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‘Time To Act’: Thousands March In London

March 8, 2015 Karl Mathiesen, www.theguardian.com , ,
The Campaign Against Climate Change, who organised the march, said “well over 20,000” people attended. The number of attendees was buoyed by the bright sunshine of early spring. Last September 40,000 people took to London’s streetsas part of the biggest demonstration on climate change action in history. Sauven said the protest on Saturday was the first step in a year of climate action. “This is much smaller in terms of its aims and objectives [than the global day of action in 2014]. But I think it’s also just the beginning. By the time we get to Paris then we have to have far bigger numbers than we had last year in September.” Lucas said climate change was visible and demanded action. “

Opportunity To Stop Oil Drilling In The Atlantic Ocean

March 1, 2015 Carl Safina, www.e360.yale.edu , , ,
If you look at maps of the affected areas, the inescapable impression is of vast expanses of ocean newly open for business. “This is a balanced proposal,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, acknowledging that it “would make available nearly 80 percent of the undiscovered technically recoverable resources.” If 80/20 is “balanced,” then Obama is “consistent.” In 2008, candidate Obama had attacked John McCain’s proposal to expand offshore drilling, saying, “It would have long-term consequences for our coastlines ... When I’m president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium.” In early 2010, he erased that promise with a proposal to end the moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the Delaware to Florida. But weeks later, the Deepwater Horizon went up in flames and sank a mile to the seafloor. It also sank Obama’s East Coast plan, which he withdrew. Now it’s back.

Fracking Banned For 5 years By Tasmanian Government

March 1, 2015 Stephen Smiley / ABC, www.earthfirstjournal.org , , ,
The Tasmanian Government will ban the controversial mining practice known as fracking for another five years. Fracking involves injecting liquid at high pressure into underground rocks to extract oil or gas, and the practice has sparked controversy in New South Wales and Queensland. Tasmanian Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff, who declared a one-year fracking moratorium in March 2014, considered 155 submissions on the subject. Mr Rockliff said there was uncertainty around fracking, and his decision would “protect Tasmania’s reputation for producing fresh, premium and safe produce”. “There is considerable concern around the potential negative impacts of fracking, particularly within our rural communities and farming families who rely so heavily on our global reputation for producing premium and safe products,” he said.

Uproarious ‘Laugh Riot’ Overwhelms Senator Whitehouse

March 1, 2015 Jimmy Betts, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
As Senator Whitehouse was being introduced, crowd-wide snickering could be heard as the announcer continually praised the senator's public image of being a "climate champion" and an environmentalist; both of which are directly contradicted by his support of Spectra Energy's 'Algonquin' pipeline expansion project in his home state of Rhode Island as well as the fact that Whitehouse's "third largest campaign contributor in 2012 was Goldberg, Lindsay & Co., an investment firm that owns several natural gas distribution and pipeline companies. Goldberg, Lindsay & Co. also contributed $20,000 to the Senator’s “OceanPAC” that distributes money to candidates who support “ocean and environmental issues.” After a few gales of laughter every time Whitehouse made reference to his climate-forward claim-to-green-fame, an audience member loudly inquired about the reason for these ongoing disruptive outbursts. One of the demonstrators stood up and replied, “It’s a JOKE! It’s a joke that Senator Whitehouse is an environmentalist."

Stop Theft Of Apache Land

February 28, 2015 Serene Fang, www.america.aljazeera.com , , ,
A place of great natural beauty, popular among rock climbers and campers, a part of Tonto National Forest known as Oak Flat has been under federal protection from mining since 1955, by special order of President Eisenhower. On the nearby San Carlos Apache reservation, many consider Oak Flat to be sacred, ancestral land – the home of one of their gods and the site of traditional Apache ceremonies. But Oak Flat also sits on top of one of the world’s largest deposits of copper ore. Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of British-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, has sought ownership of the land for a decade, lobbying Congress to enact special legislation on its behalf more than a dozen times since 2005. Year after year the bills failed to pass. But in December, the legislation was was quietly passed into law as part of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

Oil Investments Are Dropping

February 25, 2015 The Canadian Press, www.ctvnews.ca , , ,
Shell Canada Ltd. says it's pulling its regulatory application for the proposed Pierre River oilsands project north of Fort McMurray, Alta., in order to focus on existing operations. The move is the latest blow to the oilsands as companies look to cut costs and capital spending plans following the drop in oil prices. Shell says that given the preliminary nature of the Pierre River project it expected the impact on jobs would be limited. The Pierre River application proposed a 200,000 barrel-per-day heavy oil mine. The company says it already has existing regulatory approval to potentially more than double its oilsands production from the current level of 255,000 bpd. Shell said Pierre River remains a very long term opportunity and noted that the company will continue to hold the leases and can reapply for regulatory approval.

Twenty Cove Point Protectors Move Calvert County Court

February 25, 2015 Margaret Flowers, www.wearecovepoint.org , , , ,
On Monday, February 23, twenty Cove Point Protectors went to trial in the Calvert County District Court for actions last November and December to raise awareness and build resistance to a new gas refinery, liquefaction train, power plant and export terminal being built by Dominion Resources in the neighborhood of Cove Point in Southern Maryland. The Cove Point Protectors, as a group, were charged with 20 counts of trespass, 19 counts of failure to obey a lawful order and 2 counts of disorderly conduct. The gas refinery and export project, which will emit carcinogens and other toxins into the community and present a risk of chemical spill, fire and explosion, are the first to be placed in a densely-populated area. In fact, Dominion Resources lied during the permitting process by leaving out 90% of the more than 44,000 local people in its application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Opposition To Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline Rising

February 24, 2015 Augusta Free Press, www.augustafreepress.com , , ,
Dominion’s recent release of proposed “alternative routes” has Nelson County landowners outraged. And so does Dominion’s reliance on eminent domain as the “preferred alternative” to transport vast quantities of natural gas for export. “The fact that Dominion has now gone on record with a handful of routes doesn’t solve any of their problems,” said Joanna Salidis, President of Friends of Nelson. “These will impact an entirely new list of landowners, resulting in increased property owner resistance and lawsuits. Dominion continues to ignore all requests to drop the proposal or to use existing pipeline easement infrastructure instead of depending solely on eminent domain to achieve its business goals. ” This morning’s protests in Richmond give further proof of how widespread and deep-seated is the opposition to Dominion’s plans.

Criminal Charges Filed Against Duke Energy

February 23, 2015 Brian Sewell, www.appvoices.org , , ,
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed criminal charges against Duke Energy for violating the federal Clean Water Act at coal ash sites across North Carolina. The company announced today it has reached a proposed plea agreement with federal prosecutors to resolve the charges. According to a Duke Energy press release, the plea agreement includes $68.2 million in fines and restitution and $34 million for community service and mitigation. The charges include multiple misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act in connection with last year’s coal ash spill in the Dan River as well as unauthorized discharges at other Duke coal plants in North Carolina. The agreement is subject to review and approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Group Protests Mountain Valley Pipeline Project

February 22, 2015 Jason Dunovant, www.smithmountaineagle.com , ,
Members of the group Preserve Franklin gathered at the Rocky Mount Courthouse steps this past Thursday to protest the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Concerned citizens, mostly Franklin County residents, braved cold temperatures and high winds to hold signs that warned of what they believe are real dangers if the pipeline is constructed. Mountain Valley Pipeline will purchase land along the route of the pipeline for construction to begin. If those involved with the pipeline are unable to reach an agreement with residents, the property could be acquired by eminent domain with the court determining the compensation. “Landowners should have the right to say no to the pipeline,” Mark Laity-Snyder said. Snyder was one of the many local residents at the courthouse on Thursday.

Newsletter: Transforming Fundamental Power Inequities

February 21, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Most of the Popular Resistance team is in Cove Point, Maryland right now. Almost all are very likely to go to jail for several weeks after Monday's hearing for our efforts to stop the Dominion fracked gas export terminal at Cove Point. You can donate to the campaign here. Stopping this terminal is the key to stopping fracking on the east coast. The Calvert Commissioners have made a charade out of democracy. The government in Calvert County has kept the facts from the public. Before letting the public know of the plan to build the terminal they entered into a secrecy agreement with Dominion so the public has been kept in the dark. In the first hearing on the terminal, the County Attorney wrote the agenda: take public testimony, close the record and vote for the proposal. The proposal was for massive tax breaks for Dominion and waiver of zoning requirements. The latter turned out to be unconstitutional. Protests and civil resistance are the only avenues left to stop the Dominion terminal. This is literally a life and death situation for a community of 44,000 people; hundreds, probably more than a thousand lives, will be shortened and diseases that are not common now, will become common.

Fossil Fuel Divestment: A Brief History

February 21, 2015 Adam Vaughan, www.theguardian.com , , , ,
“We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy,” said Stephen Heintz of John D Rockefeller, as he announced that the heirs to one of America’s most famous dynasties, which was built on oil, were pulling their philanthropic funds out of fossil fuels. For sheer symbolism if not financial value – only $60m (£37m) of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund was invested in fossil fuels – it was perhaps the high point of what has become known as the fossil fuel divestment movement. With its roots in US campuses, the campaign to get institutions to pull their financial investments as a way of tackling climate change has seen a total of $50bn divested so far, according to the US Fossil Free campaign.

County Man Makes His Case At Dominion Lawsuit Hearing

February 21, 2015 Calvin Trice, www.newsleader.com , , , ,
If Dominion asks a landowner for permission to survey property for a pipeline route and the homeowner says "no," can the company come onto the land anyway? Churchville homeowners William and Wendy Little believe their "no" means no. Dominion's representatives say the company still has the right to survey the couple's 5 acres. The Littles' lawyer argued in a hearing for their federal lawsuit Thursday that the state law that grants natural gas companies the right to study private land without the owner's permission doesn't speak to the Littles' case. Virginia's statute allows such private property entry and doesn't count it as trespass if the company asks to study the land and doesn't receive permission.

World’s Biggest PR Firm Quits American Oil Lobby

February 21, 2015 Connor Gibson, www.ecowatch.com , , ,
Perhaps you heard the good news—the world’s largest public relations firm, Edelman, just spun off an advertising subsidiary so that it could show a commitment to not aiding the denial of climate change science. The Guardian explains how American Petroleum Institute’s (API) contracts with Edelman were so massive—tens of millions of dollars—that it was up to 10 percent of the PR giant’s income. or years, Edelman has managed multi-million dollar contracts with the API, using its Blue Advertising subsidiary to help API run commercials selling fantasies to people: that oil and gas are our only viable, plentiful, “AMERICAN” sources of energy. In the saga that led Edelman to dump the lobbyists at API, Greenpeace had a small role to play: we infiltrated a commercial shoot, run by Edelman’s Blue advertising arm for API.

Climate Activist Walks To Save Cove Point

February 20, 2015 John Zangas, www.cetology.org , ,
Back in December, Charles Chandler was arrested for trespass in Southern Maryland while protesting a plant under conversion there to liquefy natural gas and load onto tankers for export to Asia. This facility on the Chesapeake Bay, calledCove Point LNG, could be a major driver of fracking on the East Coast and facilitate the emissions of millions of tons of greenhouse gases. Chandler decided that walking to his court hearing in Prince Frederick this coming Monday would be appropriate. But he didn’t just resolve to walk a few miles to the courthouse. No, he embarked on a march of 360 miles. Setting out from Ithaca, New York on January 24, Chandler has walked an average of 13 miles a day for 28 days, and is due to arrive in Lusby today. He is walking this long distance to raise awareness about Cove Point LNG and raise funds to fight it.
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