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For Immediate Release
November, 05 2021, 10:04am EDT
Friday November, 05 2021, 10:04am EDT
Contact:
Collin Rees, collin@priceofoil.org
COP26 Pressure Builds: New Advertisement Urges Biden to Reject All New Gas Exports Following Announcement of Methane Regulations and All New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
Advertisement asks Biden and U.S. delegates “Would climate leaders build 399 new coal plants?” to highlight equivalent emissions damage by gas export terminals and pipelines currently under federal review
GLASGOW
GLASGOW - This week, U.S. environmental and climate justice groups launched a new print ad in The Herald, Scotland's largest daily newspaper, calling on President Biden and the United States delegation to reject 23 liquefied natural gas terminals and pipelines sitting on their desks for approval.
Collectively, these new fossil fuel projects would unleash greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 399 new coal plants -- in effect, doubling the number of existing coal-fired power plants in the U.S., according to a new report by Oil Change International. The ad was produced by Frack Action in collaboration with People vs. Fossil Fuels, Food & Water Watch, and Oil Change International, which are members of the Build Back Fossil Free coalition.
The ad follows the Biden Administration's Tuesday announcement of new regulations to limit methane leaks from roughly one million existing oil and gas rigs across the United States. President Biden called the new rules a "game-changing commitment." However, the U.S. is still on track to become the largest exporter of methane, or liquefied natural gas, which has 87 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.
"At a critical time when we need to rapidly phase out fossil fuel production and wind down our emissions, allowing even one of these fossil fuel infrastructure projects to move forward would undermine our global climate goals. The fact that dozens of LNG and pipeline projects are being seriously considered for approval by the Biden Administration is deeply alarming, and this should put the United States on the hotseat in Glasgow during the rest of COP26," said Collin Rees, U.S. Program Manager at Oil Change International.
"The new methane regulations put a bandaid on the problem. Even if we're leaking less methane in the U.S., we're still pulling it out of the ground, transporting it around the country, and then leaking or burning it overseas. To limit global warming to 1.5oC, the U.S. must ultimately stop building new export terminals and pipelines that prop up this dangerous fossil fuel worldwide," said Julia Walsh, Director at Frack Action.
"No world leader could credibly claim to be a climate champion without tackling fossil fuel development head-on. This includes cutting dangerous greenhouse gas emissions off at the source by halting new drilling and fracking, and canceling new oil and gas infrastructure projects. President Biden has a stark choice: to lead by acting decisively against fossil fuels, or to continue down the current path to irrevocable climate chaos," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director at Food & Water Watch.
Recently, the United Nations Environment Program and leading think-tanks released the latest Production Gap report, which shows that the United States' and other countries' current oil, gas and coal production is far too high to keep global warming below the 1.5oC target ratified in the Paris Agreement. According to the report, countries are on track to produce 240% more coal, 57% more oil, and 71% more gas than the world can burn without breaching those targets.
Dozens of representatives of the Build Back Fossil Free coalition are currently in Glasgow for COP26 to make clear that the only way for the administration to meet its climate commitments is to act decisively on fossil fuels. This pressure follows the coalition's historic People vs. Fossil Fuels week of action last month in Washington, D.C., where thousands of people marched to the White House and over 650 people were arrested while urging the Administration to exercise executive authority to stop new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency.
Click here to see the new advertisement in Scotland's The Herald.
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
Trump Tariffs Are Burdening US Families With 'Back-to-School Tax': Analysis
"Trump's back-to-school message to America's families is crystal clear: Don't expect help, just expect less," said one expert.
Aug 14, 2025
Families of students across the United States are facing significantly higher prices for basic supplies as the new school year begins, a cost burden that a new analysis blames on President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs and the massive Republican budget package he signed into law last month.
The analysis, conducted by The Century Foundation (TCF) and Groundwork Collaborative, estimates that prices for supplies such as index cards have surged by more than 40% this year.
Lunch staples have also gotten more expensive, with U.S. families set to pay roughly $163 more on average for juice boxes, strawberries, and other such items this year, according to the new analysis, which characterized the higher costs as a "back-to-school tax" imposed by the president.
"President Trump's policies are forcing families to foot higher bills for back-to-school essentials from binders and lunch-box staples to clothes, shoes, and even laptops," said TCF senior fellow Rachel West. "From his reckless tariffs to his budget law slashing food assistance and federal student loans, Trump's back-to-school message to America's families is crystal clear: Don't expect help, just expect less."
The analysis was released just as new economic data further underscored the impact of Trump's tariffs on prices across the economy, with wholesale prices registering their largest monthly gain since June 2022.
TCF and Groundwork's findings align with a recent survey by the research firm Deloitte, which found that nearly half of U.S. parents and caregivers believe lunch costs on school days will be higher this year than in 2024.
Liz Pancotti, Groundwork's managing director of policy and advocacy, said Thursday that "President Trump's tax and tariff policies have turned the back-to-school season into a budgeting nightmare for hardworking American families."
"From lunch boxes and notebooks to juice boxes and pencils, parents are being squeezed at every turn—paying more for the school supplies and meals their kids need to succeed," said Pancotti. "No family should have to struggle to afford the basics while the wealthy and well-connected cash in on massive tax breaks they do not need."
"Trump's tax and tariff policies have turned the back-to-school season into a budgeting nightmare for hardworking American families."
The budget law that Trump signed last month is set to deliver trillions of dollars in tax breaks largely to the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations while making unprecedented cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid.
Those programs are used in states across the country to determine eligibility for free or reduced-cost school meals, and cuts inflicted by the Trump-GOP law are expected to leave more than 18 million children across the U.S. without access to free school meals in the coming years.
"President Trump's policies—including his erratic, punitive tariffs—are squeezing families' budgets as they prepare to return to school," TCF and Groundwork said Thursday. "Not only has Trump failed to keep his promises to tackle high prices, but his massive budget law will soon drive costs even higher for back-to-school essentials as its cuts to programs that children, families, and college students depend on take hold."
EJ Antoni, Trump's Pick for Key Economic Post, Spotted in Jan 6 MAGA Mob
"The inmates are not only running the asylum. They're bringing in more inmates to help," said one observer.
Aug 14, 2025
EJ Antoni, President Donald Trump's controversial nominee to head the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was among the insurrectionist mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, NBC News revealed Wednesday.
Video footage archived from the right-wing social media site Parler and posted online by a Republican-led congressional subcommittee shows Antoni among the crowd about half an hour before the MAGA mob began breaching barricades, attacking police, and swarming the Capitol. He is also seen walking away from the crowd.
The White House attempted to downplay the news, with spokesperson Taylor Rogers saying that "these pictures show E.J. Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area."
"E.J. was in town for meetings, and it is wrong and defamatory to suggest E.J. engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal," Rogers added.
See the man circled here? That's E.J. Antoni, Trump's Bureau of Labor Statistics nominee, walking through a crowd of Capitol rioters.#ICYMI, we've got an archive of 500+ Parler videos taken during Jan. 6. You can spot Antoni starting at around 1:41 here: projects.propublica.org/parler-capit...
[image or embed]
— ProPublica (@propublica.org) August 14, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Other MAGA figures also defended Antoni. Felonious fraudster Steve Bannon, who pleaded guilty in a border wall fundraising fraud case this year, said Thursday on his War Room podcast: "They came up with a photo of E.J. Antoni in the crowd outside the Capitol on January 6, and NBC went absolutely nuts over it. I think it makes E.J. even more based. I didn't know that about E.J.—makes us want him even more."
Critics, however, expressed alarm, given the important post to which Antoni was nominated.
"We just discovered a Trump [Department of Justice] official was at January 6, telling other traitors to 'kill' police," journalist and attorney Adam Cohen wrote on the social media site Bluesky, referring to Jared Wise, who was pardoned by Trump.
"Now we learn Trump's BLS nominee, E.J. Antoni—apart from being totally unqualified—was ALSO part of the insurrection," Cohen added. "The inmates are not only running the asylum. They're bringing in MORE inmates to help."
The West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women noted on the social media site X that "Trump fired the vetted woman who reported honest stats on job losses. His new guy was in the mob on January 6 and wrote Project 2025."
Journalist Ahmed Baba wrote on X: "So, E.J. Antoni is the chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, a contributor to Project 2025, and was literally outside the Capitol on January 6. This is who Trump wants to be in charge of the BLS data that shapes global decisions and moves markets—an extremist sycophant."
Trump nominated Antoni after firing former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom the president accused without evidence of manipulating employment statistics to discredit him and other Republicans.
Trump-GOP Medicaid Cuts Already Causing Healthcare Havoc in Multiple States
"These reductions may cause some providers to stop accepting Medicaid patients," said a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Aug 14, 2025
The cuts to Medicaid contained in the recently passed Republican budget law are already having a damaging impact in multiple states, as both local hospitals and state governments struggle financially to make up funding gaps.
As NC Newsline reported on Wednesday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has announced plans to cut Medicaid spending by $319 million starting on October 1, which the publication said "means the state will reduce rates by 3% to all medical providers, as well as cuts of 8-10% for inpatient and residential services and 10% for behavioral therapy and analysis for patients with autism."
NCDHHS spokesperson Summer Tonizzo did not sugarcoat the impact that the cuts would have on services for Medicaid patients in her state. She said that services including hospice care, behavioral health long-term care, and nursing home services could see reimbursement cuts significantly steeper than 3%.
"These reductions may cause some providers to stop accepting Medicaid patients, as the lowered rates could make it financially unsustainable to continue offering care," she said.
The Tar Heel State isn't the only one reeling from Medicaid cuts, as Colorado Public Radio reported that the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which manages the state's Medicaid program, held a webinar this week in which it outlined plans to, in the words of department director Kim Bimestefer, "mitigate the loss of coverage and its catastrophic consequences to Coloradans, providers, and the economy."
This will be easier said than done, however, as Colorado Public Radio noted that numbers reviewed by the department estimate that "hundreds of thousands" of residents in the state could lose healthcare access thanks to cuts from the GOP budget package.
In addition to people who will lose coverage thanks to the work requirements passed in the legislation, an estimated 112,000 people who buy health insurance policies from state exchanges could lose it after the expected expiration of enhanced tax credits passed by Democrats during former President Joe Biden's term.
Taking a look at the broader nationwide picture, Stateline reported that even some Republicans attending the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Boston this week expressed anxiety about the impact the cuts will have on the people whom they represent.
The publication quoted Oklahoma state Sen. John Haste, who said during the summit that he was particularly concerned about the impact the cuts would have on rural communities. Among other things, he pointed to a provision in the law that will deliver a $209 million cut in Medicaid funds to Oklahoma, as well as the fact that complying with work requirement verifications will cost an estimated $30 million.
"All of those things added together come up to a really big number," said Haste. "We don't know exactly what that is."
Hawaii Democratic state Sen. Ronald Kouchi said during the summit that the impact of the Medicaid cuts would be absolutely brutal, but added that the only thing Democrats can do for now is make sure their voters know whom to blame for what's happening.
"Who's going to be blamed when people are left out, when people are hungry and they lose out on educational opportunities?" he asked during a panel discussion. "If we as state legislators do not convey that it is a result of the decisionmakers in Washington, D.C., they will be at our doorstep as the place of last resort."
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