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Fossil Fuels

‘Carbon Bubble’ Could Spark Global Financial Crisis, Study Warns

Investors beware, climate change is upon us. The energy industry is transforming to a new clean energy economy. Your investments in old dirty energy may end up being lost investments, know as stranded assets. This has been discussed in recent years, but now the reality is hitting. Investors should get out of carbon fuels and investment in carbon infrastructure now or their losses could be significant. A cross-party task force in Great Britain published a recommended force that large companies, pension funds and other big investors to report their exposure to climate risks. Reuters reported: “The report said companies should examine and disclose how climate change could impact their businesses in the future, such as increased exposure to extreme weather events for insurance companies and the impact of physical disruptions to supply chains for companies in the agriculture sector.

How The Fossil Fuel Industry Creates A Fake Grassroots

Over the past several months, scores of people showed up to public meetings in New Orleans in support of building a natural-gas power plant. It turns out that as many as 100 of them were paid to be there. The Lens, an investigative news site, recently reported that people were paid $60 to attend and $200 to speak. Entergy, the company behind the power plant, said that it hadn’t authorized the payments, but it did take some responsibility. After an internal investigation, the company said that it had contracted with a public affairs firm, the Hawthorn Group, which then subcontracted another group, Crowds on Demand, to hire the supporters. Grist called and emailed Entergy for a comment and has yet to get a response.

Are Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaigns Working?

Is fossil fuels divestment an effective strategy in tackling climate change? A newly released study by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst suggests that this strategy is not sufficient on its own in affecting the global battle against climate change and that new approaches are needed. Robert Pollin, a distinguished professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, co-director of PERI and co-author of the study spoke to C.J. Polychroniou about the limits of the movement to divest from fossil fuels and the need for fresh approaches and a more holistic type of action for combatting climate change.

“Climate Change Is More Of A Problem Than We Anticipated”

Each new study on climate change shows that not only is the crisis here now, but changes are happening a century earlier than predicted. We speak with respected climate scientist, Dr. Michael Mann, about what we can expect in the next decades and what we need to do to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis. We also cover recent movement news and upcoming actions.

Native Leaders Bring Attention To Impact Of Fossil Fuel Industry On Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls

Lower Brule, SD — Yesterday, May 4th, Indigenous leaders and allies began convening at the Rosebud Sioux Nation, just miles from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route, to call attention to the disproportionately high numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across North America. The gathering calls attention to the connection between pipeline construction and violence against Native women and girls. Construction of pipelines and other fossil fuel projects often brings an influx of male workers to rural areas near small towns and Reservations, where they live in “man camps” disconnected from the surrounding community. In North Dakota, a surge in rates of violent crime and aggravated assault have correlated with the Bakken “oil boom” and the subsequent arrival of thousands of new workers to the region.

Fossil Fuels On Trial: Where The Major Climate Change Lawsuits Stand Today

A wave of legal challenges that is washing over the oil and gas industry, demanding accountability for climate change, started as a ripple after revelations that ExxonMobil had long recognized the threat fossil fuels pose to the world. Over the past few years: Two states have launched fraud investigations into Exxon over climate change. Nine cities and counties, from New York to San Francisco, have sued major fossil fuel companies, seeking compensation for climate change damages. And determined children have filed lawsuits against the federal government and various state governments, claiming the governments have an obligation to safeguard the environment. The litigation, reinforced by science, has the potential to reshape the way the world thinks about energy production and the consequences of global warming.

8 Answers To Judge’s Climate Change Questions In Cities Vs. Fossil Fuels Case

Judicial review is about to meet peer review in a federal courtroom in San Francisco, where sparring cities and fossil fuel companies have been called to brief U.S. District Judge William Alsup this Wednesday on the basics of climate change. It's an unusual arrangement, seemingly borrowed from patent litigation, where judges commonly hear initial testimony from both sides on pertinent scientific details. That's done because the U.S. Supreme Court has directed that the meaning of a patent's words is a matter of law, to be decided by a judge—not a matter of fact to be decided by a jury. You wouldn't think the science of climate change was like that. No court finding can dictate whether man-made greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet and causing damage to people, ecosystems and cities. A jury, if this case reaches one, ought to be able to comprehend overwhelming evidence that explains these realities.

How Activists Won Divestment from Fossil Fuels in New York City

After five years of tireless organizing, the movement to divest NYC public worker pension funds from fossil fuels scored a win.  On January 10, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City will divest the $5 billion of its pension funds presently invested in fossil fuel stocks. It will also sue the top five fossil fuel corporations—ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips—charging that because they hid the evidence that burning fossil fuels causes climate change, they are responsible for the billions of dollars the city has spent on climate remediation.   The divestment campaign provides an excellent example of how dedicated organizing, clear demands and strategies, creative tactics, strong coalitions and good luck can come together for a win.  

FERC Commissioner Spent Most Of First Months In Office Meeting With Fossil Fuel Industry

In his first few months at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), commissioner Rob Powelson scheduled the great majority of his meetings with fossil fuel energy companies and utilities, his work calendar shows. The calendar, obtained by DeSmog through an open records request, can be viewed below. Nominated to FERC by President Trump, Powelson began serving on the commission last August. He previously served on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. A review of his FERC calendar shows that between September 4 and December 10 2017, Powelson had a total 76 work meetings scheduled with various stakeholders. Of those meetings, 62 (82 percent) were with fossil fuel and pipeline companies, utilities, and trade groups predominantly representing those industries.

First U.S. City To Ban Fossil Fuel Expansion Offers Roadmap For Others

On a clear July morning three years ago, dozens of environmental activists pushed their kayaks into the Willamette River in Portland while others rappelled 400 feet from the top of St. Johns Bridge in an attempt to block a Shell Oil ship and its drilling equipment from leaving the port and entering Alaskan waters. A key piece of Shell’s arctic drilling fleet, the vessel had arrived in Portland for repairs but its departure was delayed by protesters chanting “coal, oil, gas, none shall pass!” during two days of civil disobedience that became known as Summer Heat. By the time the vessel finally sailed, the stage had been set for what would be a yearlong battle, culminating in an ordinance that banned construction and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the city.

Raccoon Rebellion Strikes Diamond Pipeline On Christmas

On Christmas, with help and assistance from Santa Claus, his reindeer, and mischievous elves, some raccoons from the Arkansas Chapter of the national "Raccoon Rebellion" conducted a safety lockout tag-out on Diamond Pipeline Main Operating Valve (MOV) #2021 east of Jerusalem, Arkansas in accordance with common industrial safety procedures. The Lockout/Tagout devices were placed to prevent access and operation of this hazardous inter-state tool of the extractive, exploitative fossil fuel industry.  Using an eminent domain provision of the State Constitution - created in the last century, the Diamond Pipeline has been drilled, dug, and blasted across the Natural State.

Overcoming Contradictions Of Climate Change In Short Time We Have

Our best hope now is an immediate return to the flow. CO2 emissions have to be brought close to zero: some sources of energy that do not produce any emissions bathe the Earth in an untapped glow. The sun strikes the planet with more energy in a single hour than humans consume in a year. Put differently, the rate at which the Earth intercepts sunlight is nearly 10,000 times greater than the entire energy flux humans currently muster — a purely theoretical potential, of course, but even if unsuitable locations are excluded, there remains a flow of solar energy a thousand times larger than the annual consumption of the stock of fossil fuels. The flow of wind alone can also power the world.

When Companies Deny Climate Science, Their Workers Pay

After decades spreading misinformation about greenhouse gas emissions’ role as a driver of climate change, the deceptive tactics of the fossil fuel industry are slowly beginning to backfire. In December, for instance, General Electric announced major cuts to its fossil-fuel-heavy power department — and the pain of this unplanned transition is already being felt by the people least responsible for the company’s decisions: its workers. In the last two years, many stories have surfaced on the knowledge major fossil fuel companies like Exxon-Mobil had about the climate impacts of their activities, and the many tactics these same companies employed to deceive the public about these impacts. But they may have also managed to deceive themselves.

Yaqui Tribe Defends Land By Digging Up Gas Pipeline

A chunk of Sempra Energy’s natural gas pipeline sits in the dirt behind a community center in the village of Loma de Bacum in northwest Mexico. Guadalupe Flores thinks it would make a great barbecue pit. “Cut it here, lift the top,’’ he says, pointing to the 30-inch diameter steel tube. “Perfect for a cook-out.’’ It would be an expensive meal. The pipeline cost $400 million, part of a network that’s supposed to carry gas from Arizona more than 500 miles to Mexico’s Pacific coast. It hasn’t done that since August, when members of the indigenous Yaqui tribe – enraged by what they viewed as an unauthorized trespass their land – used a backhoe truck to puncture and extract a 25-foot segment. They left the main chunk about a mile from the community center, perpendicular to the rest of the pipeline, like a lower-case t.

Exxon Mobil’s About-Face On Climate Disclosure: Is It Enough?

Scores of investor-activists have sought to force Exxon—along with the entire global industry—to change its ways for nearly three decades. They welcomed the news regarding Exxon Mobil's upcoming climate change risk report. But this change of course did not surprise all of them because it occurred three days before the deadline for shareholders to submit resolutions to be voted on at its 2018 annual meeting. Exxon Mobil's latest move may prevent another episode like what happened in May, when some 62 percent of the company's shareholders—including the massive Vanguard mutual fund company—voted in favor of a resolution demanding that it publicly state how climate change is affecting its operations and bottom line.

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Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

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