June, 06 2023, 01:08pm EDT
Climate Activists Across the US Call on Biden to End Fossil Fuel Era
Week of action begins on the White House steps and calls for Biden to use executive powers
Climate activists, frontline leaders, and environmental justice organizations are joining together from June 8–11th for a national week of action to send a strong message to President Biden: no more fossil fuels. With the approval of Willow Project, fast-tracking of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and rollbacks for environmental protections, the US is doubling down on it’s role as the world’s top oil and gas producer at a time when scientists could not be clearer that stopping fossil fuels is the only way to avert global climate catastrophe.
The demonstrations will take place in 50 locations across the US from June 8–11th, and are endorsed by 64 Indigenous, climate, labor, and environmental justice organizations, including Sunrise, 350.org, and Indigenous Environmental Network. Lead sponsors include the Center for Popular Democracy, Zero Hour, the 350 Network Council, Fridays for Future, the Climate Organizing Hub, and the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition, which includes over 1,200 organizations across the country.
The week of action begins on June 8th with a mass rally and sit-in on the doorstep of the White House to demand that Biden stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Other actions range from Paddle out Zenith, a land and water rally in Portland, Oregon, to a series of demonstrations across the Great Lake states to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline. Across the country, communities are lifting up how each and every new fossil fuel project exacerbates the climate emergency and sacrifices Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor white communities.
This national outcry signals the need for change in the Biden administration’s continued approval of new fossil fuel projects ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York this September. Since President Biden’s disastrous approval of the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Willow oil project and his debt ceiling deal that fast-tracks the Mountain Valley Pipeline, millions of people across the country have taken action to oppose new fossil fuel projects and hold Biden accountable for the promises he made when these climate activists helped elect him.
The national week of action on to end the era of fossil fuels reignites that fight and kicks off months of coordinated action to hold Biden accountable to his climate promises leading up to the UN Climate Ambition Summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chided leaders like Biden at the White House climate summit, saying, “The science is clear: New fossil fuel projects are entirely incompatible” with the goals set in the 2015 Paris climate accord, “yet many countries are expanding capacity. I urge you to change course.”
Biden has the power right now, without Congress, to direct agencies to reject new fossil fuel projects and phase out federal fossil fuel production on public lands and waters. By declaring a national climate emergency, Biden could also unlock additional powers to limit fossil fuel exports, increase the availability of clean energy technologies, and ensure communities hit hardest by climate disasters receive the resources they need to rebuild.
For further comment:
Multiple spokespeople from frontline and national groups are available for comment. Please reach out to Mel Smith (us-comms@350.org) to be connected.
Find a full map of all actions at https://tinyurl.com/actionmap-EndtheEra
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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37 Groups Demand Foreign Secretary Clarify UK Definition of 'Genocide'
David Lammy's recent comment to Parliament, the coalition said, "at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza."
Nov 05, 2024
Fallout over remarks that David Lammy, the U.K.'s secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth, and development affairs, recently made to the House of Commons about the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip continued on Tuesday with a letter from 37 rights organizations.
"We call on the foreign secretary, as a matter of urgency, to make a statement clarifying the government's understanding of i) genocide in international law; ii) the scope of the U.K.'s international obligations pursuant to the Genocide Convention and Rome Statute; and iii) what steps must be taken to fulfill such obligations," the coalition wrote.
The groups pointed to an exchange between Lammy, of the Labour Party, and Conservative Member of Parliament Nick Timothy on October 28, when the foreign secretary said that the way words like genocide are being used now "undermines the seriousness of that term."
Israel faces a South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its 13-month assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 43,391 Palestinians and wounded another 102,347, according to officials in the Hamas-governed enclave. The ICJ initially ordered Israel to "take all measures within its power" to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention in January.
Lammy's response to Timothy last week, "at best, has injected a deeply troubling ambiguity in respect of these pivotal issues in light of the mass atrocities perpetrated against civilians in Gaza," the coalition argued Tuesday. He "chose to undermine international law and answer in opposition to the International Court of Justice."
"If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts."
Despite Lammy's suggestion, the Genocide Convention contains no numerical threshold and "is clear that the crime of genocide is not only perpetrated through mass killing," the groups noted, highlighting Israeli attacks on food production, water infrastructure, healthcare facilities, and civilian housing, shelters, and camps.
In northern Gaza, "Palestinian civilians are being killed through starvation and dehydration, disease, deprivation of lifesaving medical intervention, and constant bombardment and targeting by weaponized drones," they wrote. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres "has warned of the ethnic cleansing of Gaza by Israel while the U.N. Commission of Inquiry has concluded that the Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination of part of the civilian population in Gaza through direct and indirect means."
"These assessments raise the specter of genocide and support the findings of other experts who have long concluded that genocide is taking place," the coalition continued. "This makes it imperative for the foreign secretary to revisit his comments and to clarify the government's understanding of the crime of genocide."
Amichai Stein, a correspondent for state-owned Israeli broadcaster Kan, said on social media Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced "the division of the northern Gaza Strip into two parts has been completed, and we getting closer to the complete evacuation of the northern part from civilians and terrorists: 'This time there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes and that humanitarian aid will regularly enter the southern Gaza Strip.'"
In other words, as Drop Site News' Ryan Grim put it, "Israeli media reporting that the IDF is declaring northern Gaza effectively ethnically cleansed, not even a hint of pretense now that it's Election Day" in the United States.
While the U.S. has repeatedly faced global condemnation for arming Israel over the past year, the rights coalition on Tuesday focused on the U.K. government, emphasizing that "to the extent that the ICJ has already ordered provisional measures, the U.K. is on notice that a plausible risk of genocide exists, triggering third-state responsibility."
Signatories to the letter include ActionAid U.K., Christain Aid, Council for Arab-British Understanding, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS), Global Justice Now, Jewish Network for Palestine, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Quakers in Britain, and War on Want.
GAPS director Eva Tabbasam toldMiddle East Eye that the language used to describe the war in Gaza "is essential to recognize the suffering of Palestinians and consider all possible actions the U.K. has to contribute to stopping what is a plausible risk of genocide."
"If Labour is indeed the party of international law, Foreign Secretary David Lammy must align with, rather than undermine, the courts," Tabbasam said. "He should have already done so months ago when the court first published this language, but the second best time is right now."
Separately, War on Want on Tuesday published an analysis detailing how "Israel is committing genocide of the Palestinian people" and arguing that "the U.K. government is failing to uphold international law, and is complicit in Israel's crimes, as it continues to export weapons and technology used by Israel against the Palestinian people."
"Palestinians have long struggled for their rights and for justice. During the 1947-8 ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine—the Nakba (Arabic for 'catastrophe')—around 750,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes and lands by armed groups, to live under Israel's system of apartheid," the group noted. "Israel has carried out its ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, unlawful occupation, apartheid, and blockade of Gaza—the ongoing Nakba—with impunity and has now escalated its actions into genocide."
The London-based organization is also circulating a petition in response to the foreign secretary's remarks from last week, which says in part: "David Lammy is misleading parliament and the U.K. public. He must tell the truth—that this is genocide—and immediately take action to stop the genocide, and the U.K.'s complicity."
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"Israel just doubled down on prolonging its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza," said one observer.
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Palestine defenders on Tuesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of swapping one "genocidal lunatic" for another after the right-wing leader fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replaced him with Israel Katz, who was serving as foreign minister.
"Israel just doubled down on prolonging its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza," journalist and genocide scholar Samira Mohyeddin said on social media following Netanyahu's moves.
Netanyahu cited what he called a "crisis of trust" that "gradually deepened" as his reason for the changes, which came as Israel is waging war on Gaza and Lebanon while bracing for Iranian retaliation for recent Israeli attacks on the Middle East nation.
"In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and the minister of defense," Netanyahu said Tuesday, according toThe Jerusalem Post. "This trust has cracked between myself and the defense minister."
Katz, a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, previously held several Cabinet posts, most recently as Israel's top diplomat. He was the minister of energy and infrastructure on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,100 people dead—at least some killed by fratricidal fire—and over 240 others kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Two days later, Katz issued an order to "immediately cut off the water supply from Israel to Gaza."
"Electricity and fuel were cut off yesterday," he said. "What was will not be. All the civilian population in Gaza is ordered to leave immediately. We will win. They will not receive a drop of water or a single battery until they leave."
Katz's directive followed Gallant's order for a "complete siege" of Gaza.
"There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed," Gallant said. "We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly."
These statements by Gallant and Katz are cited in the International Court of Justice's January 26 provisional order for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza. Israel—which is on trial for alleged genocide at the ICJ—has been accused of ignoring this and subsequent orders issued by the tribunal.
On Tuesday, Israeli state media reported that the Israel Defense Forces has completed its division of Gaza into two parts, and that "there is no intention to allow the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes."
Katz has also come under fire for declaring United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres "persona non grata in Israel" for criticizing the country's war on Gaza, which has left more than 155,000 Palestinians in Gaza dead, wounded, or missing and millions more starving and sick.
While serving as Israel's foreign minister, Katz was also condemned for threatening "severe consequences" for nations that officially recognize Palestinian statehood. Nearly 150 of the 193 United Nations member states recognize Palestine.
Katz also raised eyebrows in 2022 after he made a thinly veiled threat to ethnically cleanse Arab citizens of Israel. Responding to Israeli Arab students who displayed the Palestinian flag on college campuses, Katz said "remember '48," a reference to 1948, when Israel declared its independence amid an ethnic cleansing campaign in which more than 750,000 Arabs were expelled from Palestine to make way for Jewish settlement.
Palestinians call this mass dispossession and expulsion the Nakba, which means "catastrophe" in Arabic.
"Remember our independence war and your Nakba," Katz said. "Don't stretch the rope too much... If you don't calm down, we'll teach you a lesson that won't be forgotten."
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In one of his final acts as foreign minister, Katz on Monday initiated the process of annulling a 1967 agreement between Israel and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which Israel accuses of being "infiltrated" by Hamas. The U.N. strongly refutes Israel's accusation.
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After election watchers expressed shock over the weekend regarding evidence of women backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in large numbers in traditionally conservative states, right-wing billionaire Elon Musk shared his own theory on Tuesday about the dynamics that will soon decide the winner of the U.S. presidential race.
"The cavalry has arrived," said Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who has spent nearly $120 million on a super political action committee aimed at electing Republican nominee Donald Trump. "Men are voting in record numbers. They now realize everything is at stake."
Musk appeared to project confidence that voters had heard the plea he posted on X, his social media platform, at 2:43 am on Monday: "Men must vote!"
Musk has appeared at numerous rallies for Trump in recent weeks, and has used X to promote the former president's campaign. On Tuesday The New York Timesreported that he plans to spend election night with Trump at the nominee's Florida estate, prompting fears that the two men will use X to spread rampant misinformation.
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"Early vote has been disproportionately female," said Kirk last week, imploring men to vote for Trump "NOW."
Musk issued the rallying cry to men who support Trump days after pollster J. Ann Selzer, whose poll of Iowa voters is hailed as the "gold standard" survey in the Midwestern state, released her final poll before the election, showing Harris winning by three points. She noted that women older than 65 and independent women in particular have swung toward the vice president and that many respondents spoke about abortion rights; one of the nation's strictest abortion bans went into effect in Iowa in July.
While the winner of Iowa's electoral votes and of the presidential election won't be known until Tuesday night at the earliest, the poll led numerous political observers to posit that the Republican Party's attacks on reproductive rights could significantly dent Trump's support among women.
On Tuesday, Musk was joined by Ryan Girdusky, a conservative commentator who was recently removed from a panel on CNN for making an Islamophobic remark to progressive commentator Mehdi Hasan, in attempting to rally men to propel Trump to victory.
"It's not just Kamala Harris, it's every institution propping her up and tearing men down," said Girdusky on right-wing streaming service Real America's Voice. "This is the day you get to sit there and throw a human Molotov cocktail at the system, and his name is Donald Trump."
In recent weeks the Harris campaign has directly targeted women from conservative parts of the country, reminding them in an ad that their vote is private and that they can vote for the Democratic nominee even if they've traditionally voted Republican.
For his part, Trump's comments about women in the final days of the campaign have ranged from a promise to "protect" women "whether they like it or not" to his laughter at a rallygoer's joke about Harris having been a prostitute.
Responding to Musk's post on Tuesday, one mental health professional pointed him to a recent misogynistic post by Trump supporter Robert J. O'Neill, a former Navy SEAL who was involved in the Obama administration's operation that killed Osama bin Laden and who recently threatened young men who expressed support for Harris online.
"Your cavalry is a dying breed," the social worker said. "You're going to lose."
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