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For Immediate Release
May, 11 2015, 02:45pm EDT
Contact:
Rebecca Noblin, (907) 274-1110, rnoblin@biologicaldiversity.org
Obama Administration Gives Shell Green Light to Drill in Arctic
The Department of the Interior announced today that it has approved Shell's plan for exploratory oil drilling in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this summer. The Center for Biological Diversity's Alaska Director Rebecca Noblin issued this statement in response:
"It's deeply troubling to see the Obama administration give the oil industry the green light to drill in the Arctic. Not only does it put the Arctic's pristine landscapes at a huge risk for oil spills and industrial development but it's utterly incompatible with President Obama's rhetoric to address the climate crisis.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
The Department of the Interior announced today that it has approved Shell's plan for exploratory oil drilling in Alaska's Chukchi Sea this summer. The Center for Biological Diversity's Alaska Director Rebecca Noblin issued this statement in response:
"It's deeply troubling to see the Obama administration give the oil industry the green light to drill in the Arctic. Not only does it put the Arctic's pristine landscapes at a huge risk for oil spills and industrial development but it's utterly incompatible with President Obama's rhetoric to address the climate crisis.
"The Interior Department bent over backward to rush Shell's permit through the regulatory process so it could move its drillships into the Arctic this summer. Considering Shell ran its drillship aground in Alaska in 2012, it's hard to fathom how the federal government can rationalize rubber-stamping Shell's second try at Arctic drilling.
"Arctic drilling is a step in the exact wrong direction. Scientists tell us that if we want to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to keep Arctic oil in the ground. Arctic drilling gives us a 75 percent chance of an oil spill and a 100 percent chance of climate catastrophe. Interior should send Shell packing."
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
(520) 623-5252LATEST NEWS
'They've Come to Collect': Report Details Crisis of Billionaires Buying US Elections
"The billions of dollars of donations these oligarchic clans give candidates, parties, and particularly outside spending groups drown out the voices and concerns of ordinary voters," according to the report.
Apr 02, 2025
The ever-growing amount of billionaire cash in elections is poisoning U.S. democracy, according to a report published Wednesday by the advocacy group Americans for Tax Fairness—which found that the top 100 billionaire families spent an eye-popping $2.6 billion on federal contests in 2024.
That's more than twice the roughly $1 billion spent by individual billionaire donors in 2020, according to the group, and constitutes 160 times the amount of billionaire political spending since the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That decision paved the way for the proliferation of super political action committees (PACs), a type of committee that can accept unlimited donations to spend on political activity.
Picking apart that $2.6 billion, there's a clear partisan skew: 70% of that billionaire money went to entities supporting Republican candidates, while 23% went to entities backing Democratic candidates. The other 7% went toward independent candidates—such as presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now a Cabinet secretary—and committees that gave to candidates from both parties who champion specific issues, such as cryptocurrency.
That skew is particularly pronounced when it comes to the competitive Senate races that determined control of the chamber in 2024.
Looking at Senate contests in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, the authors of the report found that nearly 80% of the total billionaire cash in these races—which tallied $1.14 billion in outside spending—went to outside groups supporting Republican candidates, compared to 20% used to support Democratic hopefuls.
"The billions of dollars of donations these oligarchic clans give candidates, parties, and particularly outside spending groups drown out the voices and concerns of ordinary voters, endangering democracy and distorting public policy," the report states.
What's more, "this undue influence by the billionaire donor class over our government—always a concern and already present in mostly indirect ways—has found its full, frightening expression in the second Trump administration with the ascendancy of Elon Musk, the world's richest man and the biggest billionaire donor in the 2024 elections," the authors wrote.
Musk's ability to convert his extreme wealth into political influence in the Trump administration contrasts with reports that Musk pays relatively little in taxes. In 2018, for example, Musk paid nothing in federal income taxes even as his wealth soared, largely due to Tesla stock appreciation.
But Musk is just the "most notorious example of billionaires literally buying power," according to the group. ATF highlighted that billionaire Linda McMahon secured a position as President Donald Trump's education secretary after she and her ex-husband gave tens of millions to support Republican candidates, as did billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick, now the commerce secretary.
The report, titled Billionaires Buying Elections: They've Come to Collect, is the latest in ATF's "billionaires buying elections" series, and according to the group it is the most comprehensive because it covers both direct billionaire giving and "traces the indirect routes billionaire cash can take through campaign committees contributing to each other."
In its methodology section, the report gives the example of WinSenate—a super PAC that works to elect Democrats to the Senate—which did not report billionaire contributions, but received all of its funding from the Senate Majority PAC. Because the Senate Majority PAC got 19.9% of its funding from billionaires, the report counted WinSenate's share of billionaire spending at 19.9%.
According to the report, other big-name Republican megadonors in the 2024 cycle included shipping supply magnates Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein and Israeli-American billionaire Miriam Adelson.
According to the authors of the report, billionaires need to be taxed more.
"Tax policy—which has the most direct impact on billionaire wealth—is perhaps the most obviously affected by the money-for-power billionaire bargain," according to the group, which cites the current Republican push to extend parts of Trump's 2017 tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy as part of a general trend in tax policy over the past four decades to decrease taxes on the wealthiest people and most profitable businesses.
"The self-reinforcing combination of booming billionaire fortunes and weakening campaign finance laws continues to threaten our democratic form of government," according to the report. "As the outcome of the last presidential campaign amply demonstrates, until billionaires pay their fair share of taxes and we put effective curbs on their political spending, this threat will only grow."
The report calls for solutions like bolstering the estate tax and implementing a wealth tax, such as the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, a bill that was reintroduced by multiple Democratic senators in 2024. The newer version of the legislation would place a 2% annual tax on the net worth of households and trusts between $50 million and $1 billion, and impose an 1% annual surtax—so 3% tax overall—on the net worth of families and trusts that is above $1 billion.
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Judge Dismisses Adams Corruption Case But Aims to Kill Trump's Leverage Over NYC Mayor
One legal expert called Judge Dale Ho's move a "major smackdown for DOJ's unsavory behavior."
Apr 02, 2025
A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday but also tried to ensure that going forward, the Trump administration cannot use the charges as leverage over the Democrat—who had agreed to help with the White House's mass deportation agenda in exchange for what opponents blasted as an "openly corrupt legal bailout."
In February, just weeks after Republican President Donald Trump returned to office, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) instructed prosecutors to drop federal charges against Adams, triggering widespread outrage over the attempted "illegal quid pro quo," as some congressional critics have called it.
"DOJ's motion states that dismissal of this case is justified for several reasons, including because 'continuing these proceedings would interfere with" the mayor's ability to govern, thereby threatening 'federal immigration initiatives and policies,'" Judge Dale Ho, appointed to the Southern District of New York by former President Joe Biden, wrote Wednesday in a 78-page opinion and order.
Ho explained that "a critical feature of DOJ's motion is that it seeks dismissal without prejudice—that is, DOJ seeks to abandon its prosecution of Mayor Adams at this time, while reserving the right to reinitiate the case in the future. DOJ does not seek to end this case once and for all. Rather, its request, if granted, would leave Mayor Adams under the specter of reindictment at essentially any time, and for essentially any reason. The court declines, in its limited discretion under Rule 48(a), to endorse that outcome."
"Instead, it dismisses this case with prejudice—meaning that the government may not bring the charges in the Indictment against Mayor Adams in the future," he continued. "In light of DOJ's rationales, dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor's freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government thanto the wishes of his own constituents. That appearance is inevitable, and it counsels in favor of dismissal with prejudice."
Ho noted that "various groups that have submitted friend-of-the-court briefs urge this court to go further and deny DOJ's motion altogether, arguing that the reasons DOJ has given to justify dismissing this case are unsubstantiated or contrary to the public interest. The court ultimately declines their invitation to deny the motion. But it concludes that many of their arguments have merit."
However, as the judge detailed, he ultimately did not deny the DOJ's motion for two reasons: "The first is that a court's principal role in deciding a motion of this nature is to protect the rights of the defendant... The second and perhaps more fundamental reason is that a court, if it were so inclined, would have no way to compel the government to prosecute a case in circumstances like those presented here."
BREAKING: major smackdown for DOJ’s unsavory behavior in dismissing the Eric Adams case Judge Ho follows our @sddaction.bsky.social brief with @ldadorg.bsky.social to only logical conclusion: Dismissal WITH prejudice statedemocracydefenders.org/wp-content/u... Fight will continue & so will we!
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— Norm Eisen (@normeisen.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
As The Citypointed out, "The dismissal comes just weeks before the June 24 mayor primary and a day before the mayor is required to file petition signatures his campaign is collecting to get on the ballot."
In the crowded Democratic primary contest, Adams' challengers include former Gov. Andrew Cuomo—who resigned in 2021 in the face of sexual harassment allegations he has denied—and state Rep. Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who represents New York's 36th Assembly District in Queens.
A 2024 Democratic National Convention delegate known as Candidly Tiff on social media said Wednesday that "the judge actually helped Eric Adams with this ruling. He should be thankful the [White House] can no longer dangle this case over his big head. Should be a sign for him to walk away from politics but his ego is too damn big."
The development also sparked calls for Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James to bring state charges against Adams. Attorney Tristan Snell said that she "can and should" do so "immediately."
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ICC Rebukes Hungary for Refusing to Carry Out Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu
"Hungary should comply with its legal obligations as a party to the ICC and arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country," said one human rights expert.
Apr 02, 2025
International human rights organizations joined the world's top war crimes tribunal in condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Hungary, expected to begin Wednesday evening—with the leader freely traveling to the European country without fear of being arrested under a warrant issued last year for Netanyahu's actions in Gaza.
Hungarian President Viktor Orbán said last year that he rejected the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which directed member countries to arrest Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes they have committed in Gaza starting October 8, 2023.
Hungary's far-right president—who took control of his country's court system several years ago and has used it to further his own political goals, and who banned LGBTQ+ pride events last month—invited Netanyahu to visit Budapest, while his foreign minister called the warrants "shameful and absurd."
Fadi El Abdallah, a spokesperson for the ICC, said Wednesday that it is not up to ICC signatories to "unilaterally determine the soundness of the court's legal decisions," which member countries are legally obligated to follow, including by making arrests when a suspect who is subject to a warrant sets foot within their borders.
"Any dispute concerning the judicial functions of the court shall be settled by the decision of the court," said El Abdallah.
Orbán said in February that he would "review" Hungary's membership in the ICC after U.S. President Donald Trump approved the use of sanctions against ICC officials.
Al Jazeera reported that Hungary may announce its withdrawal from the ICC this week during Netayahu's visit, which is scheduled from Wednesday until April 6.
Liz Evenson, international justice director for Human Rights Watch, called Orbán's welcoming of Netanyahu "an affront to victims of serious crimes."
"Hungary should comply with its legal obligations as a party to the ICC and arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country," said Evenson.
Western European countries including France, Italy, and Germany have also refused to carry out Netanyahu's arrest under the ICC warrant, with the French foreign ministry claiming the prime minister and Gallant have "immunities" because Israel does not recognize the authority of the ICC.
German Christian Democrats Leader Friedrich Merz said last month that he would "find ways and means for [Netanyahu] to visit Germany and also to be able to leave again without being arrested in Germany," adding that it was "a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany."
Earlier this week, Erika Guevara-Rosas, the head of global research, advocacy, and policy at Amnesty International, said that every trip Netanyahu takes "to an ICC member state that does not end in his arrest" will embolden Israel " to commit further crimes against Palestinians" in Gaza and the West Bank.
"Netanyahu's visit to Hungary must not become a bellwether for the future of human rights in Europe," said Guevara-Rosas. "European and global leaders must end their shameful silence and inaction, and call on Hungary to arrest Netanyahu during a visit which would make a mockery of the suffering of Palestinian victims of Israel's genocide in Gaza, its war crimes in other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, and its entrenched system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls."
In the U.S., which like Israel does not recognize the ICC and which has backed the Israeli assault on Gaza, Netanyahu received a standing ovation last year when he addressed Congress—while progressive lawmakers protested his visit.
The alleged war crimes Netanyahu and Gallant have been accused of include intentionally attacking civilians and starving Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinian residents since Israel began its military assault on the enclave in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack.
Anita Zsurzsán, an independent scholar based in Budapest, wrote at Jacobin on Wednesday that "liberal critics" of the Hungarian president are doing little to challenge Orbán for inviting Netanyahu to the country.
"It seems that the principle of 'never again' is routinely ignored in Hungary. Netanyahu's visit presents a historic opportunity for Hungarians to challenge Orbán on hosting a war criminal," said Zsurzsán. "But, instead of upholding international law and doing what is right, forces across the Hungarian political spectrum have opted for compliance and silence. As has often happened in Hungarian history, this risks leaving an indelible stain of acquiescence to fascism and genocide on our collective conscience."
"The fact that an internationally charged war criminal can walk free in Hungary with no resistance shows that the fascization of Hungarian society is continuing apace," she added.
Evenson called Orbán's decision to ignore the ICC warrant his "latest assault on the rule of law, adding to the country's dismal record on rights," and called on other ICC members to pressure Hungary to comply with the court's statutes.
"All ICC member countries need to make clear they expect Hungary to abide by its obligations to the court," said Evenson, "and that they will do the same."
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