Opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline has always been about people power. Led by farmers and ranchers, tribal communities and everyday Americans, the fight over the pipeline has brought thousands of people into the streets and emboldened hundreds to get arrested to show their opposition. These are many of the same people that brought President Obama into office when he leaned on an unprecedented base of small donors.
These are also the same people whose…
Friends of the Earth is asking for a clarification of relationships between the former United States National Security Adviser and proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline.
On Thursday, March 13, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding a hearing entitled "Keystone XL and the National Interest Determination." The Committee has invited distinguished guests to discuss the why the pipeline shouldn’t be constructed, including climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who retired from NASA to join…
It’s no secret that climate change is costing us big money these days. In 2011-2012, the price tag for extreme weather in the U.S. reached $126 billion. Droughts across the Midwest and Texas, wildfires in the West and the destruction from Superstorm Sandy all resulted in severe damage and heartbreak that will be felt for years -- and a monumental cost to taxpayers.
In the last two years 67 percent of U.S. counties were…
Negotiations are coming down to the wire on the fiscal cliff. Friends of the Earth warned about the dangers of a bad deal and we are still concerned. That is why Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica wrote President Obama and urged him to preserve the role of government in protecting the environment, public health and social welfare. The text of the letter is below:
December 28, 2012
President Barack Obama…
Last week it sounded a lot like the conservative think thank American Enterprise Institute cares more about addressing climate change then President Barack Obama. It certainly seems more willing to find solutions.
AEI hosted a symposium on a carbon tax co-sponsored by the Brookings Institute, International Monetary Fund, and Resources for the Future. This well-attended event added to the momentum building behind a carbon tax as a common sense solution…
Today Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) introduced the End Polluter Welfare Act, legislation that goes further than any previous bill to unwind the web of government subsidies for the fossil fuels industry. If enacted the bill would save taxpayers over $10 billion a year.
There has been a lot of momentum behind ending subsidies for the fossil fuels. For example, shortly after taking office President Obama joined the other G20-…
Last night the Senate voted 92-4 to have 30 hours of debate on S.2204, the Repeal Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act. The bill would eliminate billions of dollars of tax subsidies for the five biggest oil companies, who have cumulatively booked more than $100 billion in profits in the last decade, and use that money to promote renewable energy.
Ending costly handouts to corporate polluters and using the saving to invest…
In what is becoming a summer ritual high gas prices are again at the forefront of the national consciousness. With the U.S. consuming 20 percent of the world’s oil supply and controlling only 2 percent of the reserves, there simply is no short term solution to reducing prices at the pump. President Obama knows this, but sometimes perception is more important than reality. Right now everyone is scrambling to make it…
Yesterday President Obama fired the first shot in what is likely to be a series of budget skirmishes with House Republicans leading up to the November elections. Including controversial provisions such as an expiration of the Bush tax cuts for those making above $250,000 in his budget appears to be an attempt to differentiate himself from his political opponents. While Friends of the Earth strongly supports these provisions, the president’s budget is a stark…
Friends of the Earth has been monitoring the Medicine-Bow liquid coal facility since we first discovered that the Department of Energy is considering giving the project a loan guarantee. Medicine-Bow is a bellwether project because if completed it would be the first liquid coal facility in the U.S.
Recently, however, it has come to light that DKRW, the company behind Medicine-Bow, is trying to get the state of Wyoming as well as Carbon County, Wyoming…