Climate Action Nonprofit Launches Campaign Pressuring PR and Ad Firms to Drop Fossil Fuel Clients
23 November
Climate
An aerial view shows pumpjacks in the South Belridge Oil Field on April 24, 2020 near McKittrick, California. David McNew / Getty Images
By Julia Conley
A new campaign unveiled this weekend by the nonprofit organization Fossil Free Media aims to expand on the goals of the fossil fuel divestment movement, cutting into oil and gas companies' profit margins through their public relations and ad campaigns.
<p>Along with the support fossil fuel giants get from Wall Street, the industry has been propped up for decades by PR and advertising agencies that aren't always transparent about their relationships with companies including Shell, Exxon, and BP.</p><p>"PR and ad agencies pollute the airwaves so that fossil fuel companies can pollute the atmosphere," <a href="https://www.cleancreatives.org/news/clean-creatives-campaign-calls-on-pr-and-ad-agencies-to-stop-working-with-fossil-fuel-clients" target="_blank">said</a> Duncan Meisel, campaign manager for Fossil Free Media's project, titled Clean Creatives. "The spread of climate misinformation can be directly traced back to firms with names like WPP, Omnicom, and Edelman. As long as they continue to engage in polluter relations, these firms will be one of our greatest barriers to climate progress. It's time for PR and ad agencies to come clean."</p><p>Fossil fuel companies have spent more than <a href="https://grist.org/energy/big-oil-spent-3-6-billion-on-climate-ads-and-its-working/" target="_blank">$3.6 billion</a> on advertising since the 1990s, increasingly focusing their efforts on convincing the public that they're concerned about the climate crisis and committed to "sustainability" even as they continue extracting planet-heating oil and gas. </p><p>Tens of millions of dollars also go into advertising by industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute (API), which paid PR firm Edelman<a href="https://www.cleancreatives.org/news/clean-creatives-campaign-calls-on-pr-and-ad-agencies-to-stop-working-with-fossil-fuel-clients" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> $327.4 million</a> between 2008 and 2017.</p><p>Clean Creatives' campaign will be a multi-pronged one, engaging directly with PR and ad firms as well as the creative artists who work for them—often helping to prop up the reputations of companies whose work is <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/2167/energy.aspx" target="_blank">increasingly unpopular </a>with the public—non-fossil fuel clients, and lawmakers.</p><p>The campaign "will be reaching out to creatives directly, including high profile directors and artists...who likely feel conflicted making propaganda for oil and gas companies," Clean Creatives said.</p>
<div id="1dcf1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d5e39a5a3812bc2589ba8aa0563756e0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1330177734799208465" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">PR and ad companies' work for the fossil fuel industry is pushing the planet past the breaking point.… https://t.co/wOuDBM26ne</div> — Clean Creatives (@Clean Creatives)<a href="https://twitter.com/cleancreatives/statuses/1330177734799208465">1605974060.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>At its website, Clean Creatives urged creative artists in the PR and ad industries to <a href="https://www.cleancreatives.org/creatives" target="_blank">take a pledge</a> stating, "We are the heart of our industry, and our best brands want creatives that will help them find their purpose and make a difference—not take their money and then sit down with the biggest polluters on the planet."</p><p>"Sign the pledge if you are committed to using your power for good, not fossil fuels," the website reads.</p><p>The campaign will run targeted ads on LinkedIn and other social media to find employees who are willing to sign the pledge. </p><p>Clean Creatives will also expose the fossil fuel companies that major ad and PR agencies work with—information that often isn't made public by the agencies.</p><p>"Despite their sustainability goals and past pledges to stop working with climate deniers, nearly all of the world's largest PR and ad firms continue to work with fossil fuel industry clients," said Jamie Henn, founder of Fossil Free Media and producer of the Clean Creatives campaign. "WPP does business with Shell and Chevron, Omnicom's BBDO does much of ExxonMobil's advertising, Ogilvy runs branding exercises for BP. Our campaign will expose the depth and breadth of these relationships." </p>
<p>As the relationships are made public, Clean Creatives will engage with other clients who work with the agencies, calling on them to withhold their business unless they stop "spinning fossil fuel industry propaganda."</p><p>"Clean Creatives will be circulating a business sign-on letter via networks like the American Sustainable Business Council and the Ceres BICEP Network (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) in the coming days," the group said.</p><p>Fossil Free Media was encouraged recently by global PR firm Porter Novelli, which announced it would cut ties with the American Public Gas Association (APGA) at the end of the year after 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/when-creatives-turn-destructive-image-makers-and-the-climate-crisis" target="_blank">wrote </a>about the relationship in <em>The New Yorker</em> in an article published Saturday. </p><p>Starting in 2017, the firm helped the APGA develop a campaign called "Natural Gas Genius," the message of which "was 'I choose natural gas to live better,' and the firm found a mid-tier Instagram influencer to help disseminate it."</p><blockquote>According to the APGA, the campaign's "target audience is homeowners who are looking to buy or renovate a home in the next five years. We are confident in the ability of this new type of message that speaks to the emotional aspect of natural gas, to help us achieve our goal of increasing consumer consideration of natural gas direct use in their homes."<br></blockquote><blockquote>That is, they were trying to do the opposite of what climate science suggests. If you're buying a new home or renovating an old one, you can install an electric air-source heat pump instead of a gas boiler. It will heat (and also cool) your home effectively and cheaply, and produce far fewer greenhouse gases in the process. You can also install, instead of a gas stove, an induction cooktop—an appliance whose use is growing rapidly in Asia and Europe.<br></blockquote><p>Responding to McKibben's inquiries, Porter Novelli announced it had "determined our work with the American Public Gas Association is incongruous with our increased focus and priority on addressing climate justice."</p><p>Fossil Free Media applauded the move, and the climate action movement's role in pushing the agency, on social media.</p>
<div id="21b90" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bdc23e69ff18075b4fb5df6d4939b9f5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1330205383848288257" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Porter Novelli isn't some small shop: they've got offices and clients in 60 countries and are part of @Omnicom, the… https://t.co/iw0BCmrdzx</div> — Jamie Henn (@Jamie Henn)<a href="https://twitter.com/jamieclimate/statuses/1330205383848288257">1605980652.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"It's a BIG deal that they're dropping fossil fuel clients—let's make sure it's the drop that starts a flood," wrote Henn. </p>
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Trump’s Frack Attack Against President-Elect Biden Fails in Pennsylvania Gas Counties
11 November
Politics
President Donald Trump watches a video of Joe Biden as he holds a Make America Great Again rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on October 20, 2020. Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images
The Trump campaign's efforts to attack President-elect Joe Biden and win Pennsylvania by claiming he would ban fracking failed, while Biden's climate message appears to have boosted turnout, according to reporting from multiple outlets.
<p>Biden not only won Pennsylvania overall, but — while Trump still won in areas with significant fracking operations — Biden improved on Clinton's 2016 performance against Trump in eight of Pennsylvania's top-10 gas-producing counties.</p><p> "Climate change as a voting issue has soared in the past five years particularly among Democrats and among independents," Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale University Program on Climate Change Communication, told E&E. </p><p>"This absolutely was a crucial issue for constituencies he needed to carry him over the top: young people, Latino voters and suburban women, all of whom care more about climate change than other groups." </p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive: </strong></p><p><a href="https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2020/11/10/stories/1063718141?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=99573790&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--W2aX2ViQNW10HKOT3RDQyQphzzKK1x4ZtoGk1sHal2_BBsARx3Hx-rG53mX34hTvG35vFhvwAy0-Q3wBzbBnlXo-R3nCkdQbTw_iERyWWAJGiPsg&utm_content=99573790&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-energy/2020/11/09/entering-the-biden-era-791466?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=99573790&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--SQKruMYeNB-_omzySdAB6zd5yBJD_YZmNTPZzYsiGyS9G71XygIlBQ6T14TESjUJSUcZ50pNnVoy1J0Q_2E7cCv2FfCtdCguERenOy5firZHEQnc&utm_content=99573790&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="" target="_blank">Politico</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-stance-against-fossil-fuels-didnt-turn-away-voters-in-pennsylvania-and-other-key-states-148891?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=99573790&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ejLg8h7pcjp0HxRQXZxZBAF0csuSPWxOyWuro9qKhfVZq_nKXmiXVzCcqy92UU17blKR8tHXahJtKjBD3dCSIcUhzzhd7M-4O86HF0ohRGpjwiv4&utm_content=99573790&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/df6bd3a7-27d7-493a-b407-fa367b43ebd6?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=99573790&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9AlHGf8eg5hX6cfzbk6QNOcDv4SpCYmeCfZaIvW3hYBkUmSKJzG92xx91_jfdHjxB6xnZEmoBj1hKGP9zY0AD1NEn25d1VE_DqrxNarU1Ou5IDD5Y&utm_content=99573790&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="" target="_blank">FT</a> </p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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An aerial view shows Marathon Petroleum Corp's Los Angeles Refinery in Carson, California, the state's largest producer of gasoline, as oil prices have cratered with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic on April 22, 2020. David McNew / Getty Images
By Julia Conley
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday denounced the "audacity" of oil giant Shell after it waded into the global discussion about the climate crisis by asking members of the public what they would do to reduce carbon emissions.
<p>"I'm willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire time that fossil fuels emissions would destroy our planet," the New York Democrat and co-sponsor of the Green New Deal legislation replied. </p>
<div id="fb346" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e9b7c448217cd1e4db74efc4f245fd72"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323304992372129792" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I’m willing to hold you accountable for lying about climate change for 30 years when you secretly knew the entire t… https://t.co/0gwuy5P9h5</div> — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/statuses/1323304992372129792">1604335470.0</a></blockquote></div><p>In the poll it posted to Twitter, Shell offered choices to the public including "stop flying," "buy an electric vehicle," and shifting to renewable electricity. </p>
<div id="2dc26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5fcb1a371e5c97eb32c9472206736569"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323184318735360001" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">📊 What are you willing to change to help reduce emissions? #EnergyDebate</div> — Shell (@Shell)<a href="https://twitter.com/Shell/statuses/1323184318735360001">1604306699.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Coming from the world's third-largest company, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/sep/19/shell-and-exxons-secret-1980s-climate-change-warnings" target="_blank">knew</a> as early as 1988 that its extraction of oil and gas was linked to the heating of the planet, the question was seen by Ocasio-Cortez and other critics as a gross deflection of Shell's own responsibility.</p><p>"The audacity of Shell asking YOU what YOU'RE willing to do to reduce emissions," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "They're showing you RIGHT HERE how the suggestion that individual choices—not systems—are a main driver of climate change is a fossil fuel talking point."</p><p>The "good choices" American voters and lawmakers can make, the congresswoman <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1323306979314589696" target="_blank">added,</a> are ones that will help "reign in fossil fuel corporations" that are actually fueling the destruction of the planet. </p><p>The journalism initiative Covering Climate Now called Shell's tweet "a textbook example of greenwashing."</p>
<div id="0066b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a4f7bb9c4803396870649b97f6bc77fc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323336497412689922" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here’s a textbook example of “greenwashing” + corporations making it seem like climate change is a symptom of every… https://t.co/wL55Zx3yCh</div> — Covering Climate Now (@Covering Climate Now)<a href="https://twitter.com/CoveringClimate/statuses/1323336497412689922">1604342982.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Prof. Katharine Hayhoe, director of the Texas Tech Climate Center, echoed Ocasio-Cortez's disgust at the company as she <a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1323316064911007745" target="_blank">noted</a> that out of 90 companies in the world, Shell is the sixth-highest contributor to fossil fuel emissions in history.</p><p>"Yes, everyone must do their part—starting with the biggest emitters," Hayhoe<a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1323316269370740738" target="_blank"> tweeted</a>, adding that the company has previously publicly suggested that individuals making changes to their daily habits is what will help save the planet.</p>
<div id="bbe8d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c255f6d58a46ccfb50b18b0873df6ab7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323316064911007745" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Royal Dutch Shell is #6 on the list of 90 companies responsible for 2/3 of greenhouse gas emissions since the dawn… https://t.co/VKnFVwXtBm</div> — Prof. Katharine Hayhoe (@Prof. Katharine Hayhoe)<a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/statuses/1323316064911007745">1604338110.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Shell's tweet drew outrage from international climate action group Greenpeace, international lawmakers, and climate experts.</p>
<div id="f789b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a5bbe12a91b66d037630be4cc93e6b46"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323345812051537921" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Hey Shell: you willing to change your entire business model? https://t.co/CnjSBScTFr</div> — Leah Stokes (@Leah Stokes)<a href="https://twitter.com/leahstokes/statuses/1323345812051537921">1604345202.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="540d1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8c816cf96de217ae3862e4a799f3c1cb"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323337603601567745" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">You polluted our planet, you funded climate change deniers, you fund the lobby to slow down climate protection laws… https://t.co/zgcXDaVjRA</div> — Michael Bloss (@Michael Bloss)<a href="https://twitter.com/micha_bloss/statuses/1323337603601567745">1604343245.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="e6969" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f3be1f9f21462ec3f507d049da3fc941"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1323361897484324865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re willing to fight for climate justice and for people not to fall for your dirty tricks, @Shell. Individual cho… https://t.co/s7ZyawxM4V</div> — Greenpeace (@Greenpeace)<a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeace/statuses/1323361897484324865">1604349037.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"What am I willing to do?" Hayhoe <a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1323321067541155841" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote</a> in reply to Shell's poll question, which she later said was<a href="https://twitter.com/KHayhoe/status/1323342197312421896" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> hidden</a> on Twitter by the company. "Hold you accountable for 2% of cumulative global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to those of my entire home country of Canada. When you have a concrete plan to address that, I'd be happy to chat about what I'm doing to reduce my personal emissions." </p>
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Exxon Mobil Refinery is seen from the top of the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on March 5, 2017. WClarke / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 4.0
Exxon Mobil will lay off an estimated 14,000 workers, about 15% of its global workforce, including 1,900 workers in the U.S., the company announced Thursday.
<p>Analysts said the layoffs are part of an effort by the beleaguered company to maintain its stock dividend despite sharply reduced demand during the coronavirus pandemic. </p><p>While other oil majors have leaned into reducing emissions and building out renewable energy, Exxon has doubled down on oil. </p>
<p>It plans to <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VXkl_C7Kdv9sW2hPj8t2QWZy2W9ccHTJ4hPvlPN3NdJHk3p_9LV1-WJV7CgMmCW3LS1-t3pMmTrW2dBgj85Xb1R7W2nJ0st59tx0YW3465Bp1TbXg1W37nfX23g4lYBN4P7T8rKXz0fW3PGr6f47tYZ5W1DBtjn6R3xbmW8gw91P9jrw7MW86gmKM6DwN1BW1C-w167TjNdkW1WsKvK75dTdQW8j1G351DdpMhW1bdhGw7FyJnJN6KRmSlnBH4BW1Kfvq762ghcjW7HHmDy3vvvNgW6LDqfL74bg6WW3rLBnB8y8rvyW5GmhVM4v7PG_W4Q4Xz08HJnz7W4nBy-y3XbRx0W9gHpcj8NXKzJW8zXmHf8GBP1yW5sXMCS6zgH1_W1N7t5b6QDm47W6-vPC94QPy9zW5rFKdc753Y1H344X1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase its greenhouse gas pollution</a> in the coming years.</p><p>News of the layoffs comes as a former Exxon employee, who consistently received strong performance reviews and was widely respected by his colleagues, says he was pushed out of the company after he raised Exxon's climate denial in a Q&A session with company executives.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/exxonmobil-layoffs/exxon-to-cut-14000-global-jobs-including-1900-in-u-s-as-pandemic-hurts-demand-idUSKBN27E30U?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9uQprMXUg6iyvoNDLff_7apAyEj6b_6aCMkPoE4YUVI7X6DDtZ7s_uanjL-rMxsFWeLsrkDyp-33vvACTMCqrtmUJSr5Ern4GlegWIVNLH_W3G724&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://login.politicopro.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriber.politicopro.com%2Farticle%2F2020%2F10%2Fexxon-mobil-to-cut-1900-us-jobs-as-pandemic-chokes-fuel-demand-2015160%3Futm_campaign%3DHot%2520News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9HSBwxvAIMrWjyFmy_2-j3gQF2u5Fxs1xg8MwGiKmx4OhWGCpFn3UkHH7RclPer5Gq-9W46J48imDmhpiwKLaLdg47faZ9GyhNYfBxxU9gLoXqwV8&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Politico Pro,</a> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-29/exxon-cutting-1-900-u-s-jobs-in-response-to-virus-driven-slump?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8iqy_Nsx6C0BcQ9tP75IeFhTFP5_INuh0OMuCAtUVQrje6pFkVJCTd_M9VfPBpT4daRhqaSU1GlzZPm9pvcKlBMUHskzL0ErH0Zjm-Hb_2bCu6amM&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-to-lay-off-1-900-u-s-employees-as-pandemic-wreaks-havoc-on-oil-demand-11603986398?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9IISEDbrdgzTXs-yRl4dbvWlN-fnWX3KU6w6xocquxtprMAMPnR7W-WfRwHma9E9tBvykPVjyQPwA5_Q1hU-7g3AE4c5Ix2TcqTZHn5zbmEe-Hy50&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a>, <a href="https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Exxon-To-Cut-1900-Jobs-In-The-US.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8MkQCEX3jVp_A4EB7PIQxvaG5UXc_qewcnViGhUULlzhqte5miAogpby0K2A70nf2NZCrtx6iLtZkrL8Au6zTYuVvzoDinl3IUeBokSWRriiB0agc&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Oil Price</a>, <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Exxon-lay-off-1900-US-employees-mostly-in-Houston-15685353.php?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_T_wesrkbPA54TVqsNMVOVy-DVtOjcxn3Vq3U5i6OP_zh0Rzxlj-H6jX64nUVZbRgZroVfYsPWt0OLkwqhJGcGigIy7qQ7LYqVat1wWak4UhJzk0k&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Houston Chronicle</a>; Employee retribution: <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvx84q/exxon-silences-staff-alarmed-by-the-climate-crisis-says-former-employee-enrique-rosero?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=98644484&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--pCb8jL0WB6VcsJbgX_Ej_YSk_VbYV5aju-qis2s0D7aA6zyHTnWaUxKl-8RzO8eIEQI2x8FqLEiMWPjwAOoIBGtUKZMroZZGq3nGbMXx27Tb1gSM&utm_content=98644484&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Vice</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>. </em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A pumpjack in North Dakota. Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo / Moment / Getty Images
North Dakota has found a controversial use for federal coronavirus relief money: using it to fund fracking.
<p>The state legislature voted Wednesday to reallocate $16 million in pandemic relief to pay $200,000 grants to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil" target="_self">oil</a> companies to do fracking work on 80 incomplete wells, <a href="https://www.inforum.com/news/government-and-politics/6737422-North-Dakota-lawmakers-OK-16M-in-federal-pandemic-funds-for-fracking-grants" target="_blank">Inforum reported</a>.</p><p>"This is like a taxpayer bailout to the oil industry to get them to do something they would do anyway," leader of environmental group <a href="https://drcinfo.org/" target="_blank">Dakota Resource Council</a> Scott Skokos told <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28102020/north-dakota-coronavirus-stimulus-funding-fracking-oil-wells?fbclid=IwAR3_jU6Eu-1hxN-iVVsOtpeQzfO7xcl2KQ2wgWbZ7GFz5Vh1Ml3gGBxZo-M" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InsideClimate News</a>. "It's like corporate welfare at the highest level."</p>
<p>The $16 million was part of a much larger $221 million in federal relief funds that the legislature voted to reallocate according to the budget approved by the North Dakota Emergency Commission Friday, Inforum and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-north-dakota-education-hydraulic-fracturing-2bc2a42c8f9af4a3c58aba4262ace32c" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. The money was awarded to North Dakota via the CARES Act in March, but the state had not been able to spend it for its intended purpose, Inforum explained. Because there is a year-end deadline for the use of CARES funds, the state had to reassign it or lose it.</p><p>However, the $16 million for fracking was the allocation that stirred controversy. That money had originally been intended to clean up abandoned oil and gas sites, InsideClimate News explained. But the approach of cold weather made the completion of the work by the end of the year impossible.</p>
<p>The idea to use that money for fracking grants came from North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms. Helms argued that the grants would create jobs and revitalize the oil industry, which was hit hard by the drop in prices at the beginning of the pandemic, according to The Associated Press. Officials also said the grants would boost state revenue, which relies on oil money.</p><p>But environmental groups and Democratic lawmakers criticized the decision. The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> called it "totally inappropriate," while lawmakers said the funds should go to more urgent needs.</p><p>"We are at a point now where we are peaking every day as we try to battle this crisis, and I think any of the funds that we use need to be addressed to help us reduce the spread of this virus to help the lives and livelihoods of thousands of North Dakotans," Rep. Josh Boschee, D-Fargo, said, as Inforum reported.</p>
<p>Skokos pointed to the irony of using money intended to clean up oil and gas wells to frack new ones. And he said the logic behind the decision was backwards.</p><p>"They're giving taxpayer dollars to the oil industry to frack wells with the hope it will bring the state more taxpayer dollars," Skokos told InsideClimate News, "rather than taking the taxpayer dollars and actually using it to benefit taxpayers."</p><p>This is not the first time the oil and gas industry has been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/marathon-petroleum-2646438449.html" target="_self">awarded coronavirus relief</a>. Oil companies have received between $9 billion and $13.8 billion from the federal government in direct aid, according to Bailout Watch.</p><p>The news out of North Dakota comes as U.S. residents continue to suffer from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events made more likely by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Fires <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/california" target="_self">forced new evacuations</a> in Southern California this week, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/hurricane-zeta-louisiana-2648544989.html" target="_self">Hurricane Zeta</a> became the fifth named storm of the year to batter Louisiana on Wednesday.</p>
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Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide poses for a portrait on September 14, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan, after being elected Liberal Democratic Party President. Nicolas Datiche / Pool / Getty Images
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that Japan will become country carbon neutral by 2050, Bloomberg reported.
<p>As the world's third-largest economy, this will require a "fundamental shift" away from coal, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-climate-emissions/2020/10/26/b6ea2b5a-1752-11eb-8bda-814ca56e138b_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>Suga replaced former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last month, after he resigned due to health issues. This was Suga's first parliament policy speech since taking office. </p><p>He announced, "The Suga administration will seek to make a virtuous cycle between the economy and the environment," Bloomberg reported. "We will put all possible efforts into creating a green society."</p>
<p>Additionally, "Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic growth," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/japan-climate-emissions/2020/10/26/b6ea2b5a-1752-11eb-8bda-814ca56e138b_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported from Suga's speech. "We need to change our thinking to the view that taking assertive measures against climate change will lead to changes in industrial structure and the economy that will bring about great growth."</p><p>However, Suga did not offer any details about how carbon neutrality will be achieved, although he referenced carbon recycling and next generation solar cells. The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama told reporters that more details will be presented in a report later this year, according to Bloomberg, including wind energy, hydrogen and improved battery storage.<br></p><p>The move follows commitments from other major economies responsible for an outsized share of greenhouse gas emissions, including the world's largest emitter, China.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/china-climate-action-2060-2648140974.html?rebelltitem=5" target="_self"> China has set a 2060 target </a>for carbon neutrality. Japan is the world's fifth-largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/business/japans-carbon-neutrality.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p>
<p>Japanese policy experts believe a number of factors drove the announcement, including mounting pressure from inside Japan to tackle the climate crisis, plus international competition. It would be "somewhat embarrassing for Japan to have a net zero emissions timeline later than China," Takeshi Kuramochi, a climate policy researcher at the NewClimate Institute told The New York Times.</p><p>Sam Annesley, executive director of Greenpeace Japan, added that sustainability should also include a move away from nuclear power. "Nearly 10 years on from Fukushima we are still facing the disastrous consequences of nuclear power, and this radioactive legacy has made clear that nuclear energy has no place in a green, sustainable future," <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/26/japan-will-become-carbon-neutral-by-2050-pm-pledges" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p>
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The Mauritius Oil Spill Cannot Be Cleaned Up, but Damages Must Be Paid
06 October
Insights + Opinion
International Maritime Organization workers in hazmat suits stand in surf near the wreck of the MV Wakashio on August 13, 2020. imo.un / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Roshan Rajroop, Melita Steele and Hisayo Takada
Oil spills make visible the huge price being paid by the environment, wildlife and human communities for our reliance on fossil fuels. They are a harsh demonstration of the fragility of our oceans. They are a sad reminder of how urgent it is that we end our addiction to fossil fuels and make the transition to alternative renewable energy sources.
<p>On the 25th of July the Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio — chartered by Mitsui OSK and owned by Nagashiki Shipping — struck a beautiful and irreplaceable coral reef on Mauritius' southeast coast. The ship was sailing dangerously close to the reef, and ran aground. Twelve days later, the ship began leaking heavy fuel oil, devastating one of the most beautiful places in the world and ruining the livelihoods of coastal communities.</p><p>Over the past five weeks in Mauritius, we have witnessed long stretches of ocean, unique mangroves and pristine lagoons become quickly coated with oil. We have watched the people of Mauritius rushing to the beach, risking themselves as they attempt to remove the oil from every rock and grain of sand, desperately trying to recapture their homeland's beauty submerged by toxic waves, being brought relentlessly by the tide to the shore. Our hearts went out to the families of seamen who lost their lives in a salvage operation. Thousands of species around the pristine lagoons of Blue Bay, Pointe d'Esny and Mahebourg are at risk of suffocating or drowning in a sea of pollution, with dire consequences for Mauritius' tourism, and people's food security and health. </p><p>Furthermore, some of the most toxic components of the oil spill can build up as hidden contaminants in marine organisms, through which they can enter into the food-chain. Oil residues accumulate in sediments, especially on shores. The impacts of this oil spill — like any other oil spill — will be felt years after the surface oil has been removed. The people of Mauritius are going to have to live with this devastating reality for decades. </p>
<p>There is no question that Mitsui OSK and Nagashiki Shipping are jointly the cause of the devastating pollution in Mauritian waters. After the first 12 days of their silence, Mitsui OSK and Nagashiki Shipping apologized for this disaster. For that apology to mean anything, it must be backed up with action. This would require fully applying the "polluter pays" principle, which means the companies pay for all current and future damages.</p><p>At the same time, emerging reports suggest that the Japanese and Mauritian governments have entered into talks for the Japanese government to provide a mere 3.6 billion yen (almost 34 million USD) to the Mauritian government to support the local fisherfolk who have been impacted by the spill. </p><p>While steps by the Japanese government to help the government of Mauritius cope with the toxic impacts of the oil spill are welcome, Japanese taxpayers should not be liable for the actions of the Japanese companies, which were reckless enough to allow one of its largest vessels to travel so close to coral reefs and run aground. Ultimately, those who are responsible for the pollution must pay for the damage that their pollution has caused. Mitsui OSK and Nagashiki Shipping seem to be avoiding their responsibilities. </p>
<p>The "polluter pays" principle would require funding, among other things, a fully public independent investigation into the causes and consequences of the oil spill, and a commitment to stop using this shipping route.</p><p>This needs to account for the livelihoods of those dependent on fishing and tourism, the coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands and the entire, vulnerable ecosystem. A recent announcement by Mitsui OSK shows a positive early sign as it resolves to address the damages the company caused with a long-term view toward recovery. This goes beyond the charterer's liability, and the social responsibility of the company involved is clearly required in a case like this. </p><p>It is impossible to completely hold a company accountable through the law alone. The legal framework for environmental issues is under development. For this reason, Mitsui OSK and Nagashiki Shipping must proactively commit to their social responsibility, rather than taking advantage of legal loopholes.</p><p>Most importantly, Mitsui OSK and Nagashiki Shipping should use this disaster as an opportunity to finally break away from fossil fuels and to shift toward sustainable renewable energy. The two companies should give up transporting coal, oil and gas. Specifically Mitsui OSK should end any involvement in oil and gas production, including around LNG. </p>
<p>If it weren't for fossil fuels, none of this would have happened. Companies producing, carrying and burning oil would like us to think that with enough goodwill it can be cleaned up, like milk spilled on the kitchen floor. Unfortunately, that is not the case.</p><p>In addition to threatening the biodiversity of the oceans and the livelihoods of coastal communities, our use of oil is a driver of the global climate crisis. The world's foremost climate scientists have warned that we must urgently and radically minimize the use of oil, gas and coal in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate emergency. The climate crisis is an existential threat and in response to it, there is a movement of millions of people across the world who are taking action. This oil spill is a tragic and devastating reminder that fossil fuels are toxic, and our reliance on them puts both people and the planet at risk. Now is the time to build a better future.</p>
<p><em>Roshan Rajroop is the President of human rights organization Dis Moi. Melita Steele and Hisayo Takada are the program directors for the environmental organization Greenpeace Africa and Greenpeace Japan.</em></p>
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Smokestacks are among the contributors to carbon dioxide pollution. Pixource / Pixabay
By Gero Rueter
The world is, on average, 1.1 degrees Celsius warmer today than it was in 1850. If this trend continues, our planet will be 2 – 3 degrees hotter by the end of this century, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
<p>The main reason for this temperature rise is higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which cause the atmosphere to trap heat radiating from the Earth into space. Since 1850, the proportion of CO2 in the air has increased from 0.029% to 0.041% (288 ppm to 414 ppm).</p><p>This is directly related to the burning of coal, oil and gas, which were created from forests, plankton and plants over millions of years. Back then, they stored CO2 and kept it out of the atmosphere, but as fossil fuels are burned, that CO2 is released. Other contributing factors include industrialized agriculture and slash-and-burn land clearing techniques.</p><p>Over the past 50 years, more than 1200 billion tons of CO2 have been emitted into the planet's atmosphere — 36.6 billion tons in 2018 alone. As a result, the global average temperature has risen by 0.8 degrees in just half a century.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ0Njc2My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTU1NTM0M30.SN5VRy3f-PLJxm-SOKhOnuIApgIrJPjy1Lnd0tbqodE/img.png?width=980" id="5763a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f4b151bffac5542f923b7e41078b628b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Atmospheric CO2 Should Remain at a Minimum
<p>In 2015, the world came together to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/negotiators-from-nearly-200-countries-strike-deal-over-how-to-implement-landmark-paris-climate-treaty/a-46759829" target="_blank">sign the Paris Climate Agreement</a> which set the goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees — 1.5 degrees, if possible.</p><p>The agreement limits the amount of CO2 that can be released into the atmosphere. According to the IPCC, if a maximum of around 300 billion tons were emitted, there would be a 50% chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. If <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-emissions-paris-agreement/a-55044341" target="_blank">CO2 emissions remain the same</a>, however, the CO2 "budget" would be used up in just seven years.</p><p>According to the IPCC's report on the 1.5 degree target, negative emissions are also necessary to achieve the climate targets.</p><h3>Using Reforestation to Remove CO2</h3><p>One planned measure to stop too much CO2 from being released into the atmosphere is reforestation. According to studies, 3.6 billion tons of CO2 — around 10% of current CO2 emissions — could be saved every year during the growth phase. However, a study by researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, stresses that achieving this would require the use of land areas equivalent in size to the entire U.S.</p><h3>More Humus in the Soil</h3><p>Humus in the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/could-soils-help-save-the-climate/a-42214694" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">soil stores a lot of carbon</a>. But this is being released through the industrialization of agriculture. The amount of humus in the soil can be increased by using catch crops and plants with deep roots as well as by working harvest remnants back into the ground and avoiding deep plowing. According to a study by the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) on using targeted CO2 extraction as a part of EU climate policy, between two and five billion tons of CO2 could be saved with a global build-up of humus reserves.</p><h3>Biochar Shows Promise</h3><p>Some scientists see biochar as a promising <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-solutions-technologies-to-slow-climate-change/a-51660909" target="_blank">technology</a> for keeping CO2 out of the atmosphere. Biochar is created when organic material is heated and pressurized in a zero or very low-oxygen environment. In powdered form, the biochar is then spread on arable land where it acts as a fertilizer. This also increases the amount of carbon content in the soil. According to the same study from the SWP, global application of this technology could save between 0.5 and two billion tons of CO2 every year.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ0Njc3OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTU4MTkzMX0.6PDEswdjX-4d3zykpEaZmevNlP315QCz-Sph9NVEukk/img.png?width=980" id="0a4e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="beb9c08e227419bccb892859bc90daac" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Storing CO2 in the Ground
<p>Storing CO2 deep in the Earth is already well-known and practiced on Norway's oil fields, for example. However, the process is still controversial, as storing CO2 underground can lead to earthquakes and leakage in the long-term. A different method is currently being practiced in Iceland, in which CO2 is sequestered into porous basalt rock to be mineralized into stone. Both methods still require more research, however.<br></p><p>Capturing CO2 to be held underground is done by using chemical processes which effectively extract the gas from the ambient air. This method is known as direct air capture (DAC) and is already practiced in other parts of Europe. As there is no limit to the amount of CO2 that can be captured, it is considered to have great potential. However, the main disadvantage is the cost — currently around $650 per ton. Some scientists believe that mass production of DAC systems could bring prices down to $59 per ton by 2050. It is already considered a key technology for future climate protection.</p><p>Another way of extracting CO2 from the air is via biomass. Plants grow and are burned in a power plant to produce electricity. CO2 is then extracted from the exhaust gas of the power plant and stored deep in the Earth.</p><p>The big problem with this <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/carbon-capture-expensive-risky-and-indispensable/a-43172422" target="_blank">technology</a>, known as bio-energy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the huge amount of space required. According to Felix Creutzig from the Mercator Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in Berlin, it will therefore only play "a minor role" in CO2 removal technologies.</p><h3>CO2 Bound by Rock Minerals</h3><p>In this process, carbonate and silicate rocks are mined, ground and scattered on agricultural land or on the surface water of the ocean, where they collect CO2 over a period of years. According to researchers, by the middle of this century it would be possible to capture two to four billion tons of CO2 every year using this technique. The main challenges are primarily the quantities of stone required, and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/geoengineering-climate-change-projects/a-52117714" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">building the necessary infrastructure</a>. Concrete plans have not yet been researched.</p><h3>Not an Option: Fertilizing the Sea With Iron</h3><p>The idea is use iron to fertilize the ocean, thereby increasing its nutrient content, which would allow plankton to grow stronger and capture more CO2. However, both the process and possible side effects are very controversial. "This is rarely treated as a serious option in research," concludes SWP study authors Oliver Geden and Felix Schenuit.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/carbon-capture-paris-agreement-co2-emissions-soil-reforestation-biochar-biomass/a-54717755?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2647855981#/" target="_self"></a></p>
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Bottlenose dolphins are seen swimming off the coast of Miami in the Atlantic Ocean. Brandon Trentler / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Andrea Germanos
The federal government and fossil fuel industry announced at a legal hearing Thursday that seismic blasting will not be carried out in the Atlantic Ocean this year—and possibly not in the near future either—a development welcomed by conservation groups who lobbied forcefully against what they said would have been an "unjustified acoustic attack on our oceans."
<p>"Communities can breathe a little easier knowing the Atlantic is now safe from seismic airgun blasting in 2020," said Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins, who called the news "a bright spot and in line with the court of public opinion."</p><p>Confirmation of the pause on the blasting, an initial step in searching for offshore oil, came at a status conference for ongoing <a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/groups-sue-feds-to-stop-seismic-airgun-blasting-in-atlantic-ocean" target="_blank">litigation</a> over the <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-oil-and-gas-industry-geophysical-survey-activity-atlantic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issuance</a> of so-called Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs) that would have <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/authorizations-issued-for-marine-mammal-impacts-from-atlantic-geophysical-surveys" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allowed</a> fossil fuel companies to "incidentally, but not intentionally, harass marine mammals" including the <a href="https://oceana.org/RightWhaleToSave" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">endangered</a> North Atlantic right whale, humpback whale, and bottlenose dolphin.</p><p>The risk was particularly acute for the right whale. Alice M. Keyes, vice president of coastal conservation for One Hundred Miles, warned that "seismic blasting in the Atlantic would sound the death knell for this magnificent species."</p>
<p>Ocean conservation advocates have long sounded alarm about widespread harms caused by airgun tests that "<a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/seismic_blasting/" target="_blank">generate the loudest human sounds in the ocean, short of those made by explosives</a>" and can trigger hearing loss in marine mammals that rely on echolocation. Such blasts can be "<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/24/scale-threat-seismic-blasting-poses-whales-dolphins-laid-bare" target="_blank">repeated every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for days to weeks at a time</a>."</p><p>Confirming a legal filing from Tuesday, government attorneys said Thursday that the IHAs in question expire at the end of November, and there is no legal or regulatory ability to extend them. Industry lawyers also indicated to the judge at the tele-hearing that even if they were issued new permits, it was unfeasible to begin seismic testing this year. Moreover, acquiring new permits is a lengthy process.</p><p>"There will be no boats in the water this year, and because this resets the clock, there will be no boats in the water for a long time," said Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.</p>
<p>Beyond the direct harm from seismic surveys, ocean defenders pointed to the folly of looking for more fossil fuels amid the deepening climate crisis.</p><p>"Seismic blasting harms whales in the search for offshore oil that we should leave in the ground. We can't allow the oil industry's greed to threaten endangered North Atlantic right whales and other vulnerable species," said Kristen Monsell, ocean legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity.</p><p>"We're happy these animals will have a reprieve from this unjustified acoustic attack on our oceans," she said, vowing to "keep fighting to ensure the oil industry stays out of the Atlantic."</p><p>That necessitates a full ban on offshore drilling activities, said Michael Jasny, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at NRDC.</p><p>"The only way to end the threat," he said, "is to prohibit offshore oil and gas exploration for good."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/huge-victory-ocean-defenders-seismic-blasting-halted-atlantic?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank"> Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Trump's Bureau of Land Management Chief Forced Out After Judge Says He's Serving Unlawfully
28 September
Politics
William Perry Pendley is questioned at a National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Subcommittee hearing on Sept. 10, 2019. Natural Resources Democrats
A federal judge in Montana ordered William Perry Pendley, the head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to quit immediately after finding that the Trump administration official had served in the post unlawfully for 14 months, according to CNN.
<p>The ruling may reverse an entire year of decisions that Pendley made to open up the American West to oil and gas drilling, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/26/william-pendley-blm-montana-judge/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. The judge in the case, <a href="https://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/chief-judge-brian-morris-chambers" target="_blank" title="">Brian Morris</a> of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, said that Pendley had been appointed to the post, but his name had never been submitted to the Senate for confirmation.</p><p>"Pendley has served and continues to serve unlawfully as the Acting B.L.M. director," wrote Morris in a 34-page ruling he issued on Friday, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/us/william-perry-pendley-blm.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported. He added that Pendley's authority "did not follow any of the permissible paths set forth by the U.S. Constitution."</p>
<p>He added, as CNN reported, "Secretary Bernhardt lacked the authority to appoint Pendley as an Acting B.L.M Director under the (Federal Vacancies Reform Act). Pendley unlawfully took the temporary position beyond the 210-day maximum allowed by the F.V.R.A. Pendley unlawfully served as Acting B.L.M Director after the President submitted his permanent appointment to the Senate for confirmation — another violation of the F.V.R.A. And Pendley unlawfully serves as Acting B.L.M Director today, under color of the Succession Memo."</p><p>The ruling went on to prohibit Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, who appointed Pendley, from appointing a successor, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>The plaintiff in the case, Montana's Governor Steve Bullock, now has 10 days to present examples of decisions Pendley made that should be nullified, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>"They've never had a valid person running that agency," said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/26/trump-public-lands-chief-removed-william-perry-pendley" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported. "Even before Pendley there was just a never-ending list of rotating acting people, and that's not what you're supposed to do."</p><p>Hartl added the lack of legitimate leadership could mean every BLM decision from the last three years is reversed.</p>
<p>"If this case becomes a template in other districts, then it would follow that all other land use plans that have been approved during Pendley's illegal tenure could also get thrown out," said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, as The Washington Post reported. "The potential implication there is stunning — effectively erasing all of the planning work B.L.M has finalized over the last year, possibly longer."</p><p>On Friday, Bullock wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/GovernorBullock/status/1309635303146057729" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, "Today's ruling is a win for the Constitution, the rule of law, and our <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands">public lands</a>. Montanans can rest easy knowing that National Public Lands Day will begin with William Perry Pendley packing his desk and vacating the Director's Office."</p><p>Joe Biden took to <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1309887202529177601" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a> on Saturday to echo Bullock's sentiment. "Today is Public Lands Day and National Hunting and Fishing Day — and what better way to celebrate than the long overdue removal of William Perry Pendley from @blmnational. It's a victory for everyone who values our public lands over those who want to exploit them for profit."</p>
<p>The decision may have a cascading effect for federal policy since the administration has not nominated 133 of the 750 leadership positions that require Senate confirmation, as The Washington Post reported. That means their decisions could be nullified as well.</p><p>"We're talking here about an acting official or someone designated to be the equivalent who may have no authority to make decisions," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, to The Washington Post. "It creates uncertainty across the board and there are many other instances where the same or similar circumstances might exist."</p><p>Bullock started the lawsuit after Pendley tried to open up vast areas in southwest Montana to oil and gas drilling. The BLM manages 27 million acres in Montana, roughly one-third of the state. In one area, Pendley attempted to lease 95 percent of a 650,000-acre area to oil and gas exploration.</p><p>"This ruling enshrines in law what Montanans already knew: William Perry Pendley has no business overseeing our public lands," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said in a statement, as The Washington Post reported. "Montanans and future generations will benefit from Governor Bullock's work protecting our public lands from Pendley's reckless agenda."</p>
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Presidential nominee Joe Biden has not taken a stance on gas exports, including liquefied natural gas. Ken Hodge / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Simon Montlake
For more than a decade, Susan Jane Brown has been battling to stop a natural gas pipeline and export terminal from being built in the backcountry of Oregon. As an attorney at the nonprofit Western Environmental Law Center, she has repeatedly argued that the project's environmental, social, and health costs are too high.
All that was before this month's deadly wildfires in Oregon shrouded the skies above her home office in Portland. "It puts a fine point on it. These fossil fuel projects are contributing to global climate change," she says.
<p>Jordan Cove, the $10-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that Ms. Brown is trying to stop, has yet to break ground. But environmental lawsuits and permitting delays aren't the only barriers. A calamitous crash in natural gas prices and a glut of LNG capacity have cast doubts over its commercial viability and, more broadly, the easy promise of converting abundant U.S. gas into a global commodity and geopolitical tool.</p><p>"There's too much oil. There's too much gas. There's not enough demand," says Clark Williams-Derry at the liberal-leaning Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.</p><p>Still, even if projects like Jordan Cove are shelved, several other LNG terminals on the Gulf Coast already have all their permits and are waiting to secure financing. Their expansion over the next five years would make the U.S. the world's largest LNG producer, creating jobs at home and opening new markets in energy-hungry Asia. </p><p>For a future Biden administration, that's a wrinkle in any serious climate plan. Once built, these LNG plants would potentially lock in decades of heat-trapping emissions that are already hurling the planet toward a hotter, less stable future. "Once you build the infrastructure it's there, and it gets run on a different economic basis than if it's not there," says Mr. Williams-Derry, who tracks the LNG industry. </p>
<p>Proponents say natural gas is cleaner than the coal that it replaces both in the U.S., where it now produces around 40% of electricity, and in countries like India and China. That makes it a "bridge fuel" to a fully renewable energy future that hasn't yet arrived, says Fred Hutchison, president and CEO of LNG Allies, an industry group. "Gas can continue to be part of a low-carbon energy system globally," he says.</p><p>He predicts that LNG firms would be comfortable with a Biden presidency. "He's got a great affinity for working people and labor, and labor is very much on board with regards to LNG," he says. </p><p>On the campaign trail, Mr. Biden has gotten heat over his support for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which left-leaning Democrats oppose but which is seen as important for winning Pennsylvania, a battleground state in November's election. Far less attention has been paid to where the oil and gas goes, and whether support for LNG exports is compatible with Mr. Biden's clean-energy agenda and plans for tackling climate change.</p><p>"It's not going to save the climate if we're just exporting our emissions overseas," says Collin Rees, a campaigner for Oil Change U.S., an environmental nonprofit. </p>
Moderates Feeling the Heat
<p>If elected, Mr. Biden has vowed to stop new drilling for oil and gas on federal land and in federal waters and to rejoin the 2015 Paris climate accord that President Donald Trump gave notice of quitting. He would reinstate Obama-era regulations of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, the largest component of natural gas.</p><p>The Biden climate platform also states that all federal infrastructure investments and federal permits would need to be assessed for their climate impacts. Analysts say such a test could impede future LNG plants and pipelines, though not those that already have federal approval. </p><p>Climate change activists who pushed for that language say much depends on who would have oversight of federal agencies that regulate the industry. Some are wary of Biden's reliance on advice from Obama-era officials, including former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who is now on the board of Southern Company, a utility, and a former Obama environmental aide, Heather Zichal, who has served on the board of Cheniere Energy, an LNG exporter. </p><p>In a letter sent earlier this month, Mr. Rees and other signatories urged Mr. Biden to ban "all fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives" from any future administration.</p><p>That Obama-era moderates are under fire over their climate bona fides is a measure of rising leftist clout in the Democratic coalition. It also reflects how the climate debate has shifted since Biden was in office, in response to extreme weather events and troubling scientific findings. This includes research into lifecycle emissions from natural gas production and methane leaks and flaring that muddies the argument that it's a transition fuel to a carbon-free future.</p><p>"We've gotten more proof on the science that switching to gas is not enough," says Mr. Rees. </p>
The Push for U.S. Fuel Exports
<p>As vice president, Biden was part of an administration that pushed hard for global climate action while also promoting U.S. oil and gas exports to its allies and trading partners. As fracking boomed, Obama ended a 40-year ban on crude oil exports. In Europe, LNG was touted both as an alternative to coal and as strategic competition with Russian pipelines.</p><p>That much, at least, continued with President Trump. Under Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the agency referred to liquified U.S. hydrocarbons as "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/us/freedom-gas-energy-department.html" target="_blank">freedom gas</a>."</p><p>Mr. Trump has also championed the interests of coal, oil, and gas while denigrating the findings of government climate scientists. He rejected the Paris accord as unfair to the U.S. and detrimental to its economy, but has offered no alternative path to emissions cuts. </p><p>Still, Trump's foreign policy has not always served the LNG industry: Tariffs on foreign steel drove up pipeline costs, and a trade war with China stayed the hand of Chinese LNG importers wary of reliance on U.S. suppliers. </p><p>Even his regulatory rollbacks could be a double-edged sword. By relaxing curbs last month on methane leaks, the U.S. has ceded ground to European regulators who are drafting emissions standards that LNG producers are watching closely. "That's a precursor of fights that will be fought in all the rest of the developed world," says Mr. Hutchison. </p><p>Indeed, some oil-and-gas exporters had urged the Trump administration not to abandon the tougher rules, since they undercut their claim to offer a cleaner-burning way of producing heat and electricity. "U.S. LNG is not going to be able to compete in a world that's focused on methane emissions and intensity," says Erin Blanton, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. </p>Stepping on the Gas
<p>In July, the Department of Energy issued an export license to Jordan Cove's developer, Canada's Pembina Pipeline Corp. In a statement, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette said the project would provide "reliable, affordable, and cleaner-burning natural gas to our allies around the world."</p><p>As a West Coast terminal, Jordan Cove offers a faster route to Asia where its capacity of 7.8 million tons of LNG a year could serve to heat more than 15 million homes. At its peak, its construction would also create 6,000 jobs, the company says, in a stagnant corner of Oregon.</p><p>But the project still lacks multiple local and state permits, and its biggest asset – a Pacific port – has become its biggest handicap, says Ms. Blanton. "They are putting infrastructure in a state where there's no political support for the pipeline or the terminal, unlike in Louisiana or Texas," she says. </p><p>Ms. Brown, the environmental lawyer, says she wants to see Jordan Cove buried, not just mothballed until natural gas prices recover. But she knows that it's only one among many LNG projects and that others will likely get built, even if Biden is elected in November, despite growing evidence of the harm caused by methane emissions. </p>From Your Site Articles
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A Japanese ship that ran aground on a coral reef off Mauritius may have changed course to get a mobile data signal for a birthday celebration on board. imo.un / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
A Japanese ship that wrecked off the coast of Mauritius in July and sparked one of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history may have run aground because of birthday celebrations on board at the time.
<p>That's according to a statement from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), in the latest development from the July 25 wrecking of the Panama-flagged and Japanese-owned M.V. Wakashio, a bulk carrier. The ship, bound for Brazil from Singapore, was sailing through Mauritian waters when it ran aground on a coral reef and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritius-grapples-with-worst-environmental-crisis-in-a-generation/" target="_blank">leaked almost 1,000 tons</a> of fuel oil.</p><p>In its <a href="https://amp.gob.pa/notas-de-prensa/delegacion-panamena-de-expertos-en-accidentes-maritimos-asiste-en-investigaciones-sobre-el-accidente-de-la-embarcacion-wakashio-en-isla-mauricio/" target="_blank">statement</a> published in Spanish on Sept. 7, the AMP, which is collaborating in the investigation into the accident, said the ship diverted its navigation plan, possibly in relation to "the celebration of the birthday of one of the crew members."</p>
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<p>"[T]he change of course is produced by indications of the captain of the boat, who gave instructions to approach about 5 miles away from the coast of Mauritius, looking for a telephone and internet signal, so that the crew members could communicate with their families," the AMP said.</p><p>The Wakashio's captain was taken into custody on Aug. 18 for endangering safe navigation. According to the government, the ship had failed to respond to several calls from the Mauritian Coast Guard.</p><p>Mauritius's environment minister, Kavydass Ramano, called it an "unprecedented" crisis, and the prime minister declared a national emergency on Aug. 7, a day after oil began leaking from its tank.</p><p>The AMP said its investigation into the cause of the grounding was still in the preliminary phase. It also raised questions about the use of the electronic navigational chart (ENC). "It seems that the wrong chart was being used and with the wrong scale, which made it impossible to properly verify the approach to the coast and shallower waters," the AMP said.</p>
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">Satellite data analysis reported by Forbes shows the ship </span><u style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nishandegnarain/2020/08/09/how-satellites-traced-the-fateful-journey-of-the-ship-that-led-to--mauritius-worst-oil-spill-disaster/#8c542495b428" target="_blank">changed course</a></u><span style="background-color: initial;"> on July 21, putting it on a direct collision path with the island. The outlet also reported that weather conditions in the days leading up to the crash were not adverse, discounting bad weather as a possible explanation for the move.</span><br></p><p>Some observers say the missteps could be linked to the stress that ship crews are under in the upheaval caused by the COVID-19 shutdowns. It has become challenging for shipping operators to make crew changes, leading many seafarers to be stranded at sea, away from their families for long periods.</p><p>The Wakashio ran aground on the reef close to at least three ecologically important sites: a Ramsar wetland, a coral island hosting rare and endemic birds, and a marine protected area. Environmentalists say they fear the spill will have lasting effects on the coral reefs, mangroves and fisheries in the region.</p><p>Last week, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), the Japanese company operating the ship, pledged 1 billion yen ($9.5 million) for environmental preservation efforts and to shore up local fisheries.</p><p>Nagashiki Shipping, the owner of the Wakashio, will also be contributing to this initiative, called the Mauritius Natural Environment Recovery Fund. The money will go toward mangrove recovery, coral reef protection and safeguarding Mauritius's rare flora and fauna, and for research work.</p>
<p>The Japanese government has also offered aid, but the value of its commitment is undecided. Japanese media have reported that Mauritius is seeking 1.34 billion Mauritian rupees ($34 million) from Tokyo.</p><p>Mauritius is also seeking compensation from Nagashiki Shipping. It has started the process of collecting claims from residents impacted by the crash and the spill.</p><p>Mauritian authorities have come under increasing scrutiny at home for letting the ship remain on the reef for more than 10 days, even as choppy waters damaged the vessel and ultimately led to a breach in the fuel tank. The ship broke into two on Aug. 15.</p>
<p>A controversial <u><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritiuss-plan-to-dump-part-of-wrecked-ship-sparks-controversy/" target="_blank">decision</a></u> to sink the front half of the ship on Aug. 25, and the beaching of dozens of dolphins and whales days just days later, fueled further discontent. The causes of the deaths of the cetaceans are yet to be determined.</p><p>On Aug. 29, <u><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/mauritians-take-to-the-street-over-oil-spill-and-dolphin-and-whale-deaths/" target="_blank">thousands of people</a></u> marched in the streets of the capital, Port Louis, to protest what they see as the government's mishandling of the crisis. Another protest was held in Mahebourg, an important fishing village, on Sept. 12.</p><p>Meanwhile, the stern of the broken vessel remains lodged on the reef. Efforts are underway to remove it before the Indian Ocean storm season starts in November.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/birthday-party-on-ship-may-have-led-to-oil-spill-in-mauritius-panama-regulator-says/#:~:text=A%20Japanese%20ship%20that%20ran,flag%20the%20vessel%20was%20sailing." target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- 17 Dead Dolphins Wash Ashore in Mauritius Near Oil Spill - EcoWatch ›
- Mauritius' First Major Oil Spill Poses Environmental Crisis - EcoWatch ›
- Mauritius Arrests Captain of Ship Behind Devastating Oil Spill ... ›
- The Mauritius Oil Spill Cannot Be Cleaned Up, but Damages Must Be Paid - EcoWatch ›
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