Press

Climate justice and frontline groups call out the “poison pills” in the climate deal and Machin’s dirty side deal; demands President Biden declare a climate emergency and pursue other executive actions to stop new fossil fuel infrastructure.

• Cass DiPaola, Fossil Free Media, cassidy@fossilfree.media, 401-441-7196
• Gracie Aragon, Pueblo Action Alliance, graciemarie27@gmail.com, 505-414-4515
• John Beard Jr., Port Arthur Community Action Network, john.beard901456@outlook.com, 409-626-1179
• Ashley Engle, ikiyA collective, springstarwoman@gmail.com, 405-617-4150
• Sharon Lavigne, Rise St. James, sharonclavigne@gmail.com, 225-206-0900
• Cesar Aguirre, Central California Environmental Justice Network, cesar.aguirre@ccejn.org, 661-979-2721
• Russell Chisholm, Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR), russell@powhr.org, 540-404-2727
• Siqiñiq Maupin, Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, siqiniq@silainuat.org, 907-884-1859,
• Juan Mancias, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, onebigjuan@gmail.com, 830-391-7992

Washington, D.C. – In response to the House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) earlier today, People vs. Fossil Fuels, a national coalition of over 1,200 organizations from all 50 states, issued a joint statement denouncing the fossil fuel handouts included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as the legislation proposed by Senator Manchin to expedite permitting and approvals of fossil fuel projects. 

“The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has come at a tremendously high price that will be disproportionately paid by Black, Indigenous, family farming, people of the global majority and working-class communities. With fires and flooding taking a toll on families around the country, we simply cannot afford additional giveaways to the fossil fuel industry in a deal that Democratic Leaders negotiated with Senator Manchin.

“Investments in renewable energy, which are the result of years of organizing by communities most impacted by fossil fuel pollution and the climate crisis, cannot alone prevent climate chaos without simultaneously ending the era of fossil fuels. Yet Congress is poised to push through devastating permitting reforms that shorten review of toxic carbon, oil and gas projects and approve dozens of massive fossil fuel infrastructure projects like the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

“We will not allow our relatives in Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, Alaska, the Midwest and Southwest, along with other frontline communities to be sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed. We strongly oppose the legislation proposed by Senator Manchin, and will continue to fight for the clean air, water, and future that every community deserves. As Congress has failed to pass meaningful climate legislation, it’s more important than ever that President Biden use every tool at his disposal, including declaring a climate emergency, to stop the expansion of fossil fuels.” 

Interviews with members of Appalachia, Gulf Coast, Alaska, Midwest, Southwest, and other frontline communities that are being offered up as sacrifice zones are available.

Made up of local, regional, and national organizations, People vs. Fossil Fuels helped organize distributed actions in over 19 cities across the U.S. earlier this month. The actions urged President Biden to address the out of control fossil fuel industry destroying our communities by declaring a national climate emergency, taking executive action, and rejecting permits for fossil fuel projects. The coalition is also calling for Senator Schumer to kill the permitting reform deal. The deal, which was labeled “Draft – API”, is another attempt by the fossil fuel industry to fast track dangerous and polluting projects with no regard for the health and safety of frontline communities.

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** Listen to Today’s Call HERE **

(Washington, DC) – Today, as President Biden traveled to Massachusetts to announce new executive action on climate change, long-time advocates urged the Administration to declare a national climate emergency. 

“We need bold, decisive action. Fortune favors the bold. We look to our President to provide the leadership, and be the climate president he said that he was going to be, to be the environmental president that he said he was going to be. Put people over politics, and put people ahead of fossil fuels. We’re demanding that he declare a climate emergency,” said John Beard, Founder of the Port Arthur Community Action Network. 

“The United Nations came out with a statement this week saying that we are on the path of humanitarian suicide. I choose to fight against that. I choose to fight for my people. I choose to fight for all people. What world are we leaving for our children? We have to think of the next generations. We must declare a climate emergency,” said Joye Braun, National Pipelines Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network.

“The danger of inaction is very real, and it’s immediate. The danger of inaction is what we are facing here from this President. We know about scorching heat waves, mud slides, fires, catastrophic storms, and we’re seeing all of that in our communities. These are devastating events that people are barely able to recover from before the next disaster strikes. That’s important for the president and all of his advisors to remember while they delay, and delay, and delay taking action such as declaring a climate emergency,” said Russell Chisholm, Co-Chair of Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights.

“In Oklahoma, we are the epicenter of the nation’s heatwave. It was 110 where I live. Oklahomans are suffering now. We need Joe Biden to follow through on his climate promises to stop fossil fuel projects, usher in a just transition, and use his executive authority to declare a climate emergency now,” said Ashley Engle with the Ikiya Collective.

“Biden actually ran on an aggressive climate platform, and it’s a big part of why young people turned out in record numbers to elect Democrats in 2020. As we stare now into the face of an existential midterm election, this declaration will either show young people the Biden gives a damn about our futures or be a further slap in the face to our generation that is feeling utter despair and frustration at the failure of democratic leadership,” said Lauren Manus, Advocacy Director for the Sunrise Movement. 

“As the second largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. must act now if we’re going to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. President Biden has no more excuses. He must start using his executive powers to full effect if we’re going to make any progress in preventing the worst disasters in our country,” said Anusha Narayanan, Climate Campaign Director for Greenpeace US.

“We need President Biden to declare a climate emergency. We need that rallying directive in this vacuum of climate leadership that we’re seeing right now. If he declares a climate emergency, it will not only unleash his ability to use all of his executive orders right now, but also send a signal around the world and to this country that he is finally serious about making and meeting his campaign commitments to combat the climate chaos,” said Jean Su, Energy Justice Director for the Center for Biological Diversity.

For over a year, People vs. Fossil Fuels, a coalition of over 1,100 organizations across the United States, has been pushing the President to declare a climate emergency and use his executive authorities to stop the federal approval of all new fossil fuel projects and scale up the rapid deployment of renewable energy. Declaring a climate emergency is a vitally important first step, given ongoing and record-setting droughts, heat waves, and floods across the country. 

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Attention Producers & Reporters: : Long-time Advocates for Climate Emergency Declaration are Available for Interview to Discuss Biden’s Opportunity for Rapid Climate Progress 

Washington, DC – According to reporting in the Washington Post, President Biden is considering declaring a climate emergency as early as this week. This key step forward is in line with the long-standing demands of frontline communities in the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition and would give the Administration powerful new tools to tackle the climate crisis in the absence of Congressional action.

For over a year, People vs. Fossil Fuels, a coalition of over 1,100 organizations across the United States, has been pushing the President to take exactly this step by declaring a climate emergency and using his executive authorities to stop the federal approval of all new fossil fuel projects and scale up the rapid deployment of renewable energy. 

Last October, the coalition organized a week-long mobilization in Washington, D.C. that included a series of sit-ins at the White House designed to pressure Biden to declare a climate emergency. Since then, groups have kept pressure up with additional protests, petitions, sign-on letters, online campaigns, and more. 

Declaring a climate emergency is a vitally important first step, given ongoing and record-setting droughts, heat waves, and floods across the country. However, in order for a Climate Emergency declaration to be effective, the Administration must use its authority under this executive action to directly target and reduce the use of fossil fuels. By declaring a climate emergency, President Biden could unlock a series of executive authorities that could have a major impact on driving down emissions and protecting communities from the impacts of fossil fuel development and climate disasters. These include: 

• Banning fossil fuel exports
• Banning new federal fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters (including refusing to issue any new permits in the next five year offshore plan)
• Unlock further use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to spur clean energy development, and more. 
  • The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition had been calling on President Biden to invoke the DPA for months – and in early June, the President finally heeded our calls. But now the President must step up and increase funding to spur domestic renewable energy production and slow the climate crisis. 

A longer list of potential executive actions under a climate emergency, and their legal justification, are explained in the Climate President Action Plan that the People v. Fossil Fuels coalition has been promoting for months. 

This action by the Administration creates a path forward to make real climate progress by stopping the approval of pending fossil fuel projects that threaten to make the climate crisis exponentially worse. Analysis from Oil Change International indicates that if the Biden Administration moves ahead with 20 major fossil fuel infrastructure projects that are currently under federal review, it would be the emissions equivalent of adding 403 million metric tons of climate-disrupting greenhouse gas emissions annually. Adding three pipelines already approved by the Administration increases that total to 750 million metric tons per year. This total is equal to the average annual emissions from 404 U.S. coal-fired power plants, larger than all 294 coal plants operating in the continental United States. Allowing more oil and gas development in Alaska, as the Administration has indicated it is inclined to do, would result in even more dangerous emissions. 

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We are a movement of people power fighting for our futures.

(Washington, D.C) Today, the Build Back Fossil Free coalition has announced that they are officially changing the coalition name to People Vs. Fossil Fuels. With the Biden Administration abandoning its “Build Back Better” slogan and much of the agenda that it stood for, it was time to center what really drives social change– people power!

A diverse coalition of over 1,200 has kept up pressure on the Biden Administration and supported our coalition members in their fights to stop major new fossil fuel projects, from the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Appalachia to LNG export facilities in the Gulf. Increasingly, this work has taken place under the banner of “People vs. Fossil Fuels,” a slogan that has been picked up from coast-to-coast and online, where it acts as the name of our coalition social media accounts.

Last October, Build Back Fossil Free organized a week of direct action at the White House in October 2021. Following Indigenous and frontline leadership, “People vs. Fossil Fuels” mobilization brought together fossil fuel fighters from across the country to sit-in at the White House and organize other acts of civil disobedience around the Capitol. Thousands of people took part in the mobilization and more than 650 were arrested. 

Since then, we’ve kept up pressure on the Biden Administration and supported our coalition members in their fights to stop major new fossil fuel projects, from the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Appalachia to LNG export facilities in the Gulf. Increasingly, this work has taken place under the banner of “People vs. Fossil Fuels,” a slogan that has been picked up from coast-to-coast and online, where it acts as the name of our coalition social media accounts.

Although our name has changed, our priorities remain the same: supporting frontline fights against the fossil fuel industry; building a multi-racial, multi-generational, cross-class movement to end the era of fossil fuels; and winning major victories from the Biden administration toward ending the era of fossil fuels through executive action. People vs. Fossil Fuels reflects a coalition of people across the country fighting to maintain a safe, vibrant, liveable planet for generations to come. 

The following is an official statement from the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition: 

“We believe that people power and direct action are key to mitigating climate change. And we know that by building strong coalitions centering the voices of Black, Indigenous, poor and communities of the global majority, we are stronger than the status quo which allows the fossil fuel industry to continue destroying our planet and future. We need Biden to act as Big Oil is making obscene profits during a time of global crisis while families are struggling to hold on. The power of the people will stop the fossil fuel industry and that is why we are changing our name to reflect that.”

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Biden Climate Leadership Needed in Wake of Court Decision

(WASHINGTON) — Today, the U.S Supreme Court limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act. The decision in West Virginia v. EPA undermines efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas fired power plants using the Clean Air Act. 

In response, the People vs Fossil Fuels coalition – made up of over a thousand groups nationwide – is calling on President Biden and Congress to take immediate action. 

“As we face another summer of drought, heat, storms and fires, our nation’s highest court is tearing down desperately needed climate protections for the profit of corporate polluters,” a statement from the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition read. “Fortunately, the Supreme Court’s fossil-fueled attack on the Clean Air Act does nothing to undermine President Biden’s authority under other bedrock laws to follow through on his climate promises using executive action. Biden can declare a climate emergency and stop new fossil fuel leases, exports, pipelines and other infrastructure today.” 

Biden has the legal authority to follow through on his promise to ban new federal fossil fuel leasing, halt permit approvals for new pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, and hit the brakes on new gas exports. Using authorities under the National Emergencies Act and the Defense Production Act, the president could also halt crude oil exports, stop offshore oil and gas drilling, restrict international fossil fuel investment and rapidly manufacture and distribute clean and renewable energy systems. 

Following last week’s devastating reversal of Roe v. Wade, today’s decision only emphasizes the urgent need for President Biden and Congress to take action to reform and expand the Supreme Court, including creating additional seats, setting term limits and implementing ethics rules. Without comprehensive reforms to the Supreme Court, a handful of bad actors will continue to pursue a corporate-driven agenda at the expense of the environment, public health, and personal freedoms.  

Momentum is on the side of the climate movement and the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition. Two weeks ago, Biden followed through on the People vs Fossil Fuels movement’s demand to use the Defense Production Act to boost renewable energy manufacturing under the guidance of workers, environmental justice communities, and other impacted people.

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The South Asian subcontinent, particularly India and Pakistan, is experiencing a severe heatwave, with temperatures rising to a record 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), 5 to 8 degrees Celsius (9 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal. These extreme temperatures have life-threatening health and safety impacts, with the most marginalized people, such as agricultural and construction workers and people without stable housing, being the worst affected. 

As a coalition of communities on the frontlines of resistance to fossil fuels in the U.S., People vs. Fossil Fuels recognizes that the South Asian heatwave is not an accident of nature. It is a predictable consequence of the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels worldwide and will continue to become more common if we do not immediately phase out fossil fuels. 

The U.S. government shoulders a large share of the blame for this catastrophic heatwave and should be held accountable. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil and gas producer, and far from coming up with a plan to phase out oil and gas production with a just transition for workers and communities, the Biden administration is pushing for expansion of gas production and exports while paying lip service to the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. It is also leasing public lands for oil and gas drilling at a higher rate than the Trump administration, sacrificing Indigenous, Black, and low-wealth communities and breaking campaign promises.

Wealthy countries as a whole are to blame for the adverse impacts on people in India and Pakistan today. Their outsized cumulative and per capita greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for the global climate crisis, but countries in the Global South face some of the worst consequences of climate chaos. This is a particularly poignant reality for South Asia. The plunder of the subcontinent by the British East India Company was a major source of the capital investment that fueled the Industrial Revolution, and consequently, the climate crisis. 

At the same time, we also recognize the harmful role played by governments on the subcontinent.

India is the world’s second largest coal producer, and even as poor and marginalized people in the country suffer from a horrific heatwave, the government of India is displacing Adivasi (Indigenous) peoples from their homelands to expand coal mining, to benefit politically connected corporations. The Modi government is also encouraging violence against Muslims and other minorities in India, instead of responding with urgency to the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis.

In Pakistan, there has been a recent loss of democratic space, with a popular elected government removed under questionable circumstances.

South Asia has a long tradition of vibrant, powerful social movements, as exemplified by the recent victory of the Indian farmers’ movement against unjust farm procurement laws. As a coalition of U.S. frontline communities and their supporters, we in the People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition view these movements as our counterparts in South Asia. We stand in solidarity with them as they fight for justice against their own governments and against an international political and economic order that values the profits of the fossil fuel industry over their lives.

Our coalition will continue to push President Biden to end the era of fossil fuels, to free frontline communities in the U.S. and people in South Asia and elsewhere in the Global South from the serious threats that fossil fuels pose to our lives.