January, 19 2022, 09:56am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.
Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, Western Environmental Law Center, (575) 613-4197, eriksg@westernlaw.org
Brittany Miller, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0746, bmiller@foe.org
Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians, (303) 437-7663, jnichols@wildearthguardians.
Lori Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, (703) 216-8565, lharrison@waterkeeper.org
Dan Ritzman, Sierra Club, (206) 573-5451, dan.ritzman@sierraclub.org
Legal Petition Calls On Biden to Phase Out Federal Oil, Gas by 2035
More than 360 climate, tribal, religious and conservation groups
WASHINGTON
More than 360 climate, tribal, religious and conservation groups petitioned the Biden administration today to use its executive authority to phase out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans.
The petition provides a framework to manage a decline of oil and gas production to near zero by 2035 through rulemaking, using long-dormant provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the National Emergencies Act. Without such action, it will become increasingly difficult for the United States to meet its pledge to help avoid 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming and its unprecedented social, environmental and economic damage.
The petition offers a way to correct the Biden administration's collapse of climate leadership, including a failing legislative agenda and Biden's broken campaign promise to end new oil and gas leasing and drilling on public lands and oceans.
Several analyses show that climate pollution from the world's already-producing fossil fuel developments, if fully developed, would push warming past 1.5 degrees Celsius, and that avoiding such warming requires ending new investment in fossil fuel projects.
At November's COP26 summit in Glasgow, Biden called climate change "an existential threat to human existence" and pledged to cut U.S. emissions by up to 51% over the next nine years. Days later the administration offered 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, and it plans to offer more than 300,000 acres of public lands leases in March.
The Department of the Interior's review of the federal oil and gas programs effectively ignored climate, calling instead for adjustments to royalties, bids and bonding.
Meanwhile, the administration has continued to approve drilling permits onshore at a rate that outpaces the Trump administration, with more than 3,500 permits approved since taking office.
Federal fossil fuel production causes nearly a quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas pollution, worsening the climate and extinction crises and disproportionately harming Black, Brown, Indigenous and low-wealth communities.
Quotes from Petitioners
"This petition offers a lifeline for our planet and a course correction for the Biden administration's catastrophic failure of climate leadership," said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The natural place to start phasing out climate-destroying oil and gas production is on our public lands and oceans, and Biden has the authority to do so. If the U.S. leads, the world will follow. Biden must keep his promise to end federal oil and gas extraction."
"It's time to open new doors to a thriving, resilient future for our Western U.S. public lands and communities," said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center. "This petition does just that by winding down a cause of the climate crisis: a federal public lands fossil fuels program that serves the interests of oil and gas CEOs and investors, not the public good. We urge the Biden administration to accept the petition and move forward with swift action to protect the climate and public lands."
"At this time in history, according to Anishinaabe prophecies, people have a choice between a well-worn, scorched path and one that is new and green," said Winona LaDuke, executive director for Honor the Earth. "By all measures of science, spirit and humanity, it is incumbent upon you, President Biden and Secretary Haaland, to deliver on your promises to forge that safer path, ending fossil production on public lands and waters. We worked hard to help you gain office, and you abandoned us on Line 3; here is another significant opportunity to do the right thing. Here at White Earth we are celebrating the end of the fossil era, practicing our sustainable traditions and building the new green economy. We welcome you to come see how it's done."
"Last year over 132 million Americans experienced a climate-related disaster, with extreme weather costing over $145 billion in damage and leading to more than 688 lives lost," said Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager at Friends of the Earth. "We cannot fight climate change while ignoring the fact that nearly a quarter of U.S. climate emissions come from fossil fuel extraction on public lands. It's time for President Biden to become the climate leader he claims to be and phase out fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters."
"This petition simply calls on President Biden to exercise the climate leadership he's already promised this country," said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians. "We can't confront the climate crisis unless and until we start keeping fossil fuels in the ground; it's time for the president to acknowledge and take action on this reality."
"Fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters must end or it will only intensify the already devastating impacts to our climate and waterways," said Marc Yaggi, executive director of Waterkeeper Alliance. "Indigenous and underserved communities disproportionately bear the brunt of these impacts that result from long-standing federal policies that have favored industry over public interest. It's time the Biden administration keeps its promises and uses its position of power to be a climate leader that stems the tide of fossil fuel dependence."
"Oil and gas extraction is an environmental justice issue, continuing centuries' old exploitation and assaults on our Appalachian Ohio communities while greatly contributing to the climate crisis," said Roxanne Groff of Athens County's Future Action Network. "Our region is ripe for new technologies and innovative, cost-effective clean energy to protect our air, water, forests, and climate and improve public health and our quality of life. Appalachian Ohio's Wayne National Forest can play a huge role in protecting climate. Drilling and logging it do not serve the public good and must cease. This proposed phase-out is the least the Biden administration can do toward that end."
"Right now, fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters make up a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions -- at a time scientists are saying we must move urgently to cut emissions by at least half," said Dan Ritzman, director of Sierra Club's Lands, Water, Wildlife program. "Not only does it devastate our planet, it's a handout to Big Oil at the expense of average Americans, who will bear the brunt of its societal, health, and financial ramifications. We urge the Biden Administration to take advantage of this historic opportunity to make good on campaign promises, fulfill a global commitment to acting on climate, and serve American communities by accepting this petition and phasing out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans."
List of Petitioners
Center for Biological Diversity, A Community Voice, Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE), Alaska's Big Village Network, Alianza Americas, Allamakee County Protectors - Education Campaign, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc., Animas Valley Institute, Anthropocene Alliance, Athens County's Future Action Network, Austin Climate Coalition, Baltimore, MD Phil Berrigan Memorial Chapter Veterans For Peace, Battle Creek Alliance & Defiance Canyon Raptor Rescue, Bay Area-System Change not Climate Change, Berks Gas Truth, Better Path Coalition, Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE), Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Bold Alliance, Breathe Project, Brian Setzler CPA Firm LLC, Bronx Climate Justice North, Bronx Jews for Climate Action, Bucks Environmental Action, CA Businesses for a Livable Climate, Cahaba Riverkeeper, California Democratic Party Environmental Caucus, California Nurses Association, Californians for Western Wilderness, Canton Residents for a Sustain, Canton Residents for a Sustainable, Equitable Future, Cape Downwinders, Carolina Biodiesel, LLC, Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, Catholic Network US, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Center For Ecological Living and Learning (CELL), Center for Environmental Health, Center for International Environmental Law, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War, CERBAT: Center for Environmentally Recycled Building Alternatives, Chaco Alliance, Christians For The Mountains, Church women United in New York State, Citizens Climate Lobby, LA West Chapter, Citizens for a Healthy Community, Citizens' Climate Lobby, Columbia County Chapter, Ciudadanos Del Karso, Clean Energy Action, CLEO Institute, Cleveland Owns, Climable.org, Climate Action Now Western Mass., Climate Action Rhode Island - 350, Climate Crisis Policy, Climate Defense Project, Climate Finance Action, Climate First!, Inc., Climate Hawks Vote, Climate Justice Alliance, Climate Reality Project, New Orleans Chapter, ClimateMama, Coalition Against Death Alley, Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline - NJ, Coalition for Outreach, Policy and Education, Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, Common Ground Community Trust, Communities for a Better Environment, Community Church of New York, Community for Sustainable Energy, Community Health, Concerned Health Professionals of New York, Conejo Climate Coalition, Conservation Council For Hawaii, Cooperative Energy Futures, Corvallis Climate Action Alliance, Corvallis Interfaith Climate Justice Committee, Cottonwood Environmental Law Center, Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action, DC Environmental Network, Divest LA, Don't Gas the Meadowlands Coalition, Don't Waste Arizona, Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition, Earth Action, Inc., Earth Day Initiative, Earth Ethics, Inc., EARTHDAY.ORG. Earthworks, Eco-Eating, Eco-Justice Collaborative, EcoEquity, Elders Climate Action, Electrify Corvallis, Empower our Future - Colorado, End Climate Silence, Endangered Habitats League, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, Environmental Justice Ministry, Extinction Rebellion Boston, Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area, Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition, First Wednesdays San Leandro, FLOW (For Love of Water), Food & Water Watch, Fossil Free California, Frac Sand Sentinel: Project Outreach, FrackBusters NY, FracTracker Alliance, Franciscan Action Network, FreshWater Accountability Project, Fridays for Future U.S., Friends For Environmental Justice, Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of the Earth, Fund for Wild Nature, Gas Free Seneca, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, Georgia Conservation Voters, Global Warming Education Network (GWEN), Global Witness, Golden Egg Permaculture, Grassroots Coalition, Grassroots Environmental Education, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Grays Harbor Audubon Society, Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition, Green America, Green New Deal Virginia, Green Newton Inc., Green River Action Network, Greenbelt Climate Action Network, GreenFaith, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Heal the Bay, HealthyPlanet, Heartwood, Heirs To Our Oceans, High Country Conservation Advocates, Hilton Head for Peace, Honor the Earth, Howling For Wolves, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, I-70 Citizens Advisory Group, In the Shadow of the Wolf, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, Indivisible Ambassadors, Indivisible San Jose, inNative - Business Management Consulting, Inspiration of Sedona, Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program, Interfaith EarthKeepers, Interfaith Earthkeepers Eugene/Springfield Oregon, International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, Jewish Climate Action Network, Justice & Beyond Louisiana, Karankawa Kadla, Kentucky Conservation Committee, Klamath Forest Alliance, KyotoUSA, LaPlaca and Associates LLC, L'eau Est La Vie Camp, Let There Be Light International, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution. Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper, LLCv, Long Beach Alliance for Clean Energy, Los Padres ForestWatch, Louisiana League of Conscious Voters, Love Wild Horses(r) 501c3, Lutherans Restoring Creation, Malach Consulting. Maryland Ornithological Society, Mass Peace Action, Massachusetts Forest Watch, Media Alliance, Michigan Interfaith Power & Light, Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Mission Blue, Montana Environmental Information Center, Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association, Mountain Progressives Frazier Park CA, Movement Rights, Movement Training Network, Nature Coast Conservation, Inc., NC Climate Justice, Ndn Bayou Food Forest, New Energy Economy, New Mexico Climate Justice, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, NJ State Industrial Union Council, North American Climate, Conservation and Environment, North Bronx Racial Justice, North Carolina Council of Churches, North County Earth Action, North Range Concerned Citizens, Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, NY4WHALES, NYC Friends of Clearwater, Oasis Earth, Occupy Bergen County (New Jersey), Ocean Conservation Research, Oceanic Preservation Society, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, Oil and Gas Action Network, Oil Change International, Operation HomeCare, Inc., Our Revolution, Our Revolution Massachusetts (ORMA), Partnership for Policy Integrity, PeaceWorks of Greater Brunswick, Peak Plastic Foundation, Pelican Media, People for a Healthy Environment, People's Justice Council/Alabama Interfaith Power and Light, Peoples Climate Movement - NY, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Social Responsibility Arizona, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, PlasticFreeRestaurants.org, Port Arthur Community Action Network, Presente.org, Preserve Giles County, Preserve Montgomery County VA, Progressive Democrats of America, Project Coyote, Protect Our Water AZ, Public Citizen, Public Lands Project, Rachel Carson Council, Raptors Are The Solution, RATT Pack, RE Sources, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, Renewable Energy Long Island, Resource Renewal Institute, Rio Grande International Study Center, RootsAction, Samuel Lawrence Foundation, San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sane Energy Project, Santa Barbara Standing Rock Coalition, Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Council, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, Santa Fe Forest Coalition, Save Our Illinois Land, Save The Colorado, SAVE THE FROGS!, Save the Pine Bush, SD350, Seaside Sustainability.org, SEE-LA (Social Eco Education-LA), Seeding Sovereignty, Seneca Lake Guardian, Sequoia ForestKeeper(r), Sevier Citizens for Clean Air & Water Inc., Sierra Club, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, SoCal 350 Climate Action, Social Justice Commission (Episcopal Diocese of Western MA), Society of Fearless Grandmothers-Santa Barbara, Solar Wind Works, SOMA Action, South Asian Fund For Education Scholarship and Training Inc (SAFEST), South Dakota Chapter of the Sierra Club, South Florida Wildlands Association, Southwest Native Cultures, Spottswoode Winery, Inc., Stand.earth, Stop SPOT & Gulflink, Sunflower Alliance, Sunrise LA, Susanne Moser Research & Consulting, Syracuse Cultural Workers, System Change Not Climate Change, Tennessee Riverkeeper, Terra Advocati, The Climate Mobilization North Jersey, The Consoria, The Earth Bill Network, The Enviro Show, The Green House Connection Center, The Oakland Institute, The People's Justice Council, The Quantum Institute, The Rewilding Institute, The River Project, To Nizhoni Ani, Transition Sebastopol, Tualatin Riverkeepers, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalists for a Just Economic Community, Unite North Metro Denver, United for Action, United For Clean Energy, United University Professions, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance, Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition, Upper West Side Recycling, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, UU Fellowship of Corvallis Climate Action Team, V & T Ventures, LLC, Vanderbilt dba Greenvest, Vegan Flag, Verdedenver, Vermont Yankee, Decommissioning Alliance, Veterans For Climate Justice, Volusia Climate Action, Vote Climate, Wall of Women, Wasatch Clean Air Coalition, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, WATCH, INC., Watchdogs of Southeastern PA (WaSEPA), Waterkeeper Alliance, WESPAC Foundation, Inc., West 80s Neighborhood Association, West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, West Dryden Residents Against the Pipeline, Western Environmental Law Center, Western Nebraska Resources Council, White Rabbit Grove RDNA, Wild Nature Institute, Wild Watershed, WildEarth Guardians, Wilderness Workshop, Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, Women's March Santa Barbara, Womxn from the Mountain, SafeEnergyAnalyst.org, Zero Hour, 198 Methods, 1st United Methodist Church Corvallis OR Environmental Care Team, 350 Butte County, 350 Chicago, 350 Colorado, 350 Conejo / San Fernando Valley, 350 Hawaii, 350 Humboldt, 350 Kishwaukee, 350 Marin, 350 New Hampshire, 350 New Orleans, 350 Pensacola, 350 Seattle, 350 Silicon Valley, 350 Tacoma, 350 Triangle, 7 Directions of Service
Background
Peer-reviewed science estimates that a nationwide federal fossil fuel leasing ban would reduce carbon emissions by 280 million tons per year, ranking it among the most ambitious federal climate policy proposals in recent years.
Oil, gas and coal extraction uses mines, well pads, gas lines, roads and other infrastructure that destroys habitat for wildlife, including threatened and endangered species. Oil spills and other harms from offshore drilling have done immense damage to ocean wildlife and coastal communities. Fracking and mining also pollute watersheds and waterways that provide drinking water to millions of people.
Federal fossil fuels that have not been leased to the industry contain up to 450 billion tons of potential climate pollution; those already leased to industry contain up to 43 billion tons.
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
With Help From Vance, Senate GOP Votes to Decimate Medicaid to Fund Tax Cuts for Rich
"Historians—and voters—will look back at this as a dark day in U.S. history."
Jul 01, 2025
With a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance, Senate Republicans on Tuesday narrowly passed budget legislation that includes the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in U.S. history and trillions of dollars in tax breaks that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.
The Senate tally was 50-50 prior to Vance's intervention, with Democrats unanimously opposed and Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine) crossing the aisle to vote against the bill, which now heads back to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
"JD Vance was the deciding vote to cut Medicaid across the country," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote in response to the Senate vote. "An absolute and utter betrayal of working families."
The 887-page legislation includes more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program over the next decade—cuts that would result in nearly 12 million people losing health coverage. Analysts and advocates warn the proposed cuts would have cascading effects across the country, shuttering rural hospitals and devastating state budgets.
"Senate Republicans just voted to close nursing homes and hospitals around the country. These cuts will hit rural areas hardest, but nowhere is safe," said Alex Lawson, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Social Security Works. "Even if your local hospital doesn't close, it will have more patients and fewer staff due to the loss of Medicaid funding. Half of nursing homes will lose staff, and a quarter will close. All to give trillions in tax handouts to billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos."
"In the end, billionaire political donors want a return on their investment, and Trump and Republicans are determined to give it to them with trillions in new handouts. The rest of us will suffer for it."
The measure also takes an ax to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—imperiling food aid for millions and potentially inflicting major damage to local economies across the U.S.—as well as clean energy programs, Planned Parenthood funding, and more.
Even with such seismic cuts, the Senate bill would still add more than $3 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years due to the size of the measure's tax breaks, which would flow primarily to the rich and large corporations. Experts have said that, if enacted, the Republican legislation would spur the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in a single law in U.S. history.
"This abominable bill will make history—in appalling ways," said Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. "Never before has legislation taken so much from struggling families to give so much to the richest. It makes the biggest cuts to food aid for hungry families, executes the largest cuts to healthcare ever, adds trillions to the national debt—all to give $114 billion to the richest 1% in a single year. It's no wonder that this bill is also extremely unpopular. Historians—and voters—will look back at this as a dark day in U.S. history."
The bill also contains a $150 billion boost for the Pentagon and tens of billions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"This Republican bill is about caviar over kids, hedge funds over healthcare, and Mar-a-Lago over the middle class," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. "If this becomes law, only the ultrawealthy will make it through unscathed. Every other American will be hurt in one way or another, whether it's cancer patients losing their health coverage, kids going hungry, or families being forced to pay higher utility bills and insurance premiums."
"In the end, billionaire political donors want a return on their investment, and [President Donald] Trump and Republicans are determined to give it to them with trillions in new handouts," Wyden added. "The rest of us will suffer for it. The United States will be a weaker, sicker, and poorer country as a direct result of what the Republicans are doing."
The Senate just passed the largest cut to low-income programs in a single law in US history. It would rip health insurance from more than 10 million people and take food assistance away from millions of households, including families with children and veterans.
— Bobby Kogan (@BBKogan) July 1, 2025
House Republicans are expected to move quickly to pass the Senate-approved legislation before Trump's July 4 deadline, but the bill appears likely to face significant pushback—particularly from far-right members who believe the measure's spending cuts aren't sufficiently aggressive.
Punchbowlreported that the House Rules Committee is expected to meet Tuesday "to begin to prepare the bill for floor consideration."
"The full House is expected back in Washington Wednesday morning, giving the chamber two days to pass the package before" July 4, the outlet noted.
Senate Republican leaders locked in the bill's passage after winning the support of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The American Prospect's David Dayen reported that Murkowski "was able to secure a waiver from cost-sharing provisions that would for the first time force states to pay for part of" SNAP.
"In order to get that past the Senate parliamentarian, 10 states with the highest payment error rates had to be eligible for the five-year waiver, including big states like New York and Florida, and several blue states as well," Dayen explained. "The expanded SNAP waivers mean that in the short term, only certain states with average or even below-average payment error rates will have to pay into their SNAP program; already, the language provided that states with the lowest error rates wouldn't have to pay."
After voting for the bill, Murkowski suggested that Republicans in the House should change it—meaning it would have to pass the Senate again before reaching Trump's desk.
David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, said in a statement that "this fight is not over," pointing to the House Republicans who have "voiced concern about the massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, in addition to the trillions this bill adds to the national debt."
"Since the House last voted for the bill, the Senate has only made the bill more expensive and enacted more cuts to critical programs that their constituents rely on," said Kass. "The question is: Will House members stand up for their constituents, or blindly follow Trump and his elite backers?"
Keep ReadingShow Less
US- and Israel-Backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Must Be Shut Down, Say 165+ Charities
Distribution points run by the group, warns the NGO coalition, "have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law."
Jul 01, 2025
More than 165 nongovernmental organizations on Tuesday issued a joint call to shut down the "deadly Israeli distribution scheme" for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, return to relief efforts coordinated by the United Nations, and end Israel's blockade on aid and commercial supplies into the destroyed Palestinian enclave.
The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operations in late May, over widespread objections. As the joint statement explains, "The 400 aid distribution points operating during the temporary cease-fire across Gaza have now been replaced by just four military-controlled distribution sites, forcing 2 million people into overcrowded, militarized zones where they face daily gunfire and mass casualties while trying to access food and are denied other lifesaving supplies."
"Starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites."
"The weeks following the launch of the Israeli distribution scheme have been some of the deadliest and most violent since October 2023," the statement notes. The Gaza Health Ministry says Israel's nearly 21-month assault has killed at least 56,647 Palestinians—and, as of Sunday, at least 583 of those deaths occurred while people sought food at GHF sites.
Another 4,186 Palestinians have been injured at the aid sites, according to the ministry. Overall, at least 134,105 have been wounded by the Israel Defense Forces' campaign since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. Some IDF troops toldHaaretz last week that commanders ordered them to shoot and shell aid-seeking Palestinians, even when they posed no threat.
"For 20 months, more than 2 million people have been subjected to relentless bombardment, the weaponization of food, water, and other aid, repeated forced displacement, and systematic dehumanization—all under the watch of the international community," the NGOs detailed. "The Sphere Association, which sets minimum standards for quality humanitarian aid, has warned that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's approach does not adhere to core humanitarian standards and principles."
"Under the Israeli government's new scheme, starved and weakened civilians are being forced to trek for hours through dangerous terrain and active conflict zones, only to face a violent, chaotic race to reach fenced, militarized distribution sites with a single entry point," the groups wrote. "There, thousands are released into chaotic enclosures to fight for limited food supplies."
"These areas have become sites of repeated massacres in blatant disregard for international humanitarian law," the coalition continued. "Orphaned children and caregivers are among the dead, with children harmed in over half of the attacks on civilians at these sites. With Gaza's healthcare system in ruins, many of those shot are left to bleed out alone, beyond the reach of ambulances and denied lifesaving medical care."
Today, over 130 NGOs have called for the restoration of unified, UN-led aid coordination and distribution in #Gaza based on international humanitarian law, inclusive of UNRWA.👉 www.oxfam.org/en/press-rel...@oxfaminternational.bsky.social @nrc-global.bsky.social @savechildrenintl.bsky.social
[image or embed]
— UNRWA (@unrwa.org) July 1, 2025 at 7:53 AM
The NGOs asserted that "the humanitarian system is being deliberately and systematically dismantled by the government of Israel's blockade and restrictions, a blockade now being used to justify shutting down nearly all other aid operations in favor of a deadly, military-controlled alternative that neither protects civilians nor meets basic needs."
The organizations also stressed that "experienced humanitarian actors remain ready to deliver lifesaving assistance at scale."
In addition to calling on other countries to "uphold their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law," and to "reject the false choice between deadly, military-controlled food distributions and total denial of aid," the groups reiterated their demands for "an immediate and sustained cease-fire, the release of all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, full humanitarian access at scale, and an end to the pervasive impunity that enables these atrocities and denies Palestinians their basic dignity."
Signatories include ActionAid, American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, B'Tselem, Greenpeace, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Jewish Network for Palestine, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam International, PAX, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Save the Children, War Child Alliance, and War on Want.
Their statement follows a similar one released last week by a coalition of 15 leading human rights and legal organizations, which urged all parties involved in GHF, including countries, corporations, donors and individuals, "to immediately suspend any action or support that facilitates the forcible displacement of civilians, contributes to starvation or other grave breaches of international law, or undermines the core principles of international humanitarian law."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Anti-Poverty Campaigners Cheer Spain-Brazil-South Africa Plan to Tax the Grotesquely Rich
"People are fed up with billionaires' greed eroding the environment and communities we depend on," said one supporter of the new initiative. "It's time for world leaders to listen and act."
Jul 01, 2025
A new plan backed by the governments of Spain, Brazil, and South Africa to tax the fortunes of the uber-rich drew hearty cheers from anti-poverty campaigners, environmental activists, and unions when it was announced on Tuesday.
As described in an announcement by the Spanish government, the initiative aims to create coordination between governments on the taxation of high-net-worth individuals to ensure they are not shuffling money abroad to avoid proper taxation.
"The proposal aims to incentivize and guide different countries to join the initiative and address policy, administrative, and data deficiencies, ensuring that high-net-worth individuals are taxed more efficiently in line with their wealth," the Spanish government explained. "To achieve this, it is necessary to foster international cooperation in multilateral forums to promote and facilitate the implementation of evidence-based reforms and ongoing experiences regarding the taxation of large fortunes in different countries."
The plan—crafted by the governments of Spain and Brazil and presented at the United Nations' Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development being held in the Spanish city of Seville—was quickly praised by an assortment of international nonprofit organizations as an essential tool for tackling global wealth inequality.
Kate Blagojevic, associate director for Europe campaigns for environmental the advocacy group 350.org, described it as "a bold move by Spain and Brazil" that she said could provide funding for clean energy investments around the world, including in countries that lack the resources to make such investments.
"We want more countries to join this coalition so that billionaires and multi-millionaires help to foot the bill for the climate damage they have caused and decrease the huge gap between the rich and the poorest," she said, while also calling for the United Kingdom, France, and Germany to sign on.
Susana Ruiz, the tax justice policy lead at the anti-poverty organization Oxfam, emphasized that international coordination on taxation of high-worth individuals was a serious proposal to address a crisis in global democracy, which she said was being undermined by the corrupting influence of vast sums of money being held by a tiny number of people.
"This extreme inequality is being driven by a financial system that puts the interests of a wealthy few above everyone else," she said. "This concentration of wealth is blocking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and keeping over three billion people living in poverty: over half of poor countries are spending more on debt repayments than on healthcare or education."
Fred Njehu, the global political lead for Greenpeace’s Fair Share campaign, deemed the tax plan essential at a time when nations are behind their renewable energy goals and when wealthy elites such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos can go all-out for a lavish three-day wedding in Venice.
"Financing is urgently needed for climate action and public services, not for polluting space travel and luxury weddings," he said. "This new coalition of governments working to tax the super-rich adds to the growing global momentum to make the world’s wealthiest pay their fair share. People are fed up with billionaires' greed eroding the environment and communities we depend on. It's time for world leaders to listen and act."
And Leo Hyde, the campaigns and media coordinator at the Public Services International union, praised the plan and said that was the result of years' worth of advocacy by unions and other organizations.
"The initiative aims to ensure a progressive and efficient global tax system with the aim of reducing social inequality," he said. "This builds directly on years of union-led tax justice campaigning that has already yielded significant victories, including the OECD global minimum corporate tax, Australia's public country-by-country reporting initiatives, and the ongoing UN tax treaty negotiations."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular