The Five-Year Program, which Interior approved on December 14, sets up three massive oil-and-gas auctions through 2029. Interior had originally proposed up to 11 offshore sales, eventually settling on three.

The oil industry lawsuit comes on the heels of another lawsuit from the American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Shell, and the State of Louisiana to remove baseline protections for the critically endangered Rice’s whale in a December Gulf oil auction. It also follows recent moves by the industry to double down on fossil fuel development in the U.S., despite national and international commitments to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address the climate crisis. In November, more than one million gallons of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, another major incident and predictable consequence of offshore oil-and-gas development.

Meanwhile, environmental groups and Gulf-based organizations filed a legal challenge of their own today to hold the Interior Department accountable for failing to adequately consider the public health impacts on frontline communities in its final Five-Year Program. While the program does consider the climate impact of continued oil-and-gas leasing, Interior failed to assess the environmental justice effects of continued offshore fossil fuel development – even after determining that this disparity is a critical issue directly linked to the program. Gulf coast residents already suffer disproportionate health burdens due to life-threatening, toxic industrial pollution stemming from federal offshore oil-and-gas leasing, and these harms will be extended with approval for future leasing. Interior also failed to properly evaluate the impacts of oil-and-gas leasing on endangered species, particularly how new leasing would further imperil the critically endangered Rice’s whale, one of the world’s most endangered marine species.

“Fossil fuel development is untenable if we want a livable future,” said Earthjustice attorney Brettny Hardy. “The oil and gas industry is already sitting on nine million acres of undeveloped leases. They certainly are not entitled to more. Although we acknowledge the government’s focus on climate impacts with the release of this five-year offshore leasing plan, we are taking legal action today because we are concerned about how it will jeopardize the health of overburdened communities.”

“In Houston and along the Texas Gulf Coast, the stakes are high: More fossil fuels means more carbon emissions, which means more intense hurricanes hitting the inadequately guarded petrochemical infrastructure that is already in place,” said Kristen Schlemmer, Legal Director & Waterkeeper for Bayou City Waterkeeper in Houston. “It is time for us to transition away from these industries, not enable further drilling in the years to come.”

“Healthy Gulf is critical of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s recent Five-Year Plan for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Andrew Whitehurst, water program director for Healthy Gulf. “We highlighted errors and deficiencies in the agency’s analysis of harmful impacts that will further burden Gulf communities. We join as plaintiffs here to ask a federal court to review BOEM’s plan, and force the agency to improve it.”

“We are not surprised by this industry challenge, given its track record of suing every time the Biden Administration makes any attempt to break free from fossil fuels,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director for Friends of the Earth. “While the Five-Year Program does offer a record-low number of sales and greater focus on climate change, unfortunately it continues to unlawfully overlook many significant harms of the offshore drilling industry. Our lawsuit is another stand for the Gulf ecosystem, its nearby communities and all wildlife that continue to suffer at the hands of Big Oil.”

“The new 5-year offshore drilling plan was informed by nearly a million public comments against oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters. The industry’s unwarranted lawsuit belies the fact that new offshore drilling is broadly unpopular and is not needed to meet our nation’s energy needs. Moreover, new offshore drilling will increase carbon pollution and undermine U.S. and global efforts to address climate change, ” said Pete Stauffer, Ocean Protection Manager, Surfrider Foundation.

“Central and western Gulf communities are on the frontlines of offshore drilling disasters, extraction-related pollution, and the climate change fossil fuels are driving,” said Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program director Athan Manuel. “The Biden Administration finalized a five year plan for offshore fossil fuel development that proposes three additional lease sales, but even that new leasing isn’t enough for these corporations. We will continue to fight to protect our communities and climate from the dangers of offshore drilling.”

“Industry’s lawsuit is unfounded and unwarranted,” said Brad Sewell, director of the oceans program at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “This plan still calls for more leasing in the Gulf, which is the last thing we need and in the last place we need it. Gulf waters have never been hotter. Rising seas are swamping the Gulf coast. It’s time to break, not deepen, our dependence on the very fossil fuels that are driving the climate and biodiversity crises. It’s time to make federal ocean policy part of the climate fix, not the problem. Reducing offshore drilling that exposes oceans, marine life and coastal communities to catastrophic risk and ongoing harm is the answer.”

The United States Geological Survey estimates that drilling on public land and in federal waters is responsible for almost a quarter of the greenhouse gases generated by the United States that are warming the planet. The industry currently has 9,000 unused leases or over 8 million acres of public water, and any further expansion of the fossil fuel industry will escalate the climate crisis, said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director for Turtle Island Restoration Network.

“We already know that when companies drill, they spill,” said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. “While our nation is facing a climate crisis, and coastal communities continue to recover from catastrophic oil spills, the oil industry selfishly wants to open up even more of our oceans for drilling. This comes even though oil and gas companies are already holding over 9 million acres of unused leases. Oceana is ready to stand up to the oil industry to keep it from further ravaging our oceans and our most vulnerable communities. Oceana will fight for those communities, and the oceans that surround them, to stop this deadly cycle of drilling and spilling.”

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746

The post Environmental, Gulf Groups React to API Lawsuit Targeting Five-Year Drilling Plan; Seek Stronger Protections for Gulf of Mexico appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

JUNEAU (ÁAKʼW ḴWÁAN TERRITORY) — A broad coalition of Alaska Native Tribes, commercial fishers, small tourism businesses, conservation groups, and other forest advocates are seeking to defend last year’s reinstatement of National Roadless Rule protections across the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska by intervening in several legal challenges opposing the rule.

The coalition of Tribes and forest advocates, represented by Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is intervening to prevent industrial logging and damaging roadbuilding on over 9 million mostly undeveloped acres within the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest.

When the Roadless Rule was reinstated last January on the Tongass National Forest by the U.S. Forest Service, the decision was widely celebrated by Tribal Nations in Southeast Alaska, across Alaska and nationally. The reinstatement decision recognized the need to preserve the Tongass’ roadless areas to protect cultural uses, enhance carbon storage, and conserve biodiversity, and noted strong and uniform support for the rule among Southeast Alaska Tribal Nations.

Despite the widespread popularity of Forest Service’s decision, the State of Alaska, two power companies and a coalition of business and industry supporters filed three separate lawsuits in September asking a federal court in Alaska to overturn the 2023 protections in favor of the 2020 Trump-era Roadless Rule excluding the Tongass.

Under the current Roadless Rule protections, sustainable economies that center the priorities of Tribes and local communities are taking root and flourishing. Overturning these protections would roll back progress toward a more sustainable future and bring back the threat of large-scale logging, which is why 16 Tribes, businesses, fishing, and conservation groups are intervening in the lawsuits today to uphold the rule.

The rule, which recognizes that Southeast Alaska’s future depends on sustainable uses of the forest, is intended to prevent large-scale industrial logging like clear cutting and to conserve the region’s old-growth forests. Old-growth forests are central to the cultures, traditions and lifeways of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people, essential for climate protection and important for many purposes to many people, communities and businesses who live on or near the forest.

While the Roadless Rule prohibits logging and logging roads, it allows for other development projects, including hard rock mines, federal-aid highways, utility lines, hydropower projects and other energy projects.

The following statements were issued in response to today’s filing.

Joel Jackson, President, Organized Village of Kake:

“The Roadless Rule has helped protect the Tongass National from harmful logging and road building. Without old growth timber, we lose an important carbon sink and habitat essential to the survival of salmon, people and many other species. The Tongass Roadless Rule is important to everyone – to our way of life and for streams, salmon, deer, and all the forest animals and plants.”

Norman Skan, President, Ketchikan Indian Community:

“The Roadless Rule is beneficial and allows our Tribe and community to thrive. Ketchikan Indian Community is committed to continue working with our tribal neighbors and other stakeholders on this critically important issue.”

Nathan Moulton, Tribal Administrator, Hoonah Indian Association:

“Our lifestyle, culture and foods are linked in critical and dynamic ways to the Tongass National Forest, and so are the economies that power our communities. The Roadless Rule reduces the risk of long-term exploitation of critical old-growth forests and promotes community vibrancy, Alaska Native cultures and food security. The Roadless Rule maximizes the economic, social and environmental sustainability of our Tribe and our region and must not be overturned.”

Mike Jones, President, Organized Village of Kasaan:

“The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”

Wanda Culp (Tlingit), Tongass Hub Regional Coordinator, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN):

“The Tongass Forest is home to the ancient Tlingit and Haida Indigenous Nations.  It is where my ancestry originates, my bloodline is Indigenous to this land, its DNA is my DNA. The air we breathe, the water we depend on, the land we live upon, all pristine. This is why we need to ensure the Roadless Rule stays in place—to protect the forest from harmful interests and to ensure a liveable future for all generations.”

Judy Daxootsu Ramos (Tlingit from Yaakwdáat Kwáan (Yakutat, Alaska), Raven moiety, Kwáashk’ikwáan Clan) Board Co-Chair, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council:

“Southeast Alaska is the traditional homeland to the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people and has been for thousands of years, but in the last 200 years, we’ve seen tremendous changes — I’ve seen it change drastically in my lifetime — the Roadless Rule is necessary to protect and respect our traditional homelands.”

Linda Behnken, commercial fisher and Executive Director, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association:

“The Roadless Rule is essential for protecting the remaining intact ecosystems within the Tongass National Forest for generations to come. It would be short-sighted and irresponsible to roll back these protections that support critical habitat for fish and wildlife, sustainable fisheries, and coastal fishing communities, especially as we endure threats posed by climate change and ocean warming.”

Hunter McIntosh, president and executive director, The Boat Company:

“The Boat Company operates small cruise vessels and is part of a growing regional ecotourism economy focused on outdoor recreation and adventure tourism. Ecotours are trips where visitors learn about and admire nature in ways that contribute to conservation and the economic well-being of local communities. By managing roadless areas for outdoor recreation, local communities benefit, and visitors emerge refreshed by the well-known physical and emotional benefits of forest recreation. By preserving intact forests, policies such as the Roadless Rule provide economic benefits that outweigh industrial, extractive uses and protect important ecosystem service values such as carbon storage and sequestration, and fisheries and wildlife.”

Captain Dan Blanchard, owner and CEO, Uncruise Adventures:

“Each year UnCruise Adventures provide hundreds of visitors with scenic views of southeast Alaska coastlines, fjords and forests, and remote recreation experiences such as hiking, kayaking, beach combing and wildlife viewing. I cannot understate the importance of inventoried roadless areas to the ecotour economy.  Our clients expect to see “wild” Alaska and prefer natural landscapes that support healthy and iconic wildlife species such as bears or bald eagles.  Clearcutting and timber road construction in inventoried roadless areas will force us to divert our travel routes and reduce shore-based activities to avoid seeing or being around clearcuts.  These changes would negatively affect Southeast Alaska’s reputation as an uncrowded and high-quality adventure travel destination free from industrial activities.”

Karlin Itchoak, senior regional director for Alaska, The Wilderness Society:

“Reinstating the Roadless Rule was a significant and long-awaited victory for the Tongass and it was a direct result of Tribes and Indigenous peoples of Southeast Alaska demanding the protections of their ancestral homeland. Attempts to roll back these protections disregard their undying efforts and pose significant threats to the communities that depend on this sustainable forest, as well as the wildlife and sacred old-growth forest now protected from harmful development. We stand in solidarity with local Alaska Native leaders in demanding that the Roadless Rule holds firm and the voices of Southeast Alaska are heard to ensure that the Tongass rainforest is protected for the preservation of culture and future generations to come.”

Andy Moderow, senior director of policy, Alaska Wilderness League:

“The Roadless Rule is common sense policy that puts people and public lands first. Reinstating those protections in the Tongass National Forest is at the foundation of efforts to build a sustainable future for Southeast Alaska.  It’s also a flexible rule, that allows for community access, hydropower infrastructure, utility connectors, and other projects when they serve a legitimate public interest.  We will keep defending this rule whenever it is attacked, so that future generations can count on the Tongass National Forest just like we can today.”

Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska Program director, Defenders of Wildlife:

“Protecting the Tongass National Forest is an important step in recognizing the role our forests play in fighting the biodiversity and climate crises. Tongass Roadless areas protect rare intact old-growth forest habitat for wildlife and help address climate change by sequestering carbon. Defenders will not waver in our support for protecting this irreplaceable habitat.”

Cooper Freeman, Alaska Representative, Center for Biological Diversity:

“I’m outraged the Dunleavy administration is trying to open up more logging in the country’s largest forest carbon sink in the midst of the climate and extinction crises. Protecting more than half the Tongass is one of the best ways we can preserve this irreplaceable old-growth forest for future generations. We’ll do everything we can to make sure the spectacular Tongass is protected.”

Hallie Templeton, legal director, Friends of the Earth:

“As the country’s largest national forest and carbon sink, protecting the Tongass is essential for local communities and for our global battle against climate change. This is one of our last remaining truly wild places, and it demands ultimate protection from corporate interests. We are proud to continue fighting alongside our tribal, local business, fishing, and conservation partners to ensure that the Tongass and its natural abundance remain off limits to industrial development.”

Background

Situated in the southeast corner of Alaska, the Tongass is a temperate rainforest and the ancestral homeland of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. The islands, fjords, glaciers, and muskegs that make up the nation’s largest national forest provide some of the most rare and intact ecosystems in the world, providing critical habitat for wildlife including salmon, brown and black bears, bald eagles, flying squirrels, goshawks, and Sitka black-tailed deer.

These lands are integral to the ways-of-life of Alaska Native people in the region, who depend on roadless areas for hunting, fishing, gathering traditional medicines, and cultural uses. In addition, the region supports a thriving tourism industry and a local, sustainable, commercial fishing industry. Both industries depend on the forest’s intact ecosystem. The Tongass also serves as the country’s largest forest carbon sink, making its protection critical for U.S. efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to set a global example.

Originally adopted in 2001, the Roadless Rule is one of the most significant conservation measures adopted to protect the national forests of the United States. Applicable nationwide, it prohibits industrial logging and most roadbuilding in intact areas of the national forest system, with a few exceptions. Alaska’s Tongass National Forest was protected under the national rule in 2001 but was exempted first under the Bush administration and later under the Trump Administration. During the recent Trump-era rollback in 2020, the public submitted nearly half a million comments. Of those, 96% advocated for keeping Roadless Rule protections in place for the Tongass, and only 1% supported the Trump exemption.

In January 2023, in a much-celebrated decision, the Biden administration reinstated the Roadless Rule for the Tongass, protecting the forest once again from logging and roadbuilding.

The following Tribes and groups, represented by Earthjustice and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), are intervening to protect the Roadless Rule: Organized Village of Kake, Hoonah Indian Association, Ketchikan Indian Community, Organized Village of Kasaan, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, The Boat Company, Uncruise, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, Alaska Wilderness League, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, the Wilderness Society and NRDC.

Communications contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746

The post Alaska Native Tribes, Southeast Alaska Businesses and Forest Advocates Defend Tongass National Forest’s Roadless Rule appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

“Living next to Formosa Plastics, the perpetual risk to our health, livelihood, security, and hard-earned property is beyond anyone’s imagination,” said Sharon Lavigne, founder of RISE St. James. “Formosa Plastics would wipe the 5th district of St. James off the map, adding to the number of historically black communities that have become extinct due to the intrusion of petrochemical industries.” 

The facility can only be constructed with a federal wetlands permit. The International Monitor Formosa Plastics Alliance recently met with Biden Administration officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, delivering over 96,000 signatures to the letter asking that this permit not be granted.

“This ruling is incredibly disappointing and an indicator that the government is willing to put polluters over people,” said Nancy Bui, co-founder of the International Monitor Formosa Plastics Alliance. “Nevertheless, we will not stop the fight. We will continue to move forward until this Formosa Plastics facility is fully rejected and those affected by their destructive practices worldwide are compensated.”

Formosa Plastics has wreaked havoc on communities globally, from Vietnam to Texas. Their steel subsidiary paid the Vietnamese government $500 million after a toxic chemical spill in 2016, causing one of the most significant environmental disasters in Vietnam’s history. Thousands of victims have yet to receive compensation, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel continues to deny an independent environmental study on the current status of marine pollution, and 23 advocates are currently imprisoned for speaking out.

In Texas, Formosa Plastics repeatedly violated chemical accident prevention provisions in the Clean Water Act and discharged massive amounts of plastic pollution in waterways, leading to a $50 million settlement. Although the settlement included a mandate for zero discharge of plastic, the Point Comfort, Texas, plant has received $14.185 million in penalties for 563 violations since the settlement was enacted in February 2020. Since June 2021, the facility has been tested thrice weekly, with each test confirming ongoing violations. 

“It is possible to hold corporate polluters accountable,” said Diane Wilson, 2023 Goldman Prize Winner and environmental activist who led the lawsuit against Formosa Plastics’ Point Comfort facility. “This decision by the Louisiana courts is a huge blow to St. James residents’ right to clean water and air. We must persist and refuse to give up on stopping Formosa Plastics’ historic and extensive cycle of destructive pollution.”

“This ruling is another reminder that petrochemical companies lack accountability,” said Paloma Henriques, Senior Petrochemical Campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “The US government, backed by the courts, continues to allow rampant pollution that harms communities at the production site as well as our shared environment and oceans downstream. We need an immediate halt to new and expanded production facilities and a strong and binding Global Plastics Treaty. In addition, banks must stop financing reckless companies like Formosa Plastics. It’s time to step up and address the plastics crisis head-on.”

Communications Contacts: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org // Gary Watson, gary@garywatsonllc.com

The post Environmentalists Condemn Louisiana Court’s Decision to Uphold Air Permits for Formosa Plastics Facility appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The report comes as the New York Times reports the White House is likely to impose a pause on a massive LNG export project in Louisiana known as CP2, a move that may impact other proposed terminals as well.

The report, Methane Madness, examines eight proposed LNG projects being considered for approval by the Biden administration. These unbuilt LNG export projects would expand LNG export capacity into the Asia Pacific region, opening a massive market for Big Oil, and expanding commodity speculation. 

“Big Oil’s talking points about European energy security are cynical and inaccurate,” said Lukas Ross, Climate and Energy Deputy Director at Friends of the Earth. “It is past time for the Department of Energy to overhaul its broken, rubber stamp LNG process.”

The data shows that long-term LNG supply contracts are least likely to be signed with European buyers. If the Biden Administration greenlights these projects and they are brought online, over half of the LNG will be locked into contracts with Big Oil companies and commodity traders–loyal only to their own bottom lines.

“Record LNG exports drive up home heating prices for Americans, and line the pockets of fossil fuel CEOs, and these new planet-wrecking projects are not in the interest of the public ,” said Alan Zibel, an energy researcher with Public Citizen. “No amount of misleading energy industry lobbying can undo the simple reality that LNG exports force American consumers to pay more in the long run while U.S.-produced gas winds up in Beijing and Berlin. The expansion of U.S. LNG export capacity simply empowers Big Oil giants and commodity traders’ ability to earn eye-popping profits.”

Key Findings:

• Eight proposed LNG export projects regulated by the US government are locking-in long term contracts with purchasers – a key ingredient needed to attract investors and begin construction. But none of the eight projects have all the permits from the Biden Administration needed to proceed.
• If built, the eight pending projects will produce the annual equivalent of 113 coal plants in planet-warming emissions. President Biden could defuse these carbon bombs by pausing new Department of Energy approvals while existing regulations are overhauled.
• More than half of the volume from these pending facilities has been secured by commodity trading firms and Big Oil’s speculative trading arms. That means the LNG from these facilities, if they are built, will be sold wherever these so-called “portfolio players” can turn the biggest profit — undercutting industry claims that the expansion is needed for European energy security. Four of the five largest purchasers by volume from pending facilities are speculators.
• The temporary surge in LNG exports to Europe since the outbreak of war in Ukraine is not translating into long-term demand. Contracts with European customers represent the smallest share (18%) from pending LNG facilities. Contracts with Asia Pacific customers account for 30% of total volume, with the remaining 52% going to commodity firms and other portfolio buyers.

Contacts:
Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746
Jayson O’Neill, BailoutWatch, joneill@climatenexus.org, (406) 570-5019
Patrick Davis, Public Citizen, pdavis@citizen.org, (608) 770-4800

The post Fossil Fuel Speculators Benefit Most From Pending LNG Terminals, Sticking U.S. Consumers with Higher Bills, Analysis Shows appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

This is especially dangerous for people that live near airports. These communities have been found to have higher levels of lead in their blood. And the 360,000+ children that live near airports around the country are even more at risk from lead exposure. In fact, one study found that children living downwind of an airport had blood lead levels on par with lead levels found in children during the peak of the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis.

And like many other environmental issues, exposure to toxic leaded aviation fuel is also an issue of environmental justice. Most general aviation airports with the highest lead emissions are located in communities of color. And many Native Alaskan communities are situated near Alaskan airports. 

Friends of the Earth had numerous reasons to get involved. Dating back as far as 2003, we’ve been pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate lead in aviation fuel. That year, we submitted a comment letter asking the EPA for an endangerment finding from lead in aviation gasoline. And in 2006, we filed an administrative petition for EPA to conduct a study of the danger that leaded avgas has on public health.

It wasn’t until 2010 that EPA issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) acknowledging the adverse health problems likely caused by lead in aviation fuel. The ANPR also found that communities living near airports and people working at airports or with general aviation planes could be at risk from exposure to lead emissions. But even as EPA’s own findings concluded how toxic lead is to public health, wildlife, and the environment — even at low doses — the agency failed to take steps to actually regulate avgas. So in 2012, we went to court again, suing the EPA for its inaction. The agency agreed to issue an endangerment finding in 2015, but unfortunately those plans never materialized.

Years passed and our campaign for cleaner air continued. We got tens of thousands of our members to get involved by calling for a phase out of dangerous, toxic leaded avgas. And in 2021, we filed another petition calling on the EPA to take the necessary steps to regulate lead pollution from aircraft. We also joined over 35 organizations and individuals in a letter demanding EPA’s action on the issue.

Finally, in October 2023, EPA announced its final endangerment finding on leaded aviation gas, a crucial step toward protecting the health of so many who have been unjustly exposed to toxic air pollution and irreversible health impacts! 

After 20 years of campaigning with partners such as Oregon Aviation Watch, Earthjustice, the Golden Gate Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, we could finally celebrate this win. Communities near the 20,000 airports across the country that host aircraft that use leaded avgas will soon breathe cleaner air. And this has been a true victory in our fight for environmental justice. We look forward to the day that leaded avgas is banned once and for all, just as leaded gasoline in motor vehicles was banned over 25 years ago.

The post Protecting Communities From Air Pollution appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The United States, now the largest exporter of LNG on the planet, is expected to see exports double by 2027. The pipeline of proposed but not yet under construction facilities represents a veritable carbon bomb, threatening to lock-in over 1400 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually — equivalent to the emissions of 378 new coal plants. 

“Any push for a phase-out of all fossil fuels at COP28 risks falling flat if the world’s leading LNG exporter shows no signs of changing course,” the letter reads. “We urge the Biden Administration to publicly commit during the COP to no further regulatory, financial, or diplomatic support for LNG in the United States or anywhere in the world.”

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM) recently approved support for commodity trader Trafigura to insure speculative bets in the global LNG market. Although the Biden Administration has given regulatory approval to terminals like Alaska LNG, it has yet to approve major projects pending in or near the Gulf of Mexico, such as Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) — the largest export application ever considered by Department of Energy. 

Photographs from the “Break the Chain: Speak Out against LNG” rally will be available here. 

Signatories of the letter released the following quotes (listed in alphabetical order): 

“The United States’ expansion of deadly gas is a threat to communities everywhere. From sacrifice zones where fracked gas is extracted to sites in Asia where millions live alongside dangerous gas infrastructure, more LNG is a dead end hurting our people, said Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt & Development. “At COP28, we sorely need bold leadership for a rapid, just, and equitable transition of the energy system to 100% renewable energy. President Biden can lead, but he must change course immediately and stop LNG expansion.”

“I came to Dubai because the Biden Administration isn’t listening at home,” said Melanie Oldham, founder of Better Brazoria: Clean Air and Water. “Communities like mine live in the shadow of the LNG boom. If this infrastructure isn’t stopped, it means more sacrifice zones and more emissions.” 

“With a fossil fuel phaseout the leading topic at COP28, now’s the time for the Biden administration to halt LNG exports once and for all,” said Ben Goloff of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The United States is doling out permits for new gas export terminals like there’s no tomorrow. Our new analysis shows that the Inflation Reduction Act’s emissions benefits are more than canceled out by the Biden administration’s support for new fossil fuel projects, and new LNG export facilities are the engine of this disastrous machine.”

“We’re faced with clear scientific consensus that we will not have a safe and stable climate if we continue to use and expand fossil fuels. Not only has the United States become the top exporter of LNG, the Biden administration is being bombarded with proposals for new export terminals that could quadruple U.S. LNG export capacity,” said Kelsey Crane, Senior Policy Advocate for Earthworks. “Unless the United States reverses course, the buildout of LNG threatens to put global and domestic climate goals out of reach, perpetuates environmental injustice, and condemns the Gulf South and global South to be sacrificed for false solutions.”

“If President Biden isn’t willing to stand up to LNG, then his climate legacy is in deep trouble,” said Lukas Ross, Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth U.S. “The United States cannot preach climate action in Dubai if it is willing to consider mammoth new projects at home like CP2.”

“While the United States is the largest exporter of LNG, Japan is the largest importer. Both are denying their historical responsibility for the climate crisis and putting communities in danger. We must stand together around the world and say no to more LNG,” said Ayumi Fukakusa, Deputy Executive Director at Friends of the Earth Japan.

“As the world’s greatest historical polluter, the United States cannot claim to be a climate champion while exporting methane LNG across the globe, furthering the climate crisis,” said Russell Armstrong, Senior Director for Campaigns and Advocacy at the Hip Hop Caucus. “The hypocrisy is that with one hand, our government has finally realized the need to regulate super pollutants at home, while with the other hand, it continues to sacrifice Black and Brown communities to export LNG at increasingly alarming rates across the globe, keeping other nations addicted to fossil fuels. Here at COP28, the United States must get serious about a full phaseout of fossil fuels that includes a stop to LNG exports, abated and unabated.”

“Under President Biden’s current policies, gas exports are expected to soar by 2035. This administration has funneled billions of taxpayer dollars into LNG projects in the United States and abroad,” said Allie Rosenbluth, United States Program Manager at Oil Change International. “If Biden wants to show he’s truly a climate leader, he must end all support for LNG and support a full, fair, fast, and funded phaseout of fossil fuels at the UN climate talks.”

“As a resident of a frontline community, I wholeheartedly understand and advocate for the imperative of a fast, fair, and forever phaseout of fossil fuels,” said Roishetta Ozane, Director of The Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator at Texas Campaign for the Environment. “Our community bears the brunt of the negative impacts caused by the extraction and burning of these fuels. As a mom raising children with health conditions caused by the pollution from these industries, I understand the impacts on human life. The United States must stop putting people last and for once put us first.” 

“The mad dash for gas is nothing but a blockade to a renewable energy future in Southeast Asia. Lies peddled by countries like the United States paint gas as a transition fuel, but our people and environment have paid a steep price,” said Krishna Ariola of Youth for Climate Hope Philippines. “In addition to LNG’s environmental and climate impact, new gas plants mean higher electricity bills and a slower transition to renewables. Why must we let LNG poison our waters, destroy biodiversity, and drive us further to climate chaos?” 

“The LNG terminal on Krk Island in Croatia was built despite the overwhelming opposition of the local and regional communities. Croatia now plans to increase its capacity by 100 percent and do it jointly with Austria and Bavaria in order to bring gas to Germany, who already has six new terminals planned. It’s proven that the demand for gas in Europe is decreasing. So the question is, who are these terminals actually in the interest of? Perhaps the United States as the biggest exporter of LNG to the EU?”, said Marija Mileta, vice-president of Zelena Akcija (Friends of the Earth Croatia).

Communications contacts: Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, bmiller@foe.org, +1 202 222 0746 (U.S. Pacific Time)
Nicole Rodel, Oil Change International, nicole@priceofoil.org, +27 84 257 0627 (Gulf Standard Time)

The post Global call for United States to change course on LNG at COP28 climate talks appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

We noticed a spike of climate disinformation spreading through social media ads prior and during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP). During COP 27, FOE took part in a disinformation “intelligence unit” to monitor climate disinformation narratives. One analysis found that around the time of COP, 3,781 ads on Meta spread greenwashed lies about fossil fuels. 

Our reports and research urged Big Tech to crack down and restrict these kinds of ads on their platforms. But we also work to stop the spread of climate lies spreading through ‘organic’ unpaid content. This content has become more and more prevalent on polarizing issues such as Covid-19 and election fraud. In fact, on Twitter, misinformation was 70% more likely to be retweeted than tweets with factual information. On TikTok, videos denying that climate change is driven by human activities have been viewed over 30 million times. It’s to no one’s surprise that the fossil fuel industry has poured millions of dollars into spreading lies and misleading information to keep the public in support of its destruction.

To hold these platforms accountable for allowing these violations, we launched the Social Media Scorecard in April 2022 to pressure social media companies and Congress to tackle climate disinformation. We also leveraged the power of our members to get involved. And they did! More than 92,000 members signed petitions demanding that CEOs of Big Tech companies tackle oil and gas propaganda on their platforms.  

Since then, Pinterest adopted a robust policy for climate dis/misinformation in both organic content and ads. And just days after our scorecard placed Twitter last on our scorecard, the platform adopted a new policy to promote credible information on climate science. The policy also prohibited ads that contradict climate science. And in April 2023, TikTok announced that it would be overhauling its community guidelines and would include climate mis/disinformation in its misinformation policies.

Our work with the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition (CAAD) has also spearheaded research on climate disinformation in non-English languages, which can be even more prevalent and unregulated than English disinformation. For example, our analysis found rampant misinformation around online discussions of extreme weather events in Brazil, Chile, and Peru. 

The CAAD coalition is leading the way in analyzing and lobbying against these crises. And fortunately, our efforts have helped shape the policies that Big Tech companies have in place to regulate the spread of false and misleading information. We will not stop until these companies take accountability for their role in the spread of dangerous narratives about climate change. Every other industry — from food production to car manufacturers to airlines — has to report about the safety of its products. So why should tech companies be any different? Together, we can promote truthful information and inspire robust action to protect our planet.

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