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For Immediate Release
September, 04 2019, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Mark Hefflinger, Bold Nebraska, 323-972-5192, mark@boldnebraska.org
Collin Rees, Oil Change U.S., 308-293-3159, collin@priceofoil.org
Democratic Presidential Candidates Sign "NoKXL Pledge" to Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline on Day One if Elected
As candidates gear up for CNN and MSNBC Climate Forums, activists push for clarity on fossil fuel infrastructure
Hastings, NE
After delivering a letter asking all of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to sign the "NoKXL Pledge" on Aug. 13, so far ten of the candidates have signed onto the pledge -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Jay Inslee (no longer in the race), Sen. Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Sec. Julian Castro, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Kamala Harris -- making it clear that on Day One in office they will revoke the unprecedented, unilateral permit that President Trump issued for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
Over the years, Democratic candidates and elected officials have made it clear that there is a link between building new fossil fuel infrastructure and climate change. Before the Keystone XL fight, even the Democratic Party supported building more pipelines, without regard to how this infrastructure locks us into additional decades of fossil fuel dependence and worsens climate change.
The #NoKXL Pledge is backed by a coalition of farmers, ranchers, Tribal Nations and environmental groups that have been fighting the proposed Keystone XL tarsands export pipeline for 10 years.
The #NoKXL Pledge specifically urges the Democratic presidential candidates to pledge to:
- Immediately revoke the unilateral permits issued by President Trump for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines;
- Direct all federal agencies (State Department, FERC, Army Corps) to submit these two projects -- as well as all new energy infrastructure projects -- to a true climate test;
- Reject any project that will exacerbate our climate crisis; and
- Protect property rights from eminent domain abuse and honor U.S. treaties with sovereign Tribal Nations.
View letter to Democratic candidates urging them to take the 'NoKXL Pledge':
Online petition urging candidates to sign the NoKXL Pledge:
https://boldnebraska.org/nokxlpledge
"NoKXL Pledge" Coalition Co-Sponsors:
Bold Nebraska & Bold Alliance
Nebraska Easement Action Team
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Indigenous Environmental Network
350.org Action
Greenpeace USA
CREDO
Oil Change U.S.
Friends of the Earth Action
Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund
Climate Hawks Vote
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Progressive Democrats of America
NYC Grassroots Alliance
Earth Action
Bucks Environmental Network
Greenbelt Climate Action Network
Anthropocene Alliance
New York Climate Action Group
Coalition Against the Rockaway Pipeline
Coalition Against the Pilgrim Pipeline
Seeding Sovereignty
MN 350
Bold Alliance is a non-profit organization fighting fossil fuel projects, protecting landowners against eminent domain abuse, and working for clean energy solutions while building an engaged base of citizens who care about the land, water and climate change.
LATEST NEWS
‘Long-Overdue Justice’: EU Court Rules Ireland Let Apple Avoid $14.4 Billion in Taxes
"This ruling exposes E.U. tax havens' love affair with multinationals."
Sep 10, 2024
The European Union's highest court on Tuesday ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland, determining that the country gave the company illegal tax benefits in the past, in what campaigners called a victory for tax justice.
The E.U. Court of Justice ruling brought to a close a landmark case that began in 2016 when the European Commission ordered Apple to pay the €13 billion ($14.4 billion) based on an unfair tax arrangement the company had with Ireland from 1991 until 2014. A lower court overturned the commission's order in 2020, but Tuesday's ruling, which is final, restores it.
Observers viewed the case as among the most important brought by E.U. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, an antitrust official who's been in office since 2014.
"It's important to show European taxpayers that once in a while, tax justice can be done," Vestager, who leaves office in two weeks, said following Tuesday's ruling.
Chiara Putaturo, a tax policy adviser at Oxfam EU, said in a statement that "this ruling exposes E.U. tax havens' love affair with multinationals. It delivers long-overdue justice after over a decade of Ireland standing by and allowing Apple to dodge taxes."
Today is a huge win for European citizens and tax justice.
👉In its final judgment, @EUCourtPress confirms @EU_Commission 2016 decision: Ireland granted illegal aid to @Apple.
Ireland now has to release up to 13 billion euros of unpaid taxes.
— Margrethe Vestager (@vestager) September 10, 2024
The European Commission argued that the selective tax benefits that Ireland had offered to two Apple subsidiaries amounted to illegal state aid that hindered competition. The company's tax burden in Ireland, where its European operations have been based since 1980, was as low as 0.005% of its profits in 2014.
In November of last year, Giovanni Pitruzzella, the advocate general of the E.U. Court of Justice, issued an opinion in favor of the commission's position and against the lower court ruling, in a setback for the tech giant. The high court, which is based in Luxembourg, generally agrees with its advocate general following such recommendations, as it ultimately did on Tuesday.
The €13 billion, plus interest, has been held in an escrow account since 2018 and will be released to Ireland, even though the country fought against the commission's order. Ireland said it would respect the court ruling.
Ireland is often characterized a tax haven within the E.U. and hosts the European headquarters for many multinational firms, with critics charging that its tax system drives up inequality.
Tax justice campaigners said Tuesday's ruling should just be a start and that more fundamental reforms are needed at the international and E.U. level.
"Our tax problem is more than just one rotten apple," Tove Maria Ryding, a policy manager at the European Network on Debt and Development, said in a statement.
"The international system for taxing multinational corporations continues to be deeply complex, unpredictable and unfair," she added, arguing that a company's economic activity across many countries, including in the Global South, shouldn't mean tax revenues only for one country such as Ireland.
Ryding praised the United Nations' efforts to establish a global tax convention, calling the proposal a "beacon of hope for a fairer future."
Putaturo of Oxfam likewise called for a fairer tax system in Europe.
"While this ruling will force the tech giant to pay its debt, the root of the issue is far from solved," she said. "E.U. tax havens can still make sweetheart tax deals with big multinationals. The duty to stop this rests on the shoulders of E.U. policymakers. Yet, they have turned a blind eye to tax havens within their borders and the harmful race to the bottom that countries like Ireland are instigating."
Oxfam EU also called for the closing of tax loopholes and the establishment of a wealth tax.
The Apple case was not the only victory for Vestager, the antitrust chief, on Tuesday: The E.U. Court of Justice also ruled that Google had illegally used its search engine dominance to favor its own shopping service, fining the company €2.4 billion ($2.65 billion).
Bloomberg on Tuesday called it a "double boost to the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech," and said that Vestager's past work had "paved the way" for the U.S. and the U.K. to take action against Google.
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Pacific Islands Push ICC to Recognize Ecocide as International Crime
"This is a moment of generational change, one that is needed to safeguard our environment and signal to coming generations that the world is truly serious about doing so," said one legal expert on ecocide.
Sep 10, 2024
Campaigners against ecocide, the destruction of nature, applauded what one leader called a "key moment" in the fight to protect the natural world and communities that are most vulnerable to climate damage on Monday as three Pacific island nations proposed that the International Criminal Court formally recognize the crime.
Vanuatu, which first made a similar proposal in 2019, was joined by Samoa and Fiji in submitting the proposal to the ICC, which was established in 2002 to prosecute cases regarding genocide and crimes against humanity.
"Vanuatu considers it imperative that the international community takes this conversation seriously, and we warmly invite all member states to engage," said Ralph Regenvanu, special envoy for climate change and environment for Vanuatu, in a statement. "Legal recognition of severe and widespread environmental harm holds significant potential to ensure justice and, crucially, to deter further destruction."
The recognition of environmental and ecosystem destruction as a crime could allow the court to prosecute individuals accused of ecocide, such executives of pollution-causing companies whose activities are linked to planetary heating and the sea-level rise and intense storms small island nations increasingly face and officials of governments that continue to emit high levels of greenhouse gases.
Philippe Sands, a law professor at University College London and co-chair of an expert panel on the legal definition of ecocide, said that as drafted, the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, "cannot adequately address environmental harms" and must be changed to reflect "a growing recognition that severe environmental destruction deserves the same legal accountability as other grave international crimes that focus on the human."
"People clearly understand that the most severe forms of environmental destruction harm all of us, and that there is real deterrent potential in creating personal criminal liability for top decision-makers."
“There is a manifest gap in the statute of the ICC, and ecocide is now firmly on the agenda, a vital and necessary moment for an effective international law," said Sands. "This is a moment of generational change, one that is needed to safeguard our environment and signal to coming generations that the world is truly serious about doing so."
Sands told The Guardian that he is "100% certain" that ecocide will ultimately be recognized as an international crime, but with the matter tabled for a full discussion by the ICC at a later date, a long deliberation process is expected.
The Pacific nations introduced the proposal at the ICC days after the Global Commons Survey, conducted by Ipsos UK, found that 72% of people in G20 countries believe ecocide should be recognized as a crime.
Jojo Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Stop Ecocide International, said last week that "widespread civil society demand" has driven the European Union to recognize "conduct comparable to ecocide" as a "qualified" offense, and Belgium to adopt ecocide as a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines as high as $1.8 million.
"We're seeing significant policy shifts in favor of ecocide legislation at the domestic, regional, and international levels," said Mehta. "People clearly understand that the most severe forms of environmental destruction harm all of us, and that there is real deterrent potential in creating personal criminal liability for top decision-makers. Damage prevention is always the best policy, which is precisely what ecocide law is about."
Some of the world's biggest polluters, including the United States, China, and Russia, are not member states of the ICC, and could challenge the court's jurisdiction if accused of ecocide—but Mehta said Monday that "by establishing legal consequences, we create a guardrail that compels decision-makers to prioritize safety for people and planet, fundamentally altering how they approach their obligations."
"We also create a route to justice for the worst harms," she said, "whether they occur in times of conflict or in times of peace."
Regenvanu said Vanuatu has prioritized the recognition of ecocide as a crime after suffering significant climate damage for years, with the government already having relocated six towns due to irreversible sea level rise.
"Environmental and climate loss and damage in Vanuatu is devastating our island economy, submerging our territory, and threatening livelihoods. This tragedy is not unique to Vanuatu but is shared by many small island nations that, despite bearing the least responsibility for the crisis, suffer most from its impacts," said Regenvanu. "We urge ICC member states to take note of the very substantial civil society support for this initiative around the world as it moves forward in this crucial discussion."
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Tlaib Says US Has Sent a Message: 'Israel Can Kill Americans and Get Away With It'
"Dear Americans, if you are killed by the Israeli government, our country won't care," the Michigan Democrat lamented. "No one will be held accountable."
Sep 10, 2024
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Monday that the Biden administration has effectively communicated to the world that the Israeli military "can kill Americans and get away with it," a comment that came hours before the Israel Defense Forces predictably concluded that its killing of a U.S. citizen in the occupied West Bank was accidental.
"Dear Americans, if you are killed by the Israeli government, our country won't care," Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote in response to remarks from U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, who deferred to the Israeli military's internal investigation when asked about the killing of 26-year-old Turkish American citizen and human rights activist Aysenur Eygi last week at a protest in the illegally occupied West Bank.
"No one will be held accountable," Tlaib added. "It doesn't matter who you are, Israel can kill Americans and get away with it."
.@iclalturan: Eyewitnesses say she was killed by Israeli sniper, autopsy says she was shot in the head…do you have any doubt
Patel: I appreciate all you’re sharing but our partners Israel are conducting a process
Rabia: Her family wants an independent investigation, would you… pic.twitter.com/5EqxXpYKSQ
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) September 9, 2024
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said in a statement following its inquiry into the killing of Eygi last week that it is "highly likely that she was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire" which was aimed not at her but at another demonstrator, whom Israel characterized as a "key instigator" of a "riot."
"Israel has sent a request to carry out an autopsy," the IDF said.
Ghassan Daghlas, the governor of the West Bank city Nablus, saidSaturday that an autopsy conducted at a nearby university "confirmed that Eygi was killed by an Israeli occupation sniper's bullet to her head." Eyewitnesses have also said Eygi was deliberately shot in the head, pushing back on the IDF's narrative.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in response to the IDF's findings that "no one should be shot and killed for attending a protest" and declared that "Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way they operate in the West Bank, including changes in their rules of engagement."
Blinken, who recently signed off on a $20 billion sale of U.S. weaponry to Israel, did not specify the changes the U.S. wants to see, nor did he suggest there would be any consequences if the Israeli government refuses to implement them.
The United States' top diplomat also did not say the Biden administration would launch its own investigation of Eygi's killing.
Over the weekend, as Common Dreamsreported, Eygi's family said in a statement that an internal Israeli probe was "not adequate" and called on the Biden administration to "order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties."
Eygi is at least the third U.S. citizen Israeli forces have killed in the West Bank since the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Since then, Israeli forces and violent far-right settlers have operated with near-total impunity in the occupied Palestinian territories, killing tens of thousands of people in Gaza and hundreds in the West Bank, including one child every two days.
Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, said Monday that "the Biden Administration should be launching its own investigation into the killing of an American citizen."
"Instead," he added, "it's deflecting and deferring to Israel to hold its own soldiers and settlers accountable, which Israel has repeatedly failed to do."
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