By Donny Williams for We Are Cove Point. “I don’t know a lot about the existing permit.” Those words shocked the crowd gathered last night for Maryland Department of the Environment’s “informational meeting” regarding Dominion’s permit to dump an average of 45,000 gallons every day into the wetlands around Cove Point. Spoken by Marjorie Mewbourn, MDE’s project manager overseeing this permit application, this sentence summed up a lot about the amount of information our state regulators had or were able to share. MDE seemed nervous as it tried to give a presentation about this permit to a crowd of about 60, which overflowed the “Dominion Cove Point LNG” meeting room where it was held in the Prince Frederick library and had people sitting on tables or wherever they could find space. However, residents didn’t let MDE get very far.
By Steve Ongerth of the IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus. The world faces a crises of enormous proportions. Global warming, caused by the continued burning of fossil fuels, threatens life on Earth as we know it, and yet, those most responsible for causing the crisis, the fossil fuel wing of the capitalist class, seems hell bent on doubling down on business as usual. One might think, given all of these situations, that…well, to put it mildly…we’re doomed. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, in spite of the bleakness of these circumstances, a deeper look behind them reveals that fossil fuel capitalism is in terminal decline, that their hold over the our lives hangs by a thread, so much that we the people, the workers and peasants of the world, have the ability to transform the human existence to one based not on plundering the Earth and exploiting the masses for the profit of a few, but one based on true grassroots democracy, free of suffering and want, and one that exists in harmony with the Earth.
Washington, DC – The Hill reports that the Trump administration announced on Monday its two Republican nominees, Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson, f0r the vacant seats in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). If confirmed, the FERC would once again have a quorum and would be able to resume rubber stamping its backlog of fossil fuel project permits. A coalition of around 160 local, state, regional and national organizations is calling upon the Senate to reject both nominations announced yesterday by President Donald Trump to be Commissioners of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. “FERC has been abusing communities for decades, abusing their power and authority in ways that undermines the rights of both people and the states. While biased FERC Commissioners with industry ties is nothing new, Donald Trump’s picks, if confirmed by the Senate, would take us to a whole new and dangerous level of conflict and bias.
By Katy Eiseman. SANDISFIELD, MA — Eighteen protesters were arrested this morning at the Otis State Forest after blocking an access road to a pipeline construction site, according to Massachusetts State Police. SANDISFIELD, MA — Eighteen protesters were arrested this morning at the Otis State Forest after blocking an access road to a pipeline construction site, according to Massachusetts State Police. IMG_7104 Kinder Morgan subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline has started cutting trees within the forest, owned by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, for a natural gas pipeline project. Tennessee hopes to complete the project by November 1 to serve three natural gas utility customers in Connecticut. A leading anti-pipeline strategist who is not associated with the Sugar Shack Alliance — and did not take part in their action on Tuesday — had sharp words for Gov. Charlie Baker. “The real tragedy in all of this is that no state actors have been willing to stand firmly and say that Connecticut does not need this pipeline,” said Kathryn Eiseman, director of Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network.
By Anne Meador of DC Media Group. What could be better for breakfast than sweet potato pie? Employees of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got a free piece of sweet potato pie on their way to work this morning when a group of activists tried to make a point about a pipeline’s potential impact on the North Carolina sweet potato crop. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project of Dominion Transmission and Duke Energy, is currently under review by FERC. The activists say the ACP, which would traverse 550 miles from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina, would, among other things, harm agricultural producers, such as sweet potato farmers in eastern North Carolina.
By Lee Stewart for Beyond Extreme Energy. On the day before the March for Climate, Jobs and Justice, Beyond Extreme Energy is taking close to half a ton of sweet potatoes to the headquarters of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 1st St NW in DC. We will be speaking out about our passionate opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and all new proposed fossil fuel infrastructure. FERC is a rubber-stamp agency for the gas industry! We will be distributing these sweet potatoes in small bags free to FERC employees and passers-by, with a leaflet explaining why we are taking action at FERC. Sweet potatoes are grown in eastern North Carolina, site of Duke Energy and Dominion Resources’ proposed ACP, which would run 550 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
By Carly Miller for Bklyner. The 27,000 gallon spill at Bayside Fuel Depot began before sunrise on Thursday, March 30, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYC DEC) official Rodney Rivera confirmed after we obtained photographs and video of the spill’s aftermath and extensive cleanup. Within hours of the report, the response team, which includes the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the US Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), rushed to contain the spill, shroud the soil in plastic, and vacuum up oiled water, said Rivera. They are not, however, required to make a public announcement. And by late Friday afternoon, while most New Yorkers were driven inside by the whipping rain and winds, workers in hazmat suits filed to and from the shore at the Bayside Depot, vacuuming oiled residue into trucks from a private waste removal contractor specializing in oil spills.
By Cathy Proctor for Denver Business Journal – The Colorado Court of Appeals said Thursday the state’s oil and gas commission must consider a petition from a group of Boulder teenagers to stop issuing permits for new wells until an independent third party proves that drilling can be done without harming public health or the environment. The three-judge panel, all women, heard the case involving the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) in February. The ruling was split, 2-1. The opinion was written by Judge Terry Fox, with Judge JoAnn Vogt concurring and Judge Laurie Booras dissenting.
By Russell Mokhiber of Corporate Crime Reporter. There are about two pipeline incidents in the United States every day. Half of those are significant incidents — incidents that kill someone, send someone to the hospital, cause $50,000 in property damage, or spill a large amount of fuel into the environment. And the number of pipeline incidents has been increasing in recent years. Currently, there is a major natural gas spill ongoing in Alaska. An underwater Hilcorp Alaska pipeline is leaking up to 310,000 cubic feet per day of gas into Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Environmental groups say the leak is creating a low-oxygen dead zone that threatens endangered beluga whales, fish and other wildlife.
By Jeremy Brecher for Common Dreams. Is there anything people can do about climate change in the Trump era? The new American president has asserted that global warming is a fraud perpetrated by the Chinese to steal American jobs; threatened to ignore or even withdraw from the Paris climate agreement; and pledged unlimited burning of fossil fuels. Whatever the details, Trump’s agenda will escalate global warming far beyond its already catastrophic trajectory. As we learn that 2016 was the hottest year on record, it sounds like a formula for doom. On October 11 2016, with the presidential campaign still raging, five climate protectors traveled to five secluded locations in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and Washington state and turned the shut-off valves on the five pipelines that carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada into the United States. Their action – dubbed “Shut It Down” – blocked 15% of US crude oil imports for nearly a day.
By Beyond Extreme Energy. Over 130 organizations across the country announced today that they will oppose nominees made by the Trump Administration to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The move reflects the growing resistance nationwide from residents, farmers, business owners, physicians, and environmentalists to FERC’s practice of recklessly permitting pipelines that put hundreds of communities and the drinking water of millions of Americans at risk, in addition to the global climate. At a time when citizens are increasingly calling on Senators to oppose appointed officials that support the fossil fuel industry, the pledge signers, representing over a million people nationwide, pledge to work against each nominee to FERC made by the Trump Administration, and to call on U.S. Senators to use the nomination process to highlight FERC’s rubber stamping of pipeline projects and refusal to listen the legitimate concerns of community groups.
By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese. George Lakey of Waging Nonviolence wrote about the root cause of the recent protests in Sweden – increasing wealth inequality from austerity measures imposed over the past few decades. The media reported that the protests were a response to the police murder of a 69 year-old man, but they were actually due to a growing division between classes that is also fueling racism. Even though the wealth divide is much smaller in Sweden than it is in the United States, it is obvious to Swedes when compared to surrounding countries. In the United States, austerity measures in the form of cuts to social programs, lower wages and tax cuts for the wealthy have also fueled tremendous wealth inequality and economic insecurity. Similar to Sweden, this is the root of civil unrest. Lakey urges people in the US to fight back via nonviolent revolution.
By The Fang Collective. Providence, RI – On Thursday morning three people with The FANG Collective blockaded the main entrance to the Citizens Bank global headquarters building in downtown Providence, RI to protest the Bank’s financing of Sunoco Logistics. Two people used a series of bike locks to lock their necks to two sets of doors, while another person used their body and several door stoppers to block a revolving door. The action follows the February launch of the “Shame On Citizens” campaign which calls attention to Citizens Bank’s role in a $2.5 billion line of credit to Sunoco Logistics, a pipeline company behind several controversial projects, including the Dakota Access Pipeline. Citizens contributed $72.5 million to this line of credit. Sunoco Logistics is in the process of fully merging with Energy Transfer Partners.
By Lee Camp of Redacted Tonight. Are you invested in seeing justice for the Standing Rock Sioux and a halt to the build out of the Dakota Access Pipeline? Then you should get familiar with the name Tangerine Bolen. Bolen, a guest in the latest episode of Redacted Tonight VIP, is the founder and executive director of RevolutionTruth.org, an all volunteer organization dedicated to standing up for human rights and preserving civil liberties. Claiming a need for both environmental and racial justice, Bolen talks with host Lee Camp about her effort to bring forward lawsuits that could put an end to the Dakota Access Pipeline and protect the land and water of the Standing Rock Sioux. While so many people fight on the ground as Water Protectors in North Dakota, millions of others are helping out on social media or by donating money to the cause.
By Popular Resistance. This week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission held a ‘public input session’ on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Suffolk, VA. According to Ryan Murphy in The Virginian-Pilot, the ACP is “a proposed 550-mile natural gas pipeline that would carry as much as 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day from West Virginia’s shale fields to North Carolina and Virginia.” The public input sessions were designed to prevent the public from hearing each other. The FERC has moved to a new format for their public events. Rather than allowing people to be together and hear each other’s testimony, people have to speak with FERC officials one-on-one. In North Carolina, Sierra Club helped promote parallel “people’s hearings” to provide a forum for people to air their views, network, and strategize. In Fayetteville, Wilson, and Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, neighbors and concerned community members people clustered in the hall, in hotel event rooms, and around school cafeteria tables to swap information, share stories, talk to the press, get organized and encourage each other. More hearings are planned.
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