Environment

Blue (MAGA) In Green

September 19, 2024 Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report. Educate! 2024 US Presidential elections, Big Greens, climate crisis, Democratic Party, Elections, Environment

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to refute the sentiment that the mainstream environmental “movement” has lost its way, assuming that it ever had a clear one in the first place. This election cycle has illuminated the fact that this cadre of the larger non profit industrial apparatus has aligned itself more with a political party, the Democrats, than with the principles necessary to confront the quintessential climate crisis that’s edging the planet and requisite systems for survival to a junction of entropy. It must now be said that the abject intransigence of mainstream environmental groups poses a clear and present danger to climate and environmental justice that in some ways, it could be argued, rivals that of former President Trump.

Rail Crew, Environmental Justice Organizations Win Clean Air Rule

September 17, 2024 UE Union. Organize! Air, Environment, Green Jobs, Railroads, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Rail crew drivers from UE Local 1077 joined environmental justice organizations in persuading the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to pass a life-saving regulation for rail yards in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. In response to overwhelming public support, including a letter signed by the UE local and its allies, the rule passed unanimously at the board’s meeting in August. Rule 2306 will limit toxic emissions from the 25 rail yards in operation and any new rail yards built in the region. According to SCAQMD, “The rule is expected to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions associated with freight rail yards by about 10.5 tons per day between 2027 to 2050.”

Two Years And $300 Billion Into Biden’s Climate Plan, Emissions Are Higher

August 26, 2024 Peter Gelderloos, In These Times. Educate! Carbon emissions, climate crisis, Environment, Finance and the Economy, Inflation, Inflation Reduction Act, Joe Biden

August 16 marked the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislation that has funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into green energy and electric vehicles. While the Act made unprecedented investments in renewable energy, it also faced criticism for being too little, too late and for compromising on fossil fuel extraction. In response, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan acknowledged the bill’s shortcomings but explained the administration’s approach: “We’re using every tool in our toolbox to drive down climate pollution as much as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Imperial Oil Tailings Spill Fine A ‘Toothless Slap On The Wrist’

August 25, 2024 Taylor Noakes, DeSmog. Resist! Canada, Energy, Environment, Indigenous Activism, Oil Spill, Social Justice

A major Canadian oil producer responsible for a toxic tailings pond leak that dumped 5.3 million litres of contaminated waste into the environment has been fined just $50,000 by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). Environmental Defence, a prominent Canadian environmental advocacy organization, called the AER’s response “toothless.” The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), an Indigenous community in Northern Alberta whose territory has been impacted by the tailings pond spill at Imperial Oil’s Kearl tar sands mine since at least 2022, called the fine “laughable” and further condemned what they called the AER’s “weak response.”

Global Water-Related Conflicts Reached A Record High In 2023

August 24, 2024 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, Report, Violence, Water, Water Scarcity

According to a new report from the nonprofit Pacific Institute, violent conflicts over water increased sharply in 2023. The report found there were nearly 350 water-related conflicts globally last year, a record high. The latest update to Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology has revealed a huge increase in the number of water-related conflicts in 2023 compared to just 2022, with around a 150% rise. In 2022, there were 231 recorded conflicts over water, compared to the 347 recorded for 2023. In comparing to recent decades, the contrast is even more stark. In 2000, there were just 22 water-related conflicts worldwide, Pacific Institute reported.

There’s Not Enough Daylight Between Democratic Party Policies And Project 2025 To Fuel A Solar Panel

August 22, 2024 Anthony Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Democrats, Elections, Environment, Kamala Harris

As the 2024 election season heats up the Democratic Party has found its new boogeyman Project 2025 - a set of policy prescriptions developed by the conservative think tank, Heritage Foundation, with aims to implement them on the very first day former president Trump assumes the presidency, should he defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in November. As evidenced by recent political advertisements by the Democrats and their legion of Political Action Committees, the intent is to institute a profound fear factor by directly associating Project 2025 with a potential second Trump presidency.

When Is ‘Recyclable’ Not Really Recyclable?

August 21, 2024 Lisa Song, ProPublica. Educate! Environment, False Solutions, Plastics, Recycling

Is there anything more pathetic than a used plastic bag? They rip and tear. They float away in the slightest breeze. Left in the wild, their mangled remains entangle birds and choke sea turtles that mistake them for edible jellyfish. It takes 1,000 years for the bags to disintegrate, shedding hormone-disrupting chemicals as they do. And that outcome is all but inevitable, because no system exists to routinely recycle them. It’s no wonder some states have banned them and stores give discounts to customers with reusable bags. But the plastics industry is working to make the public feel OK about using them again.

BLM To Protect North Dakota Drinking Water

August 21, 2024 Sharon Kelly, DeSmog. Educate! Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Environment, North Dakota, Water

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the results of its most recent oil and gas sale on public lands in North Dakota and Montana. The majority of the proceeds for this round come from a $15.1 million winning bid for a 273-acre parcel located entirely underneath the Missouri River, which serves as a major source of drinking water for millions of Americans. That relatively small lease is a big reminder of the ways shale extraction continues in and around places where people get their drinking water. The sale was made amid continuing battles over just how much public land will be made available to oil and gas drillers, and how much protection will be extended for public lands.

Climate Activists Celebrate Shutting Down Major Polluter

August 18, 2024 Whitney Wildman, Fight Back! News. Resist! Climate Justice, Environment, Minneapolis, pollution

Minneapolis, MN – On August 16, over 100 activists and community members held a celebratory rally in response to winning the struggle to shut down a long-time polluter, Smith Foundry. The Smith Foundry is one of several heavy industrial sites located in the residential Minneapolis neighborhood of East Phillips, one of the most diverse and working-class neighborhoods in Minnesota. The city has long used East Phillips as its toxic dumping ground, and, as a result, East Phillips has some of the highest rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease in the state. Notably, Smith Foundry operated as the top lead polluter in the county, further poisoning an already environmentally overburdened community.

Urgent Call To Action To Revoke The Snowbowl Memorandum Of Agreement

August 15, 2024 Robin Silver, Popular Resistance. Resist! Arizona, Environment, Indigenous Sovereignty, Sacred sites, Snowbowl

Flagstaff, Arizona - Environmental and cultural advocates are expressing outrage following the approval and signing of the Snowbowl Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (ACHP), and the United States Forest Service (USFS). This agreement has been established without the incorporation of critical scientific monitoring provisions on the San Francisco Peaks Traditional Cultural Property (TCP), disregarding the recommendations of indigenous Tribes, involved scientist, and respected elders.

A Breath Of Fresh Air In San Diego Port Community

August 13, 2024 Roberto Camacho, Next City. Organize! California, Environment, pollution, San Diego

For decades, San Diego’s port communities like Barrio Logan and National City have been plagued with unhealthy air quality. Residents of communities bordering the 34 miles of coastline encompassed by the Port of San Diego face a barrage of toxic pollutants and other hazardous conditions from industrial shipyards, intersecting neighborhood freeways, and even the U.S. Navy. They believe these hazardous conditions would never be tolerated in San Diego’s more affluent areas. The fight for clean air has been a long, uphill battle for these working-class, historically Mexican-American and immigrant communities.

Kamala Harris’s Environmental Deceptions

August 10, 2024 Ann Garrison, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Environment, Environmental racism, History, Kamala Harris, San Francisco

Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency and the strongest environmental protections the US had ever seen in response to the mass movements of the 1960s. After Nixon, environmental laws gradually improved until Bill Clinton’s administration started rolling them back, especially through global “free trade” deals like NAFTA and those of the WTO, putting the environmental movement on the defensive. Every president since Clinton, Democrat or Republican, has successively worsened environmental protections. Obama expanded fossil fuel production more than any other president in US history, and Biden continued to expand it even more than Trump had. There’s little reason to think that Kamala Harris would be different, and she’s already reversed her opposition to fracking.

DC Circuit Rules Against FERC Approval Of LNG And Pipeline Projects

August 6, 2024 Lindsay Stafford Mader, Sierra Club. Resist! climate crisis, Environment, FERC, Pipelines, Texas, Victory

On Tuesday, Aug. 6, the D.C. Circuit Court issued a decision that effectively cancels the previous approval of three harmful methane gas projects in South Texas by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), marking the first time a court has vacated FERC approval of an LNG terminal. In 2023, FERC reapproved Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and the Rio Bravo pipeline, despite widespread concerns for the harm the projects would cause to the surrounding communities and the climate. The Sierra Club, the City of Port Isabel, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, and Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera sued FERC for failing to adequately consider the environmental justice impacts and greenhouse gas emissions of the three projects, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act.

Dark Oxygen: Deep-Sea Discovery Challenges Scientific Assumptions

August 5, 2024 Felicity Bradstock, Naked Capitalism. Educate! Dark Oxygen, Environment, Oceans, Science and technology

The discovery of “dark oxygen”, oxygen produced deep under the surface of the sea, is shining a light on the potential risks of deep-sea mining for metals and minerals. There has already been great controversy over plans to approve deep-sea mining activities at the international level, to meet the growing demand for critical minerals, and the recent discovery demonstrates just how little we know about marine ecosystems. An international team of researchers recently discovered that oxygen is being made by potato-shaped metallic nodules deep under the surface of the Pacific Ocean. In July, their findings, which throw into dispute the concepts of oxygen production, were published in the Nature Geoscience journal.

Cry, The Beloved World

August 5, 2024 Gus Speth, Resilience. Strategize! Biodiversity, climate crisis, Environment, Sustainability

Here is a topic miles away from the 2024 elections, though it should not be. Its political salience is just about zero, but it concerns the future of life on Earth. I could be referring to the recent surge in spending on nuclear weapons, but the devastation I will write about is slower yet no less problematic. If you are of a certain age, you may remember the children’s book, The Wump World. It first appeared in 1970, the year of the first Earth Day. Its message was clear. The bountiful, bucolic world of the Wumps, with its lovely bumbershoot trees and plentiful grasses for grazing, was denuded and impoverished by the Pollutians, who had colonized the Wump’s planet because they had destroyed their own.

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