November, 07 2017, 09:45am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Janet Redman, 508-340-0464, janet@priceofoil.org, David Turnbull, 202-316-3499, david@priceofoil.org, John Noel 856-905-9479, jnoel@cleanwater.org
Groups Push Back on Billion-Dollar Giveaways to Dirty Energy in GOP Tax Bill
WASHINGTON
Today, a coalition of environmental and climate justice, Indigenous rights, public health, consumer, and environmental groups delivered two letters urging lawmakers to oppose including the giveaway of billions of taxpayer dollars to the fossil fuel industry in any tax bill. Advocates are worried that a provision to expand the Section 45Q tax credit to oil, gas, and coal companies could be quietly moved forward during negotiations on House and Senate tax bills.
One letter, signed by over 30 environmental groups, called for the end of attempts in Congress to expand a tax credit for coal- and gas-fired power plants (and industrial facilities) to capture and sell their climate pollution to oil companies to use in crude production. The tax credit is being sold to members of Congress as a climate solution, but if the giveaway goes through, it could be the nation's largest taxpayer handout to the fossil fuel industry, and lead to annual emissions equal to those from 12.5 coal-fired power plants. The groups also identified potential impacts of enhanced oil recovery to groundwater and inadequate oversight from EPA and states as reason to oppose the incentives for enhanced oil recovery.
The second letter, voicing opposition to expanding 45Q by more than 40 local, state and national groups, called on lawmakers not to overlook the disproportionate burden of the tax credit on frontline communities already most impacted by an expanding fossil fuel industry and unfolding climate crisis. It stated in no uncertain terms that policies that funnel billions of taxpayer dollars to extend the life of polluting power plants while also supporting increased oil production are not climate solutions.
Quotes from Letter Signers:
Janet Redman, U.S. Policy Director, Oil Change International:
"U.S. taxpayers already subsidize the fossil fuel industry to the tune for more than $20 billion every year. Now polluters want more money in the name of fighting climate change? It's a no-brainer. Subsidizing coal, gas, and oil companies is never a climate solution."
Yvette Arellano, Policy Director, Houston-based Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS):
"It's unconscionable for Congress to contemplate billions in new handouts to Big Oil while our community is still recovering from a climate disaster. This tax credit is a win for the fossil fuel industry, but a loss for the climate, for taxpayers, and for fenceline communities, like ours, living in the shadow of fossil fuel infrastructure."
Cynthia Mellon, Policy Coordinator, Climate Justice Alliance:
"Increasing subsidies for oil producers, as the FUTURE Act and Carbon Capture Act are designed to do, will not bring desperately needed cuts in carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the majority people of color and low-income communities located near old oil and gas development sites continue to be exposed to the pollutants used in Enhanced Oil Recovery. This is not the way forward for the climate or our communities."
Mark Antoniewicz, Director of Communications, Hip Hop Caucus:
"It's unconscionable that Congress is considering to give even more of our hard earned tax dollars to the fossil fuel industry instead of investing in clean energy solutions to climate change. It simply doesn't make sense for our health, economic opportunity, and obligation to protect the planet for our kids."
Andrew Grinberg, National Campaigns Special Projects Manager, Clean Water Action:
"Instead of subsidizing fossil fuel extraction, Congress should be working to increase protections for our water and climate. Enhanced oil recovery puts sources of drinking water at risk and extends the life of dirty oil fields creating toxic wastewater and air pollution. Encouraging more enhanced recovery is especially problematic since oversight of oil and gas injection activities relies on outdated rules, and regulators lack the data, staffing levels and resources to ensure its safety."
William Snape, Senior Counsel, Center for Biological Diversity:
"It is the height of absurdity to pay the oil and gas industry for waste to be used to produce even more dirty fossil fuels. We need expansive clean renewable options not more subsidies for Exxon-Mobil and their ilk."
Sarah Saylor, Senior Legislative Rep., Earthjustice:
"Our planet cannot afford to exploit any more fossil fuels, and our nation cannot afford to hand an additional $2.8billion per year to fossil fuel interests. We need to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency and stop incentivizing fossil fuel investments that will only make climate change worse."
Aaron Mintzes, Senior Policy Counsel, Earthworks:
"We need to eliminate, not increase, subsidies to this form of drilling that threatens our drinking water. Dressing up this new subsidy as a climate solution makes it worse, not better. We need to transition away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible to protect our health and climate."
Jason Kowalski, Policy Director, 350.org:
"Enhanced oil recovery subsidies would shoot climate action in the foot. Did Congress learn nothing from hurricane season this year? We need leaders coming together around real solutions to climate change: 100% clean energy and an end to new fossil fuel infrastructure."
Ben Schreiber, Senior Political Strategist, Friends of the Earth:
"Carbon capture and sequestration is not now, and it never will be, a viable solution to our climate crisis. If we are going to have any hope of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, Congress must stop wasting money on false solutions."
Oil Change International is a research, communications, and advocacy organization focused on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy.
(202) 518-9029LATEST NEWS
Wyden Says Spying Bill Would Force Americans to Become an 'Agent for Big Brother'
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Sen. Ron Wyden.
Apr 17, 2024
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to speak out against a chilling mass surveillance bill that lawmakers are working to rush through the upper chamber and send to President Joe Biden's desk by the end of the week.
The measure in question would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for two years and massively expand the federal government's warrantless surveillance power by requiring a wide range of businesses and individuals to cooperate with spying efforts.
"If you have access to any communications, the government can force you to help it spy," said Wyden (Ore.), referring to an amendment that was tacked on to the legislation by the U.S. House last week with bipartisan support. "That means anyone with access to a server, a wire, a cable box, a Wi-Fi router, a phone, or a computer. So think for a moment about the millions of Americans who work in buildings and offices in which communications are stored or pass through."
"After all, every office building in America has data cables running through it," the senator continued. "The people are not just the engineers who install, maintain, and repair our communications infrastructure; there are countless others who could be forced to help the government spy, including those who clean offices and guard buildings. If this provision is enacted, the government can deputize any of these people against their will, and force them in effect to become what amounts to an agent for Big Brother—for example, by forcing an employee to insert a USB thumb drive into a server at an office they clean or guard at night."
Wyden said the process "can all happen without any oversight whatsoever: The FISA Court won't know about it, Congress won't know about it. Americans who are handed these directives will be forbidden from talking about it. Unless they can afford high-priced lawyers with security clearances who know their way around the FISA Court, they will have no recourse at all."
Wyden's remarks came after the Senate narrowly approved a motion Tuesday to proceed to the FISA reauthorization bill ahead of Section 702's expiration at the end of the week. The Oregon senator, an outspoken privacy advocate, was among the seven members of the Democratic caucus who voted against the procedural motion.
Despite its grave implications for civil liberties, the bill has drawn relatively little vocal opposition in the Senate. A final vote could come as soon as Thursday.
Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant.
Privacy advocates warn RISAA would dramatically expand the scope of Section 702 by broadening the kinds of individuals and businesses required to participate in government spying. A key provision of the bill would mandate cooperation from "electronic communications service providers" such as Google, Verizon, and AT&T as well as "any other service provider who has access to equipment that is being or may be used" to transmit or store electronic communications.
That would mean U.S. intelligence agencies could, without a warrant, compel gyms, grocery stores, barber shops, and other businesses to hand over communications data.
"In the face of the pervasive past misuse of Section 702, the last thing Americans need is a large expansion of government surveillance," Caitlin Vogus, deputy director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, wrote in an op-ed for The Guardian on Tuesday. "The Senate should reject the House bill and refuse to reauthorize Section 702 without a warrant requirement. Lawmakers must demand reforms to put a stop to unjustified government spying on Americans."
Wyden said during his floor speech Tuesday that some of his colleagues "say they aren't worried about President Biden abusing these authorities."
"In that case, how about [former President Donald] Trump? Imagine these authorities in his hands," said Wyden. "If you're worried about having a president who lives to target vulnerable Americans, to pit Americans against each other, to find every conceivable way to punish perceived enemies, you ought to find this bill terrifying."
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More than two dozen House Democrats on Tuesday challenged the Biden administration's claim that Israel is using U.S.-supplied weapons in compliance with domestic and international law—an assertion made amid an ongoing World Court probe of "plausibly" genocidal Israeli policies and practices in Gaza.
Citing "mounting credible and deeply troubling reports and allegations" of human rights crimes committed by Israeli troops in Gaza and soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank, 26 congressional Democrats led by Texas Reps. Veronica Escobar—who co-chairs President Joe Biden's reelection campaign—and Joaquin Castro asked U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines "whether and how" their agencies determined Israel is lawfully using arms provided by Washington.
"We write to express our deep concern regarding the U.S. Department of State's recent comments regarding assurances from the Israeli government, under National Security Memorandum (NSM) 20, that the Israeli government is using U.S.-origin weapons in full compliance with relevant U.S. and international law and is not restricting the delivery of humanitarian assistance," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Cabinet members.
The letter acknowledges the "grave concerns" of institutions and experts around the world regarding Israel's "conduct throughout the war in Gaza, its policies regarding civilian harm and military targeting, unauthorized expansion of settlements and settler violence in the West Bank, and potential use of U.S. arms by settlers, in additional to limitations on humanitarian aid supported by the U.S."
The legislators noted Israeli attacks on aid convoys, workers, and recipients—like the February 29 "
Flour Massacre" in which nearly 900 starving Palestinians were killed or wounded at a food distribution site—and "the closure of vital border crossings" as Gazan children starve to death as causes for serious concern.
While the lawmakers didn't mention the International Court of Justice's January 26
preliminary finding that Israel is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza, their letter highlights the "stark differences and gaps in the statements" made by Biden administration officials and "those made by prominent experts and global institutions"—many of whom accuse Israel of genocide.
The lawmakers' letter came amid reports of fresh Israeli atrocities, including a drone strike on a playground in the Maghazi refugee camp in northern Gaza that killed at least 11 children. Eyewitnesses described a "horrific scene of children torn apart."
While Biden has called out Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza—much of it carried out using U.S.-supplied warplanes and munitions including 2,000-pound bombs that can level whole city blocks—his administration has approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel, has repeatedly sidestepped Congress to fast-track emergency armed aid, and is seeking to provide the key ally with billions of dollars in addition weaponry atop the nearly $4 billion it gets annually from Washington.
This, despite multiple federal laws—and the administration's own rules— prohibiting U.S. arms transfers to human rights violators.
According to Palestinian and international officials, more than 110,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces since October 7. Most of the dead are women and children. At least 7,000 Palestinians are also missing and presumed dead and buried beneath the rubble of hundreds of thousands of bombed-out homes and other buildings.
Around 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been forcibly displaced in what many Palestinians are calling a second Nakba, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Arabs from Palestine during the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
A growing number of not only progressive lawmakers but also mainstream Democrats are calling for a suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel.
On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who was criticized earlier in the war for not calling for a cease-fire—stood beside a photo of a starving Gazan girl while declaring "no more money for" the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his "war machine."
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'Weasel Words': Julian Assange's Wife Slams US Assurances to UK
"The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism."
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The wife of jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sharply criticized "assurances" the U.S. government made as the U.K. High Court considers allowing the 52-year-old Australian's extradition to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison.
The U.S. document states that if extradited, "Assange will have the ability to raise and seek to rely upon at trial (which includes any sentencing hearing) the rights and protections given under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States," though it points out that "a decision as to the applicability of the First Amendment is exclusively within the purview of the U.S. courts."
"A sentence of death will neither be sought nor imposed on Assange," the document adds, noting that he has not been charged with any offense for which that is a possible punishment. It comes after the U.K. court ruled last month that the Biden administration had until Tuesday to confirm that he wouldn't face the death penalty and if it did not, he could continue appealing his extradition.
Responding on social media, his wife, Stella Assange—who is an attorney—blasted the U.S. assurances as "weasel words."
"The United States has issued a nonassurance in relation to the First Amendment, and a standard assurance in relation to the death penalty," she said. "It makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution's previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen."
"The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
"Instead, the U.S. has limited itself to blatant weasel words claiming that Julian can 'seek to raise' the First Amendment if extradited," she added. "The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in U.S. prison for publishing award-winning journalism. The Biden administration must drop this dangerous prosecution before it is too late."
The U.K. court's next hearing is scheduled for May 20. Last week, reporters asked U.S. President Joe Biden about requests from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and members of the country's Parliament to drop the extradition effort and charges. He said that "we're considering it."
So far, the Biden administration has ignored significant pressure from Australian and U.S. politicians as well as human rights and press freedom groups, and continued to pursue the extradition of Julian Assange, who was charged under former President Donald Trump—the Republican expected to face the Democratic president in the November election.
Assange was charged under the Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for publishing classified documents including the "Collateral Murder" video and the Afghan and Iraq war logs. Since British authorities dragged Assange out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London—where he lived with political asylum for seven years—he has been jailed in the city's Belmarsh Prison.
The WikiLeaks founder's wife, with whom he has two children, was not alone in condemning the U.S. assurances on Tuesday.
"This 'assurance' should make journalists even more worried about how the Assange prosecution could impact press freedom in the U.S. and globally. The U.K. should grant Assange's appeal and refuse to extradite him," said the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "The U.S. doesn't disclaim the ability to argue that the First Amendment doesn't apply to Assange because of his nationality or other reasons, or for a court to rule against a First Amendment challenge to his prosecution."
Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, similarly said that "no one who cares about press freedom should take any comfort at all from the United States' assurance that Assange will be permitted to 'rely upon' the First Amendment."
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"So the government's First Amendment assurances aren't responsive at all to the concerns that press freedom advocates have been raising," he concluded. "This case poses essentially the same threat to press freedom today as it did yesterday."
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