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US-Trained Military in Uganda Targets Oil Pipeline Protesters
"The arrest of climate activists against EACOP is a blatant move to silence crucial advocates for change," said Fridays for Future Uganda.
Aug 26, 2024
Police and soldiers from Uganda's U.S.-trained army cracked down on demonstrators at two Monday protests against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, continuing the globally condemned oppression of EACOP opponents.
In the capital city of Kampala, where protesters tried to march on Parliament and the Chinese Embassy "there are 21 people arrested, they included 19 males and two females," defense attorney Samuel Wanda toldAgence France-Presse. They were taken to the city's central police station and charging details were not yet available. Eight protesters would be directly impacted by the project.
As AFP noted, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation has an 8% stake in EACOP, which is set to carry crude nearly 900 miles from Uganda's Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania. Ugandan and Tanzanian state-owned companies each have a 15% stake, and the remaining 62% is controlled by the France-based multinational TotalEnergies.
"The arrest of Stop EACOP activists in Kampala today is an attack on democracy and the right to protest," said climate campaigner and environmental consultant Ashley Kitisya on social media. "We condemn this crackdown and call for the immediate release of all detained activists. Peaceful voices demanding justice must not be silenced. #StopEACOP."
Fridays for Future Uganda declared that "the arrest of climate activists against EACOP is a blatant move to silence crucial advocates for change."
"Many affected are misled and unaware of the true risks," the youth-led group added. "We must oppose this injustice and demand EACOP’s immediate halt to protect people and the environment."
Hundreds of peaceful pipeline opponents—including breastfeeding mothers—also gathered in Hoima City, according to the Kampala-based Monitor. They were at a Kitara Secondary School (SS) and planned to demonstrate at regional EACOP offices but "were surrounded by heavily armed police" and Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers "who foiled the protest."
As the outlet noted last year, declassified U.S. State Department data shows that from 2019-21, Uganda received $8.5 million in military training assistance from the United States, and from 2012-16, the African country got grants for equipment worth $21.9 million .
On Monday, Christopher Opio told Hoima Resident City Commissioner Badru Mugabi that the project affected persons (PAPs) he represents had not received a government response to an April petition "so, we decided to say we can again put our concerns in writing. Today, we were taking our petition to the offices of EACOP, and Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) peacefully."
As the Monitor detailed:
Mugabi responded saying: "If you have a court case and the court has not heard you, please come to our offices. We shall put these courts to order, or we shall appeal to their supervisors. But walking to these offices will not change the status quo legally."
Later, Mugabi selected a few PAPs' representatives and escorted them to deliver their petition to the offices of EACOP and PAU while the rest of the aggrieved locals were left at Kitara SS under tight security.
In a series of social media posts, the StopEACOP campaign called out law enforcement for blocking the peaceful protest in Hoima, highlighting the threats and intimidation faced by PAPs and local climate activists.
Despite the oppression in Uganda, protests are planned in Tanzania on Thursday, according to the global climate organization 350.org.
"The EACOP project threatens local communities, water resources, biodiversity, and efforts to curb climate change while providing little to benefit ordinary Ugandan and Tanzanian people," the group said Monday. "Already, tens of thousands of people along the pipeline's route and near its associated oil drilling sites have been forcibly displaced, losing their land, livelihoods, and traditional ways of life. Many have been relocated to inadequate homes on infertile land, making it impossible to grow crops or sustain their families. Others have received inadequate compensation or none at all, leaving them unable to rebuild their lives."
"Additionally, community members and activists face escalating threats, including violence, intimidation, arrests, harassment, and even abductions for resisting the project," 350 added. "Impacted communities and land, human rights, and environmental defenders in the project's host countries are taking to the streets to demand an end to EACOP and justice for the harm that has already been caused."
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Climate Experts Rebuke Musk Over 'Dumbest' Interview With Trump
"Why is Musk doing this?" asked 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben. "My only conjecture is that he hopes the world will become barren enough that we simply have to pony up for his big trip to Mars."
Aug 14, 2024
Elon Musk thinks he knows more about climate issues than the entire staff of a major international newspaper, but on Wednesday, experts on the planetary emergency offered the billionaire businessman a reality check.
Responding to a Guardianarticle critical of Monday's glitch- and lie-laden interview of former U.S. President Donald Trump on Musk's X social media platform, Musk proclaimed that "my little fingernail knows more about climate issues than the entire staff of The Guardian."
Bill McKibben, who co-founded the climate action group 350.org, is quoted in that article calling the Musk-Trump interview "the dumbest climate conversation of all time."
Responding to Musk's diss, McKibben said Wednesday on X that he would "be pleased to debate you (or your little fingernail) at any point about why we don't, in fact, have a century to spare in solving this crisis."
Climate scientist Michael Mann, who calls Musk a "climate denier" in the Guardian piece, also weighed in, telling Musk on X that "if you've got a beef, take it up with me."
Some X users noted that once upon a time, Musk—who is the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla—acknowledged the urgency of the climate crisis. In 2018, he said: "Why not go renewable now and avoid [the] increasing risk of climate catastrophe? Betting that science is wrong and oil companies are right, is the dumbest experiment in history, by far."
In an opinion piece published Tuesday by Common Dreams, McKibben noted that after Musk—who endorsed Trump and created a pro-Trump super political action committee—the former president's biggest funder may be fracking billionaire Harold Hamm.
"He took Trump up on his offer that for a billion dollars he'd give the oil industry whatever it wanted, and he's been working the phones ever since," McKibben wrote of Hamm.
Trump returned the favor by calling Hamm "so boring to be with... because all he wants to talk about is oil and gas."
During his first White House run, Trump infamously called climate change "a Chinese hoax." He staffed his administration with climate deniers and rolled back previous administrations' climate policies under the "drill, baby, drill" mantra popularized by former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
"Why is Musk doing this?" McKibben asked. "Who knows? After all, the success of Tesla has been mostly driven by government subsidy that grows out of the effort to slow the growth of carbon in the atmosphere."
"My only conjecture," McKibben added, "is that he hopes the world will become barren enough that we simply have to pony up for his big trip to Mars."
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7 Green Groups That Didn't Back Biden Just Endorsed Harris as 'Our Only Choice'
"With a President Harris, we will have a chance to build the political power to move the bold climate initiatives we need."
Jul 31, 2024
Progressive climate and environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday stressed the threat posed by the Republican presidential ticket and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November election.
One coalition of six groups—350 Action, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Clean Water Action, Climate Hawks Vote, Food and Water Action, and Friends of the Earth Action—cited Harris' record as vice president and a U.S. senator from California.
Despite his months as the presumptive Democratic nominee, none of the organizations had endorsed President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race and backed Harris earlier this month.
"Vice President Harris is a visible leader in the Biden-Harris administration's successful work to address environmental injustice, tackle the climate crisis, hold polluters accountable, reduce water pollution, and ensure clean drinking water for all," said Clean Water Action president and CEO Jeff Carter, emphasizing that her actions "have made a real difference in people's lives."
Jeff Ordower of 350 Action highlighted that in addition to being "part of the administration that invested in renewable energy through the historic Inflation Reduction Act," Harris "has a history of taking on Big Oil and advocating for environmental justice."
"As a global climate movement, we know Harris represents not just the ability to make progress in the U.S., but globally as well," he added. "For those... who care about democracy, climate, and decreased corporate capture of our government, Kamala Harris is our only choice."
"For those... who care about democracy, climate, and decreased corporate capture of our government, Kamala Harris is our only choice."
Kierán Suckling, president of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, similarly urged "everyone who cares about our planet, environmental justice, women's rights, civil rights, and our democracy to get out and vote for Kamala Harris to be our next president."
Suckling also took aim at former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, declaring that "Harris will lead us toward a brighter future for our children and grandchildren, and put the nightmare of Trump behind us."
Trump—who earlier this month announced Big Oil-backed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate—has vowed to "drill, baby, drill" and roll back the Biden-Harris administration climate policies if fossil fuel executives pour money into his campaign.
Although the U.S. is among five wealthy countries that have led a global surge in oil and gas development this year, Harris' campaign has warned that "oil barons are salivating" over Trump's potential return to the White House.
A March study found that Trump's plans for a second term would lead to 4 billion more tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by 2030 when compared with the policies of Biden—who has passed the torch to Harris, whose online nomination process is set to start on Thursday.
"Kamala Harris' record provides a stark contrast with Donald Trump and the far-right, pro-polluter Project 2025," said Wenonah Hauter, founder and executive director of Food and Water Action. "Of course, much more needs to be done, and Harris' positions do not yet go far enough to tackle the existential threats to our food, water, and climate."
"But with a President Harris, we will have a chance to build the political power to move the bold climate initiatives we need," Hauter emphasized. "Four more years of Trump and Project 2025 will further accelerate an already escalating climate crisis and eviscerate important protections for our food and water."
The six groups that backed Harris but not Biden were among the campaigners and scientists angered by the president supporting the Willow project and Mountain Valley Pipeline, continuing fossil fuel lease sales, skipping last year's United Nations summit, and declining to declare a national climate emergency.
As HEATED, which scooped the endorsement news, reported late Tuesday:
Harris has already received endorsements from the so-called "Big Green" groups—the political arms of the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and Clean Energy for America. But those weren't much of a surprise, as each group had already backed Biden's reelection bid, and are traditionally loyal to Democratic Party politicians.
The groups endorsing Harris on Wednesday, however, had so far held off on throwing their support behind Biden while he was running for reelection—in part because of the sitting president's mixed record on climate policy.
"It was very much a debate" on whether to endorse Biden, said one of the group's staffers, who spoke on background because the Harris announcement is not yet public. But with Harris, the calculus has changed.
"Because of her work in California and when she was a senator—a lot of us worked with her on creating the Environmental Justice for All Act—it gives us hope," the staffer said. "She's just a different person [than Biden], and has a stronger track record."
"Friends of the Earth Action is excited to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States," the group's president, Erich Pica said Wednesday. "We are not going back to an era dominated by fossil fuel interests, corporate greed, and disenfranchisement. Instead, we're looking forward to building a healthy and just future with Vice President Harris."
For Climate Hawks Vote, this is the organization's first presidential endorsement since its founding over a decade ago.
"We're breaking our usual rule of not endorsing in presidential elections, given our strong history with Kamala Harris (we endorsed her in her 2016 Senate race), her track record in taking on Big Oil and holding polluters accountable, and the extraordinary moment of this election," explained RL Miller, the group's president. "We are climate hawks who vote, and we'll be flocking together for Kamala Harris."
The Green New Deal Network—which also never endorsed Biden—separately threw its support behind Harris on Wednesday.
"What the Green New Deal really is, is understanding that everything's connected," the network's national director, Kaniela Ing, toldInside Climate News. "Making sure our tax dollars aren't just going to kill children abroad, but to build schools and hospitals here at home… Local control of resources, self-determination of our communities. That's the vision Kamala Harris, given her background—being bused to schools, really being a product of a lot of our social programs—really understands."
One group that has not yet endorsed Harris but has certainly been attentive to both major party tickets is the youth-led Sunrise Movement. The organization warned earlier this month that the Republicans would cause "catastrophic and irreversible damage" to the climate if elected, and some members were arrested for a Monday protest Vance's Senate office on Capitol Hill.
That same day, Sunrise rallied outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. to urge Harris "to put forward a comprehensive plan on the economy and climate."
Sunrise is also part of a youth-led coalition—which includes Gen-Z for Change, March for Our Lives, and United We Dream Action—that wrote to Harris last week, "This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
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