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Private Security Firm Accused of Working Illegally to Protect Oil and Gas Pipelines in Five States - DeSmogBlog (Apr 16, 2021) |
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Apr 16, 2021 · Leighton Security Services, a private security company accused of working without a license during construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, is facing similar allegations in Virginia.
The complaint against Leighton is one of two recently filed against private companies providing security for the Mountain Valley pipeline, a planned 300-mile pipeline that would carry fracked gas from northwestern West Virginia, through pristine mountain streams and Appalachian forests, to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company’s (Transco) compressor station in southern Virginia.
The complaints were filed anonymously in January with the state’s Department of Criminal ... Read more ...
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Oil Industry 'Net-Zero’ Pledges are an Attempt to Delay Climate Action, New Paper Warns - DeSmogBlog (Apr 15, 2021) |
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Apr 15, 2021 · A growing number of oil companies in the past year have announced targets to achieve “net-zero emissions” by mid-century, seemingly signaling a monumental shift in the history of the oil business towards low-carbon solutions. But a new report argues that not only is the oil industry unlikely to be a leader on carbon reductions, but the sudden flurry of net-zero pledges is instead a cynical effort to bolster corporate images in a calculated attempt to buy time to extract more oil and gas.
The oil industry is structured to prevent real climate action, with business models and oil executives’ compensation packages dependent on amassing oil reserves and growing production. There ... Read more ...
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European Court Opens Itself up to Climate-Related Human Rights Challenges - DeSmogBlog (Apr 13, 2021) |
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Apr 13, 2021 · The European Court of Human Rights has begun considering whether states have violated their citizens’ human rights by failing to do enough to cut emissions.
The court, which is responsible for interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights, recently accepted two climate lawsuits with similar human rights arguments but brought by very different groups of people. Both cases argue that inaction by governments when it comes to limiting dangerous global warming risks basic rights such as health and life.
Experts say this shift in accepting these types of cases signals that judges are becoming more aware that climate change is a threat to human rights. And if the ... Read more ...
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Methane Emissions Spiked in 2020. Scientists Fear Feedback Loops - DeSmogBlog (Apr 12, 2021) |
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Apr 12, 2021 · Preliminary data shows that methane emissions jumped in 2020 by the largest amount since systematic record-keeping began decades ago. And despite a dip in polluting activities due to the pandemic, concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to its highest level in 3.6 million years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that global methane concentrations shot up by 14.67 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020, the largest annual increase ever recorded, and a sharp increase from the 9.74 ppb rise in 2019. The data is an ominous sign that the world is badly off track in terms of reaching its climate goals.
“Human activity is driving climate ... Read more ...
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Indigenous Communities March For Justice A Year On From Devastating Amazon Oil Spill - DeSmogBlog (Apr 09, 2021) |
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Apr 09, 2021 · Hundreds of Indigenous activists took to the streets in Ecuador this week to demand justice on the one-year anniversary of the country’s worst oil spill in 15 years.
Demonstrators marched through the Amazonian city of Coca to call on authorities to take responsibility for the 16,000 barrels of crude oil that poured into the Coca and Napo rivers when two pipelines ruptured last year.
Around 27,000 Kichwa people were impacted by the spill, and are reportedly still unable to use the contaminated water for drinking, bathing, and fishing. The Kichwa have also raised concerns over health issues arising from contact with the oil-contaminated water, including skin rashes and ... Read more ...
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Global Coal Use is Falling But Not Fast Enough to Tackle Climate Change - DeSmogBlog (Apr 08, 2021) |
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Apr 08, 2021 · Despite drops in energy usage during the pandemic, coal power use only declined by four percent in 2020, according to a new report.
While coal used for power generation dropped 20 percent in both the U.S. and the European Union last year, the same is not happening in China.
Boom and Bust: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline, a new report from Global Energy Monitor, found that “China commissioned 76 percent of the world’s new coal plants in 2020, up from 64 percent in 2019, driving a 12.5 GW (gigawatt) increase in the global coal fleet in 2020.”
Global coal power use, however, must drop by 14 percent per year to achieve the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ... Read more ...
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How U.S. 'Risk-Takers' Took a Gamble on Somalia's Oil - Then Vanished - DeSmogBlog (Apr 08, 2021) |
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Apr 08, 2021 · A few days into the New Year, armed Somali intelligence officials were seen escorting guests into three bullet-proof cars at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International airport. An unusual quiet stretched through the capital’s normally busy main streets as the convoy snaked through cordoned-off roads towards Somalia’s presidential palace.
Local and international media reported that two foreign companies were arriving in Mogadishu to sign a “secret” historic oil deal with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS), the first agreement of this kind since civil war erupted in the country in 1991. Opposition politicians wrote a letter to the president that warned against the “dangerous ... Read more ...
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A New Chapter and New Look for DeSmog - DeSmogBlog (Apr 07, 2021) |
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Apr 07, 2021 · Today, the team at DeSmog is excited to reveal our new global mission and website dedicated to fearless investigations and comprehensive resources to combat the ongoing crisis of climate solutions denial and social injustices.
We’re celebrating DeSmog’s 15th anniversary of clearing the PR pollution that clouds climate science, and expanding our mission to expose the powerful forces behind the disinformation campaigns responsible for delaying climate and energy solutions. These industry-funded propaganda and polarization tactics have had a corrosive impact on democracies worldwide, resulting in a dangerously ineffective response to climate change. And the climate crisis, in ... Read more ...
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Campaigners Urge UK Government To 'Lock Out' Polluters From COP26 - DeSmogBlog (Apr 07, 2021) |
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Apr 07, 2021 · Campaigners are calling for polluters to be denied access to this year’s pivotal COP26 summit and locked out of all future UN climate talks.
A letter published today and signed by over 170 grassroots groups urged the government to “kick out” polluters from sponsoring or even visiting the summit, claiming their presence is “poisoning” the climate debate.
The letter by campaign group Glasgow Calls Out Polluters reads: “To protect vulnerable communities we urgently need a just transition to a fossil-free world but many polluters, whose profits depend on inaction, won’t let this happen,”
“The UK Government must take a firm stance and kick climate polluters out of the ... Read more ...
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Campaigners Urge UK Government To 'Lock Out' Polluters From COP26 - DeSmogBlog (Apr 07, 2021) |
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Apr 07, 2021 · Campaigners are calling for polluters to be denied access to this year’s pivotal COP26 summit and locked out of all future UN climate talks.
A letter published today and signed by over 170 grassroots groups urged the government to “kick out” polluters from sponsoring or even visiting the summit, claiming their presence is “poisoning” the climate debate.
The letter by campaign group Glasgow Calls Out Polluters reads: “To protect vulnerable communities we urgently need a just transition to a fossil-free world but many polluters, whose profits depend on inaction, won’t let this happen,”
“The UK Government must take a firm stance and kick climate polluters out of the ... Read more ...
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