#Climate
Two pipelines a week
Last week the Army Corps of Engineers gave preliminary approval to the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP). A few days earlier, the Virginia Water Control Board (VaWCB) voted 4-3 to approve the fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), but required a final review of several environmental studies. That second one is actually considered a partial victory, since the week before the VaWCB had voted to approve the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) — another, shorter, fracked gas pipeline — with no such condition. This not to mention the FCC ripping apart #NetNeutrality and the Republican Congress poised to ram through a tax bill that will steal our healthcare, deport our neighbors and drop a depth charge on the middle class from a luxury yacht. So, yeah, the last week wasn’t great. But here’s the thing, in moments of crisis this climate justice movement rises to the occasion in ways that never fail to startle and inspire me. So, short version – Can you chip in to support what we’re doing? Even $1.98 helps a lot, and there’s a ton of other (including non-monetary) stuff …
198 methods to [do what exactly?]
Last week I told you about why I think it’s important to start 198 methods as another non-profit, environmental advocacy group (Missed it? Click here for the refresher, 5 charts and 2 maps). This week, I’m all about how we win. I lay out some specific examples, strategies, and ideas below. But the TL;DR is this: It costs about $100 a week to keep all this going, and we want to scale UP the project in 2018. So I’m looking for about 50 people to donate $1.98 a week for the next 6 months. Can you help?
Call now to stop the Dirty Tax Bill
You’ve probably heard about the Republican Tax Bill being debated in the Senate this week. There is a lot to DIS-like in the bill — from the way it raises taxes on the middle class to give tax breaks to the super-rich and corporations;1 to the way it’s being rushed through with no hearings or due-process;2 to the fact that it undercuts renewable energy, opens new land to oil and gas drilling and threatens our climate.3 It’s a seriously dirty, dangerous, and ugly piece of work. And it’s about to get a final vote in the Senate. Mitch McConnell says he has the votes to pass the bill.4 But it’s incredibly close. So close that the Vice President is standing by to break a tie if even ONE Senator changes his or her mind. Can you make a quick call to tell your Senators to vote no? Click here for the number and some help on what to say. There’s still a chance to stop this bill today. And that’s why we should all call now. But even if they DO vote to …
Taking action while waiting for Keystone.
I hate waiting for news. And this morning, we were waiting on a doozy of an update: A few days after a massive oil spill on the keystone 1 pipeline, the the Nebraska Public Service Commissions (PSC) was to decide whether or not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline route. (See this post if you want to catch up on the spill.) They did, with a really important caveat. And now I’m thinking about what’s next. But as fortune would have it, I wasn’t stuck home alone, worrying about the vote; Or out at work trying to stay busy while clicking the refresh button on my news feed every few minutes. I was in Pittsburgh at the People Vs Oil & Gas conference, surrounded by pipeline fighters from British Columbia, Canada, South Texas, New York, California and everywhere in between. So when a couple friends from the local Rising Tide chapter asked me to pitch in (and do what 198 methods does — digital communications support for direct action campaigns), I said yes in a heartbeat; Even if it meant …
The Keystone spill and what comes after
By now, I expect you’ve heard about the massive oil spill in Keystone 1 – the older tar sands Pipeline that Keystone XL is meant to expand and replace.1 More than 200,000 gallons of oil are still on the ground just miles from the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate reservation.2 This is all happening at a critical moment. On Monday, the Nebraska Public Service Commission will decide a crucial local permit for Keystone XL. A denial of that permit, or even a decision to permit it with significant restrictions or re-routing could make the Pipeline too expensive to build, or create years of additional delay we can exploit to protest, organize, and eventually stop this disastrous project. I don’t know what will happen on Monday. But I’ve spent the whole weekend with an amazing coalition of frontline activists and pipeline fighters, fossil fuel export exterminators and other fabulous people at the #PeoplevsOilGas summit. It’s given me hope and made me believe that together we can stop these pipelines — all of them. From the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines (and others) in the East; …
Equator Banks Acted
First of all, thanks so much for taking action with us and our partners as part of the Equator Banks Act campaign. Over 110,000 people (including many of you) signed a petition calling on the biggest banks in the world to stop financing climate disasters and respect Indigenous rights. Even better, hundreds of you showed up at more than 50 #DivestTheGlobe actions in cities and towns around the world. Some of the highlights: Seattle activists visited or shut down over 100 branches of the big banks in 3 days of action. Nearly 100 faith and ethics groups joined the call to action, demanding that Bank of America, TD Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and other big banks stop funding fossil fuel projects. There were amazing, beautiful actions in cities all over the world including Columbia, South Carolina; Lausanne, Switzerland; New Haven, CT; Oakland, California; and many many more. Check out the feed below from Mazaska Talks which was made live on the first day of action. Even, better (and worth waiting for) — I’ve got breaking news to share from the actual Equator …
We’ve gone big, now it’s time to bring the message home:
Thanks again for being one of the now more than 100,000 people worldwide (!) who have signed on to demand that the Equator banks stop funding climate disasters and respect indigenous rights. Now, it’s time to deliver: Can you RSVP to host or attend a delivery event with us next week as our big, indigenous-led coalition delivers our message to banks all over the world? Click here to get started. Next week (October 23-25) there will be actions at local bank branches in various places in the world, and we want to show the strength of our numbers. Activists will be showing up at local bank branches, representing the greater audience holding banks accountable, and asking whether companies like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and others will follow BNP Paribas’ lead and #DivestTheGlobe. Dozens of events are already planned that you can attend or participate in. Or, if you don’t see one near you, sign up to host: Our partners at Mazaska talks have made everything easy for you with simple downloadable materials and toolkits, and online event tools. All …
We’ve gone big, now it’s time to bring the message home: Read More »
Big French Bank Defunds Pipelines – Sign now to #DivestTheGlobe
I’ve got more good news this week: French Mega-bank BNP Paribas announced this that it’s cutting its funding for extreme oil and fracked gas projects in the US and Canada. While we (and our friends in France) will need to monitor the implementation and details, the news is REALLY GOOD. Specifically: BNP Paribas will not fund new exploration, production, transportation and export projects related to Tar sands, fracked gas and the Arctic, nor the companies involved in more than 30% of their activities; The announcement includes a ban on funding Keystone XL and TransCanada, Line 3 and Enbridge, a Texas fracked gas export facility and any future gas export terminals in the Gulf; and more! It’s a really big deal and I hope you’ll share the news in the footnotes to spread the word. But I also noticed that you haven’t signed on to our petition calling on 90+ of the biggest banks in the world to Divest from fossil fuels. Can you sign on now? I need your signature this week because we’re already planning a big, global day of action to …
Big French Bank Defunds Pipelines – Sign now to #DivestTheGlobe Read More »
Big news – Basic economics killed a pipeline
TransCanada, the same company behind Keystone XL, just pulled the plug on its disastrous $15.7 billion Energy East Pipeline in Canada. This is a huge win for all the climate activists, Indigenous leaders and nations, and Canadians of all sorts who fought for years to stop this pipeline — just as we in the US have been fighting to stop #KXL and the Dakota Access Pipeline (#DAPL). Ultimately, it wasn’t a rally, protest, or petition that slayed the great black snake known as Energy East — it was basic economics. That’s important for two reasons: One, it puts added pressure on TransCanada and their partners to deliver on KXl, DAPL and other projects — one down, many to go and the stakes just got higher. Two, it indicates that we can stop these projects by speaking their language — and money talks. Sign here to stand with Mazaska Talks* and other allies in telling the big banks: stop financing climate disasters and respect Indigenous rights! It’s important to understand that big pipelines and other fossil fuel projects are funded almost entirely by the big …