Seattle Mayor Orders City to Divest from Fossil Fuels
Wow! Talk about a great way to end the year. Check out this big news out of Seattle!
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn sent a letter to the city’s two chief pension funds on friday, formally requesting that they “refrain from future investments in fossil fuel companies and begin the process of divesting our pension portfolio from those companies.”
“Climate change is one of the most important challenges we currently face as a city and as a society,” wrote Mayor McGinn in a letter to the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS) Board and the City of Seattle Voluntary Deferred Compensation Plan Committee. “I believe that Seattle ought to discourage these companies from extracting that fossil fuel, and divesting the pension fund from these companies is one way we can do that.”
Over 2,000 people joined 350.org in Seattle on November 7 to kick-off the “Do the Math” tour and nationwide divestment campaign
Along with encouraging the pension funds to divest, Mayor McGinn also committed to making sure that city funds stay out of the fossil fuel industry, writing, “The City’s cash pool is not currently invested in fossil fuel companies, and I already directed that we refrain from doing so in the future.”
Valued at $1.9 billion, SCERS is also the largest investment portfolio yet to consider fossil fuel divestment. While the full value of SCERS fossil fuel investments is still unknown, according to the city’s finance director, the system currently has $17.6 million invested in ExxonMobil and Chevron, which represents roughly 0.9% of the system’s assets.
Thanks, CREDO!
Great news! CREDO (formerly Working Assets) named 350.org one of their 2013 funding recipients. Thanks to all the CREDO members who nominated us!
Big Banks Admit No Keystone XL, Limited Expansion of Tar Sands Development
Want to know how the Keystone XL will drive up climate emissions? Just ask the banks that are needed to fund dirty tar sands pipeline projects and they'll tell you straight out: no KXL means no substantive development of the tar sands, one of the world's largest pools of carbon and a sure-fire way to cook the planet.
Both TD Economics and CIBC have recently said that without added capacity, "Canada's oil industry is facing a serious challenge to its long-term growth" and that “Canada needs pipe — and lots of it — to avoid the opportunity cost of stranding over a million barrels a day of potential crude oil growth.”
Remember that "Milkshake" scene in "There Will be Blood"--the one in which Daniel Day Lewis says "I drink your milkshake?" to a despondent Paul Dano? KXL would operate in a similar way. The KXL straw is so long and so big that it's needed to start to drain the tar sands. Without that long straw, the banks warn, the tar sands crude would stay in the ground. If you care about species extinction, sea level rise, and leaving behind a planet for our kids that's sort of the like the one we live on now, that's a good thing.
The tar sands have about half--half!--the carbon that we can burn if we are going to avoid runaway climate change. The banks say there are four options to expand the market reach of Canadian crude: out through Canada's Western Coast, the U.S. Gulf Coast (KXL), Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. But the industry knows that it faces huge opposition if it wants to go west or east, so it's banking on the south.
That's why Keystone XL is so important to the industry, and that's why it needs to be stopped. The pundits and industry will tell you this oil is coming out one way or another. But the big banks don't agree. So let's listen to the banks, at least on this one, and leave it in the ground.
I can’t wait for Global Power Shift.
We just sent out this email to our friends around the world. Not on our email list yet? Sign up here to receive crucial updates from the climate movement.
Dear friends,
I can’t wait for Global Powershift in Istanbul.
Apparently, neither can many of you. The response has been amazing so far, with thousands of applications from young leaders all over the globe. It’s a small taste of what this historic global gathering will be like.
To make sure everyone has enough time to apply, we've extended the application deadline until January 4. If you'd like to join us, please do apply as soon as you can.
In the meanwhile, watch this incredible video for a dose of inspiration. It's a preview of Global Power Shift, and you'll definitely want to watch it with the volume up high!
Please share this video far and wide -- together, we can make Global Power Shift as big and bold as possible.
Onwards,
May
P.S. -- In case you misplaced the application link, here it is again: apply.globalpowershift.org.
5 major issues that the Keystone XL environmental review must include
It's deja vu all over again. The State Department is gearing up to release its analysis of the environmental impacts of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The first one, you might remember, didn't include a substantive evaluation of the huge climate impacts of the pipeline; and State contracted with Cardno Entrix, a company that had ties to TransCanada, the company seeking a permit for the 1,700-mile project.
This review is a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS ) instead of a new independent environmental look at the pipeline. Here are 5 major issues that State must include for the SEIS to have any credibility.
Keystone XL will lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions
The environmental review should find that building the Keystone XL pipeline will unlock additional tar sands development and increase greenhouse gas emissions. there are an estimated 230 gigatons of carbon stored in the tar sands, about half the carbon budget (500Gt) that scientists estimate we can use to stay under 2°C of warming. Only 10% of the tar sands is currently believed to be economically recoverable, but this could increase considerably with continued development of extraction technologies. according to a June 2012 report by the Congressional research Service, building Keystone XL would be the equivalent of adding at least 4 million new cars to the road. Keystone XL would expand dirty tar sands mining practices and lure the U.S. into a long-term commitment to an extra-dirty oil energy infrastructure. For example, building Keystone Xl would wipe out the benefits of new standards that cut greenhouse gas emis- sions from medium to heavy duty trucks announced by the Obama administration.
TransCanada's poor safety record
TransCanada is currently under a sweeping investigation by Canadian regulators after they confirmed the account of a whistleblower documenting repeated violations of pipeline safety regulations by the company. This is the latest in a long series of accidents, shutdowns and pipeline safety infractions that have hounded TransCanada. Moreover, experiences from the Kalamazoo spill have shown that tar sands spills are significantly more damaging than conventional crude spills. The environmental review should consider TransCanada’s plans, policies, and practices and evaluate the impact of tar sands spills along sensitive rivers and aquifers along Keystone XL’s route.
Keystone XL will hurt — not help — U.S. energy security
Keystone XL is a tar sands pipeline through the United States, not to it. Industry has made it clear that Keystone XL is part of a plan to find markets for tar sands outside of the United States — while America’s communities, land and water bear the risk. The environmental review should evaluate the tar sands pipeline in context of industry’s plan to divert tar sands from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast where it can be refined and exported.
Keystone XL will have a negative effect on refinery communities
Low-income communities will bear a disproportionate share of the contamination of air and water created by spills along the route of Keystone XL and refinery emissions from processing dirty tar sands. The review should evaluate which communities will be adversely impacted by Keystone XL.
The public needs a fair opportunity for their voices to be heard
Given the serious environmental impacts from the pipeline, the public should be given sufficient time to comment on the draft of the environmental review. An appropriate period would be 120 days, with the State Department holding public hearings along the pipeline route. Then, the State Department should produce a final environmental review that takes the public’s comments into consideration.
Presidents Day Weekend, 2013
Dear friends,
From families like Michael’s, hit by monster storms and fires, to drought-stricken farmers in the Midwest, millions of Americans are already feeling the disastrous effects of the climate crisis in their own lives.
It’s never been clearer that we need bold and immediate climate leadership - that’s why this Presidents Day weekend thousands of activists will head to the White House and tell President Obama to shut down the climate-killing Keystone XL pipeline once and for all.
Something this big has to start early, and it has to start with the people who care the most. Commit to join us in Washington D.C. on February 17th and make Presidents Day the biggest climate demonstration yet: act.350.org/signup/presidentsday/
The last time we stood up against Keystone XL, thousands of us surrounded the White House – and it worked. Right when every political and energy “expert” said the tar sands pipeline was a done deal, we beat the odds and convinced President Obama to take a year to study it.
Now that year is over, and Mother Nature has filed her public comments: the hottest year in American history, a horrible ongoing drought, and superstorm Sandy. And still Big Oil is pushing as hard as ever for their pet project, looking for even more private profit at public expense.
There is also good news: Together, we’ve proven time and time again that grassroots voices can speak louder than Big Oil’s dollars. So this Presidents Day, the Sierra Club, 350.org, and other environmental groups are working with our partners across the progressive community to organize the biggest climate demonstration yet.
Our goal for Presidents Day is to form a massive human pipeline through Washington, and then transform it into a giant symbol of the renewable energy future we need - and are ready to build, starting right away.
You can make this a President’s Day that the president can’t ignore and won’t forget – sign up to join the rally, bring your friends, and stop the climate-killing Keystone XL pipeline on February 17th: act.350.org/signup/presidentsday/
We’ll have more details soon about the rally and how you can make your voice heard, but for now, start making travel plans and circle that weekend on your calendar. Together, we can show the president that the year’s delay didn’t lull us to sleep. Instead, we’re more fired up than ever, and determined to help him do the right thing.
See you in February,
Allison Chin, Sierra Club President
Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director
Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder
May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director
The Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip-Hop Caucus President
Liz Havstad, Director of Civic Engagement and Strategic Growth for the Hip Hop Caucus
“EVACUATE! EVACUATE!”
This post comes from Zeph Danieles from the Philippines, one of the new 350 East Asia coordinating team members...
“EVACUATE! EVACUATE!” ... repeatedly uttered when Typhoon Bopha neared. “EVACUATE...NOW!” ... not good news -- but seemed to be the only chance of survival.
Typhoon Bopha came with a roaring sound of the wind attacking the walls and scraping the roof. Many cried in fear. Outside was a strong wind and heavy rains. Trees and electric posts fell and knocked down concrete structures nearby. Power was cut-off and radio lines were silenced by the ravaging storm. In regions with open pit mining, particularly in Compostella Valley (one of the hardest hit areas), mudslides washed out houses and lives.
Stocktaking at COP18
I am writing this from the Qatar National Convention Center, where negotiators are still convening well into the night, on the last stretch of yet another UN climate summit. I am however feeling very detached from it all, partly because there are no indications that the outcome will be fair, just or in-line with the science, but also because as I sit here I realize that the relationships I formed over the last two weeks with the youth of the Arab Youth Climate Movement (AYCM) are for me the most significant outcomes from this conference.
While a number of civil society groups and coalitions have scaled back their participation at this year's UN summit in Qatar, the Arab Youth Climate Movement (AYCM) has been participating in full force.
It's hard to believe that this network of youth climate activits came into existence only 12 weeks ago at the AYCM inaugural workshop in Cairo, which I took part in organizing. From that workshop onwards, national coordinators set about to recruit local teams to organize the very first Regional Day of Climate Action on November 10th. What started off as a small group of 20 or so national coordinators has quickly become a network of 200 organizers and around 1,000 fans (and growing).
Only 12 days after this largely successful day, AYCM was quickly plunged into UN climate negotiations here in Qatar-- a physically and emotionally taxing experience that I still struggle to cope with but that they've handled like pros.
The dedication and passion that youth from these Arab countries have brought here has been truly inspiring;
They came here with a message to urge Arab countries to take leadership on climate, and delivered petition signatures urging their leaders to pledge to reduce their emissions .
They also questioned the Arab world negotiators with such passion and honesty. This was something new and startling to many Arab world negotiators, as evident by the expressions of alarm on the faces of certain delegates who rushed out of the Arab League room as soon as they saw around 30 Arab youth coming their way.
However, perhaps the Philippines' lead negotiator Naderev " Yeb" Saño put it best when he said, "Climate Change will not be solved by conferences. It will be solved by youth like you -- by actions at the grass roots level."
This sentiment has been increasingly shared by many after witnessing the slow process here at the negotiations. Lets face it; our movement so far has not been powerful enough to achieve what science and justice say is necessary to get us back on track to a 2 degree world, let alone a 350 ppm one. That is why I'm excited about GlobalPowerShift.org; a global climate convergence happening in Istanbul between June 10-17, 2013 which will be a launch pad for us to scale up our movement like never before and summon an unprecedented level of political pressure for climate action by 2015 (the year when a global climate deal is set to be in place).
As predictable as the outcomes of this last night of negotiations might be, the outcomes of youth organizing are far from it. As Abdullah from Bahrain put it "It's taken us a while to be a part of this global movement but we're finally here and we're just getting started."
Day One Highlights: Power Shift NZ-Pacific
We just wrapped up the first day of Power Shift NZ-Pacific here in Auckland, New Zealand. With young people from across New Zealand and 13 Pacific Islands - it's been an amazing and energetic day. We're dog tired, so we'll leave the highlight reel to demonstrate just what went on. Two massive days of world changing ahead, we'll keep you posted.
Click "Read More" to view ->
Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign Featured in the NYT!
Here's an email Bill McKibben just sent out to the 350.org list:
My last 24 hours:
1) Do the final show of the #DoTheMath tour -- as usual, a sold-out, full-of-power evening, this one in Salt Lake City with my old friend Terry Tempest Williams.
2) Get myself home for the first time in a long while -- happily, both my wife and dog seemed to recognize me.
3) Open the computer and find this article about the Do the Math Tour and fosil fuel divestment on the front page of the New York Times -- a huge, prominent vindication of everyone’s hard work. Here's what the website looks like as I type this:
The article in The New York Times tells the story of students, faculty and alumni around the country who are demanding divestment from fossil fuels. On a few campuses, like Swarthmore, they’ve been at it for semesters -- but all of a sudden, as the article says, they find themselves “at the vanguard of a national movement. In recent weeks, college students on dozens of campuses have demanded that university endowment funds rid themselves of coal, oil and gas stocks. The students see it as a tactic that could force climate change, barely discussed in the presidential campaign, back onto the national political agenda.”
The picture that accompanies the article comes from our Minneapolis roadshow last Friday night, and the article concisely lays out the demands and the strategy of the campaign. It’s precisely the boost we need. So please, go read it here: www.nyti.ms/SESrfr
We’re quickly getting traction, but we can get more if we have your help.
So, first things first: please email the article by clicking the "E-Mail" button on the New York Times website -- if we can get it on the newspaper's "most emailed list", we can help make sure it goes as far as possible, as fast as possible.
For full instructions on how to email the article, click here: www.350.org/nyt
After you've emailed the article, start thinking about ways you can join in this fight. If you're a student, you can join in on campus. If you're an alum, you can help pressure your alma mater. You can also push for divestment at your church or synagogue or mosque, or in the pension system that invests your retirement dollars.
We can make this whole movement go viral fast. Indeed, given the state of the climate science, we’ve got to. So please, share the NYT article by following these instructions.
I’m going off to bed because I’m exhausted. But I’m pretty sure the last month has been entirely worth it.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben for the whole crew at 350.org