National Environmental Groups Endorse Doyle Canning in Oregon Congressional Race
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Oil Change U.S., the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Food & Water Action, Friends of the Earth Action, and Zero Hour announced their endorsement of Doyle Canning for Oregon’s 4th Congressional district, joining Progressive Democrats of America. Together, these national progressive environmental groups represent tens of thousands of Oregon voters.
Collin Rees, Political Director at Oil Change U.S., said: “Doyle Canning has been a steadfast champion for climate, economic, and racial justice her entire career — she is exactly the type of leader Congress needs to combat the climate crisis and improve the lives of working people. Doyle has never hesitated to fight for her community’s needs, stand up to Big Oil and Gas, or reject the dirty money polluting our politics. Doyle knows that working together is the only way to overcome the immense crises we face, and we’re proud to endorse her.”
Quinn Read, Oregon Political Director at the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, said: “Doyle Canning is exactly the kind of leader that Congress and Oregon need — one who will fight environmental injustice and fearlessly advocate for real climate solutions. For decades, Canning has built community-focused movements for racial justice, environmental restoration and a stable climate future. I know she will work every day in Congress to ensure a safer, healthier planet for all.”
Sam Bernhardt, Political Director at Food & Water Action, said: “When it really mattered, Doyle Canning stood with her community in fighting a fossil fuel pipeline and export terminal, while her opponent in the upcoming primary stood with the fossil fuel corporations and their profits. Doyle has the experience as an environmental lawyer and progressive policy strategist to secure many more wins for the working families of Oregon and the climate, and we’re proud to stand with her.”
Ariel Moger, Government and Political Affairs Manager at Friends of the Earth Action, said: “It has never been more important to elect leaders like Doyle Canning to Congress. Canning has a proven track record of standing up to Big Polluters and defeating dirty fossil fuel infrastructure projects. She has been an unwavering advocate for people and the planet and will undoubtedly continue to fight for communities and the environment in Congress. Friends of the Earth Action is proud to endorse Doyle Canning and strongly urges voters in Oregon’s 4th Congressional district to support her in the May primary.”
Zanagee Artis, Executive Director of Zero Hour, said: “Zero Hour is proud to endorse Doyle Canning’s campaign for OR-04 because Congress needs more movement leaders like Doyle. Doyle Canning has personally shaped many of the most inspiring campaigns and wins of the last 20 years, from Keystone XL to Jordan Cove to getting fossil fuel lobbyists out of the United Nations Climate Negotiations and getting fossil fuel subsidies out of the Build Back Better Act. Zero Hour is ready to send Doyle Canning to Congress because we know that she will continue to work alongside the climate justice movement to end our reliance on fossil fuels as a member of Congress.”
Alan Minsky, Executive Director at Progressive Democrats of America, said: “Progressive Democrats of America is thrilled to be joining with this great collection of national environmental organizations in supporting Doyle Canning, a true climate champion, for Congress in OR-4. Simply put, we can no longer accept the failure of political leadership to address the realities of the climate emergency and environmental racism. We need powerful advocates like Doyle in Congress, who will never waiver from what both science and justice demand is necessary. We strongly urge all voters in Oregon’s 4th District to support Doyle Canning in the May Democratic primary and the November general election.”
Following recent shocking revelations by Greenpeace UK’s Unearthed and Channel 4 News which captured current and former ExxonMobil lobbyists on video discussing the company’s role in blocking, delaying, and minimizing climate action in the United States, Oil Change U.S. has performed an in-depth analysis of ExxonMobil lobbyist campaign contributions to several Senate Democrats named in the video as top Exxon targets.
In short, ExxonMobil has hired lobbyists who have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to key Senate Democrats, and those lobbyists are now working to weaken President Biden’s infrastructure bill and maintain ExxonMobil’s billions in fossil fuel subsidies.
Collectively, the six Democratic senators named in the video have received more than $330,000 in campaign contributions from currently registered ExxonMobil lobbyists and their political action committees. Each of the senators has received an average of more than $55,000 in campaign contributions from current ExxonMobil lobbyists; Sen. Jon Tester of Montana has received nearly $100,000 over his campaigns for office. ExxonMobil’s own political action committee (PAC) has contributed $29,000 to the six Democratic Senators.
The specific Senate Democrats named by current ExxonMobile lobbyist Keith McCoy are Senators Chris Coons of Delaware, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Jon Tester of Montana. Direct quotations from McCoy in the Greenpeace UK videos include:
– “Joe Manchin, I talk to his office every week.”
– “We look for the moderates on [energy] issues. [Senator] Manchin. [Senator] Sinema. [Senator] Tester.”
– “One of the others who isn’t talked about is Senator Coons from Delaware, who has a very close relationship with President Biden […] our CEO is talking to him next Tuesday.”
–“[Senator] Hassan, [Senator] Kelly […] I know I have them […] they’re a captive audience.”
This list shows the campaign contributions and sources through which the six Democratic Senators named in the Greenpeace UK videos have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars:
Chris Coons (D-DE) = $68,650 from 7 registered Exxon lobbyists, ExxonMobil PAC, and 4 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
Maggie Hassan (D-NH) = $26,699 from 5 registered Exxon lobbyists and 3 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
Mark Kelly (D-AZ) = $2,000 from 2 registered Exxon lobbyists
Joe Manchin (D-WV) = $64,864 from 7 registered Exxon lobbyists, ExxonMobil PAC, and 3 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) = $70,800 from 8 registered Exxon lobbyists, ExxonMobil PAC, and 3 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
Jon Tester (D-MT) = $99,783 from 7 registered Exxon lobbyists, ExxonMobil PAC, and 4 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
TOTAL = $332,797 from 11 registered Exxon lobbyists, ExxonMobil PAC, and 4 Exxon lobbying firm PACs
In the videos, current ExxonMobil lobbyist McCoy and former ExxonMobil lobbyist Dan Easley discussed their long history of aiding ExxonMobil’s goals to boost the firm’s profits, escape meaningful regulation, maintain the massive existing U.S. subsidies to fossil fuel production in the upcoming budget reconciliation process, position gas as a “clean energy” and a part of the future energy mix in the United States, and avoid meaningful climate action of any sort, including by expressing support for a carbon tax they knew would never be enacted into law.
Easley and McCoy go into significant detail boasting of the ease of their work during the Trump administration, and the huge benefit to Exxon of the massive corporate tax cuts in the Trump and GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Easley openly pondered the damage that could be done to Exxon “in four years” by meaningful climate provisions, implying a strong desire to return to a Trump or GOP presidency in 2024. McCoy also bragged about his work to reduce the size and scope of the current infrastructure framework working its way through Capitol Hill, and Exxon’s goal to strip climate-related provisions from the bill and minimize its impacts.
Some current ExxonMobil lobbyists have been especially generous to the Democratic senators they aim to influence — Russ Sullivan has given over $10,000 to these six Senators alone, Amy Tejral has given over $36,000 to this set, and Shannon Finley has given an astonishing total of more than $48,000 to the ‘#ExxonDems’ named in the video.
This analysis of publicly available data only examines lobbyists who are currently registered to lobby for ExxonMobil as of 2021; it does not include contributions from the dozens of former ExxonMobil lobbyists who have lobbied these Senators earlier in their careers. Many current ExxonMobil lobbyists confine their political giving to the PAC realm, giving to either ExxonMobil’s PAC or their own lobbying firm’s PAC, which then makes contributions to candidates favored by the firm and its business interests.
The primary take-away from this analysis: ExxonMobil has hired lobbyists and lobbying firms who have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to key Senate Democrats, and these same lobbyists are now working to preserve fossil fuel subsidies, weaken Joe Biden’s infrastructure package, and block climate action. Democrats must reject fossil fuel money, end fossil fuel subsidies, and fight hard for people, not for polluters wrecking the planet.
Note: Lobbying data was obtained from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House lobbying disclosure databases. Campaign finance data was obtained from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) database. Data was accessed July 7-12, 2021.
Over 300 Groups Urge Dems to Block Dirty Energy Subsidies in Lame Duck Spending Deal
WASHINGTON, DC — In less than 24 hours, over 300 climate, community, faith, Indigenous, and environmental groups from across the country signed a letter to Democratic leaders voicing opposition to a range of fossil fuel subsidies that could be included in a must-pass appropriations bill.
As Senate committees work to pass appropriations bills, fears are rising that lawmakers will include provisions that provide subsidies for fossil fuel extraction, offshore drilling and nuclear energy as part of a backroom deal negotiated between Republican and Democratic leadership. The letter raises concerns that these last minute secret amendments could also support ‘false solutions’ being pushed by dirty energy interests like carbon capture and storage, biofuels, carbon offsets and carbon pricing.
While none of the backroom deals are public, some media reports point to efforts to include the American Energy Innovation Act and the USE IT Act, which include the dirty energy provisions opposed by the groups.
The letter — signed by Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Oil Change U.S., Climate Justice Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, 350.org, and hundreds of other organizations — pointed to the environmental justice implications of these policies.
“Ramming through deeply unpopular proposals in the dead of night via a must-pass spending bill is the worst possible way to do energy policy,” said Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner at Oil Change U.S. “Congress must drop this plan for dirty fossil fuel handouts in the lame-duck and start fresh with legislation that actually centers the experiences of communities impacted by Black, Indigenous, and frontline communities impacted by environmental racism and fossil fuel extraction.”
“We need urgent action on climate change and justice for the frontline, Black, Indigenous and communities of color that have been disproportionately burdened by dirty energy. Instead of promoting climate justice, advancing these provisions will further increase our dependence on dirty energy by propping up the very industries that are creating the climate crisis and devastating communities,” said Mitch Jones, Policy Director at Food & Water Watch.
“Congress cannot continue subsidizing this failing industry and worsening our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “Diverting even more resources towards the same dirty industries responsible for the climate crisis only encourages more pollution in frontline, Black, Indigenous and communities of color. We need climate justice, not more corporate subsidies.”
“Catholics believe in science and the common good. New evidence comes out every week showing how sensible, cost-effective, and important it is to make a more rapid shift to renewable energy. This depends on stopping further investment in fossil fuels though, and doing our fair share, which is about twice the global average reductions needed (about 6% of existing fossil fuel production annually). Scientists, the Pope, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum were clear in 2014 and 2015 that the 1.5 C there is no time for delay, yet that is what we’ve continued to do. It’s time for that rapid shift,” said Marie Venner, Co-Chair at CatholicNetwork.US and RapidShift.net.
Over 40 groups send letter: Hochberg’s fossil fuel record makes him unfit to be a top aide for Biden
WASHINGTON, DC — Over 40 environmental groups sent a letter today to the Biden Transition Team decrying Fred Hochberg’s potential leadership as a top aide in the Biden Administration. The signatories to the letter include Friends of the Earth US, Oil Change U.S., Greenpeace USA, the Rainforest Action Network, and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Hochberg served as the President and Chairman of the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the official U.S. export credit agency. Hochberg’s fossil fueled legacy at EXIM disqualifies him for a top aide position with the new Biden administration, the groups claim.
“Hochberg was a disaster at EXIM, turning the institution into the fossil fuel bank,” said Doug Norlen, economic policy director at Friends of the Earth U.S. “Under Hochberg’s leadership, EXIM supported projects like the Sasan coal plant and mine that have resulted in at least 36 deaths. This cruel legacy means Hochberg has forfeited his right to a place in the Biden administration.”
Hochberg was shortlisted in early November as a potential candidate for U.S. Trade Representative, as well as other high-level positions in the Biden administration.
“The legacy of Fred Hochberg’s Export-Import Bank is filled with climate destruction and egregious human rights violations,” said Collin Rees, senior campaigner at Oil Change U.S. “Joe Biden must move forward and implement a swift end to U.S. fossil fuel finance — and that means Fred Hochberg shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near power in the next administration.”
“Given his record of support for fossil fuel expansion world-wide, and for deadly, polluting, and corruption-inducing projects, we urge you to reject Fred Hochberg for U.S. Trade Representative and other key administration positions,” the letter reads.
Fred Hochberg’s consideration for a top position is in direct violation of Biden’s pledge to jumpstart a Presidency focused on climate solutions. In his seven years at EXIM under Obama, Hochberg oversaw USD 34 billion in investments in fossil fuel projects, which is three times as much as EXIM spent on fossil fuels the previous eight years under George W. Bush.
Initial Signatories: Center for Biological Diversity, Climate Justice Alliance, Democracy Collaborative, Dēmos, GreenFaith, Greenpeace USA, Hip Hop Caucus, Indigenous Environmental Network, Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program, Maine People’s Alliance, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, MoveOn, National LGBTQ Task Force, New Economy Coalition, New Florida Majority, Oil Change U.S., People’s Action, Sunrise Movement, Working Families Party, 350.org
As communities across the country, as well as countless people all over the world, face accelerating impacts and risks of climate change, federal, state, and local leadership in the United States is critically important for advancing immediate and aggressive climate action in public policy.
The science shows we no longer have the luxury to act incrementally. We must rapidly transform every sector of society if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But urgent action on climate change cannot come at a price of expedience and further sacrifice for frontline communities. Frontline communities are primarily communities of color, indigenous communities, and struggling working-class communities most impacted by fossil fuel pollution and climate change—which are all the more vulnerable due to historic and continuing racism, segregation, and socioeconomic inequity.
In tackling the urgency of the climate crisis, prioritizing the most impacted communities for the protections and benefits of an economy-wide renewable energy transition is a moral imperative. This is, in large part, the meaning of a “just transition.” The economic transition we need to reverse the climate crisis must not leave behind impacted communities and workers. Racial and economic equity must be at the core of all climate solutions.
The executive branch can set the stage for a transformative climate justice agenda by taking immediate action at this intersection of climate, racial justice, and economic transformation. The Frontlines Climate Justice Executive Action Platform speaks to this opportunity by identifying regulatory rulemakings and other executive actions to advance an equitable climate agenda from day one. While major legislation in many areas will ultimately be needed to advance a bold federal agenda of climate action, this platform proposes a set of actions the executive branch can take without new legislation, major new appropriations, or other Congressional authority. However, many of the proposed executive actions can be harmonized with, be complementary to, or set a direction for statutory advancement of transformative climate action when that becomes possible.
This platform identifies actions in 4 basic categories that speak to the policy work and movement-building that frontline leaders in the climate movement have developed over many years, as they have forged a clear vision of equitable and resilient social and economic transformation:
Environmental Justice: Protecting frontline communities from continuing harms of fossil fuel, industrial, and built environment pollution.
Just Recovery: Ensuring just and equitable recovery from, and resiliency against, climate disasters.
Climate Equity Accountability: Elevating equity and stakeholder decision-making in federal climate rules and programmatic investments.
Energy Democracy: Remaking the monopoly fossil fuel energy system as a clean, renewably-sourced, and democratically-controlled commons.
In each of these areas, the platform presents a policy outline of possible rulemakings, executive orders, or other presidential actions that, taken together, aim to put frontline needs and priorities at the center of climate policy, including empowering grassroots stakeholders to be decision-makers in the process.
This platform builds on the hard-fought history of environmental justice advocacy that escalated in the 1980s, launched a principled national movement in 1991, and was formally recognized in federal policy in 1994 with President Clinton’s historic Executive Order 12898. Executive Order 12898 requires federal agencies to develop strategies for “achieving environmental justice,” but even by its own limited mandate, it has not been enforced, and frontline communities now face climate change impacts that only compound ongoing racial disparities in pollution exposure and fossil fuel harms.
Taken together, the actions recommended in this platform address continuing disparities, establish greater accountability for a just transition, and lay groundwork for systemic changes needed to end fossil fuel dependency and build a just and equitable renewable energy future. In these key respects, it is inspired by the principled vision put forward by the Equitable and Just National Climate Platform, and aligned with the Climate Justice Alliance’s Just Transition: A Framework for Change. It also respectfully acknowledges the place of Native leadership in a just transition, as formulated in the Indigenous Principles of a Just Transition. This platform also complements proposed executive actions in the Climate President Action Plan, including supply-side restrictions to limit fossil fuel extraction, economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation standards, and Department of Justice intervention to protect non-violent climate change activists from criminalization by states and localities, to pursue significant cases against environmental racism under civil rights laws, and to investigate and pursue, or otherwise support, civil and criminal lawsuits against fossil fuel companies. All of that and much more is needed, but the focus of this platform is specifically on the needs and priorities of frontline communities in the face of climate crisis.
In the broader landscape, the emerging paradigm of a Green New Deal captures the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. However, a primary — and science-driven — focus on aggressive GHG reductions is not inherently equitable for communities facing disproportionate local pollution, largely from the same facilities and sources driving the climate crisis. There are many reasons for this, including that the most polluted communities will tend to be “last in line” for GHG reductions, because these reductions are likely to be the most costly. Longstanding and worsening political power imbalances also often determine who will be protected by, and who will benefit from, any public policy, including climate policy and related investments.
The promise of climate policy for frontline communities lies in targeted policy design that prioritizes protections, direct emissions reductions, job creation and other economic benefits, and resiliency gains for the most impacted communities, including greater control of decision-making — all of which animates the executive action platform that follows. It also lies in addressing deeply interconnected crises of housing affordability, gentrifying economic development, and financial extraction of labor, community, and natural resources. Those challenges cannot be solved by the executive branch on its own and will require extensive state and local action, major federal legislation in some cases, and massive public investment through appropriations, bonding, and other means.
In contrast with the promise, the peril of climate policy lies in deferment of and underinvestment in equitable and transformative solutions, and elevation of false solutions that put markets, unproven technology, and, ultimately, private investors, in charge of the transition — not the most impacted communities and the most equitable solutions.
Together, this understanding of the promise and the peril of climate policy is the vision of frontline leaders working in the hardest-hit communities and regions, developed over many decades. This vision has been building from local action to regional and national networks and strategies, which have accelerated in the last several years. Many organizations representing frontline communities have led in this process. The Gulf South for a Green New Deal Policy Platform is one powerful example of a locally-driven and regional vision of climate justice for the most impacted communities.
Ultimately, winning a frontline climate action agenda starts with the vision of frontline leaders. Moving forward requires elevation of that leadership, grassroots power-building, and commitments of national allies and public officials to support the frontline vision and its policy components as a clear priority in the federal landscape in 2021 and beyond.
In the first 100 days of a new term, the executive branch could bring dramatic developments in federal climate policy. This executive action platform will help to ensure that, however bold in tackling climate change, federal climate policy is centered on advancing racial justice and ensuring a just and equitable economic transformation for the most impacted communities.
Additional Signatories: Alianza for Progress, American Jewish World Service (AJWS), Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), ATMOS Financial, Better Future Project, Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, California Environmental Justice Alliance, Call to Action Colorado, Campaign for America’s Future, Catalyst Miami, Catholic Divestment Network, CatholicNetwork.US, Center for Economic Democracy, Center for Emergent Diplomacy, Center for International Environmental Law, Center for Story-based Strategy, Clean Energy Action, Climable.org, Climate Crisis Policy, Climate Finance Action, Climate Hawks Vote, Co-op Power, CODEPINK, Community Power, Cooperative Energy Futures, Data for Progress, Dayenu, Democrats of the Desert, Detroit Green Skills Alliance, Earth Care, Earth Day Initiative, Earth Ethics, East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate and Health Organization (EEECHO), Extinction Rebellion, Extinction Rebellion Coachella Valley, Fair World Project, Faithful America, Friends of the Earth U.S., Fund for Democratic Communities, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Green America, Green Education and Legal Fund GRID Alternatives, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, in.site collaborative, Indivisible East Manatee, Interfaith Power & Light, International Association of World Peace Advocates, International Student Environmental Coalition, Just Community Energy Transition Project, KrowdX Inc., Les Jeunes Ambassadeurs de l’Environnement pour le Développement Durable, Local Clean Energy Alliance, Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy, Manatee Clean Energy Alliance, Miami Climate Alliance, Mothers Out Front, Nature Conservation Advocates for Climate initiative (NCACI), NC Climate Justice Collective, No Kill Magazine, North Carolina Council of Churches, North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, NYC Grassroots Alliance, Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLÉ), Our Climate, Partners for Dignity & Rights, Partnership for Policy Integrity, Partnership for Working Families, Peace Development Fund, People Power Solar Cooperative, Peoples Climate Movement — NY, PeoplesHub, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Post Growth Institute, Power Shift Network, Progressive Sarasota (Florida), PUSH Buffalo, Race Forward, Rachel Carson Council, Rainforest Action Network, Rapid Shift, Renewable Energy Long Island, Resource Generation, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, Sarasota Climate Change Meetup, Solstice Initiative, Inc., Southern Oregon Climate Action Now, Suncoast Climate Justice Coalition, Sustainable Economies Law Center, SustainUS, The CLEO Institute, The Climate Mobilization, The Climate Museum, The Leap, The River Project, The Solutions Project, TimeBanks USA, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, UPROSE, US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, WildEarth Guardians, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Young Entertainment Activists, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA), 198 methods, 350 Butte County, 350 New Hampshire, 350 New Orleans, 350 Seattle, 350 Triangle
Steny Hoyer Shills for Big Oil as HEROES Acts Shuns Safeguards Against a Fossil Fuel Bailout
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Democratic House leadership released the 1,800-page HEROES Act, the first proposal for the next round of COVID-19 stimulus efforts. Despite calling for over $3 trillion in relief funds, the draft bill does not contain protections to prevent heavily indebted fossil fuel companies from accessing this money.
Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told the media he supports a multibillion-dollar bailout of the oil and gas industry through Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil purchases, comparing this to ensuring hospitals have a ready supply of personal protective equipment. In response, Collin Rees, Senior Campaigner with Oil Change U.S., released the following statement:
“Steny Hoyer’s crass comments show why the fossil fuel industry continues to clamor for a bailout to pay off its past bad debts — because leaders like Rep. Hoyer refuse to rule it out. Equating a bailout for Big Oil with basic protections for nurses and healthcare workers in a pandemic is completely egregious.
“House leadership must stand up for working people without throwing a lifeline to fossil fuel billionaires. That means including the provisions of the ReWIND Act in the next iteration of the HEROES Act and continuing to fight against Big Oil bailouts in future stimulus packages.
“The HEROES Act contains important provisions to aid frontline and essential workers, as well as a critical prohibition against utility shutoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are key pieces of a humane response to deliver urgently needed aid to working people, but they can’t come at the expense of locking in climate catastrophe and bailing out fossil fuel billionaires and their Wall Street friends. It’s time to put people over polluters once and for all.”
The 2020 Democratic primary is heating up, and with it has come a welcome change in the climate discussion – candidates are finally acknowledging the climate crisis and getting serious about their plans to confront it. Governor Jay Inslee’s new ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ climate plan is a really, really important development, because it takes the climate conversation to a new level that hasn’t been explored much –how we actively dismantle the fossil fuel industry and its political power in order to win the change we need.
The plan ends subsidies, stops new fossil fuel infrastructure, and bans fossil fuel exports. Here’s our Oil Change U.S. response, but I’m here to explain in more detail why this plan is so exciting and takes the discussion on dealing with the climate crisis to the next level.
The science shows that right now, the carbon in already-operating oil and gas fields and coal mines would take us wayyyy beyond 1.5ºC. To clarify: that’s with already-existing fossil fuel infrastructure only.
What that means is that every single new piece of fossil fuel infrastructure digs a deeper hole. Each new oil well, gas pipeline, and export terminal makes the problem worse, and will need to be retired long before the end of its “useful life” (side note: we need some new and better terminology).
Instead of confronting this fact, the fossil fuel industry, its billionaire CEOs, and the overwhelming majority of both parties in the U.S. are rushing to build as much fossil fuel infrastructure as they can, without acknowledging the consequences of their actions or making any real plans for a transition to a different economy.
Tribal nations and communities are desperately trying to stop and delay this massive buildout, while workers are constantly abused by billionaire oil, gas, and coal executives — and kept in fear of losing the hard-fought gains they’ve won over the last century of incredible organizing.
Meanwhile, your tax dollars are fueling the crisis. The U.S. gives over $20 BILLION in subsidies to oil, gas, and coal production every single year, and that number has increased significantly following the Trump and GOP tax cuts.
This means even the HUGE task of transitioning to 100% renewable energy in the next 10-20 years won’t be enough. Research shows that if we don’t phase down oil production and limit exports (i.e., reinstate the Crude Oil Export Ban lifted in 2015 with the help of Democrats), we’re still in deep trouble.
Given all of this, a real plan to:
Limit the fossil fuel industry’s expansion;
End heavy subsidization from U.S. taxpayers; and
Phase out existing extraction with a just transition
…isn’t just “nice to have” policy. It must be a critical piece of any serious climate plan.
It’s also critical to protect workers. We’ve seen time and again that when industry goes belly-up, workers are the first to be abandoned by billionaire executives — it’s been happening with Big Coal for the last 20 years. Pensions are cut, health benefits are slashed, layoffs skyrocket.
This is why no climate plan is complete without dealing with all facets of the problem. This ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan means nothing without a strong agenda for heavy, sustained investment in social protections, thriving wages, and good, family-sustaining jobs.
A plan for 100% renewable energy is just a slogan if you’re not also actively implementing a plan to phase out fossil fuel infrastructure & diminish the fossil fuel industry’s political power (which will be a necessity to get ANY sort of climate policy passed, at any level).
All of this is why much of the climate movement spends a lot of time yelling about stopping pipelines and ending subsidies and banning exports. It’s not that we don’t love clean and renewable energy (we absolutely do). It’s because we also have to go directly after the industry to have a chance at success.
It’s not just because we hate billionaires (although we definitely do) or hate workers in the labor movement (we definitely don’t; we love them and need their help to have any shot at success). It’s because if we don’t have a plan to carefully dismantle the fossil fuel industry as we build a new world, things could turn ugly really, really quickly.
With all of this in mind, kudos to Gov. Jay Inslee for a plan that addresses this problem in a serious way. The ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan stops new fossil fuel infrastructure, bans fossil fuel exports, ends fossil fuel subsidies, and commits to doing the hard but important work of figuring out how to phase out existing infrastructure.
It creates a Presidential Commission to study how to make this phase-out of fossil fuel production a reality. It puts key options such as “buying out & decommissioning fossil fuel assets,” which is a conversation that we sorely need to be having. And crucially, Inslee’s ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan is connected at the hip with his ‘Evergreen Economy’ plan to commit heavy investment to protect Americans and create good, family-sustaining jobs.
Another critical piece of Inslee’s plan is his commitment to direct federal agencies to “fully empower tribal nations, through free, prior and informed consent, and the enforcement of treaty rights, to reject major infrastructure proposals that would adversely impact their people, land, water, or cultural resources.” This process of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent — which is well-defined internationally — would mark a groundbreaking shift from the way Indigenous peoples have been treated throughout America’s history, and Inslee should be applauded for committing to it in his plan.
The plan is far from perfect, because we as a community are still sorting out how we talk about these topics. The conversation on phasing out the fossil fuel industry entirely is long overdue. One of our biggest problems is that not enough people are thinking about how to enact this phase-out. It’s scary and means confronting real power in scary ways.
But it’s also essential:
To meet climate goals;
To protect Indigenous rights & communities everywhere; and
To enact a truly just transition for workers
To sum up, this plan is awesome, but I also hope that ten better plans pop up in the next few months from other candidates, from elected officials, from think tanks and advocates, from academics, from energy wonks, and more. We desperately need them.
Here’s the thread above in its original Twitter form:
THREAD: @JayInslee's new climate plan is really, REALLY important b/c it takes the climate conversation to a new level that hasn't been explored much – how we actively dismantle the fossil fuel industry & its political power to win the change we need. 1/nhttps://t.co/Nsf9nG08kg
CONTACT:
David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org
Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org
Inslee raises the bar, recognizes the imperative of a fossil fuel production phase-out
Today, Washington Governor and presidential candidate Jay Inslee released his latest climate plan, entitled ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels,’ focused on ending fossil fuel handouts and ramping down fossil fuel production, infrastructure, and exports in the United States in line with climate science and a just transition for workers and communities. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director with Oil Change U.S., released the following statement:
“Governor Inslee’s ‘Freedom from Fossil Fuels’ plan is yet another barn burner that should put both the fossil fuel industry and other candidates on notice. With action to end handouts to fossil fuels and rein in the out-of-control expansion of oil and gas in the United States, this plan shows what real climate leadership looks like, plain and simple. By addressing fossil fuel production at home, Inslee has added an essential piece to the puzzle of a comprehensive climate policy.
“The U.S. is poised for a massive oil and gas expansion that would make achieving our climate goals basically impossible if left unchecked. Governor Inslee’s plan is the first we’ve seen that truly acknowledges this emergency and proposes critical steps to turn it back. With an end to fossil fuel subsidies and other handouts to the industry and a stop to new pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, we can begin the critical task of a managed phase-out of fossil fuel production in the United States with a just transition for workers and communities.
“This plan will undoubtedly be attacked by the fossil fuel industry and its friends in government, and we applaud Governor Inslee for his courage in facing these attacks head on. We challenge other candidates to choose a side — are you with communities standing up to fossil fuels and workers demanding real protections, or are you with the Big Oil billionaires maintaining a climate-destroying status quo? Governor Inslee has shown he’s unafraid to stand with the people, and we expect the full Democratic field to join him.
“With the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge now a consensus position in the Democratic field and candidates lining up to say no to fossil fuel subsidies and new drilling on public lands, we are beginning to see the kind of real climate leadership we so desperately need. The Democratic Party must endorse a climate debate so candidates can dive into the differences and similarities in their plans to confront the climate crisis. Only then will we see who else is willing to put forward plans that stand up to the fossil fuel industry with the kind of courage Governor Inslee has shown today.”
CONTACT:
David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org
Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org
Inslee’s international climate plan: Stop Funding Fossils, Ramp Up Ambition – Oil Change U.S. response
Today, presidential candidate and Governor of Washington Jay Inslee released his latest climate policy platform plank, focused on international climate efforts. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director at Oil Change U.S., released the following statement:
“Governor Jay Inslee’s new international climate plan is a robust, thorough, and considered plan of climate action on the international scale that would move the United States back towards a true global leadership position if implemented effectively.
“The bar keeps getting pushed higher for the climate plans from Democratic presidential candidates, and this is exactly the kind of competition we need in order to confront the fossil fuel industry and address the climate crisis head-on. Today, it’s Governor Inslee’s turn, once again, to challenge the field. With his international climate policy plan, Governor Inslee makes it clear that simply saying ‘I will rejoin the Paris Agreement’ is nowhere near enough to show true climate leadership on the global stage.
“Governor Inslee’s plan takes rejoining the Paris Agreement as a starting point and launches into a robust plan of action, including ramping up ambition within the UN process, as well as ending international fossil fuel finance and subsidies for fossil fuel production. The plan also includes critical support for clean energy access abroad, properly aligning the entirety of U.S. foreign policy with our climate imperatives, appropriately kicking big polluters out of the UN climate negotiations, and rightfully holding the fossil fuel industry and petrostates to account for climate crimes and impacts.
“This latest piece of Governor Inslee’s ‘Climate Mission’ is the strongest yet. We hope other candidates step up to join Inslee in recognizing that addressing the climate crisis at a global scale means ending fossil fuel subsidies everywhere, stepping up American leadership aggressively, and investing in the most vulnerable communities at home and abroad.
“With numerous climate plans coming from Democratic presidential candidates on a near-daily basis, it seems natural that the Democratic National Committee provide a forum for a robust, climate-focused debate so candidates can challenge each other on the details of their plans. We urge Chair Tom Perez to heed the growing calls by scheduling such a debate.“
CONTACT:
David Turnbull, david [at] priceofoil.org
Collin Rees, collin [at] priceofoil.org
Oil Change U.S. response to Joe Biden’s climate plan
This morning, Joe Biden released his plan to combat climate change, committing to sign the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and ban new oil and gas permits on public lands and waters. In response, David Turnbull, Strategic Communications Director at Oil Change U.S., issued the following statement:
“Today’s climate plan from Joe Biden is the latest recognition that climate change is the defining issue of the 2020 election. The climate crisis has arrived not just in our backyards, but in our politics. After a weak trial balloon swiftly beaten back by a powerful movement demanding urgent action, Biden has responded by committing to take the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and outlining some important actions that begin to approach the levels needed to address the climate crisis.
“We’re thrilled that Vice President Biden has committed to join 16 of his fellow candidates in signing the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge. In so doing, he solidifies a near-consensus position amongst Democratic presidential contenders in finally rejecting the fossil fuel industry’s influence on our politics.
“Ending reliance on fossil fuel money allows candidates to begin to consider actions commensurate with the challenge we face in the climate crisis, and Joe Biden’s plan continues this trend. Our public lands should not be the scenes of climate crimes by way of fossil fuel extraction, and we’re happy to see Biden join the Democratic chorus in calling for the end of fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters.
“Vice President Biden’s call for ending international fossil fuel subsidies and finance of ‘high carbon’ projects is an important step, but it should reflect the reality that all fossil fuels are high carbon at this late date in the climate struggle. Export credits and development finance should not only explicitly exclude coal, but also all other fossil fuel infrastructure including oil and gas.
“Unfortunately, Biden’s plan remains problematic in several ways, and we hope he will listen to concerns from communities and scientists in the days and weeks ahead. Reliance on unproven techno-unicorns like carbon capture and storage promotes the interests of the incumbent fossil fuel industry, while forestalling critical action needed to swiftly move away from fossil fuels completely. It’s especially troubling to see Biden commit to doubling down on government subsidies for carbon capture and storage, given his plan calls for a global ban on fossil fuel subsidies writ large.
“Overall, today’s plan from Vice President Biden is another indication that the climate crisis has arrived. The Democratic Party would be wise to lean into this reality, by hosting a debate focused on the climate crisis and allowing the American public to see which candidates are ready to rise to the challenge. Not only is the climate crisis an issue of paramount importance for the next president, but showing climate leadership is clearly a political winner for candidates in the 2020 race.”
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Notes to Editors:
– For a full listing of No Fossil Fuel Money pledge signers in the presidential race, see: http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/presidential-signers/
– New research shows that even if methane emissions from gas production were eliminated immediately, continued expansion of gas production would make it impossible to meet global climate goals: http://priceofoil.org/2019/05/30/gas-is-not-a-bridge-fuel/
