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kp777 · 5 months

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By Brett Wilkins

Common Dreams

Nov. 17, 2023

Seven of 12 proposed science textbooks for Texas 8th graders were rejected Friday by the Republican-controlled state Board of Education because they propose solutions to the climate emergency or were published by a company with an environmental, social, and governance policy.

The Texas Tribunereported that the 15-member board, which for the first time was required to include climate education for 8th graders, approved five of 12 proposed science textbooks, but called on their publishers to remove content deemed false or presenting a negative portrayal of oil and gas in the nation's biggest fossil fuel producer.

"America's future generations don't need a leftist agenda brainwashing them in the classroom to hate oil and natural gas," said Republican state energy regulator Wayne Christian, who had urged the board to choose books that promote planet-heating fossil fuels.

Some board members also objected to textbooks that did not include alternatives to the theory of evolution. One textbook was approved only after the removal of images highlighting that human beings—taxonomically classified as great apes—share ancestry with monkeys.

"Teaching creationism or any of its offshoots, such as intelligent design, in Texas' public schools is unlawful, because creationism is not based in fact," Chris Line, an attorney with the Freedom from Religion Foundation, said Friday. "Courts have routinely found that such teachings are religious, despite many new and imaginative labels given to the alternatives."

"Federal courts consistently reject creationism and its ilk, as well as attempts to suppress the teaching of evolution, in the public schools," Line added.

State standards approved by the board's conservative majority in 2021 do not include creationism as an alternative to evolution. The standards also acknowledge that human activities contribute to climate change.

Despite an overwhelming scientific consensus that human activity—primarily, the burning of fossil fuels—drives global heating, Republican board Secretary Patricia Hardy argued before the vote that such a stance amounts to "taking a position that all of that is settled science, and that our extreme weather is caused by climate change."

One textbook was rejected because its publisher has an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy. ESG frameworks account for workplace diversity, the treatment of employees, and preparedness for the climate crisis.

Democratic board member Marisa Perez-Diaz said during debate on the textbooks that "my fear is that we will render ourselves irrelevant moving forward when it comes to what publishers want to work with us and will help us get proper materials in front of our young people, and for me that's heartbreaking."

The National Science Teaching Association—a group of 35,000 U.S. science educators—on Thursday implored the board to reject "misguided objections to evolution and climate change [that] impede the adoption of science textbooks in Texas."

As in other GOP-run states, Texas officials have pushed book bans and other restrictions in schools and libraries, even as they portray themselves as champions of freedom. According to freedom of expression defenders PEN America, only Florida banned more books in schools than Texas during the 2022-23 academic year.

#texas #texas board of education #freedom from religion foundation #education #climate denial #fossil fuels #evolution #creationism #textbook banning

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nagitoedit · 13 days

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people still calling biden a 'lesser evil' like can you point out to me what part of everything he has done is in any way 'lesser' ?

#and americans willing to throw other countries under the bus for their own 'benefit'#and by 'benefit' i mean they claim that biden is protecting their rights when. hes not?#under biden weve lost abortion rights trans rights we have book bans we are losing privacy rights hes funding police #hes doubling down on southern border immigration restrictions hes pushing through fossil fuels hes still allowing people to die from covid #the economy is unlivable and people are struggling financially he never actually cancelled student loans . i could go on #where is the 'lesser' like idk guys i think all of that is just straight up evil. no lesser to it #i think he is equally as bad as trump like theyre the same to me. if anything biden feels worse because now people who #claim to be 'progressive' are obsessively defending this awful man against rightful criticism

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box-dwelling · 8 months

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I'm going to be honest, I think banning disposable vapes is going to send smoking rates through the roof. Especially among minors

#like a kid getting cigarettes is way more feesible than getting a resuable vape #a thing they have to ask their parents for #but these kids are addicted so theyre going to get it somewhere #i am also not really ok with that much power being in the governments hands #my anarchist brain does not like that shit one bit #just genuinely think about that industry and how many jobs have just been lost or endangered #plus i honestly dont think we should stop adults doing shit because its bad for kids #stricter laws sure. trying to reduce kids doing it as much as humanly possible. absolutely #but outright banning them makes me really uncomfortable #thats going to have a snowball of consequences and not all of them are good #especially because our regulations actually make vapes way way safer than us vapes #and now bang goes that shit. pop corn lung for everyone #i empathise with the environmental thing completely but like #lets be clear here there are absolutely other thing the government could be doing for that and is refusing #or fuck they could ban cigarettes which are provably way worse than vaping but dont #just like yeah were helping the environment but not like. stopping fossil fuel use or banning half the stuff thats actually polluting #vent

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thatwritererinoriordan · 7 months

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#banned books week 2023 #banned books #fossil fuels #climate change #climate crisis

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newsbites · 1 year

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96 leading Australian scientists and experts have called for the Northern Territory Government to follow the science and ban unconventional gas development because of its unacceptable impact on the climate.

Signatories include many of Australia’s leading climate scientists including Professor Emeritus David Karoly, Professor Emerita Lesley Hughes and Professor Matthew England. Scientific experts also include Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, and former Australian of the year Professor Fiona Stanley.

Fracking in the Northern Territory could result in up to 1.4 billion tonnes of emissions. The letter reflects calls from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations and experts from Australia and around the world calling for an end to new fossil fuel development.

#australia #gas #fracking #ban #bar #scientists #climate #climate change #fossil fuels #emissions #environment #NT #news #via Triple A #world news

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official-virtual-hug-dealer · 1 year

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Whenever I see someone posting about banning abortion, just one question comes to mind:

What do you propose to make sure that no one should be desperate enough to do something drastic like that?

#i am not pro abortion #i am pro choice #because society is messed up #and driving people to take such extreme actions as getting an abortion #if you insist on banning abortions #at least stay true to your pro life moniker #and make sure there is affordable housing #affordable food #affordable utilities #universal healthcare #universal education starting in pre-school #properly fund schools #fix the foster system #destroy the fossil fuel industry #stop deforestation #fix the meat and agricultural industries #reinvest money for guns into proper police training and accountability #put that money into schools #put that money towards affordable housing #put that money towards ending hunger #put that money into fixing the foster system #put that money into boosting the economy in a way that benefits the lower class #welcome immigrants #provide essential resources for disabled people #stop systemic racism #stop systemic sexism #stop systemic ableism #stop systemic transphobia #and homophobia #stop systemic xenophobia

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earaercircular · 1 year

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Call against 'fossil commercials' is not only growing in the Netherlands

COP27 Health Pavilion

Amsterdam was the first city in the world to ban commercials for petrol cars. These kinds of initiatives are now growing worldwide, according to the climate summit in Egypt, where the advertising campaign group Fossil Free is calling on the World Health Organization to use its power.

The crowded conference rooms of the climate summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, sometimes show a contradictory reality. While in one corner the oil-producing countries have their own 'OPEC pavilion'[1], where men in suits talk quietly with each other, a Nigerian activist fifty meters away shouts that the big oil companies are murderers.

“Why is there a ban on cigarette commercials because they kill people?” Ken Henshaw wonders, on the podium of the WHO health pavilion. “And not on oil, whereas I have seen Nigeria extracting it kills people?” Henshaw loudly describes the massive pollution by Shell in his country; that in one place 900 times more benzene was found in drinking water than is considered healthy. These companies are out for profit, Henshaws shouts, at the expense of people and planet. “They shouldn't be allowed to advertise!”

Two years ago, Amsterdam was the first place in the world to decide to ban advertisements for 'fossil' products and services[2], such as for air advertisements promising 'carbon neutral travel'. The adopted motion in the city council was the result of a campaign by the campaign group Advertising Fossielvrij[3], which has been followed in six other Dutch cities in recent years. Although concrete policy for such a ban has yet to be worked out in all those cities, similar sounds are now being heard in more countries, according to the climate summit.

Minor Dutch success

France, for example, banned commercials for petrol and diesel this year, and petrol cars have a warning text[4]. Canadian doctor Courtney Howard explains on stage at the WHO[5] that in her country more than half a million doctors are calling for fossil advertising to be stopped because of people's health concerns about a future of more than 1.5 degrees pre workout. Economist Leah Temper adds, "Eighty percent of car commercials in Canada are of SUVs, and right now 80 percent of cars sold are SUVs." Advertising has an impact, she says, otherwise those companies wouldn't spend billions on this.

According to the four women behind Advertising Fossielvrij, you can see this growing sound as a minor Dutch climate success, says Martine Doppen (29), who will also speak at the session. “The fight against greenwashing has been going on for some time, of course, but it's nice to see that our idea – a tobacco law against fossil advertising – is being followed in other countries. The campaign for a European law is based on our initiative, and they are now copying our campaign in Australia too.” On stage, Doppen calls on the WHO to use its lobbying power internationally for a large-scale ban on fossil advertising. After all, decades ago, it was also the WHO that played a crucial role in banning cigarette advertisements, leading to a decline in sales and fewer people dying from lung cancer.

WHO is understanding

In the small audience of about 40 people, Maria Neira, WHO director of the Department of Nature, Climate Change and Health, listens carefully. Finally, Neira herself speaks, saying that she supports all the arguments put forward by the anti-advertising activists "one hundred percent." She agrees: fossil raw materials "are the new tobacco."

The WHO is a pioneer in the field of climate change. It called on governments at the start of the corona pandemic to stop subsidising oil, gas and coal projects because of the impact of climate change on people's health, now and in the future. The WHO also supports this year's call from the island state of Vanuatu[6] for a treaty that will phase out fossil fuels, based on the treaty in which countries agree to phase out their nuclear arsenals. The fact alone that the WHO has a pavilion at the climate summit this year shows the organisation's growing concerns about climate change.

But if you listen carefully, you will also hear that Neira does not make any concrete commitments that she or the WHO will make an explicit effort to specifically combat advertisements for petrol cars or cruise holidays. After the session, she explains that she thinks fossil fuels are comparable to tobacco in health hasards. But according to her, this does not mean that banning advertisements is the best solution in this case.

The problem is 'not that simple'

“With cigarettes, it's simpler: less advertising lowers demand.” She is not yet sure whether an advertising ban would be equally effective when it comes to advertisements for cars or petrol. "You can put up a sign at a gas station that says 'oil kills people', but the question is whether this leads to the same behavioural change." The 'fossil problem' is more layered, she believes, and in her view countries should above all accelerate the transition to renewable energy. If they want to take a nice step in that regard, says Neira, they can express their support for the strict WHO pollution standards[7] at the climate summit. “If countries do that, they simply have to stop using fossil fuels sooner to fulfil their agreement.”

In the coming days, countries and other parties in Egypt will continue to discuss the climate, including the plan of the island state of Vanuatu for a 'nuclear' phase out of oil and gas. Vanuatu is in danger of being submerged by sea level rise. In the run-up to the WHO, the European Parliament has expressed support and called on member states to work out a treaty that will end oil and gas production. Doppen will also attend a working group on this subject next Sunday. “If such a treaty is established, I want to ensure that banning fossil advertising becomes part of this.” She also does not believe that this measure will only solve the climate problem, “but it is an indispensable step.”

Source

Maarten van Gestel: Roep tegen ‘fossiele reclames’ groeit niet alleen in Nederland, in: Trouw, 12-11-2022, https://www.trouw.nl/cs-bc8c2ebc

[1] https://opecfund.org/cop27/events

[2] Hope Talbot, Amsterdam to become first city in the world to ban this type of advert, in: EuroNews 20/5/2021, https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/05/20/amsterdam-becomes-first-city-in-the-world-to-ban-this-type-of-advert; Amsterdam is set to be the first city in the world to ban ads from fossil fuel and aviation companies in a bid to reduce the ‘excesses’ of fossil fuel advertising. This means that fossil-fuelled vehicles, such as petrol cars and flights, will no longer be advertised in Amsterdam subway stations or the city centre. The new law follows mass movements in and around the capital which were headed up by the Reclame Fossielvrij (Fossil Free Advertising) initiative. The group co-ordinated a letter from over 50 local organisations demanding Amsterdam to go fossil free.

[3] With Advertising Fossil Free we are therefore fighting for a ban on fossil advertising. It's about: advertising by the fossil fuel industry, advertising for air travel & cruises, advertising for cars with a fossil fuel engine. https://verbiedfossielereclame.nl/wie-zijn-reclame-fossielvrij/

[4] Claire Parker : France says car ads must come with a caveat: Walk, bike or take public transit instead, in: Washington Post, 5-1-2022; In France, advertisements urging people to buy the latest Peugeots or Renaults will soon come with a caveat urging viewers or listeners to walk or bike instead. Under a new regulation slated to take effect in March, French automakers will be required to include messages on car advertisements that encourage viewers to seek more environmentally friendly travel alternatives. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/05/france-car-ads-alternatives/

[5] The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health".Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it has six regional offices and 150 field offices worldwide.

[6] Myranda Bryant: Vanuatu makes bold call for global treaty to phase out fossil fuels ; in: The Guardian 24-09-2022; The Pacific island of Vanuatu has called for a first-of-its-kind global treaty to phase out the use of fossil fuels in a bold public call at the UN general assembly. Speaking in New York on Saturday, Nikenike Vurobaravu, the Vanuatuan president, urged countries to join his country’s call for a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/24/vanuatu-makes-bold-call-for-global-treaty-to-phase-out-fossil-fuels

[7] WHO: What are the WHO Air quality guidelines?, in: WHO Newsroom, 22-09-2021; The World Health Organization’s Air quality guidelines (AQG) serve as a global target for national, regional and city governments to work towards improving their citizen’s health by reducing air pollution. https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/what-are-the-who-air-quality-guidelines

#fossil fuels #ban advertising

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politijohn · 1 year

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#climate change #fossil fuels #politics #us politics #government #the left #environment #water #clean water #energy #twitter post #progressive #green new deal #ban fossil fuels #environmentalism #environmental justice

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wewantclimateactionnow · 5 months

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#jail climate criminals #climate change #climate crisis #we want climate action now #klimawandel #jailclimatecriminals #changement climatique #klimakatastrophe #cambio climático #qihou bianhua #fossilfuelsubsidies #ban fossil fuels #fossil fuel industry #fossilfuels #cop28 climate summit

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nando161mando · 9 months

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mostlysignssomeportents · 22 days

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General Mills and cheaply bought "dietitians" co-opted the anti-diet movement

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in NEXT THURSDAY (Apr 11) in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroehttps://cockeyed.com/lessons/viagra/viagra.html, then PROVIDENCE, RI (Apr 12), and beyond!

Steve Bannon isn't wrong: for his brand of nihilistic politics to win, all he has to do is "flood the zone with shit," demoralizing people to the point where they no longer even try to learn the truth.

This is really just a more refined, more potent version of the tactical doubt sown by Big Tobacco about whether smoking caused cancer, a playbook later adopted by the fossil fuel industry to sell climate denial. You know Darrell Huff's 1954 classic How To Lie With Statistics? Huff was a Big Tobacco shill (his next book, which wasn't ever published, was How To Lie With Cancer Statistics). His mission wasn't to help you spot statistical malpractice – an actual thing that is an actual problem that you should actually learn to spot. It was to turn you into a nihilist who didn't believe anything could be known:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/#harford

Corporations don't need you to believe that their products are beneficial or even non-harmful. They just need you to believe nothing. If you don't know what's true, then why not just do whatever feels good, man? #YOLO!

These bannonfloods of shit are a favored tactic of strongmen and dictators. Their grip on power doesn't depend on their citizens trusting them – it's enough that they trust no one:

http://jonathanstray.com/networked-propaganda-and-counter-propaganda

Bannonflooding is especially beloved of the food industry. Food is essential, monopolized, and incredibly complicated, and many of the most profitable strategies for growing, processing and preparing food are very bad for the people who eat that food. Rather than sacrificing profits, the food industry floods the zone with shit, making it impossible to know what's true, in hopes that we will just eat whatever they're serving:

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003460

Now, the "nothing can be known" gambit only works if it's really hard to get at the truth. So it helps that nutrition and diet are very complex subjects, but it helps even more that the nutrition and diet industry are a cesspool of quacks and junk science. This is a "scientific discipline" whose prestigious annual meetings are sponsored (and catered) by McDonald's:

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/my-trip-mcdonalds-sponsored-nutritionist-convention/

It's a "science" whose most prominent pitchmen peddle quack nostrums and sue the critics who point out (correctly) that eating foods high in chlorophyll will not "oxygenate your blood" (hint, chlorophyll only makes oxygen in the presence of light, which is notably lacking in your colon):

https://www.badscience.net/2007/02/ms-gillian-mckeith-banned-from-calling-herself-a-doctor/

When the quack-heavy world of nutrition combines with the socially stigmatized world of weight-loss, you get a zone ripe for shitflooding. The majority of Americans are "overweight" (according to a definition that relies on the unscientific idea of BMI) and nearly half of Americans are "obese." These numbers have been climbing steadily since the 1970s, and every diet turns out to be basically bullshit:

https://headgum.com/factually-with-adam-conover/what-does-ozepmic-actually-do-with-dr-dhruv-khullar

Notwithstanding the new blockbuster post-Ozempic drugs, we're been through an unbroken 50-year run of more and more of us being fatter and fatter, even as fat stigma increased. Fat people are treated as weak-willed and fundamentally unhealthy, while the most prominent health-risks of being fat are roundly neglected: the mental health effects of being shamed, and the physical risks of having doctors ignore your health complaints, no matter how serious they sound, and blame them on your weight:

https://maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com/1411126/11968083-glorifying-obesity-and-other-myths-about-fat-people

Fat people and their allies have banded together to address these real, urgent harms. The "body acceptance" movement isn't merely about feeling good in your own skin: it's also about fighting discrimination, demanding medical care (beyond "lose some weight") and warning people away from getting on the diet treadmill, which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and permanent weight gain:

https://www.beacon.org/You-Just-Need-to-Lose-Weight-P1853.aspx

Fat stigma is real. The mental health risks of fat-shaming are real. Eating disorders are real. Discrimination against fat people is real. The fact that these things are real doesn't mean that the food industry can't flood the zone with shit, though. On the contrary: the urgency of these issues, combined with the poor regulation of dietitians, makes the "what should you eat" zone perfect for flooding with endless quantities of highly profitable shit.

Perhaps you've gotten some of this shit on you. Have you found yourself watching a video from a dietitian influencer like Cara Harbstreet, Colleen Christensen or Lauren Smith, promoting "health at any size" with hashtags like #DerailTheShame and #AntiDiet? These were paid campaigns sponsored by General Mills, Pepsi, and other multinational, multibillion-dollar corporations.

Writing for The Examination, Sasha Chavkin, Anjali Tsui, Caitlin Gilbert and Anahad O'Connor describe the way that some of the world's largest and most profitable corporations have hijacked a movement where fat people and their allies fight stigma and shame and used it to peddle the lie that their heavily processed, high-calorie food is good for you:

https://www.theexamination.org/articles/as-obesity-rises-big-food-and-dietitians-push-anti-diet-advice

It's a surreal tale. They describe a speech by Amy Cohn, General Mills’ senior manager for nutrition, to an audience at a dietitian's conference, where Cohn "denounced the media for 'pointing the finger at processed foods' and making consumers feel ashamed of their choices." This is some next-level nihilism: rather than railing against the harmful stigma against fat people, Cohn wants us to fight the stigma against Cocoa Puffs.

This message isn't confined to industry conferences. Dietitians with large Tiktok followings like Cara Harbstreet then carry the message out to the public. In Harbstreet's video promoting Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix, she says, "I will always advocate for fearlessly nourishing meals, including cereal…Because everyone deserves to enjoy food without judgment, especially kids":

https://www.tiktok.com/@streetsmart.rd/video/7298403730989436206

Dietitians, nutritionists and the food industry have always had an uncomfortably close relationship, but the industry's shitflooding kicked into high gear when the FDA proposed rules limiting which foods the industry can promote as "healthy." General Mills, Kelloggs and Post have threatened a First Amendment suit against such a regulation, arguing that they have a free speech right to describe manifestly unhealthy food as "healthy."

The anti-diet movement – again, a legitimate movement aimed at fighting the dangerous junk science behind dieting – has been co-opted by the food industry, who are paying dietitian influencers to say things like "all foods have value" while brandishing packages of Twix and Reese's. In their Examination article, the authors profile people who struggled with their weight, then, after encountering the food industry's paid disinformation, believed that "healthy at any size" meant that it would be unhealthy to avoid highly processed, high calorie food. These people gained large amounts of weight, and found their lives constrained and their health severely compromised.

I've been overweight all my life. I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting when I was 12. I come from a family of overweight people with the chronic illnesses often associated with being fat. This is a subject that's always on my mind. I even wrote a whole novel about the promise and peril of a weight-loss miracle:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429969284/makers

I think the anti-diet movement, and its associated ideas like body acceptance and healthy at every size, are enormously positive developments and hugely important. It's because I value these ideas that I'm so disgusted with Big Food and its cynical decision to flood the zone with shit. It's also why I'm so furious with dietitians and nutritionists for failing to self-regulate and become a real profession, the kind that censures and denounces quacks and shills.

I have complicated feelings about Ozempic and its successors, but even if these prove to be effective and safe in the long term, and even if we rein in the rapacious pharma companies so that they no longer sell a $5 product for $1000, I would still want dietary science to clean up its act:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2816824

I'm not a nihilist. I think we can use science to discover truths – about ourselves and our world. I want to know those truths, and I think they can be known. The only people who benefit from convincing you that the truth is unknowable are the people who want to lie to you.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/05/corrupt-for-cocoa-puffs/#flood-the-zone-with-shit

#pluralistic #corruption #nutrition #food #diets #dieticians #nutritionists #junk science #junk food #astroturf #fat acceptance #fatphobia #health #nihilism #steve bannon #flood the zone with shit #general mills #dietitians

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kp777 · 1 year

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By Olivia Rosane

Common Dreams

May 18, 2023

Sen. Edward J. Markey and Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Yvette Clark reintroduced Thursday the Block All New Fossil Fuel Exports Act to preserve a livable climate and protect frontline communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The bill, which would amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to ban the international export of both American crude oil and liquefied methane gas (LNG), is backed by 70 organizations that wrote a letter to Congress endorsing the bill Wednesday.

"The United States is taking aggressive action to tackle the climate crisis and transition to create renewable energy solutions," the letter reads. "But recent approvals for new fossil fuel projects to export fossil fuels are threatening people's health and safety and stand in the way of global efforts to combat the climate crisis. Continued expansion of U.S. export infrastructure limits collective progress toward long-term energy security goals."

"Biden can't keep claiming to care about climate and environmental justice while allowing more of these projects that put our lives at risk."

The bill comes amidst mounting concerns about the increase in LNG export infrastructure in both the U.S. and overseas. A Greenpeace report published last month revealed that new European LNG terminals combined with both existing and proposed U.S. infrastructure would spew out as much climate pollution as adding 604 million new cars to the roads.

While the ostensible push behind this LNG expansion was the need to bolster Europe's energy needs in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, both the Greenpeace report and an earlier investigation from Friends of the Earth, Bailout Watch, and Public Citizenfound that the fossil fuel industry was exploiting the situation to lock in LNG infrastructure that wouldn't begin delivering until 2026. More than 75% of the LNG contracts considered by the second report would actually direct shipments to the Asia-Pacific region.

What's more, the build-up of fossil fuel infrastructure connecting the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast predates the Ukraine war—Congress spurred much of it by lifting a ban on the export of crude oil in 2015, the letter writers said. The new legislation would reinstate this ban and slow the record oil production in the Permian Basin, as well as add a ban on LNG exports.

The International Energy Agency has said that policymakers should not develop any new fossil fuels if they want to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels and stave off ever more extreme climate impacts. The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change went further, concluding that existing fossil fuel infrastructure would emit enough to push the Earth's average temperature past the 1.5°C goal. Another report commissioned by the International Institute for Sustainable Development from scientists at the University of Manchester's Tyndall Center found that wealthy nations like the U.S. need to end oil and gas production by 2034 to keep the critical goal alive.

Despite the science and his own campaign promises, President Joe Biden has approved more drilling on public lands during his first two years in office than President Donald Trump during the same timeframe. His Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also signed off on two Gulf Coast LNG facilities in April: Texas LNG and Rio Grande LNG, as well as the linked Rio Bravo Pipeline. In 2022, the Biden administration rubber stamped the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas. All of these approvals overrode the concerns of pollution-burdened Gulf Coast communities.

"We are sick and tired of the hypocrisy from this administration," Gwen Jones, a resident of the displaced East End community in Freeport, said in a statement supporting the new bill. "Biden can't keep claiming to care about climate and environmental justice while allowing more of these projects that put our lives at risk. Prove to us that you will prioritize the health and safety of people and our planet over fossil fuel industry profits."

The bill's supporters argue that Biden could turn off the tap himself by declaring a climate emergency, reinstating the crude oil export ban, and significantly restricting LNG exports under the Natural Gas Act. They also point out that the expansion disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color who neighbor the infrastructure.

"The fossil fuel industry is bombarding my community, and we can't take it anymore. The Biden Administration recently approved the SPOT oil export facility and has allowed Freeport LNG to reopen after their dangerous explosion," Melanie Oldham, founder of Better Brazoria and a Freeport, Texas resident, said in a statement. "The hearings and comment periods for these fossil fuel projects are constant, and it's too much. We can't continue to be sacrificed to build even more reckless projects that will destroy our air quality and the climate."

In addition to limiting local pollution, the new bill would help U.S. consumers as a whole since more oil would be available for domestic use instead of being sent overseas, supporters argued.

"The BAN Fossil Fuel Exports Act is a much-needed step to prioritize American consumers and to reaffirm the U.S.'s commitment to addressing climate change on a global scale," Rep. Espaillat (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. "As our national economy continues its recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, we must ensure hard-working Americans are not shouldered with the burdens of high energy costs and the real-world effects of global heating. This bill would make real progress towards preserving our planet while supporting American families by bringing down domestic costs."

The bill's re-introduction comes amidst global calls to halt LNG expansion as the leaders of wealthy nations gather for the G7 Summit this weekend. A coalition of groups sent a letter to the Biden administration Tuesday urging it to push back against this expansion at the upcoming meeting in Hiroshima.

"The G7 Climate and Environment Ministerial Communique in April 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 groups wrote. "The G7 should clarify at its final meeting that new LNG export and import infrastructure fails this test."

#BAN Fossil Fuel Exports Act #fossil fuel export #crude oil export #LNG export #biden administration #g7 #climate change

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