June, 29 2009, 12:14pm EDT
Shell's Climate Crimes Exposed
New report from environmental groups exposes Shell’s anti-climate lobbying activities
WASHINGTON
Friends of the Earth and Oil Change International released a report
today detailing oil giant Shell's colossal contribution to global
climate change and its continued investment in carbon-intensive fossil
fuels.
The report also reveals new internal documents that show that Shell
knew of the environmental dangers of gas flaring in Nigeria more than
fifteen years ago, but chose not to stop for purely financial reasons.
"Shell greenwashes itself as a sustainable company when in reality
it is the dirtiest oil producer of all," said Ben Schreiber of Friends
of the Earth. "As evidenced by Shell's lobbying activities on the
flawed climate bill that passed the House last Friday, the company has
been instrumental in weakening climate legislation while claiming to
care about the environment."
Despite attempts by outgoing Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer to
portray a green image, the company has opted for a way forward that is
in stark contradiction with the need to reduce greenhouse gas pollution
that causes climate change. Shell's heavy investments in the most
carbon-emitting energy sources, such as tar sands, liquefied natural
gas and crude oil from Nigeria--which is associated with huge levels of
gas flaring--make it the dirtiest of all major oil companies with regard
to greenhouse gas pollution, according to the report.
Since 1996 Shell has promised to stop gas flaring in Nigeria--the
biggest source of heat-trapping gases in sub-Saharan Africa. But the
company has repeatedly broken its promises and rejected statements by
the Nigerian government that flaring should be stopped. Shell refuses
to implement the 2011 deadline imposed by the Nigerian government for
phasing out gas flaring and is now speaking about a 2013 phase out.
Steve Kretzmann from Oil Change International said, "Shell could
stop flaring gas in Nigeria for only 10 percent of last year's profit
for the company. The company's new CEO, Peter Voser, has the power to
stop gas flaring, spare Nigerians from inhaling deadly toxins, and help
to curb climate change in one stroke. The question is: will he?"
Today's report, "Shell's Big Dirty Secret,"
comes after a global backlash against the energy giant's abuses of
human rights and the environment. On June 8, Shell was forced to pay
$15.5 million to settle a lawsuit in the U.S. seeking to hold it
accountable for human rights abuses in Nigeria. The company is also
facing legal action in The Hague concerning repeated oil spills which
have damaged the livelihoods of Nigerian fisherpeople and farmers.
The report can be viewed at: https://www.foe.org/sites/default/files/shellbigdirtysecret_June09.pdf.
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
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A 'Landmark Victory' for Consumers and Climate as California Passes Big Oil Price Gouging Law
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Mar 28, 2023
Climate and consumer advocates on Tuesday hailed California lawmakers' passage of legislation aimed at tackling Big Oil price gouging as the proposal headed to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said he will sign the measure into law.
The California Assembly voted 52-19 on Monday in favor of S.B. X1-2—authored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-9)—which will empower the California Energy Commission (CEC) to impose profit caps and penalties on refiners and create an intra-agency watchdog tasked with conducting greater oversight of fossil fuel companies to minimize profiteering.
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The letter called on the Biden administration to form a commission that would study the creation of an NHRI.
The lawmakers joined a coalition of 85 civil society groups, led by the ACLU, which in December called for the creation of an NHRI that would "offer a meaningful path to encourage U.S. institutions... to adhere to human rights commitments that our government has made and to which we routinely call on other countries to adhere."
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Teachers Union Leader Calls for Defending Public Education From 'Dangerous' GOP Attacks
"A great nation does not fear people being educated," said American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten.
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American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten on Tuesday defended the egalitarian legacy and goals of public education and outlined a participatory plan to strengthen it nationwide as right-wing lawmakers intensify their long-standing assault on the institution.
"Attacks on public education are not new," the leader of the 1.7 million-member union said in an address to the National Press Club. "The difference today is that the attacks are intended to destroy it. To make it a battlefield, a political cudgel."
"We will continue to fight this defunding of our public schools and this dividing of our communities," said Weingarten. "But we also must do better to address the learning loss and disconnection we are seeing in our young people. And we can. We can make every public school a school where parents want to send their kids, educators want to work, and all students thrive."
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"The Betsy DeVos wing of the school privatization movement is methodically working its plan," said Weingarten, referring to the Trump administration's pro-voucher education secretary. "Starve public schools of the funds they need to succeed. Criticize them for their shortcomings. Erode trust in public schools by stoking fear and division, including attempting to pit parents against teachers. Replace them with private, religious, online, and home schools."
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"We can make every public school a school where parents want to send their kids, educators want to work, and all students thrive."
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"And then there are the culture wars," said Weingarten. "What started as fights over pandemic-era safety measures has morphed into fearmongering: False claims that elementary and secondary schools are teaching critical race theory; disgusting, unfounded claims that teachers are grooming and indoctrinating students; and pronouncements that public schools push a 'woke' agenda, even though they can't or won't define what they mean. Banning books and bullying vulnerable children. School board meetings descending into screaming matches. This is an organized and dangerous effort to undermine public schools."
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Moreover, the American Library Association reported last week that the far-right's campaign to ban books containing LGBTQ+ themes or stories about people of color has fueled an unprecedented rise in censorship attempts around the country, with 2,571 unique titles facing challenges in 2022, up 38% from the previous year.
"Their end goal," Weingarten said Tuesday during her speech, is "destroying public education as we know it, atomizing and balkanizing education in America, bullying the most vulnerable among us, and leaving the students with the greatest needs with the most meager resources."
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1. Opening 25,000 more community schools by 2025
As AFT explained in a statement, these schools "wrap academic counseling services, nutrition services, primary health and dental care, and much more around traditional schools to transform them into hubs that connect families and students with supports to learn and live."
2. Expanding experiential learning opportunities for all students, including career and technical education
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3. Reviving the teaching profession
With nearly 400,000 teachers "leaving the profession each year" and the teacher pipeline collapsing "as college students and career-changers choose not to go into education," Weingarten called for "treating educators as the professionals they are, with appropriate pay; time to plan and prepare for classes, to collaborate with colleagues, and to participate in meaningful professional development; and the power to make day-to-day classroom decisions."
4. Deepening partnerships with parents and community members
According to AFT, the union "has ramped up its Powerful Partnerships Institute, distributing 27 grants to locals totaling more than $1.5 million. For example, Montana is engaging thousands of public education-supporting families and educators across the state around a shared agenda. And New Haven is working with educators, families, and students on equitable school funding across Connecticut."
As part of AFT's Campaign for Our Shared Future, Weingarten announced the launch of a "Freedom to Teach and Learn" hotline for students, parents, teachers, and the public to document instances of censorship.
"Poll after poll has shown that parents and voters don't want politicized culture wars, they want schools and administrators to focus on what kids and communities need," AFT said. "The hotline—888-873-7227—will serve as a clearinghouse for reports of political interference. If Americans see something, they should say something."
In Weingarten's words, "It's a place to call if you've been told to remove a book from the curriculum or from the library, if you've been told that there are topics that can't be discussed in your classes or that you cannot teach honestly and appropriately, or if politicians in your district or state are targeting vulnerable student groups to score political points."
Alluding to AFT's four-point plan for greater investment and engagement, Weingarten said that "this is our agenda."
"But this can't just be the work of our union or of school staff and schools alone," she stressed. "This is the work of a great nation—to ensure that our children's basic human needs are met so they are ready to learn to their full potential."
"This can't just be the work of our union or of school staff and schools alone. This is the work of a great nation—to ensure that our children's basic human needs are met so they are ready to learn to their full potential."
"Our public schools shouldn't be pawns for politicians' ambitions. Or defunded and destroyed by ideologues," Weingarten continued. "We are at a crossroads: fear and division, or hope and opportunity."
"A great nation does not fear people being educated," she added. "A great nation does not fear pluralism. A great nation chooses freedom, democracy, equality, and opportunity. All of that starts in our public schools."
The labor leader opened with a moment of silence to honor the six people killed Monday in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville—just one of 130 mass shootings in the United States in 2023.
Lamenting the nation's "epidemic" of gun violence, Weingarten renewed AFT's demand for "commonsense gun safety legislation, including a ban on assault weapons"—a policy that helped reduce the number and severity of fatal mass shootings when it was in effect from 1994 to 2004.
Guns recently became the leading killer of children and teens in the United States. Research published last year found that approximately 26,000 kids could still be alive today if the U.S. had the same gun mortality rate as Canada.
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