players, like <a title="https://bp.com" href="https://bp.com/" target="_blank">BP</a> and <a title="https://cnooc.com" href="https://cnooc.com/" target="_blank">CNOOC</a>, but every sale also meant less and less cash flow coming into the company itself. Many in the business during that time joked about it being a sort of a pyramid scheme in which the debts would ultimately end up outstripping the company's income and ability to pay.<br><br>McClendon also made the decision in 2010-11 to shift Chesapeake's gas-heavy asset mix to one more heavy in liquids. That strategic decision certainly helped during a time of $100 oil prices, but the bust of 2015-16 and the current COVID-19-related price collapse ultimately proved to heavy a burden for current CEO Doug Lawler—who was brought on board in 2013—and his management team to navigate. A company that once had a market cap of over $37 billion at one point in May saw its market cap drop as low as $200 million. A company that once employed over 8,000 individuals today employs around 2,300.</blockquote>
<p>John Thieroff, a senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/31f35631-7b7d-4fa1-8eef-6255bf18cf88?segmentId=b0d7e653-3467-12ab-c0f0-77e4424cdb4c" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>Financial Times</em> Sunday he expected other companies to follow suit.</p><p>"There will no doubt be others to file for bankruptcy in the near term as the sector looks to get out from under the copious amount of debt it took on during the boom," said Thieroff.</p><p>President Donald Trump has weighed bailing out the fossil fuel industry as part of a coronavirus pandemic recovery plan. The plans have been met with stiff resistance from environmental groups like Western Values Project, which <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/05/19/trump-admin-punishes-renewables-while-bailing-out-oil-and-gas" target="_blank">said</a> in May that the move was an example of the White House "using a public health crisis as an excuse to bail out the president's corporate cronies while leaving everyone else to fend for themselves."</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/29/poster-company-us-fracking-has-fallen-chesapeake-energy-files-bankruptcy" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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President Donald Trump welcomes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Sept. 19, 2019, to the Oval Office of the White House. Official White House Photo by Joiyce N. Boghosian
Update, June 29: This post has been updated to include a comment from Facebook.
Facebook is coming under fire again for aiding climate change deniers. The platform opened a fact-checking loophole that allows misinformation to spread widely, even with opposition from scientists.
<p>CO2 Coalition, a non-profit with ties to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" target="_self">Trump</a> administration and <a href="https://grist.org/article/pro-trump-billionaires-continue-to-bankroll-climate-denial/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=90130554&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--JSZ_YavmXMuHDlaLAFe5aoDzat-hYbHarhx9MmTmOfBBwxiLDRzQFT-6kBOLPVFJgm-fMLiAVXKwKZNHDXCBGBw5jtQ&utm_content=90130554&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">funded in part by climate-deniers Mercer and Koch</a>, is at the forefront of the latest dispute, <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/facebook-co2-coalition-fact-checking-ads-fake-content-science-climate-change-1513311" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>The conservative group believes that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> fears are overblown and that burning more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> will ultimately help the planet. They have increasingly used Facebook to reach a bigger audience, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063436369?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=90130554&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_mCEO8iXWqqtkxGAyPXjMFWz_yifSYP3rXmRJZQwD3CSo25klFmUEGgs8MwF3t2AMO6Re8czubHbZh5VAi3uP_zebWfg&utm_content=90130554&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E News</a> reported, and Executive Director Caleb Rossiter said that the current "battle" over climate-related posts serves as a microcosm in the overall "war" over how to reach an audience outside of conservative media.</p>
<p>"You can reach so many people both with your posts and your advertisements," Rossiter said in the news report. "We're kind of like Donald Trump. We're not happy with the treatment we're getting from the mainstream media, we resort to social media. That's where our action is in larger part."</p><p>While the most recent commotion was triggered by a <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/the-great-failure-of-the-climate-models" target="_blank">viral column Rossiter wrote in the Washington Examiner</a>, Facebook already had a complicated history with climate deniers and fact-checking.</p>
<p>In May 2018, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hired a right-wing think tank known for climate misinformation to "figure out whether Facebook displays a liberal bias," <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/facebook-fact-checker-koch-climate-deniers-f5288be4c3f9/" target="_blank">Think Progress</a> reported. In July of the same year, Zuckerberg took additional steps towards allowing misinformation on his platform, saying that "while he won't block fake news from appearing on his site, his fact-checkers would stop it from spreading widely," the news report said.</p><p>In a dilution of that "check-and-balance," Facebook hired fact-checkers with conservative biases and a history of climate misinformation <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/facebook-factchecking-science-climate-denial-2635927165.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" target="_self">in fall of 2017 and again in April 2019</a>.</p>
<p>Climate scientists were encouraged when Facebook partnered with Science Feedback last year in an expansion of their third-party fact-checking program to bring in teams of Ph.D. climate scientists to verify the accuracy of content and to lessen the platform's role in driving viral misinformation, a <a href="https://sciencefeedback.co/science-feedback-partnering-with-facebook-in-fight-against-misinformation/" target="_blank">Science Feedback release</a> stated.</p><p>That optimism was short-lived.</p><p>In August 2019, five Science Feedback scientists reviewed a Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/the-great-failure-of-the-climate-models" target="_blank">column</a> by CO2 Coalition's Rossiter and Patrick Michaels. The column, titled <em>The great failure of the climate models</em>, called climate models showing warming and increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuels "inaccurate," <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/facebook-co2-coalition-fact-checking-ads-fake-content-science-climate-change-1513311" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p><a href="https://climatefeedback.org/evaluation/washington-examiner-op-ed-cherry-picks-data-to-mislead-readers-about-climate-models-patrick-michaels-caleb-stewart-rossiter/" target="_blank">All five scientists agreed</a> that the piece "cherry-picks data and misleads readers" and tagged it as "biased" and "inaccurate" for Facebook. The piece was blocked from sharing as "false" and the coalition was prevented from running ads, reported <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063436369?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=90130554&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_mCEO8iXWqqtkxGAyPXjMFWz_yifSYP3rXmRJZQwD3CSo25klFmUEGgs8MwF3t2AMO6Re8czubHbZh5VAi3uP_zebWfg&utm_content=90130554&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E News</a>.</p><p>Then came the loophole.</p>
<p>Facebook re-labeled Rossiter's piece as "opinion," allowing it to fall under a new fact-checking exception that overruled the climate scientists' "false" finding, reported E&E News. It became shareable, promotable with advertising and went viral.</p><p>The news report claimed a "conservative Facebook employee" can be credited with opening the door for the coalition and groups that attack mainstream climate science to leverage the "opinion" label to avoid fact-checking and spread misinformation.</p><p>CO2 Coalition, which requested the successful change, is celebrating the outcome. Rossiter noted to E&E News that after the "false" label was removed from his climate models piece, the coalition was allowed to buy ads again. They have since done so, with messages distorting climate change and claiming that they are "saving the people of the planet from the people who claim they are saving the planet." Those ads have received more than 50,000 impressions, Facebook data shows, as reported by E&E News.</p>
<p>The coalition and similar groups will look to Facebook to get their message to a larger audience because traditional news media "rarely seek comment on climate science from groups that reject consensus research," Rossiter said, the news report added.</p><p>Andrew Dessler, one of the five Science Feedback climate scientists who originally fact-checked CO2 Coalition's article, criticized Facebook and other social media for exempting "opinion" articles from even basic fact-checking.</p><p>"It's a powerful way to misinform people, since these groups can't win in the actual scientific arena, so they only can win in these media environments where they can pay to promote stuff," Dessler told E&E News. "It allows people to live in a bubble where you don't ever have to confront ideas that you don't want to deal with.</p><p>In response to a request for comment, a Facebook spokesperson told EcoWatch, "Our long-standing guidance to the independent fact-checkers has been that clear opinion content is not subject to fact-checking on Facebook; unsurprisingly, that includes opinion editorials." The spokesperson explained, " As our policy states clearly, if publishers want to dispute a fact-check rating, they are to do so directly with the fact-checker. Facebook's third-party fact-checkers can rate climate-related content; there has never been a prohibition on their doing so."</p><p>Additionally, Facebook posted a company blog Thursday titled <em><a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/06/more-context-for-news-articles-and-other-content/" target="_blank">Providing People With Additional Context About Content They Share</a>. </em>A "context" button, first created in 2018, "provides information about the sources of articles in News Feed," the blog said, and is meant "to ensure people have the context they need to make informed decisions about what to share on Facebook." Notifications will include "timeliness" and "information about the source of the link."</p>
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Climate activists rally to urge politicians to stand against climate denial on Jan. 9, 2017 in New York. DON EMMERT / AFP via Getty Images
The attorney general for Washington, DC filed a lawsuit on Thursday against four of the largest energy companies, claiming that the companies have spent millions upon millions of dollars to deceive customers in about the calamitous effect fossil fuel extraction and emissions is having on the climate crisis, according to The Washington Post.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The suit names ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and Chevron as the defendants, and argues that the companies "systematically and intentionally misled consumers in Washington, DC ... about the central role their products play in causing climate change," according to The Hill.</p><p>Karl A. Racine, the DC attorney general, said in a news conference on Thursday that the four companies painted a false picture of what effect their products had and therefore violated consumer protection laws.</p><p>"For decades, these oil and gas companies spent millions to mislead consumers and discredit climate science in pursuit of profits," Racine said in a <a href="https://oag.dc.gov/release/prepared-remarks-exxon-mobilbpchevronshell-lawsuit" target="_blank">statement</a>, as <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/dc-sues-exxonmobil-and-other-companies-deceiving-public-about-product-harm" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. "OAG filed this suit to end these disinformation campaigns and to hold these companies accountable for their deceptive practices."</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/exxonmobil-climate-lawsuit-2641328126.html" target="_self">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/massachusetts-sues-exxon-mobil-2641105588.html" target="_self">Massachusetts</a> have both sued ExxonMobil for fraud related to the climate crisis, though New York lost its case against the energy giant. California and Baltimore have filed similar suits. On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a <a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/ExxonKochAPI_Complaint.pdf" target="_blank">complaint</a> in state court accusing ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, Flint Hills Resources and the American Petroleum Institute of consumer fraud, failure to warn, deceptive trade practices, and fraud and false advertising, as <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-sues-oil-giants-over-climate-change-effects/amp/" target="_blank">Courthouse News</a> reported.</p><p>Ellison's complaint said that Minnesota was already feeling the effects from the climate crisis as droughts, flooding and crop failures have damaged the state's economy. That has all happened while the companies named in the suit invested in public relations campaigns that denied the climate crisis and even promoted increased CO2 as a solution to world hunger, according to <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/minnesota-sues-oil-giants-over-climate-change-effects/amp/" target="_blank">Courthouse News</a>.</p><p>"Impacts from climate change hurt our low-income residents and communities of color first and worst. The impacts on farmers in our agricultural state are widespread as well," Ellison said in a statement. "Holding these companies accountable for the climate deception they've spread and continue to spread is essential to helping families to afford their lives and live with dignity and respect."</p>
<p>The two suits drew praise from environmental activists and the science community.</p><p>In a statement Thursday, Greenpeace USA climate campaign director Janet Redman said, "<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier">Climate denial</a> is not a victimless crime. Now, one by one states and local governments are stepping up to hold the perpetrators accountable," as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/25/dc-sues-fossil-fuel-giants-decades-spending-millions-mislead-consumers-and-discredit" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a> reported. "Just yesterday it was Minnesota Attorney General Ellison standing up to big oil, today it's D.C. Attorney General Racine."</p>
<p>The Union of Concerned Scientists also issued a <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/dc-sues-exxonmobil-and-other-companies-deceiving-public-about-product-harm" target="_blank">statement</a> noting that the fossil fuel industry long knew about the devastating impacts of burning fossil fuels, but followed the Big Tobacco playbook and waged a disinformation campaign.</p><p>"When scientists, including some employed by ExxonMobil, warned that burning fossil fuels could catastrophically alter the climate, ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron and Shell funded decades-long disinformation campaigns designed to undermine climate science, while simultaneously unleashing an army of lobbyists to block state and federal policies that sought to limit global warming emissions to protect communities across the country," said Rachel Licker, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in a <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/about/news/dc-sues-exxonmobil-and-other-companies-deceiving-public-about-product-harm" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>"As a result, the nation's capital and communities across the country and world now have to battle worsening floods, heat waves, wildfires and many other avoidable climate impacts," she added.</p>
<p>In the DC suit, Racine specifically mentioned the fossil fuel companies' strategy lifted from Big Tobacco. "The companies not only employed the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition — a fake grassroots citizen group created by Big Tobacco as part of the industry's misinformation campaign — they also funded and promoted some of the same scientists hired by tobacco companies," he said in a <a href="https://oag.dc.gov/release/prepared-remarks-exxon-mobilbpchevronshell-lawsuit" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>The lawsuit also alleges that the companies have recently exaggerated their investments and commitments to renewable energy.</p><p>"Defendants have shifted their advertising strategies to mislead DC consumers into believing that buying Defendants' products supports companies committed to reducing and reversing the effects of climate change," the lawsuit asserts, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/dc-attorney-general-sues-oil-and-gas-companies-alleging-industry-misled-public-about-climate-change/2020/06/25/7b633584-b705-11ea-a8da-693df3d7674a_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. "In fact, the opposite is true."</p>
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The downtown Amazon campus on April 30, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon recorded sales of $75.4 billion in the first three months of the year as many consumers increased their online purchases, up 26% over last year, but net income for the same period fell nearly 31% due to costs of managing the coronavirus pandemic. Lindsey Wasson / Getty Images
Amazon announced that its carbon footprint rose 15 percent in 2019, meaning the online retail giant emits the carbon equivalent of running 13 coal fired power plants all year, according to the CBC. That also included an 18 percent rise in emissions from fossil fuels.
<p>That announcement was made in tandem with a significant investment in clean technologies.</p><p>The company, which has seen its already astronomical value skyrocket during the coronavirus pandemic, is launching a $2 billion venture capital fund that will back companies building "sustainable and decarbonizing technologies," the company said in a <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/sustainability/we-are-all-in-on-the-climate-pledge-net-zero-carbon-by-2040" target="_blank">statement</a> on Tuesday, as <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> reported.</p><p>Amazon had previously <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-bezos-climate-crisis-plan-2640454585.html" target="_self">pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040</a>, but that commitment is fraught with controversy as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-employees-climate-justice-threatened-2643729245.html" target="_self">company has fired employees</a> who supported climate strikes and asked the company to reign in its carbon footprint.</p>
<p>Despite the company's significant uptick in emissions and its willingness to do cloud-based work for fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil, the new internal $2 billion fund will help the company reach its 2040 commitment by investing in technology that will bring it in line with its goal, according to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90520061/amazon-will-invest-2-billion-in-climate-tech" target="_blank">Fast Company</a>.</p><p>"Each prospective investment will be judged on its potential to accelerate the path to zero carbon and help protect the planet for future generations," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/sustainability/we-are-all-in-on-the-climate-pledge-net-zero-carbon-by-2040" target="_blank">statement</a>, explaining that the new fund, called the Climate Pledge Fund, will look for companies of all sizes working on solutions in multiple industries, including transportation and logistics, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">energy</a> generation and storage, the circular economy, and agriculture, as <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90520061/amazon-will-invest-2-billion-in-climate-tech" target="_blank">Fast Company</a> reported.</p>
<p>For his own part, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/jeff-bezos-climate-crisis-fund-2645179580.html" target="_self">Bezos did commit $10 billion of his own wealth</a> earlier this year to help fight the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. As <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/23/amazon-announces-2-billion-climate-pledge-fund/" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a> noted, that pledge did little to stop the criticism of Amazon — especially after the company fired eight employees for allegedly speaking out over the company's climate record. In a statement issued during the company's May shareholder meeting, a representative of the organization Amazon Employees for Climate Justice criticized the company for "environmental racism."</p><p>"Toxicity is embedded in our operations as pollution causes stunted lung development, asthma and higher death rates from COVID-19 concentrated in Black and brown communities," said Maren Costa, a spokesperson for the organization, as <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/23/amazon-announces-2-billion-climate-pledge-fund/" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a> reported.</p>
<p>The group asked Amazon to ramp up its commitments and to pledge for net zero emissions by 2030. It appears Amazon may have listened. In Tuesday's announcement, the company said it would run entirely on clean energy by the year 2025, five years ahead of its initial pledge, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>. However, other tech giants are already there. Google reached that goal in 2017.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/23/amazon-launches-2-billion-fund-to-invest-in-climate-technologies.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> also noted, the company agreed in April to invest $10 million to help conserve or restore forests in the Northeast region of the U.S.</p>
<p>Amazon has a long way to go to reduce its carbon footprint, which clocked in at 51.17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, up from 44.4 million metric tons in 2018, according to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/amazon-carbon-footprint-1.5624048" target="_blank">CBC</a>.</p><p>While environmental advocates are shocked at the size of that number, they were complimentary of the thoroughness of Amazon's calculations, which included customers driving to Whole Foods and the energy required to make a Kindle.</p><p>However, it looks as if the company's short term carbon footprint is going the wrong way. As the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/amazon-carbon-footprint-1.5624048" target="_blank">CBC</a> noted, Amazon has leased a dozen more Boeing jets this month so it can keep up with demand and speedy deliveries. It now has a fleet of 80 airplanes.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQxMzkyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NjQ1ODc2MX0.LPMSE0BQu8M8Fsp_PdsdkPevuyczQHMenbXV_z1SiJI/img.jpg?width=980" id="c977e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="931d37c77513d24a8a4aa2629bc6ff2c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An Amazon Prime Air Boeing 767-306(ER)(BCF) landing in Houston on April 25, 2019. Patrick Feller / CC BY 2.0
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How an Environmental Justice Documentary Is Building Solidarity in the Midst of the Racial and Health Crisis
23 June
Sponsored
Indigenous leaders, environmental groups, interfaith and divestment coalitions are hosting online events, utilizing the film to support frontline and impacted communities. Courtesy / The Condor & The Eagle
By Tracy L. Barnett
A soon-to-be-released feature film exemplifies how independent media initiatives can be powerful tools for social and environmental justice organizing. Challenging the isolation and impotence that many are feeling in the face of the current health and racial crises, the internationally acclaimed documentary The Condor & The Eagle and its impact campaign "No More Sacrificed Communities" bring us together in these challenging times – reminding us of our deep interconnectedness with the Earth and one another.
<p>As we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, environmental racism is presenting a deadly parallel threat for Indigenous peoples across North and South America, who continue to defend the lands and waters, protecting their communities from extraction and the pandemic. Meanwhile, the climate crisis has not paused as we battle racialized violence and COVID-19. On the contrary, as countries ease restrictions, emissions levels have rebounded to just 5% lower than last year at this time, and experts warn that we could be facing increased emissions by year's end. Meanwhile those at the front lines of the struggle for climate justice are battling disproportionately high rates of infection from Covid-19 while facing heightened risks of violence and illness from the extractive industries.</p>
<iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/359405536" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
A PROFOUND WORK OF CLIMATE JOURNALISM
<p>Oscar-winning editor and producer Douglas Blush says: "This documentary takes the struggle for climate justice beyond the standard borders of separate nations using thrilling cinematography, deeply personal stories and the urgency of tomorrow's headlines. <em>The Condor & The Eagle</em> is both a profound work of climate journalism and an exhilarating, emotional adventure film."<br></p><p>The recent burning of the Amazon, the mega-fires in Australia, and the current political climate bode ill for our planet's future habitability. But there is hope. This internationally acclaimed documentary chronicles the ongoing collective climate awakening and the imperative of urgent change. The film asks how social change happens, and explores best practices for building effective social movements, led by the most affected. As world climate scientists predict unprecedented global catastrophe, <em>The Condor & The Eagle</em> features Indigenous women leaders at the head of an unparalleled global response.</p>
<p>Four Indigenous leaders embark on an extraordinary transcontinental adventure from the Canadian boreal forests to deep into the heart of the Amazonian jungle to unite the peoples of North and South America and deepen the meaning of "climate justice." <em>The Condor & The Eagle</em> offers a glimpse into a developing spiritual renaissance as the film's four protagonists learn from each other's long legacy of resistance to colonialism and its extractive economy.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQwODM0Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzYxNzU5MH0.Oo9RwKPqrIS9q6Iz8Y2n0S9sxXZNQGiJOvfrAhwRI1U/img.png?width=980" id="bb09c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1a78d9f6c7bf91cd36016a49392517f5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, left, with Melina Laboucan_Massimo, Lubicon Cree First Nation of Alberta, in the front row of the half-million-strong People's Climate March in New York, 2014. Screenshot / The Condor & The Eagle
IMPACT CAMPAIGN: "NO MORE SACRIFICED COMMUNITIES"
<p>Indigenous leaders, environmental groups (including Amazon Watch, Sierra Club, Extinction Rebellion), divestment and interfaith coalitions (including Interfaith Power and Light, Unitarian Universalists) are <a href="https://thecondorandtheeagle.com/events/" target="_blank">hosting impressive online events</a>, presenting the film to large audiences along with a live-screen discussion with film and movement protagonists. In the weeks and months ahead, the film's impact campaign, "No More Sacrificed Communities," will explore how media highlighting the voices from impacted communities can compel a shift from witnessing environmental destruction to practical actions for sustainable, community-based initiatives.</p> <p>Each of more than a dozen online events is hosted by a different organization and offers the opportunity to raise funds for key environmental justice groups and impacted communities that are leading the charge against destructive fossil fuel projects.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQwODM1NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTY1OTE4MH0.Z6ZOvelXtSKYGx_LNFr4MyUq6JtvMnTJxECCHLfKsko/img.png?width=980" id="fc2b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4271ef679acb20176c4ba3d69d20652e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
At the Red Nation International Film Festival. Left to right: Festival director Joanelle Romero, co-director Clement Guerra, film protagonist Bryan Parras, Executive Producer Jacqueline Garcia and Impact Partner Kat Lo, Eaton Workshop.
INTERNATIONAL FILM RELEASE
<p>Since its premiere at the Woodstock Film Festival in October 2019, <em>The Condor & the Eagle</em> has been selected by more than 50 film festivals and has won 12 awards, most notably Best Environmental Documentary at the 2019 Red Nation International Film Festival in Beverly Hills, California.<br></p> <p>The film's international release date is set for Wednesday, July 1, and it will be available for rent on the <a href="https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-condor-and-the-eagle/" target="_blank">Films For Action</a> website. That day also marks the film's Latin American premiere with "<a href="https://event.webinarjam.com/register/93/xyg1yuw9?fbclid=IwAR2pNe5jKZJ3jXlmHROc8ifD1JtxQkKNG1QB2xx41WST7XrL7knai_kGnHU" target="_blank">Defending the Defenders of the Mother Earth / Defendiendo las Defensoras de la Madre Tierra</a>," a bilingual screening event featuring Bertha "Bertita" Zúñiga Cáceres of Honduras, daughter of the environmental martyr Berta Cáceres, and the director, among others.</p>A MESSAGE FROM THE FILMMAKERS
<p>The film was directed and produced by Clement Guerra, a 37-year-old French international marketing manager, and his German wife Sophie. The couple left their comfortable careers in Europe and took their savings to live in a camper van and spend five years documenting the Indigenous-led climate justice movement.</p><p>"We don't want to be 'extractivist' filmmakers, but rather ones who work hand-in-hand with communities," Clement told The Esperanza Project in a recent interview, <a href="https://www.esperanzaproject.com/2020/native-american-culture/the-condor-the-eagle-takes-flight/" target="_blank"><em>The Condor & The Eagle' Takes Flight</em></a>. "On a personal level, this whole experience helped us face our own privilege, and we quickly realized that the pollution outside reflected the ego-toxicity we are carrying on the inside. We have been conditioned to believe that we are skin-encapsulated egos, that we are each an 'I' separate from every other 'I.' Thanks to our journey and the process of making this film, we came to realize that we all depend on each other; we are not separate."<br></p><p>You can support the team impact work <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=W44L44WM4ELDW&source=url" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/417898062" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Fisherman push their boat during low tide on oily mud in the river at Ogoniland's village of K-Dere, near Bodo, which is part of the Niger Delta region, on Feb. 20, 2019. Decades of oil spills has left the Ogoniland region in southern Nigeria an environmental disaster zone — but now hopes are high of a rebirth of farming, fishing and clean water. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP / Getty Images
By Jenna McGuire
In 2011, a ground-breaking report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on oil pollution in Ogoniland highlighted the devastating impact of the oil industry in the Niger Delta and made concrete recommendations for clean-up measures and immediate support for the region's devastated communities.
<p>Now, nearly ten years later, a new <a href="http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/extractive_industries/2020/no_clean-up_no_justice_final.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> published Thursday by Friends of the Earth Europe, Amnesty International, ERA and Milieudefensie, details Shell's failure to implement the "emergency measures" laid out by UNEP and says only 11 percent of contaminated areas in the Niger Delta have begun the clean-up process.</p>
<p>Titled "No Clean-Up, No Justice," the new report explains that for "more than five decades, the people of Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, have struggled against oil pollution, destruction of the environment and human rights violations." </p><p>According to estimates, Shell Oil has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/new-report-details-how-fossil-fuel-industrys-climate-destruction-also-exacerbates" target="_blank">dumped</a> an estimated nine to 13 million barrels of crude oil into the Niger Delta since 1958.</p><p>"Oil and gas extraction has caused large-scale, continued contamination of the water and soil in Ogoni communities," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/06/18/shells-oil-pollution-niger-delta-people-sick-waiting-justice" target="_blank">said</a> Friends of the Earth in a statement. "The continued and systematic failure of oil companies and government to clean up have left hundreds of thousands of Ogoni people facing serious health risks, struggling to access safe drinking water, and unable to earn a living."</p>
<p>As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/new-report-details-how-fossil-fuel-industrys-climate-destruction-also-exacerbates" target="_blank">reported</a> earlier this year, the local government has also worked with Shell to suppress the right of people in Ogoniland to fight against pollution.</p><p>"The discovery of oil in Ogoniland has brought huge suffering for its people," said Osai Ojigho of Amnesty International Nigeria. "Over many years we have documented how Shell has failed to clean up contamination from spills and it's a scandal that this has not yet happened."<br><br>The ecological damage, Ojigho added, "is leading to serious human rights impacts — on people's health and ability to access food and clean water. Shell must not get away with this — we will continue to fight until every last trace of oil is removed from Ogoniland."</p>
<p>Almost a full decade after the UNEP findings, the new report concluded that:</p><ul> <li>Work has begun on only 11 pecent of polluted sites identified by UNEP, with only a further 5 percent included in current clean-up efforts, and no site has been entirely cleaned up;</li></ul><ul> <li>Actions classified by UNEP as "emergency measures" - immediate action on drinking water and health protection - have not been implemented properly; there are still communities without access to clean water supplies;</li></ul><ul> <li>Health and environmental monitoring has not been carried out;</li></ul><ul> <li>There has not been any public accounting for how the 31 million USD funding provided since 2018 has been spent;</li></ul><ul> <li>11 of 16 companies contracted for the clean-up are reported to have no registered expertise in oil pollution remediation or related areas;</li></ul><ul><li>HYPREP has numerous conflicts of interest as Shell continues to be involved in the governing boards for the clean-up and even places its own staff in HYPREP.</li></ul><p>The report also lays out a set of demands for a rapid clean-up and funding for regional recovery, with chief responsibility for that effort aimed at the Nigerian government, Shell, and other governments — mostly in Europe — home to other major oil companies operating in the Niger Delta.</p><p>"After nine years of promises without proper action and decades of pollution, the people of Ogoniland are not only sick of dirty drinking water, oil-contaminated fish and toxic fumes," said Godwin Ojo of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria.<br><br>"They are sick of waiting for justice," Ojo added. "They are dying by the day."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/19/shell-must-not-get-away-niger-delta-still-waiting-big-oil-clean-devastating" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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