SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
September, 18 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Seth D. Michaels, 202-331-5662, smichaels@ucsusa.org
BLM Rollback of Methane Rules Betrays Taxpayers and Will Exacerbate Climate Change
Statement by Jeremy Martin, Union of Concerned Scientists
WASHINGTON
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today it will repeal rules requiring oil and gas extractors to limit the release of methane from existing operations on public and tribal lands.
Below is a statement by Jeremy Martin, senior scientist in the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"This is a short-sighted decision that betrays BLM's responsibilities to taxpayers and will exacerbate climate change. By rolling back these rules, BLM is enabling fossil-fuel extractors to pollute with impunity instead of using proven, readily available technology to reduce waste. What's worse is that at a time when the dangers of climate change are becoming ever more clear, BLM is choosing to increase emissions of methane, a potent contributor to global warming.
"Oil and gas extractors who profit from the use of public and tribal lands have an obligation to do so responsibly--to limit waste and control their pollution. With this decision--coming within a week of rolling back EPA rules limiting methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas operations--the Trump administration has made it clear they have no intention of requiring these companies to do the right thing. It defies science and common sense."
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
LATEST NEWS
Matt Gaetz Withdraws as Trump's Attorney General Pick
"Matt Gaetz was a ridiculous, horrible, and dangerous AG selection," said the co-president of Public Citizen.
Nov 21, 2024
This is a developing news story... Please check back for possible updates...
Former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz on Thursday withdrew from consideration to lead the U.S. Justice Department under the incoming Trump administration, saying in a social media post that his "confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction."
Gaetz, who lasted just a week as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general pick, didn't mention that his nomination was facing close scrutiny due to allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old and violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Gaetz's abrupt resignation from Congress last week effectively ended a yearslong House Ethics Committee probe into the allegations. On Wednesday, GOP-controlled panel voted against releasing the findings of the investigation.
"There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general," Gaetz wrote Thursday. "I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."
Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as CNNreported that "the woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017."
The outlet noted that Gaetz announced his withdrawal "after being asked for comment for this story."
Additionally, The New York Timesreported Wednesday that "Federal investigators have established a web of payments among Matt Gaetz and dozens of friends and associates who are said to have taken part with him in drug-fueled sex parties."
"Among those who received money from Mr. Gaetz were two women who have testified that he hired them for sex," the newspaper reported, citing a lawyer for the two women. "The lawyer said payments to the women ultimately totaled around $10,000. The document obtained by the Times was assembled by federal investigators during a sex-trafficking investigation into Mr. Gaetz."
Robert Weissman, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, said in a statement Thursday that "Matt Gaetz was a ridiculous, horrible, and dangerous AG selection."
"That Republican senators were not willing to rubber-stamp his nomination is a hopeful sign that a modicum of sanity persists in Washington," said Weissman. "But Gaetz was not the only Trump nomination threatening America and there's every reason to worry about who Trump will appoint in Gaetz's stead. The Senate must insist on its constitutional duty to advise and consent on Cabinet and top-level nominations and block nominations that endanger democracy, the rule of law, consumer and worker protection, environmental sustainability, and more."
Gaetz was one of three Cabinet picks who, like
Trump himself, faced accusations of sexual misconduct.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Nearly 300 Green Groups Urge Biden to Block LNG Expansion Ahead of Trump
"As we prepare to resist Donald Trump and his promises to unleash U.S. LNG on the world, you must use the remaining days of your presidency to lock in as much climate progress as possible," the groups wrote.
Nov 21, 2024
As the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan draws to a close and the second presidency of Donald Trump approaches, nearly 300 organizations from almost 40 countries are calling on the Biden administration to do everything in its power to stop the buildout of liquefied natural gas infrastructure.
The 282 groups, which included the Sunrise Movement, Oil Change International, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the Center for Biological Diversity, and several branches of 350.org and Friends of the Earth, sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday outlining several steps he and his administration could take to use "the time it has left" to scupper the LNG expansion ahead of Trump's second term.
"As we prepare to resist Donald Trump and his promises to unleash U.S. LNG on the world, you must use the remaining days of your presidency to lock in as much climate progress as possible," they wrote.
"Now is the time to safeguard communities and the climate against the threat of growing LNG exports, which the administration can do by putting a stop any more risky buildouts from Big Oil."
In particular, the letter writers outlined four main actions Biden could take:
- Finalize an ongoing review of the studies that the Department of Energy (DOE) will use to determine whether or not LNG exports are in the public interest, using the latest information on the climate risks of LNG as well as the harms it poses to frontline communities and U.S. consumers;
- Order the DOE to reject all six permits for new LNG facilities awaiting approval, including Venture Global's "carbon bomb" Calcasieu Pass 2, which is vocally opposed by local Louisiana communities;
- Reach an agreement with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries to end export credit agencies' backing of fossil fuels abroad; and
- Cancel all U.S. government funding of foreign LNG infrastructure and revoke the more than $5 billion earmarked by the from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation for an LNG project in Mozambique.
"The Biden administration has mere weeks to protect the planet from the threat of more LNG infrastructure, and the growing LNG boom under his watch is something we cannot afford," Raena Garcia, senior energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth U.S., said in a statement. "Now is the time to safeguard communities and the climate against the threat of growing LNG exports, which the administration can do by putting a stop any more risky buildouts from Big Oil."
Under Biden, the U.S. became the world's leading exporter of LNG, even as new research shows that the fuel could be as bad as coal for the climate, or even worse.
"The explosion of LNG exports from the U.S. represents an extreme grab of the limited carbon budget remaining to constrain global temperature rise," the letter writers, who come from more than 37 countries, argued. "This is especially egregious considering that the United States has already consumed far more than its fair share of the remaining carbon budget."
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the expansion in U.S. LNG exports was partly sold as a way for it to help its allies in Europe gain energy independence from Russia and survive an immediate wartime shortage of Russian gas. However, most of the new projects pushed by the industry in both the U.S. and Europe would not begin operating until 2026 and therefore were more about locking in reliance on gas than meeting an immediate need.
"The energy crisis in Europe is over," said Constantin Zerger, head of energy and climate protection at Deutsche Umwelthilfe. "There is no need for additional gas supplies from the United States for Europe. Instead of expanding already harmful fossil infrastructure, we need to turn the tide and accelerate the buildout of renewable energy. We must prioritize protecting climate targets and human rights over a second lifetime for a dirty industry."
The letter comes as Trump, whom the writers called "an impending nightmare for people and the planet," has promised to expand fossil fuel production and infrastructure and lift environmental regulations. His pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, has pledged to work toward "U.S. energy dominance" and his choice to lead the DOE, Chris Wright, is a fracking CEO who claims that "there is no climate crisis."
The environmental groups urged Biden to do "damage control."
"The next four years will test the limits of global resistance against fossil fuels," they concluded. "The next two months should be spent doing all that we can to protect communities in the U.S., the Global South, and throughout the world. We implore you to not act as though your climate presidency ended on November 5."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'War Criminals Are Not Welcome': Dearborn Mayor Says He Would Arrest Netanyahu
"Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu and other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States," said Major Abdullah Hammoud.
Nov 21, 2024
The Biden administration on Thursday said it "fundamentally" rejected the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Israel's prime minister and ex-defense minister—but the Dearborn, Michigan mayor who has been an outspoken critic of U.S. support for Israel in recent months said he would join the majority of countries in recognizing the court's jurisdiction, and would carry out the warrants if given the chance.
"Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States," said Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on the social media platform X.
Hammoud said Dearborn authorities would arrest Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant if they set foot within city limits, and called on other cities across the United States to do the same.
The ICC said Thursday that it had found "reasonable grounds" to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant for "crimes against humanity and war crimes," more than 13 months after Israel began its bombardment and near-total blockade on Gaza. The court also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an airstrike in July. The ICC said it could not confirm Deif's death.
In May, President Joe Biden said ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan's application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant was "outrageous."
On Thursday, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said the Biden administration was "deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants."
The U.S. is joined by powerful governments including those of China, Russia, Israel, and India in refusing to recognize the ICC's jurisdiction; 124 countries are parties to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC as a court that prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes.
Gaza officials say the death toll in the enclave has passed 44,000 since Israel began its assault, with Gallant saying he had "released all the restraints" on the military. Nearly 70% of deaths verified by the United Nations in Gaza have been among women and children. Israel also faces a case at the International Court of Justice in which South Africa and several other countries have accused it of genocidal acts.
The Irish Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on all governments to respect the ICC's "independence and impartiality, with no attempts made to undermine the court."
Progressive U.S. advocacy group RootsAction urged "people everywhere to perform a citizen's arrest of Netanyahu wherever he can be found, including in Washington D.C."
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a U.S.-based human rights group, noted that "Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute outlines clear criminal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, which applies to individuals in non-member states like the U.S. when their actions enable violations under ICC jurisdiction."
"By continuing to provide military assistance to Israeli officials," said DAWN advocacy director Raed Jarrar, "despite credible accusations of war crimes by the ICC, U.S. leaders—including President Biden, Secretary [Antony] Blinken, and Secretary [Lloyd] Austin—are exposing themselves to personal liability under international law."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular