White House 'Green Gas' Push is a Dirty Energy Marketing Ploy
Promoting fossil fuel exports is a climate disaster
Bloomberg reported yesterday that Biden administration officials were meeting with oil industry representatives as part of an effort to create federal standards for ‘green’ gas that could be marketed to Europe.
The report indicates that more meetings will take place this week.
In response, Food & Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh released the following statement:
“There is no such thing as ‘green’ fracking – this is nothing but corporate greenwashing. The White House is contributing to a cynical marketing scheme to convince people that you can affix a ‘clean’ label to dirty gas infrastructure, usually by promising to install carbon capture technologies that have never been shown to be effective. The White House should be championing policies that move the world off fossil fuels, not working closely with polluters on deceptive marketing schemes that will encourage more fracking.”
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500Sanders on Biden: 'He's Gotta Do Better'
"The American people want an agenda for the next four years that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "And frankly, I don't think the president has brought that agenda forward."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that President Joe Biden must do a better job articulating a positive agenda to the American public as he faces mounting calls to step aside following his disastrous debate performance against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
Sanders (I-Vt.) has thus far declined to join the growing chorus demanding that Biden drop his reelection bid, but the senator acknowledged in an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that the president had a "terrible" debate and that concerns about his performance are "legitimate."
"I think he's done better since, and I think he's gotta do better again," said Sanders, who competed against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. "But I think most importantly now, this is not a beauty contest, it's not a Grammy award contest. It is a contest of who stands with the vast majority of the people of this country—the elderly, the children, the working class, the poor. And that candidate is obviously Joe Biden."
.@SenSanders says he will not participate in a conversation organized by a fellow Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, to discuss the future of the party’s presidential ticket: "No, I have not been invited. No, I will not attend." He describes Warner as "one of the more… pic.twitter.com/us4WCp2UkE
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 7, 2024
Sanders said he would not take part in a conversation organized by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who is reportedly trying to bring together a group of senators to urge Biden to drop out of the 2024 race and clear the way for an alternative candidate to take on Trump in November as the president faces a revolt from donors and Democratic lawmakers.
"Mark is a friend of mine. I like Mark," the Vermont senator said when asked about the effort. "He's one of the more conservative members of the Democratic caucus. No, I have not been invited. No, I will not attend."
Sanders implored Biden, who has insisted he intends to stay in the race, to recognize that touting his first-term achievements will not be enough to defeat Trump, whom the senator described as "the most dangerous president in the history of this country."
"The American people are hurting," said Sanders. "Sixty percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, 25% of elderly people are trying to get by on $15,000 a year or less. The American people want an agenda for the next four years that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country. And frankly, I don't think the president has brought that agenda forward."
"He has gotta say, 'I am prepared to take on corporate greed, massive income and wealth inequality, and stand with the working class of this country,'" Sanders continued. "He does that, he's gonna win and win big."
"President Biden can clearly defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country," @SenSanders says, but he says Biden's campaign needs to address how "the American people are hurting" economically.
"The American people want an agenda for the next… pic.twitter.com/tyilv7OPTn
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 7, 2024
Sanders' "Face the Nation" appearance came less than 48 hours after Biden's televised and closely watched ABC Newsinterview, which did little to assuage the concerns of those calling on the president to step aside.
The New York Timesreported based on recent interviews with more than 50 Democrats that "growing swaths" of the party now believe "that by remaining on the ticket, the president is jeopardizing their ability to maintain the White House and threatening other candidates up and down the ballot."
"Certainly, many leading Democrats have publicly expressed support for the president, or remained quiet about any misgivings," the Times noted Sunday. "One senior White House official, however, who has worked with Mr. Biden during his presidency, vice presidency, and 2020 campaign, said in an interview on Saturday morning that Mr. Biden should not seek reelection."
'Clear and Present Danger': US Faces Record Heat as Climate Crisis Intensifies
"As a result of the burning of fossil fuels, heatwaves are becoming more common, and intense heatwaves are more frequent," said one researcher. "We can break the cycle, we can make oil companies stop burning fossil fuels."
More than 120 million Americans from coast to coast were under heat advisories this weekend as large swaths of the United States faced scorching—and in some cases record-shattering—temperatures, extreme conditions that are likely to keep getting worse as long as fossil fuel production and use continues apace.
The National Weather Service (NWS) warned Sunday morning that heat in the West was "extremely dangerous" and humidity was persistent in the East. The current weather pattern is expected to "sustain a heatwave for much of the West Coast states while oppressive heat and humidity will continue along the Eastern Seaboard, down into the Southeast and Deep South."
A 10-year-old boy died after suffering what authorities described as a "heat-related medical emergency" on Tuesday during a hike in Arizona, whose capital saw its temperature hit 118°F on Friday—toppling a record set four decades ago. Extreme heat kills roughly 1,200 people in the U.S. each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The California cities of Redding and Palm Springs also saw record-breaking temperatures this weekend as the state attempted to combat devastating wildfires. Death Valley reached 128°F on Saturday, breaking a daily record set in 2007.
Some areas less accustomed to blistering heat have experienced triple-digit temperatures in recent days. In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek declared an extreme heat emergency through Tuesday, saying in a statement that "extreme weather events are now the new normal" for the state.
"Right now, state and local governments are on a path to strengthen our preparedness and response, not only this year but for the years to come," Kotek said, alluding to longer-term warming fueled by the climate crisis. "In the interest of safety and human life over the next several days, I am declaring an emergency due to extreme heat. Both the record-breaking temperatures and the duration of heat present a clear and present danger, particularly for children, elders, people with disabilities, and people who work outside."
Research has shown that the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency has made heatwaves more frequent and intense, slower-moving, and deadlier. Scientists at World Weather Attribution estimated that the climate crisis made the deadly heatwave that hit Mexico and the U.S. South last month 35 times more likely.
Some experts and advocates have recommended naming heatwaves after fossil fuel companies, given their central role in creating the climate emergency and misleading the public about the impacts of their products.
"As a result of the burning of fossil fuels, heatwaves are becoming more common, and intense heatwaves are more frequent," Antonia Juhasz, senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch, said Saturday. "We can break the cycle, we can make oil companies stop burning fossil fuels."
Israel Bombs Another UN School as Gaza Assault Enters 10th Month
"Another day, another bombing of kids at a U.N. refugee school, another set of children mangled beyond recognition, livestreamed for all the world to see."
Israeli forces on Saturday killed more than a dozen displaced Palestinians in a targeted attack on a United Nations-run school in central Gaza, the latest bombing of an education facility as Israel's assault on the besieged enclave entered its 10th month.
Video footage from the scene of the attack on the al-Jaouni school in central Gaza's al-Nuseirat refugee camp shows puddles of blood on the ground amid the ruins of a building destroyed in the bombing, which reportedly killed at least 16 people and injured over 75 more, children among them.
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the attack, claiming without evidence that the school was used by Hamas operatives.
"Another day, another bombing of kids at a U.N. refugee school, another set of children mangled beyond recognition, livestreamed for all the world to see," said Vincent Wong, an assistant professor at the University of Windsor.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, asked, "Why have we allowed this to become normal?"
Saturday's bombing of al-Jaouni was one of many attacks Israel's military has carried out against U.N.-run schools since its latest assault on Gaza began in October following a deadly Hamas-led attack. Last month, Israel used U.S.-made small-diameter bombs in an attack on a U.N. school that killed 14 children.
Israeli forces have damaged or destroyed 80% of Gaza's schools, including all of its universities—harm that will reverberate for generations. U.N. experts have said it is "reasonable to ask" if Israel is guilty of "scholasticide," defined as "the systemic obliteration of education through the arrest, detention, or killing of teachers, students, and staff, and the destruction of educational infrastructure."
Chandni Desai, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, noted in a Guardianop-ed last month that Israeli soldiers recently "set ablaze the remaining parts of the al-Aqsa University's library in Gaza City and photographed themselves sitting in front of the burning books."
"Similarly, an Israeli soldier recently filmed himself walking through the ruins of al-Azhar University, mocking scholasticide and rejoicing in the occupation's destruction of the university," Desai wrote. "'We're starting a new semester,' he said, adding: 'It'll start never.'"
Now in month 10, Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 38,000 people and wounded nearly 90,000, with tens of thousands more believed to be trapped under the ruins of bombed-out buildings.
Citing unnamed medical sources, Al Jazeerareported Sunday that at least "15 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli bombing across the Gaza Strip since dawn."
The wave of Israeli attacks came amid reports of progress toward a possible cease-fire and hostage-release agreement. The U.S., which has supported Israel's assault with weaponry and diplomatic cover, described Hamas' latest cease-fire proposal as a "breakthrough," but it's far from clear Israel will accept the terms even in the face of massive domestic protests demanding a deal.
According toThe New York Times, Hamas is pushing for "international assurances that, once an initial truce kicks in, both sides will keep negotiating until they reach a final deal to end the war and free all of the hostages remaining in Gaza."
"In effect, Hamas wants to ensure that it does not turn over many of the hostages only for Israel to restart the war," the Times reported, citing unnamed officials. "Israeli negotiators immediately rejected that demand... Israel wants the option to resume fighting if it deems it necessary."
Egypt is expected to host U.S. and Israeli delegations for a fresh round of cease-fire talks, which could drag on for weeks as Israel's military continues to bomb Gaza and starve its population.