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500,000 petitions to Congress demand rejection of TPP
500,000 petitions to Congress demand rejection of TPP

Today, June 29, Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch and other environmental advocates delivered more than 500,000 petitions to Congress demanding the rejection of a Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal that promises to ramp up fossil fuel exports, accelerate climate change and encourage deregulation of environmental safeguards across the board.

Among other anti-environment provisions, the Trans Pacific Partnership would offer thousands of new foreign firms virtually the same broad…

Despite protests, Japan gives lifeline to dangerous fossil fuel projects
Despite protests, Japan gives lifeline to dangerous fossil fuel projects

As other countries move away from coal and increase their renewable energy capacity, Japan is doubling down on fossil fuels, and continues to heavily finance coal and gas projects both domestically and all over the world. Japan is doing this at a time when scientists’ warnings are becoming more dire about the impacts of climate change and the need to immediately shift to renewables. Earlier this year, scientists found…

TransCanada sues U.S. taxpayers for $15 billion over KXL
TransCanada sues U.S. taxpayers for $15 billion over KXL

Late last week, the tar sands pipeline company TransCanada officially filed suit against the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement investment chapter, claiming $15 billion in damages in compensation for President Obama’s decision to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This follows on their threat last January when TransCanada filed a “notice of intent” to file the claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes at the…

1.4 million call on the Obama administration to end offshore drilling
1.4 million call on the Obama administration to end offshore drilling

Today, representatives from Friends of the Earth, Environment America, Environmental Action, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, Sierra Club, Surfrider and the World Wildlife Fund delivered 1.4 million comments collected from frontline communities, concerned citizens and organizations all over the U.S. to call for no new offshore drilling.

Yesterday marked the closing of a 90-day comment period on the proposed 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The proposal includes 13 lease sales…

100 groups call for Climate Investment Funds to sunset
100 groups call for Climate Investment Funds to sunset

Ahead of this week's meeting of the trust funds of the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds, 100 groups have called for the CIFs to finally sunset, now that the Green Climate Fund is clearly operational. Two-thirds of the groups are from developing countries.

Here's the letter.

June 14, 2016

 

Dear Trust Fund Committee Members of the Strategic Climate Fund and Clean Technology Fund:

 

Now that it has approved projects and is beginning…

Permanently changing a species: What could go wrong?
Permanently changing a species: What could go wrong?

We must ensure that corporations and governments (particularly militaries) are not developing gene drives and cannot misuse this technology in ways that could have profound ecological, health or socio-economic impacts.

Victory! Obama administration cancels oil and gas auction near Chaco Canyon
Victory! Obama administration cancels oil and gas auction near Chaco Canyon

Those fighting to protect New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon from dangerous oil and gas development just won a major victory. Yesterday, the Obama administration announced the cancellation of an oil and gas lease auction scheduled for October. On the table were 2,122 acres near the Chaco Culture National Historic Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that holds thousand-year-old artifacts of Navajo culture.

The Obama administration cited ongoing environmental assessments and tribal consultation as reasons for…

Dirt, Democracy and Organic Farming: A recipe for feeding the world
Dirt, Democracy and Organic Farming: A recipe for feeding the world

Feeding the world is not about increasing how many bushels of grain we can grow, it’s about dirt, democracy, and our diets.

Revolving Door: Career path of former USTR Ron Kirk
Revolving Door: Career path of former USTR Ron Kirk

The Obama White House and the Republican leadership in Congress are expected to seek congressional approval the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement in the so-called “lame duck” session of Congress after the November elections and before the inauguration of a new presidential administration. The environmentally-destructive TPP is hugely unpopular with the American public, and all three presidential candidates, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders oppose the massive deal with Japan and 10 other Pacific…

The Wall Street revolving door & the U.S. Trade Representative
The Wall Street revolving door & the U.S. Trade Representative

The Obama White House and the Republican leadership in Congress are pushing hard for a massive and environmentally- destructive trade agreement, the Trans Pacific Partnership, and two similar deals. The TPP reflects the philosophy and culture of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which assume that many forms of regulation by democratic institutions inhibit global economic growth.

This is not surprising, given that the U.S. Trade Representative and members of his senior…