People Vs Fossil Fuels

Activists from Appalachia and beyond protest Biden’s endorsement of MVP and demand he stop approving new fossil fuel projects

(Washington, D.C) – Hundreds of frontline and Appalachian climate activists and their allies are rallying outside of the White House on Thursday, June 8th, to protest President Biden’s endorsement of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and demand that Biden reject all new fossil fuel projects. Activists will be joined by Members of Congress, including Rep. Justin J. Pearson and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303 mile incomplete fracked gas pipeline project expanding from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, was included in the debt ceiling deal penned by Biden and Speaker McCarthy and signed into law by the President on Saturday.

President Biden promised to deliver on climate, but the Mountain Valley Pipeline project would create greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 19 million passenger vehicles, 23 coal plants, and account for at least 1% of all greenhouse gasses from the US energy sector. Groups are rallying in DC to point out the administration’s pattern of pro-fossil fuel decisions, including the Willow Project in the Arctic and lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, and demand he step up to fulfill his climate commitments. 

Alongside the rally will be a sit-in, where organizers are anticipating dozens of arrests. 

What: Frontline Appalachian, Indigenous and climate groups and their allies are rallying in D.C to protest President Biden’s recent approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in the debt ceiling deal and demand that he reject all new fossil fuel projects moving forward. 

When: Thursday, June 8th, 2-4pm ET

Where: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500

Who: The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition 

For more information contact cassidy@fossilfree.media.

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Week of action begins on the White House steps and calls for Biden to use executive powers

(Washington, D.C) – Climate activists, frontline leaders, and environmental justice organizations are joining together from June 8–11th for a national week of action to send a strong message to President Biden: no more fossil fuels. With the approval of Willow Project, fast-tracking of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, and rollbacks for environmental protections, the US is doubling down on it’s role as the world’s top oil and gas producer at a time when scientists could not be clearer that stopping fossil fuels is the only way to avert global climate catastrophe.

The demonstrations will take place in 65 locations across the US from June 8–11th, and are endorsed by 64 Indigenous, climate, labor, and environmental justice organizations, including Sunrise, 350.org, and Indigenous Environmental Network. Lead sponsors include the Center for Popular Democracy, Zero Hour, the 350 Network Council, Fridays for Future, the Climate Organizing Hub, and the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition, which includes over 1,200 organizations across the country.

The week of action begins on June 8th with a mass rally and sit-in on the doorstep of the White House to demand that Biden stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Other actions range from Paddle out Zenith,a land and water rally in Portland, Oregon, to a series of demonstrations across the Great Lake states to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline. Across the country, communities are lifting up how each and every new fossil fuel project exacerbates the climate emergency and sacrifices Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor white communities.

This national outcry signals the need for change in the Biden administration’s continued approval of new fossil fuel projects ahead of the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York this September. Since President Biden’s disastrous approval of the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Willow oil project and his debt ceiling deal that fast-tracks the Mountain Valley Pipeline, millions of people across the country have taken action to oppose new fossil fuel projects and hold Biden accountable for the promises he made when these climate activists helped elect him. 

The national week of action to end the era of fossil fuels reignites that fight and kicks off months of coordinated action to hold Biden accountable to his climate promises leading up to the UN Climate Ambition Summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chided leaders like Biden at the White House climate summit, saying, “The science is clear: New fossil fuel projects are entirely incompatible” with the goals set in the 2015 Paris climate accord, “yet many countries are expanding capacity. I urge you to change course.”

Biden has the power right now, without Congress, to direct agencies to reject new fossil fuel projects and phase out federal fossil fuel production on public lands and waters. By declaring a national climate emergency, Biden could also unlock additional powers to limit fossil fuel exports, increase the availability of clean energy technologies, and ensure communities hit hardest by climate disasters receive the resources they need to rebuild. 

For further comment:

Multiple spokespeople from frontline and national groups are available for comment. Please reach out to Mel Smith (us-comms@350.org, (917) 408-3145) to be connected. 

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TikTokers generate 70k+ emails in 5 days urging Members to sign on to a letter lead by Champions Rep. Bowman, Ocasio-Cortez and Huffman

(Washington, D.C) – Today, Members of Congress sent a letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland demanding that the permits for the controversial Willow Project be suspended. Led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the letter calls on Sec. Haaland and Interior to pause construction until litigation against the major oil and gas project is resolved and all stakeholders’ voices are properly considered.

The letter is signed by 33 Members of Congress, marking an increase in Congressional opposition to the project from when the first Willow letter was released.

ConocoPhillips has broken ground on the drilling project, with one of the first steps expected to involve blasting the Arctic tundra with explosives to mine gravel for drill pad foundations, likely causing irreparable damage while lawsuits are still pending. Worries about the ecological and societal impacts of the project mount, as details emerge about a gas leak at a ConocoPhillips oil field on the North Slope last year that resulted in an evacuation of over 300 employees, and locals becoming ill. On top of this, the document that approved the Willow Project acknowledges that its impacts include lowering the amount of subsistence resources locals depend on for food and increasing the suicide rate in the town of Nuiqsut. 

Calls to Members of Congress to sign on to the letter grew last week, as content creators including Gen-Z for Change Acting Director Elise Joshi (20) and professional creator Alex Haraus’ (25) videos gained traction across social media. People posting videos on social media encouraging others to contact their Congress members have generated more than 70,000 direct emails to Congressional offices asking them to sign on to the letter.

This is a continuation of the #StopWillow movement, which took social media and news outlets by storm, generating over 650M views across social media platforms and causing an uptick in action. From early February to mid March, over 1.1M people wrote to the White House, and more than 10M signatures have garnered on petitions calling for the project to be stopped.

“The general public agrees pollutive industry must be stopped, so it’s not surprising this movement has so much strength. Trends rise because they resonate, and sample sizes in the millions prove this resonates beyond party lines,” says Haraus. “More and more of us are independent nowadays, especially young voters. We are issue affiliated, not party affiliated, and want public and private decision makers to ensure a healthy future for us and our friends around the world. Those acting against the interests of their own children haven’t seemed to realize that we grew up and see them letting our house fill with gas. When we ask them to stop, they make eye contact with us and turn the stove up. Our economic potential, our health, every opportunity we could have is affected by whether our environment is clean and bountiful or polluted and dangerous. We can’t stand with anyone choosing to move toward the latter.”

The recent decision by the Biden Administration to approve the project has generated major backlash, especially among youth voters. A new national survey from Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media found that after learning of the project in Alaska, Biden’s approval on climate falls by 33 points among Democrats and 12 points among Independents, with a 3-point drop among voters aged 18 to 29 since October.

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Biden Administration Approves Major Oil Drilling Operation on Alaska’s Northern Slope

People vs. Fossil Fuels, a national coalition of over 1,200 frontline, climate justice, and progressive organizations, strongly condemned the Biden administration for its decision to approve the Willow Oil Drilling Project – a major oil drilling operation to be constructed on Alaska’s North Slope that has been loudly opposed by the environmental and climate justice community, including Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and Alaska Wilderness League.

The decision ignores widespread opposition that grew rapidly since Feb. 1st, when the Biden administration signaled it would approve the project in the release of its final environmental impact statement. In the month following, over 2.3 million new comments were submitted to the White House urging President Biden to deny the project. A Change.org petition grew overnight, reaching over 3.2 million signatures, the largest environmental petition the site has seen in years. #StopWillow videos from a diverse array of young creators went viral online, with an estimated 200+ million views across social platforms. 

The Willow Oil Project locks us into decades of fossil fuel pollution at a time when we desperately need to stop all new fossil fuel projects and begin rapidly phasing out existing production. The approval is a denial of climate science, and directly contradicts the administration’s commitment to protect wilderness areas in Alaska from resource extraction and Biden’s own stated climate goals.

In response, People vs. Fossil Fuels released the following statement: 

“Global scientists have been absolutely clear: We must end fossil fuel expansion if we are going to avoid irreversible climate devastation and immediate harm to frontline communities. Approving a massive new oil drilling project that is estimated to release 280 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses when we are already in a climate emergency is signing away our future. 

“Biden’s presidential powers allow him to reject all new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency that would ensure the survival of our communities and our planet. Instead, he is choosing to fatten the wallets of Oil CEOs by expanding fossil fuel infrastructure that will drive us further into climate chaos.

“The fight to #StopWillow and all new fossil fuel projects isn’t over. Our movement to fight fossils is continuing to grow – and we’ll continue to fight for a livable future in line with science and justice.” 

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Click here to read SILA’s full statement on the Willow project approval.

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Environmental and social justice activists are converging in Atlanta for a week of action to protest the destruction of Welaunee Forest, one of the largest urban forests in the country, to build a facility to train police officers in counterinsurgency operations. Activists are also calling for justice for Tortuguita, a queer Indigenous youth and a beloved member of the community of activists protecting Welaunee Forest, who was assassinated by police in January. Barely a day into the week of action, militarized law enforcement agencies have already violently raided a concert in the forest, threatening musicians and families with children.

As the People vs Fossil Fuels coalition, we stand in solidarity with the Stop Cop City mobilization in Atlanta. We unequivocally oppose proliferation of militarized policing, which threatens Black, Indigenous, and peoples of the Global Majority with even more state violence.

We insist on the right of communities to protect forests, land, and water from pollution and destruction, including through acts of mass civil disobedience, and are appalled that agencies of the State of Georgia carried out what is increasingly looking like a targeted assassination of an activist. 

For decades, the U.S. has directly or indirectly supported the murders of environmental defenders across the Global South. Often, these murders have been carried out by agents of U.S.-backed authoritarian governments, in the interest of extractive projects pushed by transnational corporations. The assassination of Tortuguita is a stark reminder of how this kind of violence occurs in the US. as well. We see it in the proliferation of draconian “critical infrastructure” laws to criminalize peaceful protest against polluting infrastructure, and in the state violence against Indigenous water protectors during the struggles against the Dakota Access and Line 3 pipelines. We also see it in the chilling use of “terrorism” charges against Welaunee Forest defenders in Atlanta, for routine acts of nonviolent civil disobedience such as tree-sits.

We condemn the destruction of a forest in the middle of a global climate emergency, and especially, a forest that provides critical cooling and runoff prevention benefits in a low-income, majority Black community, in a region of the country that is already experiencing deadly summer heatwaves and increased rainfall and flood risks. 

We demand an independent investigation into Tortuguita’s death. The police must not be allowed to investigate themselves.

We demand that prosecutors drop the preposterous “terrorism” charges against forest defenders, which are clearly intended for one purpose only – to intimidate people and deter them from defending their communities and the Earth.

Finally, we demand that the City of Atlanta reverse course, halt construction, and revoke the permits for Cop City.

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Frontline and Climate Activists Gather at White House One Final Time Before the Biden Administration’s Decision on Willow Drops

(Washington, DC) — Today, frontline, climate, and Indigenous activists rallied outside the White House, urging the Biden administration and the Department of the Interior to stop the dangerous Willow Drilling Project. Supporters stood together in the rain during the rally led by Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA), a group of Indigenous activists from the Arctic who have been leading the fight to stop Willow. 

The Biden administration is expected to issue its final decision as soon as March 6th and calls to stop the project have been growing rapidly. On social media, #StopWillow has become a top trend, amassing a total of more than 200M views and 18k videos across platforms, putting pressure on Biden at a pivotal moment in his climate career.

“President Biden continues to address climate change during high profile speeches and events but his actions are contradictory. The Willow Master Development Plan would double the amount of emissions that he had planned to reduce, nullifying any efforts by this administration to combat climate change,” said Siqiniq Maupin, Executive Director of SILA.“He has the power to stop this climate disaster and be on the right side of history, he must stop the Willow project now.”

Proponents of the Willow project argue that the project would help short-term global energy markets and offset high gas prices. But ConocoPhillips’ own projections show that oil production would not occur for at least six years following its approval, moving the country further from a rapidly accelerating clean energy future and workforce, while doing nothing for the current price of gas. 

“We know that the jobs will go to the outsiders, and the jobs given to the local Indigenous will be only temporary. It pains me … the health of our people, the joblessness, the inability to find the caribou and the fish, that our land will surfer by being covered up with oil, and our children will suffer as always happens when oil is extracted, said Nutaaq Simmonds of Utqiagvik, Alaska.

The massive oil drilling development in Alaska’s western Arctic threatens wildlife, the climate, and the way of life of local communities. The project is expected to emit 278 million metric tons of climate pollution over the next 30 years – that’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 74 coal plants, one-third of all remaining U.S. plants. Approving this project stands in stark contrast to Biden’s climate commitments and campaign promises that voters took to the polls. 

“We all know someone who has died from a cancer that is the size of a pinhead,” said Karlin Nageak Itchoak of Utqiagvik and Nome, Alaska.“We know that size is not a true representation of impact with development.” 

As groups rallied, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) led their colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden calling on his administration to reject ConocoPhillips’ Willow.

“Giving ConocoPhillips the green light on the Willow project would not just be a disaster in its own right—it would pave the way for even more oil and gas drilling in the area in the future,” said Representative Raúl Grijalva. “The Biden administration still has a chance to make the right decision to shut down this dangerous project and send the message that climate change, Alaska Natives’ and local residents’ lives, and wildlife matter more than helping Big Oil rake in even more record-breaking profits.”

For more information contact cassidy@fossilfree.media.

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