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Bookmark and Share Audubon President Comments on Report by the National Commission on Gulf Oil Disaster & Recommendations
We must heed the clear warning laid out by the courageous members of this commission, and call for a ‘timeout’ for drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean.
NEW YORK, NY
Statement by David Yarnold, Audubon President, issued upon release of the final report:
"The report uses two words the drillers didn't want to hear:
"systemic failure." Make no mistake: the report says drillers are
unprepared for disasters like this. Even after killing 11 and triggering
the worst environmental disaster in a generation, industry spokespeople
want to distract us from the truth. They claim this was an isolated
instance caused by rogue companies. That's an insult to the families who
suffered and to anyone who wants to see reasonable safeguards.
"The report is clear; the Interior Department is outgunned by the
drillers and needs the people and the dollars to police the industry.
"This is a rare instance where something good can arise from tragedy.
We can use BP's fines to restore a way of life to the region that has
suffered the most. That would be a solid first step toward environmental
restoration along the Gulf Coast region. We know that the natural
buffers, the wetlands and the forests can regrow. It's just a question
of political will and money and the Commission says we should bring both
to bear.
"We strongly agree that a large majority of Clean Water Act penalties
should be directed, as soon as possible, to environmental restoration
in the Gulf Coast region. This summer, Gulf communities suffered grim
economic and environmental consequences as oil washed onto their
beaches, contaminated their fisheries, and seeped into their wetlands.
The report's recommendation to fund coastal restoration in the Gulf is a
critical first step toward rebuilding an ecosystem that has been
shattered by an unfettered energy industry. Audubon also joins the
commission in calling for scientific studies and long-term monitoring
efforts so desperately needed to understand and mitigate the spill's
effects.
"Audubon urges the White House, Congress, and the oil and gas
industry to fund and enact swift and comprehensive reforms. A system so
riddled with complacency and incompetence must not be permitted to
endanger more human lives and precious natural resources, in the Gulf
and elsewhere.
"Even now, the federal Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement are considering Shell Oil's proposal to drill in the
Beaufort Sea next summer, despite the lack of a credible oil spill
response plan - risking a disaster that could eclipse what was seen in
the Gulf of Mexico. We must heed the clear warning laid out by the
courageous members of this commission, and call for a 'timeout' for
drilling in America's Arctic Ocean.
"Audubon thanks Co-Chairs of the Commission on the BP Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Senator Bob Graham and William
Reilly, as well as the other distinguished Commissioners for their
dedication in identifying the causes of this disaster as well as
charting a course for improved rules and regulations regarding off shore
drilling. They have provided a clear blueprint for the reforms and
restoration support essential to ensure the future health and
productivity of the Gulf coast's communities, wildlife and ecosystem.
Now it is up to Congress and the Administration to act."
Oil Spill Commission's final report https://bit.ly/b2ntsV
Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education, and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world.
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"Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism," said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.
Jan 16, 2023
To mark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, leaders of a modern iteration of the slain civil rights champion's final campaign called on U.S. politicians from both sides of the aisle—many of whose policies and actions are like those King condemned as the "evil triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism"—to step up and meet the needs of the country's poor and low-income people.
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival released a video demanding the Biden administration and every member of Congress "meet with poor and low-wealth people, religious leaders, economists, lawyers, and public health specialists to address the systemic policy violence that threatens the soul of our nation."
"When prophets are killed or assassinated, our job is to pick up the baton and continue the work," campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II said in the video. "Sadly, many will go to King events today and claim to honor the prophet. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle will go while even today, they are standing diametrically opposed to the things he fought for: addressing systemic poverty, addressing racism, ensuring voter protection, just immigration policy, just treatment of Indigenous people, healthcare for all, and dealing with the war economy and militarism."
As they do each year, officials—including Republican lawmakers who voted against an MLK Day holiday, the U.S. government King called "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today," and its agencies like the FBI that tried to destroy King—all took to Twitter to sing his praises.
Poor People's Campaign Petition Congress to Truly Honor MLK Legacy | Press Conferencewww.youtube.com
Rev. Liz Theoharis, also a co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, said in the video that "this Martin Luther King Day, we must continue a campaign for social, political, and economic rights, not simply commemorate a man. Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism. Let us fight poverty, not people."
The video also includes messages from low-income Americans and advocates calling for healthcare, living wages, "and more so everyone can thrive."
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King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, launched the original Poor People's Campaign in December 1967, months before he was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a strike by Black sanitation workers. King said the movement's demands were $30 billion for anti-poverty programs, full employment for all, a guaranteed universal income, and the annual construction of 500,000 affordable homes.
SCLC president Ralph Abernathy led the campaign after King's murder, and in May 1968—just weeks after King's murder—his widow, Coretta Scott King, led demonstrators in a two-week protest in Washington, D.C., where participants demanded an Economic Bill of Rights.
Camp life in Resurrection City 1968www.youtube.com
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Twitter lobbyist Nina Morschhaeuser "flagged the corporate accounts of Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca for her colleagues to monitor and shield from activists," according to The Intercept's Lee Fang. An email from Morschhaeuser said the German Federal Office for Information Security also contacted Twitter on behalf of BioNTech, whose spokesperson, Jasmina Alatovic, asked the social media giant to "hide" activist tweets targeting her company's account for two days.
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\u201c\ud83d\udce2 REACTION: German government and @BioNTech_Group asked Twitter to censor vaccine equity critics.\n\nNew #TwitterFiles piece by @lhfang shows how they worked to silence activists demanding a #PeoplesVaccine\n\nRead our reaction: https://t.co/VyaSBIbWnS\n\n1/\u201d— The People's Vaccine (@The People's Vaccine) 1673889107
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden also noted the troubling timing of BioNTech's censorship request during a period of global pandemic lockdowns.
"To try and stifle digital dissent during a pandemic, when tweets and emails are some of the only forms of protest available to those locked in their homes, is deeply sinister," he told The Intercept.
Fang writes:
It is not clear to what extent Twitter took any action on BioNTech's request. In response to Morschhaeuser's inquiry, several Twitter officials chimed in, debating what action could or could not be taken. Su Fern Teo, a member of the company's safety team, noted that a quick scan of the activist campaign showed nothing that violated the company's terms of service, and asked for more examples to "get a better sense of the content that may violate our policies."
But it shows the extent to which pharmaceutical giants engaged in a global lobbying blitz to ensure corporate dominance over the medical products that became central to combating the pandemic. Ultimately, the campaign to share Covid vaccine recipes around the world failed.
While U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021 heeded activists' calls and joined most of the Global South in backing a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver at the World Trade Organization, most rich nations—including Germany—oppose the policy and have, along with Big Pharma, fought to thwart it.
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As Common Dreamsreported last week, the UAE named al-Jaber as president of the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), scheduled to begin in November—a decision that was met with scorn from campaigners as al-Jaber is heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and a renewable energy firm in which ADNOC holds a 24% stake.
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