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Fossil Fuels

US Drilling Approvals Increase Despite Biden Climate Pledge

July 18, 2021 Matthew Brown, Associated Press. , , ,
Billings, Montana — Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president, underscoring President Joe Biden’s reluctance to more forcefully curb petroleum production in the face of industry and Republican resistance. The Interior Department approved about 2,500 permits to drill on public and tribal lands in the first six months of the year, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. That includes more than 2,100 drilling approvals since Biden took office January 20. New Mexico and Wyoming had the largest number of approvals. Montana, Colorado and Utah had hundreds each. Biden campaigned last year on pledges to end new drilling on federal lands to rein in climate-changing emissions.

Greenland Bans All Oil Exploration

July 17, 2021 CBC News. , , ,
The government of Greenland has decided to suspend all oil exploration off the world's largest island, calling it "a natural step" because the Arctic government "takes the climate crisis seriously." No oil has been found yet around Greenland, but officials there had seen potentially vast reserves as a way to help Greenlanders realize their long-held dream of independence from Denmark by cutting the subsidy of the equivalent of about $680 million Canadian the Danish territory receives from the Danish government every year. Global warming means that retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the fortunes of the semi-autonomous territory of 57,000 people.

Old Hills And Old Folks Resist The Mountain Valley Pipeline

July 1, 2021 Appalachians Against Pipelines, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Bent Mountain, VA - On Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 5:30 A.M., Deborah Kushner, Alan Moore, and Bridget Kelley locked themselves in and to a broken down vehicle on Honeysuckle Road, blocking Mountain Valley Pipeline’s access to the pipeline easement, a work yard, and 2 access roads. Written on the vehicle blockade are slogans including: “Old Hills & Old Folks Resist,” “Protect What You Love,” “McAuliffe’s Climate Catastrophe,” “Land Back,” and “Water Is Life.” Nearly 20 people rallied on site in support of today’s blockade. At 12:45 P.M., law enforcement issued a dispersal order for the rally of supporters. By 2:30 P.M., they began extracting the 3 folks locked to the blockade vehicle.

Groups Rally On Capitol Hill Demanding End To Fossil Fuel Subsidies

June 30, 2021 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. , , ,
The U.S. movement for climate justice continued a series of actions planned for the nation's capital this week with a Tuesday morning rally focused on ending fossil fuel subsidies. As high temperatures persisted in both the Northeast and Pacific Northwest—which experts and activists have connected to the climate emergency—campaigners with hundreds of progressive and green groups joined Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for the rally in Washington, D.C. "I can't believe we're still talking about this," declared Lukas Ross, Climate & Energy Program manager at Friends of the Earth U.S., one of more than 500 groups behind the live-streamed event and a related letter (pdf) to Democratic leadership.

Solidarity With Resistance To Extraction

June 14, 2021 Don Fitz and the Gateway Green Alliance, Popular Resistance. , , ,
People the world over are opposing fossil fuel extraction in an incalculable number of ways.  It is now clear that burning fossil fuels threatens millions of Life forms and could be laying the foundation for the extermination of Humanity.  But what about “alternative” energy?  As progressives stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those rejecting fossil fuels and nuclear power, should we despise, ignore, or commend those who challenge the menace to their homes and their communities from solar, wind and hydro-power (dams)?  The Gateway Green Alliance gave its answer with unanimous approval of a version of the statement below in May, 2021. The monumental increase in the use of energy is provoking conflicts across the Earth.  We express our solidarity with those struggling against extraction, including these examples.

What Would A Deep Green New Deal Look Like?

May 2, 2021 Don Fitz, Popular Resistance. , , ,
The Green New Deal has attracted perhaps the greatest attention of any proposal for decades. It would guarantee Medicare-for-All, Housing-for-All, student loan forgiveness and propose the largest economic growth in human history to address unemployment and climate change. But the last of these hits a stumbling block. Creation of all forms of energy contributes to the destruction of nature and human life. It is possible to increase the global quality of life at the same time as we reduce the use of fossil fuels and other sources of energy. Therefore, a “deep” GND would focus on energy reduction, otherwise known as energy conservation. Decreasing total energy use is a prerequisite for securing human existence.

US Army Corps Of Engineers Permit Big Oil To Dredge Mercury-Contaminated Matagorda Bay

April 30, 2021 Ann Wright, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Texas shrimper, fisherwoman and internationally known environmentalist Diane Wilson is on Day 22 of her hunger strike to gain national solidarity and publicity for pressure on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rescind its permit for big oil to dredge a channel in mercury laden Matagorda Bay, Texas.  The dredged channel would allow massive oil tankers into the bay to take on crude oil that will be exported from the U.S. “I am risking my life to stop the reckless destruction of my community. Oil and gas export terminals like the project I am fighting pollute our air, water, and climate — only to pad the pockets of fossil fuel CEOs,” said Diane Wilson. “The Biden Administration needs to stop the dredging and stop oil and gas exports.”

Oxford University Has Pledged To Divest From Fossil Fuels

April 25, 2021 Brigitte Wear, DeSmog International. , , ,
There are signs Oxford University is slowly “getting it” when it comes to climate change. Last year, it committed to selling its multimillion-pound investments in oil and gas companies, after years of student campaigning, and more recently it launched an ambitious Sustainability Strategy. But a 12-month-long investigation we’ve just published shows how much deeper the ties between the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the industry run.  We knew departments in our university took money from fossil fuel companies, but we were shocked by the sheer scale: since 2015, Oxford has received over £8.2 million in research grants and £3.7 million in donations from the sector. And numerous academics hold positions within the industry at the same time as teaching and conducting research at the university.

Extinction Rebellion Sprays Bank Of England With ‘Oil’

April 2, 2021 Emily Atkinson, The Independent. , , ,
City of London - Several people have been arrested as Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Fossil Fool’ protesters sprayed the Bank of England with fake oil to highlight the “societal collapse” the activist group say global financial institutions are driving the planet towards. XR’s latest theatrical protest saw suit-clad activists descend on the heart of London’s financial district, demanding the Bank of England regulate the banks which continue to fund fossil fuel companies. The biodegradable fake oil, a mixture of black pond dye and guar gum extracted from beans, was sprayed from fire extinguishers onto the grand entrance to the bank. A sign reading ‘No More Fossil Fools’ has since been removed.

College Students Hold Statewide Day Of Action To Stop Line 3

March 5, 2021 Priscilla Trinh, Popular Resistance. , , ,
Minnesota - Today, hundreds of Minnesota college and university students are staging demonstrations on their campuses to raise awareness of the Line 3 pipeline, and to call on their institutions to divest from fossil fuel industry projects. Students from the University of Minnesota Morris, UMD, UMN Twin Cities, Carleton College, St Olaf College, The College of St Benedict’s, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Macalester College have been collaborating to plan this day of action for months.  Emily Wittkop, a junior at the University of Minnesota Morris said, “I'm fighting Line 3 for several reasons - the danger to our environment, the violation of Minnesota's treaties, the impact of oil on the world's political climate. I'm also pushing the University of Minnesota to begin fossil fuel divestment so that the financial investments of UMN matches their stated mission and the will of the student population that pay so much for their education here.”

More States Propose Harsh New Penalties For Protesting Fossil Fuels

February 22, 2021 Alexander C. Kaufman, Huff Post. , , ,
Dawn Goodwin spent her 50th birthday among towering pines and yellow birches whose tree rings make her lifespan seem like a child’s in comparison. But on that cool, overcast Saturday in December, the growling of construction trucks and chainsaws drowned out the natural soundscape of gushing freshwater and wind whispering between pine needles on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Goodwin was at this river crossing near Palisade, Minnesota, to protest the construction of the energy company Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, a $9.3 billion project to carry tar-sands oil ― one of the dirtiest varieties of crude oil ― from Joliette, North Dakota, to a terminal facility in Clearbrook, Minnesota. From there, it’s distributed to refineries. Goodwin winced as workers felled a mighty spruce while clearing a 50-foot berth for the pipeline, its sappy rings laid bare as its crown thudded to the ground.

Thursday: Day Of Action Targeting The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

February 17, 2021 Beyond Extreme Energy, Popular Resistance. , , , ,
Something new is happening this Thursday, February 18 at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  A person will be chairing a FERC Commissioners meeting who has written publicly that he appreciates why some consider FERC to be a rubber-stamp agency. Richard Glick has done more than this in his three-plus years as a FERC Commissioner. He has openly opposed and written strong dissents, primarily but not only on climate grounds, to majority decisions approving new gas pipelines, LNG terminals and compressor stations. Those dissents likely helped lead the DC Court of Appeals to strike down last year, FERC’s “Kafkaesque” (their words) decades-long abuse of...

Lockdown To Keep It In The Ground: Line 3 Resistance

February 15, 2021 Alex Binder, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Northern MN – Construction on the tar sands pipeline expansion project for Line 3 continues in Anishinaabe territory in below zero temperatures. Enbridge’s contracted companies, like Precision Pipeline, carve out the line’s pathway, fell any trees in the way, and lay the pipe in the ground. However because of the persistent resistance movement, work stoppages, or at least work interruptions, are common. On February 10, 2021, two people, including Dylan Bremner, locked down to a digger on a work site. Bremner told us that the digger they were on was successfully halted for three hours, however after thirty minutes into the lockdown, the foreman told the other workers they could continue.

Fossil Fuels Kill Nearly Nine Million Annually

February 14, 2021 Climate Nexus, EcoWatch. , ,
Burning fossil fuels kills nearly 9 million people worldwide and an estimated 350,000 in the U.S. every year, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard and three British universities. The staggering death toll is more than double the WHO's 2017 estimate of deaths caused by air pollution. "There's a perception in the United States that we have this under control, but that's a mistake," Joel Schwartz, a Harvard professor and one of the study's authors, told the Boston Globe. Based on data from 2018, the scientists found nearly one-in-five deaths that year — and nearly a third of deaths in eastern Asia — were caused by burning fossil fuels.

Opposition To Line 3 Mounts

February 3, 2021 Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Saint Paul, MN – Around 600 people gathered in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 29, calling on President Biden to revoke permits for the Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline project. The protest billed as ‘Protect the Water, Revoke the Permits‘ started at Kellogg Park and marched into downtown to the local Army Corps of Engineers’ office to demand federal water crossing permits be rescinded. Direct actions halting construction of the new pipeline continue to take place as opposition Line 3 grows. Friday morning in Northern Minnesota, two water protectors locked down to each other between three concrete barrels blocking the road to a Line 3 construction site.
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