sacrifice zones

By Amy Westervelt - The Intercept, May 8, 2023

In 2019, Thea Riofrancos was splitting her time between researching the social and environmental impacts of lithium mining in Chile and organizing for a rapid energy transition away from fossil fuels in the United States. A political science professor at Providence College and member of the Climate and Community Project, Riofrancos was struck by the contrast: Lithium is essential to the batteries that make electric vehicles and renewable energy work, but mining inflicts its own environmental damage. “Here I am in Chile, in the Atacama Desert, seeing these mining-related harms, and then there I go in the U.S. advocating for a rapid transition. How do I align these two goals?” Riofrancos said. “And is there a way to have a less extractive energy transition?”

When she went looking for research that would help answer that question, she found none, at least not for the transportation sector, which was her area of focus. “I saw forecast after forecast that assumed basically a binary of the future,” she said. “Either we stay with the fossil fuel status quo and the existential crisis that that is causing for the planet and all of its people. Or we transition to an electrified, renewably powered future, but that doesn’t really change anything about how these sectors or economic activities are organized.”

Riofrancos wanted to look at multiple ways to design an electrified future and understand what the costs and impacts of different scenarios might be. So she linked up with other Climate and Community Project researchers and put together a report mapping out four potential pathways to electrification for the transportation sector. Titled “Achieving Zero Emissions With More Mobility and Less Mining,” the report concluded that even relatively small, easy-to-achieve shifts like reducing the size of cars and their batteries could deliver big returns: a 42 percent reduction in the amount of lithium needed in the U.S., even if the number of cars on the road and the frequency with which people drive stayed the same.

It’s the sort of thing politicians and electrification advocates need to think through now, when decisions can be made to guide the energy transition in one direction or another. It’s also critical to an underdiscussed component of climate action: demand for products and services and the role energy plays in fulfilling those demands. Which connects right up to another topic that American politicians don’t want to touch with a 10-foot pole: consumption.

By Jennifer Moon and Zully Juarez - Just Solutions Collective, May 2023

By staff - The Climate and Community Project, et. al., May 2023

It is indisputable that the climate emergency requires the United States to rapidly transform its majority fossil energy system to 100% clean and renewable energy.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent sixth synthesis report makes absolutely clear that an unprecedented bold transition to renewable energy with an equally aggressive effort to halt new fossil fuel development and phase out existing fossil fuel usage is absolutely vital to avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.

This necessary transformation presents a tremendous opportunity to pursue a far more just path forward—one that ends the status quo entrenchment of the fossil fuel industry; empowers federal agencies to use their authorities to accelerate the transitions to a justly sourced, justly implemented, resilient, and equitable power system; actualizes the principles of environmental justice; and preserves our core environmental laws.

This system is composed of our most commonsense and affordable solutions that can be deployed in an efficient and just manner: energy conservation, distributed and resilient renewable energy and storage, and responsibly-sited utility-scale renewables, all paired with robust community engagement and opportunities for real energy democracy.

However, both Congress and the Biden administration are failing to exercise their imaginations to embed justice in a renewable energy future.

After the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, both Democratic and Republican Congress members have proposed numerous “permitting reform” proposals, but the majority continue to argue that achieving a fast transition to renewable energy necessarily means undermining bedrock environmental laws like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

This false logic must be interrogated. While these proposals might marginally improve the deployment of utility-scale renewable energy particularly on pristine lands, our energy needs can and must also be met with renewable energy on built surfaces that is more resilient, affordable, and respectful toward communities and wildlands.

Furthermore, any such purported gains of “permitting reform” proposals would be massively dwarfed by the emissions of fossil fuel projects that would also be expedited and result in deepening substantial environmental injustices for countless communities around the nation.

Download a copy of this publication here (PDF).

By Rachel Rose Jackson and Adrien Tofighi-Niaki - Corporate Accountability, May 2023

This exposé brings into question Chevron’s proclaimed climate action and ‘green’ image. Analysis of the activities associated with Chevron’s ‘net zero’ climate action plan raises significant concerns about whether its ‘climate action’ is displacing the needed emissions reductions to avoid climate catastrophe, spurring harm to communities and ecosystems, and further hindering the likelihood of meaningful climate action globally.

Key findings this research yielded:

• More than 90% of the carbon offsets Chevron has retired through the voluntary carbon market to ‘cancel out’ its emissions seem to be worthless— presumed ‘junk’ until proven otherwise.
• The technological ‘low carbon’ schemes appear to be failing to capture the emissions promised, in some cases missing targets by as much as 50%.
• A major proportion of the schemes it’s investing in as part of its ‘net zero’ plan are linked to claims of local community abuse, environmental degradation, and/or may even be fueling further emissions. Almost all of the harm claimed to have been inflicted is on communities in the Global South.
• Chevron’s ‘net zero’ pledge—even if fully implemented to the greatest effect without causing harm—overlooks 90% of the total emissions associated with its business practices.
• Chevron is ignoring the scientifically founded need for a fossil fuel phase out, projecting emissions for 2022-2025 equivalent to that of 10 European countries during a similar period.
• It invests millions annually to manipulate the political will for climate action, seeking to shape climate policy to its will.

It’s imperative that shareholders, policymakers, and the public see Chevron’s green claims for what they are—greenwashed destruction. As this exposé illustrates, Chevron appears to be continuing its legacy of preventing, not promoting, the legally binding regulations, the rapid deployment of real solutions and the fast track to Real Zero emissions that needs to happen to avert climate catastrophe.

Download a copy of this publication here (link).

By Dr. Bart Ostro, Ph.D; Dr. Nick Spada, Ph.D.; Dr. Heather Kuiper, Dr.PH., and Lora Jo Foo - No Coal in Oakland, May 1, 2023

By Staff - Labor Network for Sustainability, April 30, 2023

The Labor Network for Sustainability recently endorsed the call of Railroad Workers United for public ownership of American railroads. A video panel on railroad nationalization sponsored by Solutionary Rail included LNS Transit Organizer Bakari Height.

To view the panel:

By Robert Bellefluer - La Coalition of Citizens and Organizations Committed to Rail Safety, April 29, 2023

On Saturday, April 29, 2023, prior to the screening of Academy Award-nominated director Philippe Falardeau (“The Good Lie”) and co-producer Nancy Guerin’s four-episode documentary series, Lac-Megantic:  This Is Not an Accident, a press conference is scheduled at 2:00 P.M. Eastern in the Alterna Savings Room on the ground floor of the Centre for Social Innovation,192 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON M5T 2C2, Canada. Residents of Lac-Mégantic along with members of Railroad Workers United and the Sierra Club are among a lineup of those who are demanding railroad safety now. 

A tragedy that should have been prevented, Lac-Mégantic’s Citizens Coalition for Railroad Safety member Gilbert Carett recalls, “Years before July 6, 2013, residents reported the industry for rolling poorly maintained, longer and heavier convoys carrying more crude oil, propane, and other chemicals on worn-out rails.” He cites a conflict of interest when, “security inspections are made by the companies themselves and are approved by their own authorities.”

No train derailment in our railroading history showcases the systemic failure of private railroad industry more comprehensively than the tragedy of Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada, when a runaway train disaster sparked a series of events revealing an abyss of corporate greed, regulatory capture, disregard for human life, and scapegoating embedded in daily private corporate operations. “We call out for a public investigation of the July 6, 2013 destruction of our downtown,” insists Carett.

From the decimation of Lac-Mégantic to a recent intentional release and burn in East Palestine, OH that ignited a chemical so deadly its use as a weapon was banned in warfare after WWI, North America can only draw upon a single conclusion: “These events reveal completely that after 200 years of North American railroading, private ownership of this industry can never possibly work. It never has, and it never will,” affirms Karl ‘Fritz’ Edler, Special Representative of Railroad Workers United, Washington D.C.

By Jilisa Milton and Adam Keller - Valley Labor Report, April 28, 2023

By Ron Kaminkow, Ross Grooters, and Jason Doering - Railroad Workers United, April 26, 2023

Today, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) announced the Council’s annual list of twelve employers whose unsafe practices put the health and lives of workers as well as the safety of communities at risk, known as the “Dirty Dozen” employers. The nation’s big Class One Railroads - including BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railway – were among them, after being nominated for the distinction in February by the group Railroad Workers United (RWU).

“Rail workers have, for years, been blowing the whistle on unsafe practices of Class One Railroads,” said RWU General Secretary Jason Doering. “These employers have pushed for single-person crews; implemented Precision Scheduled Railroading where cost-cutting measures have resulted in longer, heavier trains operated with fewer workers, while cutting back on both inspections and maintenance; put in place disciplinary policies forcing sick workers into work; failed to offer paid sick time; and continued their long-standing practice of retaliating against rail workers who report safety hazards and job-related injuries.”

“The tragedy in East Palestine, Ohio in February, 2023 brought the nation’s attention to what Railroad Workers United (RWU) has been warning against for 15 years,” added RWU Co-Chair Ross Grooters. “We hope this disgraceful distinction for the Class One Railroads as a 2023 ‘Dirty Dozen’ employer gains the attention of government agencies, unions, environmental and community organizations, and others. It is past time to force Class One Railroads to make the changes needed to protect the health and lives of rail workers and the safety of communities from coast to coast.”

“We thank National COSH for accepting our nomination of Class One Rail Carriers as a 2023 ‘Dirty Dozen’ employer,” said RWU Organizer Ron Kaminkow. “This is a ‘distinction’ these rail employers have worked hard for, and they deserve to take their rightful place on this year’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ list.”

By Sara Sneath and Oliver Laughland - The Guardian, April 23, 2023

Thousands of people have sued BP for long-term health conditions they claim stem from the dirty work of cleaning up BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill 13 years ago. The explosion marked the biggest industrial disaster in US history, which saw thousands of Gulf coast residents, many from poor fishing communities, take part in the cleanup effort.

The Guardian spoke with two dozen former workers, used computer programming to analyze a random sample of cases and combed through legal filings to understand the scope of the public health disaster.

BP declined to comment on detailed questions, citing ongoing litigation.

Here are some key findings:

Data analysis showed prevalence of health conditions among those who have sued

Among those who are sick there is a shared feeling of exasperation and anger as the chances of receiving damages and acknowledgment via the courts rapidly dwindles. They boated out into the Gulf to try to block the oil from coming ashore with floating barriers, called booms. They worked 12-hour shifts in the middle of the summer to save the wetlands and say they got sick as a result.

The Guardian used computer programming to analyze a random sample of 400 lawsuits out of the nearly 5,000 filed against BP. Many of the people in our sample have more than one ailment. Sinus issues are the most common chronic health problem listed among those who have sued, followed by eye, skin and respiratory ailments. Chronic rhinosinusitis, a swelling of the sinuses in the nose and head that causes nasal drip and pain in the face, was the most common condition. Two per cent have been diagnosed with cancer, a number some experts believe will continue to rise.