“The biggest risk of federal hydrogen investments is that they will prolong the life of fossil fuel assets while locking in, or even increasing, our unsustainably high level of emissions,” the letter warns. “This is undeniably true of hydrogen-ready LNG.”

Signatories of the letter, in alphabetical order, released the following quotes:

“We need the Biden Administration to condemn this greenwashing scam, not subsidize it,” said Sarah Lutz, Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth US. “The rampant expansion of US LNG exports is a climate disaster. Dressing up LNG infrastructure as ‘hydrogen-ready’ should be treated as a laughable bait-and-switch.”

“In a time when coastal communities desperately need resources to defend themselves against the climate crisis, the Biden administration continues to allow false solutions like hydrogen-ready LNG to receive heavy government subsidies,” said Shreyas Vasudevan, Campaign Coordinator at Louisiana Bucket Brigade, “By providing these industries with funding earmarked for the clean energy transition, the administration is actively protecting the fossil fuel industry. False solutions like ‘hydrogen-ready LNG’ can’t receive any more government support.”

“President Biden’s LNG export expansion has already proved to be a disaster for American consumers and frontline communities. Adding subsidies to include hydrogen in this fiasco will waste taxpayer resources and delay needed solutions to decarbonization,” said Tyson Slocum, Energy Program Director for Public Citizen.

“Why in the world do Biden and Granholm trust the very same corporations driving this climate emergency and perpetuating environmental racism with billions of our taxpayer dollars?” asks Jeffrey Jacoby, Deputy Director with Texas Campaign for the Environment. “Seems pretty obvious the Department of Energy – and frankly this entire administration – is captured by fossil fuel interests and totally willing to invest our money enabling rich, elite oil and gas barons to be the ones truly in charge of our climate future.”

COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org

The post Environmental Groups Sound Alarm on LNG Industry’s ‘Hydrogen-Ready’ Bait-and-Switch appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The 48C tax credit received a $10 billion boost in the Inflation Reduction Act and is intended to speed investment in projects that transition the energy and manufacturing sectors away from dirty energy. The Department of Energy must approve and rank applicants based on criteria like greenhouse gas and other pollution reduction. The letter urges the Biden Administration to acknowledge that woody biomass is a massive failure on these fronts.

“The implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act is a major climate and justice test for the Biden Administration,” said Sarah Lutz, Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth US. “Destroying our forests and burning wood for energy kneecaps our ability to address the climate crisis and embeds environmental injustice in communities. We cannot afford to keep subsidizing these harms, especially not with funding intended to reduce our reliance on dirty energy.”

“There is nothing innovative or advanced about chopping down trees and grinding them up into wood pellets to be burned for energy,” said Laura Haight, US Policy Director at Partnership for Policy Integrity. “The Biden Administration must do everything it can to discourage climate-harming biomass energy.”

“If the Biden Administration wants to maintain a positive record on climate and environmental justice they must keep the dirty biomass industry from co-opting tax credits, like 48C, meant to address the climate crisis.” said Adam Colette, Programs Director at Dogwood Alliance. 

“The science is clear and conclusive: burning wood pellets for electricity is a dirty source of energy, which damages the climate and harms communities,” said Sami Yassa, Senior Scientist with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Burning wood pellet fuel in a power plant produces even more carbon pollution at the smokestack than coal. Industrial wood pellet manufacturing plants like the ones Enviva is proposing spew extreme levels of toxic pollution that burdens nearby communities. Allowing them to claim clean energy tax credits would be a double step backwards; it would boost an industry that is accelerating climate change and harming the health of communities while robbing critical funding from energy solutions that are actually clean.”

COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org

The post Environmental Groups Submit Letter to Department of Energy on Preventing IRA-Boosted Tax Credit from Subsidizing Wood Pellet Mills appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The request also seeks records concerning DOE’s interactions with fossil fuel interests and whether the public has been adequately apprised of any LNG policy-setting decisions being made behind closed doors.

“An open government is one of the most important pillars upon which our democracy was founded,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth. “If the DOE is holding secretive meetings with fossil fuel proponents, it’s likely that significant discussions impacting U.S. climate policy are occurring behind closed doors. Unfortunately, the administration’s pro-fossil fuel position does nothing to alleviate our worries. We hope DOE swiftly fulfills our FOIA request and puts our concerns at bay.” 

The FOIA requests comes amidst the Biden Administration’s alarming support for expanding U.S. LNG and repeated pushes in international forums such as the G-7 to justify new infrastructure.  The Administration greenlit the massive, $39 billion Alaska LNG project in April and new, long-term LNG contracts have skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Friends of the Earth recently sued the Department of State for a second time over its expedited 2022 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking insight into Biden energy official Amos Hochstein and potential fossil fuel influence over the U.S. response to the war in Ukraine. 

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

The post New Records Request Targets DOE’s LNG greenwashing scheme appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The potential RFS expansion into EV changing has been aggressively lobbied for by dirty energy industries looking for new subsidies. Freedom of Information Act requests unearthed by Friends of the Earth reveal a coordinated campaign between incinerator giant Covanta and pro-wood burning trade group, Biomass Power Association, to gain access to the program. Burning wood or trash are some of the dirtiest ways to produce energy and emits a number of toxic pollutants that disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color.  

“The decision to drop this proposed rule is a huge win for the climate and for communities already overburdened with pollution,” said Sarah Lutz, Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “The EPA was on the verge of making a bad program even worse by tying the growth of EVs to massively harmful energy production. It’s wholly incompatible with President Biden’s commitment to reducing emissions and prioritizing environmental justice, and we’re committed to ensuring this proposal doesn’t rear its ugly head again.” 

Friends of the Earth has led the opposition on e-RINS for electric vehicle-charging since FOIAs revealed that the Biden administration and Tesla were having closed-door discussions on the RFS as soon as the former’s term began. FoE is the lead author on three opposition letters to the EPA (2021, 2022, 2023) and collaborated with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) to develop a Congressional response in 2022. 

Communications Contact: Erika Seiber, eseiber@foe.org

The post Friends of the Earth Celebrates EPA’s Decision to Pull Dangerous EV Proposal appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Despite the original lawsuit spurring the Department to grant expedited processing one year ago, Friends of the Earth has only received on average fewer than 30 pages a month. The State Department has also failed to determine how many documents are responsive and how long it will take to process them, as mandated by federal law.

“The Biden Administration’s fossil fuel diplomacy is a climate disaster,” said Lukas Ross, Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “If the President insists on employing a former fossil fuel executive, then the public deserves to know whose interests are being advanced behind closed doors.”

The records at issue would shed light on the crucial role that Hochstein, a former LNG executive, played within the State Department while overseeing the EU-US Task Force on Energy Security from the start of the war through May 2023. It was recently reported that Hochstein was promoted to a White House energy and climate advisory role.

“This foot-dragging simply cannot continue,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth. “It should not take legal action to force FOIA fulfillment, yet here we are again. One thing is clear: the State Department’s obstruction won’t stand, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that our country’s open government laws are properly fulfilled.”

Friends of the Earth is being represented by the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC.

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

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The RFS is a federal program under the Environmental Protection Agency that was originally intended to drive alternatives to gasoline and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, it has advanced biofuels that rely on dangerous and dirty forms of energy – from corn ethanol to landfill gas. Since its implementation, the RFS has failed to reduce emissions and has increased reliance on dirty energy production at the expense of local communities where biofuels are produced. Yet the EPA has proposed doubling down on the failure of the Renewable Fuel Standard by expanding the program to subsidize EV charging with electricity produced from these same dirty biofuels. Although the expansion is delayed and will likely not be included in the EPA’s upcoming June rulemaking, industry is continuing to ramp up pressure.  

Key findings from FOIA documents: 

• Coordinated lobbying efforts took place between Covanta and incinerator-owning municipal governments in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, Hawaii, California, and Oregon. 
• Incineration industry pundits strategized Congressional pressure toward the EPA to introduce an RFS pathway for incineration. They planned to deliberately avoid attention from senators who may oppose them and downplay the need to prioritize recycling practices over burning trash. 
• Industry insiders held multiple meetings with the EPA, including an onsite tour of an incinerator facility that was timed to minimize the amount of ash in the air. They extensively planned and debriefed these meetings in a clear attempt to mislead decision makers on the environmental and public health dangers of waste incineration. 
• Proponents of the incineration industry openly attacked the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. 
• Covanta is also attempting to access IRA clean energy tax incentives and hydrogen hub funding

“Expanding the already broken Renewable Fuel Standard to subsidize dirty electricity directly contradicts this administration’s environmental justice and climate commitments,” said Sarah Lutz, Climate Campaigner at Friends of the Earth. “Burning wood or trash is about as far removed from renewable energy as you can get. The EPA must not tie the growth of EVs to new subsidies for dirty energy that harms our communities.”  

The post Freedom of Information Act Findings Reveal Covert Incinerator Lobby Blitz appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

Building on the efforts to stop the G7 push to finance global LNG, 120 organizations sent a letter today urging the Biden administration to clarify that new LNG projects risk locking in fossil fuels for decades and to reject hydrogen-readiness as a justification to expand LNG. 

Last month, the G7 Climate and Environment Ministerial Communique stated that investment in the natural gas sector, including LNG, is only appropriate if “implemented in a manner consistent with our climate objectives and without creating lock-in effects.” The letter calls on the Biden Administration to specify that all new LNG import and export infrastructure fails this test. 

As the International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have made clear, any new oil and gas investment is incompatible with preventing global temperatures from exceeding 1.5ºC. 

The letter also calls for the Biden administration to: 

• Oppose efforts in the G7 to expand LNG contracting; 
• Resist any attempt to further expedite LNG permitting across G7 countries in ways that would limit public input and weaken the assessment of climate and environmental justice impacts; 
• Implement the Glasgow Statement to phase out its own financing of fossil fuels and call on Japan to join the rest of the G7 as a signatory; AND
• Stop efforts to develop an international certification framework for the carbon intensity of LNG. 

In response, local and national environmental groups issued the following statements (alphabetical by organization): 

“As a resident of Southwest Louisiana, I have seen firsthand the devastating impact that gas export terminals have on our wetlands and communities. For the United States and the G7 to continue doubling down on this suicidal fossil fuel dependency — one that inflicts suffering on already overburdened communities like mine and will inflict unlivable suffering on future generations — is beyond careless. Adding more fossil fuel infrastructure is only in the short-term profiteering interest and not in the global public interest. We must prioritize protecting our people, environment, and a liveable future over short-term privately-held and heavily tax-subsidized corporate profits. Environmental and climate justice are not just talking points — they require action that centers people and a liveable planet. We cannot afford more deadly shortsightedness — enough is enough!” said James Hiatt, Director of For a Better Bayou. 

“It is time for President Biden to take responsibility and ensure that the G7 is not co-opted for global LNG expansion and industry greenwashing. Marketing ploys like Big Oil’s so-called ‘hydrogen-ready’ LNG will only prolong our fossil fuel nightmare. The world cannot afford more dirty diplomacy,” said Lukas Ross, Senior Program Manager at Friends of the Earth U.S.

“The US should oppose Japan’s efforts to support dead-end technologies that promote continued use of fossil fuels and derail the transition to clean energy. Japan’s soaring demand for wood biomass to burn in coal plants worsens climate change and comes at the expense of forests and communities from the southeast United States to Southeast Asia” said Amanda Hurowitz, Senior Director for Asia at Mighty Earth.

“G7 leaders — particularly the United States — must stand firm against Japan’s efforts to promote fossil gas investments and gamble on expensive technologies like ammonia and hydrogen in the power sector. The world’s leading scientific and energy authorities, from the IPCC to the IEA, have emphasized new fossil gas investments are starkly inconsistent with global climate goals and environmental justice. The world simply cannot afford G7 backsliding when they need to be turbocharging the global clean energy transition,” said Brendan Guy, Director of International Climate at Natural Resources Defense Council.

“At a time when we must rapidly and equitably phase out fossil fuels, it is alarming to see Japan and other G7 members pushing for the global expansion of LNG. Every new fossil fuel project is incompatible with a livable future. If President Biden and G7 leaders fail to emerge with a strong climate outcome opposing LNG expansion, they will fail their countries and the planet. Our communities and climate cannot afford more fossil fuels, nor more dangerous distractions like carbon capture, hydrogen, or ammonia — it’s long past time to end the era of fossil fuels,” said Collin Rees, United States Program Manager at Oil Change International.

“It is abundantly clear that any new LNG infrastructure is incompatible with preventing the worst impacts of the climate crisis or protecting overburdened communities — at home and abroad — from the impacts of industrial pollution and climate-fueled disasters. It is critical that the Biden administration walk the talk on its climate and environmental justice commitments by opposing any efforts to prop up global LNG expansion at the G7 Leaders Summit,” said Talia Calnek-Sugin, Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy at Sierra Club. 

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

The post Groups Pressure Japan to Stop G7 Push to Finance Fossil Fuels and False Solutions; Urge Biden to Oppose Global LNG Expansion appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The new request seeks to shed light on the State Department’s delayed processing of an expedited FOIA request filed last year, which sought to secure Hochstein’s calendar, his communications with career ethics officials and his communications in support of LNG as part of the secretive US-EU Energy Task Force.

Within days of filing the 2022 FOIA request, Friends of the Earth sued the State Department, which resulted in the original request being granted “expedited processing”— an exceedingly high bar under the statute.

“President Biden’s support for LNG is putting his climate legacy at risk,” said Lukas Ross, Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “Records concerning the fossil fuel entanglements of his closest advisors need to see the light of day.” 

Since the 2022 request was added to the expedited queue, the State Department has only produced a mere 170 pages. In order to prompt timely action from the State Department, Eubanks and Associates, PLLC, FOIA counsel for Friends of the Earth, warned the agency this month to make a determination regarding the remaining responsive documents by May 3 in order to avoid potential legal action. 

“The State Department is acting as if ‘expedited status’ has no greater urgency than the processing of a routine FOIA request.,” said Hallie Templeton, Legal Director at Friends of the Earth. “The public has a right to know if our expedited request is being slow-walked or otherwise mishandled. We will do everything in our power to ensure that the State Department properly fulfills its open government mandates.”

New LNG contracts have exploded in the year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to a joint report from Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and BailoutWatch. The Biden Administration continues to showcase alarming support for new LNG projects, rubber-stamping Department of Energy approval for the $39 billion Alaska LNG project just two weeks ago. This massive carbon bomb is the subject of a separate, ongoing public records request by Friends of the Earth.

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

The post New records request targets delayed FOIA of Biden “energy whisperer” appeared first on Friends of the Earth.

The request targets communications between AGDC staff and their lobbyists at Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck–including Samantha Carl-Yoder, the former Chief of Staff to Amos Hochstein, the Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security.

Carl-Yoder served as Hochstein’s Chief of Staff at the State Department during the Obama Administration between 2015 and 2017. After Hochstein joined LNG developer Tellurian at the start of the Trump years, Carl-Yoder followed him in June 2018, serving as the company’s Director of Marketing and International Affairs until she joined Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck in February 2021. In addition to the AGDC, her oil and gas clients include the American Petroleum Institute and Freeport LNG, which only recently resumed operations after a massive explosion took the facility offline.

Disclosure filings show that over the last year, Carl-Yoder has lobbied the State Department, the Department of Energy and the National Security Council concerning the Alaska LNG Project. In October, US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel hosted the so-called Alaska LNG Summit in Tokyo, intending to generate commercial interest for the $38.7 billion project. The event was attended by senior State Department staff, including Amos Hochstein. 

The AGDC also indicated in its March board meeting that it expects Japan to use the coming G7 Summit in Hiroshima to “request international support for new LNG capacity.” A coalition of oil and gas trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute, wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, calling for an LNG focus at the Summit in May.  

The Department of Energy under the Trump Administration originally granted Alaska LNG a key permit in 2020, allowing the facility to export LNG to countries without free trade agreements with the US. Thanks to efforts led by the Sierra Club, the Department of Energy agreed to revisit its original environmental review to more closely scrutinize the lifecycle climate impacts of the project. A final Record of Decision is expected by April 20th. 

“Hopefully the Biden Administration isn’t about to greenlight another carbon bomb,” said Lukas Ross, Program Manager at Friends of the Earth. “A story about two former fossil fuel executives shaping climate policy seems like something out of the Trump Administration.”

The Alaska LNG Project is already angling for significant federal subsidies. A provision snuck into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) makes the project potentially eligible for a $25.6 billion loan guarantee. The project was also “provided official correspondence” that it will receive a Letter of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the export credit agency of the US. Thanks to its new Make More in America Initiative, passed in 2022 and widely seen as benefiting LNG developers, EXIM can now finance domestic projects like Alaska LNG as well as international ones.

Communication contact: Brittany Miller, bmiller@foe.org, (202) 222-0746
Expert contact: Lukas Ross, lross@foe.org, (845) 741-5639

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