SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
February, 13 2013, 12:57pm EDT
Contact:
Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-2500, kfried(at)fwwatch(dot)org
Natural Gas Holds No Key to Our Clean Energy Future
Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter on behalf of Americans Against Fracking
WASHINGTON
"President Obama was right to proclaim the importance of speeding our transition to a clean energy future last night in his State of the Union Address, but natural gas has no place in that plan. The so-called natural gas boom he described is only locking us into further dependence on dirty, polluting fossil fuels, while destroying our communities and the resources on which they thrive.
"While it is encouraging to hear President Obama declare his commitment to combatting climate change, natural gas will only perpetuate this vexing issue. Extracting, transporting and burning natural gas all contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and worsen global climate change. In addition to the carbon dioxide emitted from burning natural gas, significant amounts of methane leak as new wells are fracked and as natural gas is transported. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, about 33 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over 100 years, and about 70 to 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years according to a 2009 study published in Science. New evidence, including data from researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicates that the oil and gas industry and the Environmental Protection Agency have drastically underestimated the extent of methane emissions from drilling and fracking operations.
"President Obama needs to stand up for American communities, not the special interests of the oil and gas industry. He must reject natural gas, as well as plans to export additional supplies overseas. It is true that we need to reinvest in American communities and bolster our green energy infrastructure, but natural gas is not the bridge to a future lit by clean energy. It is, as many have said, a bridge to nowhere.
"Controlling our own energy future means investing in energies that sustain our communities, not the financial needs of the oil and gas industry."
Americans Against Fracking is composed of the following groups: www.americansagainstfracking.org/members. For more information about Americans Against Fracking, visit www.AmericansAgainstFracking.org.
Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.
(202) 683-2500LATEST NEWS
House Democrats Move to Impeach Noem Over Deadly ICE 'Reign of Terror'
"Noem and her rogue agents are the ones terrorizing our communities, and she is breaking the law to do so," said Rep. Robin Kelly.
Jan 14, 2026
Citing the deadly "reign of terror" unleashed by President Donald Trump's immigration enforcers against both migrants and US citizens, a Democratic congresswoman on Wednesday formally introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois filed three articles of impeachment against Noem for alleged obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing. The move—which Kelly first announced on January 7— followed last week's killing of Renee Nicole Good, an American citizen, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.
"Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, LA, New Orleans, Charlotte, Durham, and communities north to south to east to west,” Kelly told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. “She needs to be held accountable for her actions."
Speaking on the House floor earlier, Kelly said that "Operation Midway Blitz has torn apart the Chicagoland area."
🚨 BREAKING: Robin Kelly just announced she is moving to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Secretary Noem has violated the Constitution and must be held accountable for terrorizing our communities.”
This is what accountability looks like. pic.twitter.com/4BYgLZzoin
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) January 13, 2026
During the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation, ICE agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas González and then allegedly lied about the victim's behavior in a bid to justify the killing. Federal enforcers have attacked protesters and bystanders with tear gas, pepper balls, flash-bang grenades, and other weapons during Midway Blitz and other operations across the country.
"President Trump declared war on Chicago and then he brought violence and destruction to our city and our suburbs in the form of immigration enforcement," Kelly said.
"In my district, federal agents rappelled down from Blackhawk helicopters and burst into an apartment building in the South Shore area," the congresswoman continued. "The dragged US citizens and noncitizens alike out of their beds in the middle of the night."
"They claim the apartment was infiltrated by members of a Venezuelan gang. I don't understand this president's obsession with Venezuela, but they did not arrest a single member from that gang," she added, alluding to Trump's illegal attacks on the South American country and abduction of its president and his wife.
Moving on to Minneapolis, Kelly said that "an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in cold blood."
"Without knowing any of the facts or an investigation, Secretary Noem lied about what happened," the congresswoman said. "She called a beloved 37-year-old mom a 'domestic terrorist.' Secretary Noem and her rogue agents are the ones terrorizing our communities, and she is breaking the law to do so. I will hold her accountable."
Kelly's articles of impeachment accuse Noem of:
- Obstructing Congress by refusing to allow lawmakers into federal immigration facilities and withholding congressionally designated disaster relief funds from states that refused to cooperate with Trump's crackdown;
- Violating public trust by denying people detained by ICE their due process as guaranteed under the Constitution; and
- Self-dealing by allegedly giving $220 million in contracts to a business run by the husband of her spokesperson.
"These are not policy disagreements," Kelly said during her House floor remarks. "These are violations of her oath of office, and she must answer for her impeachable actions."
As of late Wednesday morning, more than 70 House Democrats had signed on as co-sponsors of the effort.
"I’ve signed on to impeach Secretary Noem," Rep. John Larson of Connecticut said on X. "She must be held accountable for her corruption and her attacks on the Constitution. She’s hypercharged ICE’s lawlessness and cheered as it has terrorized our communities. She has to go."
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, who also joined the impeachment effort, said that Noem's "malicious and incompetent leadership has led to chaos across the nation."
Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said on X: "People are being hunted. Families torn apart. A woman was just shot in the face. And DHS seem to think it's acceptable. It's past time to impeach Kristi Noem."
A DHS spokesperson called the impeachment effort "silly."
"As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district,” the spokesperson said. “We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this department is doing under Sec. Noem.”
The effort to impeach Noem came after state and city officials in Minnesota and Illinois on Monday sued the Trump administration in a bid to block federal forces “from conducting civil immigration enforcement” without “express congressional authorization.”
“People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted,” Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said earlier this week. “Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing. This federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
‘This Cruelty Will Be Measured in Lives Lost’: Trump Axes $2 Billion in Mental Health, Addiction Grants
"So much for Make America Healthy Again and saving Americans from addiction and suicide," said US Sen. Patty Murray.
Jan 14, 2026
The Trump administration, which has claimed its illegal boat bombing spree in international waters and assault on Venezuela were motivated by a deep desire to combat the drug overdose crisis in the US, moved late Tuesday to eliminate up to $2 billion worth of federal grants supporting mental health and addiction services across the country.
Organizations that provide street-level support to people experiencing mental health crises, homelessness, and addiction said they were notified of the cuts overnight in the form of emailed grant termination letters.
NPR first reported the cuts by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The estimated $2 billion in cuts represents roughly a quarter of SAMHSA's budget.
Ryan Hampton, founder of the nonprofit Mobilize Recovery, told NPR that his group is out $500,000 because of the Trump administration's move, which could impact thousands of organizations nationwide.
"Waking up to nearly $2 billion in grant cancellations means front-line providers are forced to cease overdose prevention, naloxone distribution, and peer recovery services immediately, leaving our communities defenseless against a raging crisis," Hampton said. "This cruelty will be measured in lives lost, as recovery centers shutter and the safety net we built is slashed overnight. We are witnessing the dismantling of our recovery infrastructure in real-time, and the administration will have blood on its hands for every preventable death that follows."
Jonathan Cohn of The Bulwark reported that impacted organizations "had applied for these grants, had them approved, and were operating with the funds—and then, on Tuesday night, received notices that those grants had been terminated."
"The affected programs include ones that provide services like housing and peer support for people who are in recovery, as well as ones that train substance abuse professionals," Cohn observed.
Yngvild Olsen, a national adviser at Manatt Health and former director of SAMHA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, told Cohn that the cuts mean "tens of thousands of people" will "lose access to services" and many providers will "lose access to their training and technical assistance resources."
"These organizations are going to have to lay off staff," Olsen warned. "They don't have high margins and other sources of funding that they can necessarily turn to. I heard from one grantee that said she doesn't know how she's going to pay staff and bills.”
News outlets that reviewed the grant termination emails sent out late Tuesday reported that the administration characterized the funding as out of step with its priorities, even as the White House claims it is waging a righteous war on the drug overdose crisis.
"Every boat that we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives," President Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, during an October press conference. "So when you think of it that way, what we're doing is actually an act of kindness."
US Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said in a statement Wednesday that, in light of the massive grant cuts to mental health and addiction-related grants, "this administration’s claims about taking on the opioid crisis couldn’t be more hollow."
“So much for Make America Healthy Again and saving Americans from addiction and suicide," said Murray. "This decision is going to mean real people in Washington state and every part of the country do not get the care and treatment they are counting on—and that could save their life. Republicans must join me in demanding these cuts be reversed.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
'He Believes in Freedom of Speech': UAW Stands Behind Michigan Worker Flipped Off by Trump
"We stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job."
Jan 14, 2026
TJ Sabula, the Michigan auto worker who was suspended from his job at Ford after calling President Donald Trump a "pedophile protector," has the backing of the largest US auto union.
United Auto Workers (UAW) on Wednesday pledged to support Sabula, whom it described as "a proud member of a strong and fighting union," further noting that "he believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job."
UAW vowed that Sabula will receive "the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member."
Sabula on Tuesday accused Trump of being a "pedophile protector"—in reference to the president's reluctance to release files related to the criminal investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—while the president was visiting a Ford truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan.
Trump responded by giving Sabula the middle finger, while appearing to mouth or yell "fuck you" back at the auto worker.
WATCH: Trump shows his middle finger and appears to say "fuck you" after Ford worker yells "pedophile protector" - TMZ pic.twitter.com/aFsDmrvkr7
— BNO News (@BNONews) January 13, 2026
Sabula has received an outpouring of support since heckling Trump. A GoFundMe campaign aimed at raising money in support of the suspended auto worker has so far raised more than $350,000.
In a Tuesday interview published by the Washington Post, Sabula said he had "no regrets whatsoever" about yelling at the president, despite the uncertain future he now faces at his job.
"I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” Sabula told the Post. “And today I think I did that.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular