This summer was big for our efforts to halt public financing for fossil fuel projects. In June, President Obama launched a Climate Action Plan that calls for a partial ban on U.S. Government financing for coal plants abroad, except in limited circumstances. The ban includes U.S. taxpayer-backed financing for coal plants through federal agencies such as … Read more
Today, the U.S. District Court in Alaska ruled the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement complied with the law when it approved Shell Oil’s plans for preventing and cleaning up an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by a coalition of conservation organizations made up of the Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, Pacific Environment, Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), and Sierra Club. Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm, represented the organizations. The organizations issued the following statement:
A leading U.S. Government finance agency, the Export-Import Bank, yesterday voted to deny financing for the polluting and inefficient Thai Binh II coal power plant in Vietnam based on environmental concerns. The decision reinforced President Obama’s recently released Climate Action Plan, which included a commitment to end US funding of coal plants abroad except for rare exceptions and coincides with yesterday’s World Bank decision to also end virtually all coal plant financing.
Pacific Environment is applauding today’s decision of an obscure but rich federal bank called Export-Import Bank to implement one of the strongest elements of President Obama’s recently released Climate Action Plan—a commitment to end U.S. funding of fossil fuel plants abroad except for rare exceptions. Today, the Export-Import Bank’s Board of Directors voted to deny financing for the highly polluting and inefficient Thai Binh II coal power plant in Viet Nam.
Earlier this year, Pacific Environment exposed how the U.S. delegation to the U.N. agency overseeing the creation of new international shipping rules in Arctic waters led the charge for shockingly weak environmental protections. Headed by the U.S. Coast Guard, our representatives at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) strongly opposed Canada and Russia’s proposal to prohibit … Read more
Pacific Environment often opposes poorly planned oil drilling because of the grave risk of oil spill disasters. But it turns out even the clean-up can cause ecological and human disaster. Right now toxic chemicals can be used to clean up oil spills in U.S. waters. In the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill … Read more
A court settlement filed today requires the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure that toxic oil-dispersing chemicals used in federal waters off California will not harm sea turtles, whales and other endangered species or their habitats.
When you throw a piece of trash from your car window, or get rid of your old computer in the woods anywhere in the United States, you’re violating littering or dumping laws, and chances are that you’d have to pay a fine if caught red-handed. But when it comes to the Arctic, our representatives think it’s okay to let … Read more
I was hopeful that some real progress would be made when the Department of the Interior suspended Shell’s drilling program in the Arctic because of the company’s chain of embarrassing failures and near-disasters in 2012. But last week, the government’s 60-day investigation of Shell’s Arctic drilling program mainly confirmed what we already knew: Shell is … Read more
When I arrived at 1 Market Plaza in San Francisco this past Sunday, I saw an entire city block filled with people demanding that President Obama block the Keystone XL pipeline and take action on climate change. This was the largest environmental rally in San Francisco history, with 5,000 participants, and the largest nation-wide environmental … Read more
As a 19-year old, Kevin Harun adored actress Mary Tyler Moore; he was convinced that it would be a great adventure to track her down in Minnesota. When he told his grandmother, she thought he might as well be heading to Timbuktu—or Alaska. And when she said, “I dare you,” he promptly took off, carrying … Read more
In a letter sent to Interior’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Tommy Beaudreau today, thirteen conservation groups ask that a review of Shell’s 2012-2013 Arctic drilling examine the entire system of Arctic Ocean drilling.
Today CEOs from Alaska Wilderness League, Center for Biological Diversity, Clean Water Action, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Environment America, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, National Audubon Society, National Parks Conservation Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, Pacific Environment, Sierra Club and The Wilderness Society called on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to suspend offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean.
Shell ended its 2012 Arctic drilling season with a bang. On New Year’s Eve, one of its drill rigs—the Kulluk— ran aground near Kodiak Island, Alaska, in a severe winter storm while carrying 143,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 12,000 gallons of other petroleum products. Tow vessels were moving the Kulluk, which has no propulsion … Read more
We lost a great soul last week when Rebecca Tarbotton died. Becky was the inspiring leader of the Rainforest Action Network, and the progressive community is widely mourning her death. I count myself very lucky to have known Becky. We first met in the very early 2000’s when her organization and mine were fumbling toward … Read more
Did you know that the U.S. government is slated to finance a massive dirty fossil fuel project that will damage Australia’s world-famous Great Barrier Reef—home to sea turtles, dugongs, and many other protected marine species? I think this is outrageous, and that’s why Pacific Environment and our partners have filed a lawsuit to challenge a … Read more
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s nearly $3 billion in financing for a massive Australian fossil fuel facility in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Construction and operation of the liquefied natural gas facility will threaten sea turtles, dugongs and many other protected marine species, as well as the Great Barrier Reef itself.
One of the U.S.’s largest export promotion agencies, the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank), recently announced that its New York office is shuttered until further notice due to flooding and power loss from deadly Superstorm Sandy. To help those recovering from the storm, Ex-Im Bank extended its Mid-Atlantic and Northeast clients various deadline extensions. “As the nation … Read more
The Obama Administration is supporting skyrocketing export subsidies for dirty fossil fuels through the United States Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank). The subsidies, revealed in the newly released Ex-Im Bank 2012 Annual Report, are significantly larger than ever before and dwarf the U.S. funds provided for developing countries to address climate change.
I don’t know about you, but I prefer my nature wild, not behind Plexiglas. Sadly, not everyone agrees. In early October, the U.S. Government’s export promotion agency, Export-Import Bank, issued a press release boasting its approval of a $105 million loan to the Brazilian state of Ceará to support U.S. exports for the construction of … Read more