We lost a great soul last week when Rebecca Tarbotton died. Becky was the inspiring leader of the Rainforest Action Network, and the progressive community is widely mourning her death. I count myself very lucky to have known Becky. We first met in the very early 2000’s when her organization and mine were fumbling toward … Read more
At the stage of Flower Theater in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province, a group of environmental volunteers engaged in a strange but wonderful rehearsal. Each of them took a deep breath, and then…well, if you closed your eyes you might hear breezes whispering in your ears, or the symphony of a lush virgin forest, a variety … Read more
Despite protests from Pacific Environment and a coalition of conservation organizations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) went ahead and granted Royal Dutch Shell special treatment. In response to Shell’s request for a waiver from current air pollution regulations, the EPA issued a one-year air pollution permit that will allow Shell to violate the Clean Air Act and exceed air pollution limits in the Arctic. This only increases the likelihood that Shell will receive the final permit it needs to start drilling for oil in America’s Arctic. Take action now.
“We have been forced into court to make sure the Arctic Ocean is protected and Shell is prepared, as mandated by law. The Federal Government rubber-stamped plans that rely on unbelievable assumptions, include equipment that has never been tested in Arctic conditions, and ignore the very real possibility that a spill could continue through the winter. The agency has not met minimum legal standards to be sure that Shell’s plans could be effective and that Shell has sufficient boats, resources, and spill responders to remove a ‘worst-case’ oil spill in the Arctic Ocean to the ‘maximum extent practicable.’ Even after Deepwater Horizon, Interior Secretary Salazar brushed aside concerns about Shell’s spill response capabilities, stating recently that ‘there is not going to be an oil spill.’
Today the U.S. Senate passed H.R. 2072, a bill to reauthorize the federal government’s Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank), which provides billions of dollars in public financing for harmful fossil fuel projects worldwide.[1] Passage of the bill will allow the agency to increase its portfolio cap from $100 billion to $140 billion., and it now moves to President Obama’s desk to sign into law.
Pacific Environment is pleased to announce that Caroline Cannon will receive the Goldman Environmental Prize this evening in San Francisco. We nominated Ms. Cannon for this prestigious award for her efforts to protect her Arctic homeland from offshore oil and gas development.
Pacific Environment’s “Save America’s Arctic Seas” campaign was honored with a Business Ethics Network’s 2011 BENNY Award, which recognizes some of the most brilliant corporate campaigns for their contributions to the advancement of corporate ethics.