"The oil industry saw its opening and moved with breathtaking speed to take advantage of this moment"
On Thursday, JP Morgan Chase announced that it was leading a $1.25bn bond issue for TC Energy.
So here’s how it shakes out:
1) The oil industry is flying in workers from across America to rural states with already strained health care systems, at a moment when all Americans have been asked to shelter in place, and pretending that they are “essential” employees in order to build a pipeline that would carry oil no one wants or needs, and which would go a long way toward wrecking the planet’s climate system.
www.theguardian.com/...
Kentucky, South Dakota and West Virginia approved new laws meant to discourage Dakota Access-style protests
.
At least three states passed laws putting new criminal penalties on protests against fossil fuel infrastructure in just the past two weeks amid the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic.
First came Kentucky. On March 16, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed legislation that designated “natural gas or petroleum pipelines” as “key infrastructure assets” and made “tampering with, impeding, or inhibiting operations of a key infrastructure asset” a “criminal mischief in the first degree.”
Two days later, it was South Dakota. On March 18, Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed a bill that expanded the definition of “critical infrastructure” to include virtually any oil, gas or utility equipment, and raised the charges for causing “substantial interruption or impairment” of such facilities to felonies. Five days later, on March 23, the governor approved a second measure defining a felony “riot” as “intentional use of force or violence by three or more persons” that causes “any damage to property.”
On Wednesday, West Virginia followed suit. Gov. Jim Justice (R) greenlighted legislation assigning the same critical infrastructure status to a wide range of oil, gas and pipeline facilities, slapping fines as high as $20,000 on anyone found guilty of causing “damage, destruction, vandalization, defacing or tampering” that totals $2,500 or more.
www.huffpost.com/...
More bills are on the way. The Alabama state Senate passed its own version on March 12, just before the officials, alarmed at the spread of the new virus, postponed legislative hearings until April. Similar legislation is active in at least five other states ― Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania ― but has not progressed in the past month.
Environmentalists and Native American tribes failed to stop construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, which President Donald Trump fast-tracked in 2017. Three years later, their concerns have proved well-founded. The pipeline leaked five times in its first year of operation alone, prompting a federal judge on Wednesday to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full environmental review.
Read full article:www.huffpost.com/…
.
"To the CEOs of Citibank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, BBVA, Barclays, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Mizuho, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion, Wells Fargo":
To protect the environment, respect Indigenous rights, safeguard communities across national and sovereign territories from toxic spills, and prevent runaway climate change, your bank MUST confirm it will not provide financial support for any dirty tar sands pipelines and Energy Transfer Partners, the company that built the Dakota Access Pipeline
act.greenpeace.org/…
.
Standing Rock Sioux tribe wins "huge victory" in federal court
"This is what the tribe has been fighting for many months. Their fearless organizing continues to change the game"
www.salon.com/...
On Daily Kos:
The planet is now rapidly moving towards an uninhabitable future... But that future is NOW. Our leaders are not taking this crisis seriously, or taking action, and are thus failing us, and future generations, as well as planet Earth. The end of our present societies means the end of human and animal lives and the potential death of planet Earth. We have little time left to alter our societies, governments, and to prevent this catastrophe happening. Our Methods: Uses of nonviolent resistance to protest against climate chaos, biodiversity loss, and total ecological collapse. inspiration from grassroots movements such as Occupy, Martin Luther King and others in the civil rights movement, and Extinction Rebellion. To create support worldwide and a sense of urgency, to tackle total ecological breakdown. Protest and Direct Action to deal with the inaction of world governments. Making a commitment to saving the planet, and trying to create a sustainable Green future for all.
To Join:
dailykos.com
(GreenRevolution is the Sister Action group
to Regenerative Culture.
We work in conjunction to help transform our planet
before it is too late.)
=====================================
SpotlightOnGreenNews&Views
.dailykos.com/…