October, 15 2014, 01:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Catherine Collentine (303)454-3363 (Sierra Club Colorado Campaign Representative)
Bruce Baizel (970) 259-3353 x 2 (Earthworks Director)
Victory for Longmont Residents: Lawsuit Challenging Health, Pollution Protections Dropped
Today the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) dropped their lawsuit to invalidate a Longmont City Ordinance that protects residents from the pollution and associated health threats of oil and gas development. The State dismissed the suit after more than two years of litigation, as a part of a deal brokered in August 2014 to keep two anti-fracking initiatives off the November ballot.
LONGMONT, Colo.
Today the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) and the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) dropped their lawsuit to invalidate a Longmont City Ordinance that protects residents from the pollution and associated health threats of oil and gas development. The State dismissed the suit after more than two years of litigation, as a part of a deal brokered in August 2014 to keep two anti-fracking initiatives off the November ballot.
"Upholding this ordinance is a victory for the people of Longmont and the right of local government to regulate oil and gas development. Industry has run roughshod over community concerns for decades. This decision is a step towards balancing the scales of justice," said Earthworks Director Bruce Baizel.
The challenged Ordinance, passed by the City Council in July 2012, prohibits oil and gas surface activities from occurring in zoned residential areas and establishes voluntary, enhanced standards for fast-track administrative approval that create setbacks greater than the State's for homes, schools, hospitals, waterways and parks. The Ordinance also requires disclosure to emergency responders of hazardous chemicals transported through the City and consultation with local wildlife experts before any operations begin.
"In light of continued scientific research showing that oil and gas development risks the health of those living nearby, it's clear that ordinances like the one put in place by Longmont are necessary for community well-being," said Sierra Club Colorado Campaign Representative Catherine Collentine. She continued, "In the absence of adequate state rules governing oil and gas development, local governments must be able to step in to protect public health and the environment."
Over the past decade Colorado has experienced a historic boom in oil and gas drilling. Colorado currently has more than 52,000 active oil and gas wells covering much of the state's landscape. Across Colorado's northern plains, oil and gas companies are increasingly operating not only in sparsely populated areas, but also in towns and suburbs.
"Living with oil and gas drilling and fracking near your home or your children's school is not something anyone wants. These are very minimal protections for residents in Longmont and
are the first step to protect public health and safety , We are glad to see the State and the industry agree," said Karen Dike, Longmont resident and member of the Sierra Club.
This growing trend of drilling near homes and schools prompted the City of Longmont, located 37 miles north of Denver and on the western edge of Colorado's most productive oil and gas field, to update its land use rules to prohibit certain surface activities in residential areas.
The new rules immediately came under legal attack by the State of Colorado calling into question the City's authority to protect its own citizens from the adverse effects of oil and gas development. This lawsuit was one of many that are ongoing in other Colorado communities working to protect the health and environment of residents across the state from the threats of rampant oil and gas development.
For more information on Sierra Club's efforts to protect communities from harmful oil and gas operations go to https://content.sierraclub.org/naturalgas and to https://rmc.sierraclub.org/ ; for Earthworks visit https://www.earthworksaction.org/
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
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Congressional Progressives Unveil 'Bold' Agenda for Second Biden Term
The Congressional Progressive Caucus says its legislative blueprint for 2025 and beyond aims to "deliver equality, justice, and economic security for working people."
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The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday published a "comprehensive domestic policy legislative agenda" for U.S. President Joe Biden's possible second White House term that seeks to "deliver equality, justice, and economic security for working people."
The CPC's Progressive Proposition Agenda is a seven-point plan aimed at lowering the cost of living, boosting wages and worker power, advancing justice, combating climate change and protecting the environment, strengthening democracy, breaking the corporate stranglehold on the economy, and bolstering public education.
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Progressive lawmakers have already introduced bills for many items on the agenda, including a Green New Deal for Public Schools, expanding the Supreme Court, comprehensive voting rights protection, and legalizing marijuana.
Critics noted the conspicuous absence of Medicare for All—once a top progressive agenda item—and foreign policy issues including ending Israel's genocide, apartheid, occupation, settler colonization, and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Jayapal toldNBC News that the CPC is focusing its blueprint exclusively on domestic goals—especially ones it feels can be achieved.
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The CPC agenda is backed by a wide range of labor, climate, environmental, civil rights, consumer, faith-based, and other organizations.
"The Congressional Progressive Caucus is leading the way for Congress to address the major issues affecting working families, from reducing healthcare and housing costs to strengthening workers' rights to join unions, earn living wages and benefits, and have safe workplaces," Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement.
"SEIU is proud to partner with the CPC to move these priorities forward and build a more equitable economy in which corporations are held accountable for their actions," she added.
Mary Small, chief strategy officer at Indivisible, said: "House progressives were the engine at the heart of our legislative accomplishments in 2021 and 2022. They've continued that momentum to be true governing partners to the Biden administration as those laws and programs are implemented."
"That's why Indivisible is so supportive of the CPC's Proposition Agenda, a bold vision for progressive governance in 2025 and beyond. From reproductive rights to saving our democracy to economic security for all, the CPC is driving forward exactly the sort of legislative goals we want to see in our next governing moment."
That moment is far from guaranteed, with not only the White House hanging in the balance as Biden will all but certainly face former Republican President Donald Trump in November's election but also the Senate Democratic Caucus clinging to a single-seat advantage over the GOP. Republicans currently hold the House of Representatives by a five-seat margin.
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The peace coalition No Tech for Apartheid accused Google of a "flagrant act of retaliation" late Wednesday night as the Silicon Valley giant announced it had fired 28 workers over protests against its cloud services contract with the Israeli government.
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Workers have denounced Project Nimbus since it was announced in 2021, but Israel's killing of at least 33,970 Palestinians in Gaza since October and its intentional starvation of civilians led employees to escalate their protests.
No Tech for Apartheid said in a statement that Google officials called the police to both offices to arrest nine protesters—dubbed the Nimbus Nine—on Tuesday morning, before utilizing "a dragnet of in-office surveillance" to fire nearly two dozen other employees on Wednesday.
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Google accused the workers of "bullying," "harassment," defacing property, and physically impeding other employees—allegations No Tech for Apartheid rejected as it noted organizers "have yet to hear from a single executive about" their concerns over Google's collaboration with Israel.
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The organizers staged the sit-ins on the heels of reporting in Time magazine about new negotiations between Google and the Israeli government regarding further potential tech contracts.
Kate J. Sim, a child safety policy adviser at Google who said she was among those fired this week, said the terminations show "how terrified [executives] are of worker power."
Google employees have a history of harnessing worker power to change policies at the company. In 2018, Google terminated a deal with the U.S. Defense Department to develop drone and artificial intelligence (AI) technology through a contract called Project Maven. The decision followed the resignations of several employees and the condemnation of thousands of workers.
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
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