Laurel Whitney's blog

Sat, 2013-04-20 09:21Laurel Whitney
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Tim DeChristopher, Imprisoned For Nearly Two Years, To Be Released On Earth Day

Climate activist Tim DeChristopher is set to be released from prison on Earth Day, this Sunday April 21st, since being incarcerated on July 26, 2011.

Tim DeChristopher created quite a ripple in the activist community when he tried to buy millions of dollars of land in December of 2008 in order to stop the oil and gas industry from snatching it up at an illegitimate auction put on by the outgoing Bush administration. While the incoming Obama administration cancelled the auction, Tim was caught in the fallout, while the rest of the auctioneers presumably roam free.

He was slapped with two federal felony charges - one for making false statements and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act.

Tim's trial was pushed back 6 times over two years and was fraught with maddening plot twists. The judge refused to let Tim use the Necessity Defense or let the jury know crucial facts, including that the auction was illegal. Tim was also prohibited from testifying on how he acted on moral convictions relating to climate change.

His prison term was no less eventful. During March of last year, Tim was thrown in isolated confinement for two and a half weeks after writing correspondence that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) deemed potentially harmful because it contained the word "threat." It turned out he was only "threatening" to return a potential legal fund donation from a company whose ethics weren't aligned with his own.

Rumors went around that an unnamed Congressman had put in the order, but investigations never figured out if it was true.

Read more: Tim DeChristopher, Imprisoned For Nearly Two Years, To Be Released On Earth Day
Sun, 2013-02-03 11:17Laurel Whitney
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Shell Wriggles Free Of Oil Spill Liability In Nigeria, But Case Is Far From Closed

A Dutch court acquitted oil giant Shell of allegations regarding oil contamination in Nigeria. Reported earlier in The Guardian, the court ruled in favor of the company for 4 counts of polluting land and waterways in the African country, but was held accountable on a fifth count.

The suit was put forward by Friends of the Earth alongside four Nigerian farmers in the areas of Goi, Ogoniland, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom. They claimed oil pollution from leaky, unsafe oil pipelines devastated livelihoods of local citizens and farmers in the area. Elder Friday Akpan had 47 catfish farms destroyed from previous oil spills:

"The fishes died completely. I was confused because it left me completely empty," Akpan added. "I did not have some money to pay school fees for my twelve children, and nothing to allow me to earn my livelihood again. Debts I had borrowed I could not repay. There was nothing for me. I was finished."

The plaintiffs pushed for a hearing in the Netherlands over Nigeria. They hoped it would be strategically more advantageous to hold trial in the country of the company's headquarters versus taking there chances in a Nigerian court where often times the oil companies have more power than the government. Additionally, the Netherlands would more likely properly enforce any damages awarded by the court.

"Shell is a very stubborn company, and in Nigeria, in some situations, it is more powerful than the Nigerian government," said Prince Chima Williams, head the legal affairs department at the Environmental Rights Action group.
Read more: Shell Wriggles Free Of Oil Spill Liability In Nigeria, But Case Is Far From Closed
Fri, 2013-01-18 14:52Laurel Whitney
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Thousands of Miners' Benefits In Jeopardy As Patriot Coal Claims Bankruptcy

On January 29, Patriot Coal Co. will begin Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearings in St. Louis, MO claiming that it's become a "victim of the markets" and can no longer pay its debts. These "debts" include millions of dollars of retiree health benefits. If the company goes under, the benefits may go along with it.

That's why the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) is suing. Filed back in October, the lawsuit cites the Employee Retirement and Income Securities Act, which states that coal companies must provide health insurance for retired miners.

However, the UMWA isn't suing Patriot Coal.

Most of the 10,000 workers in the class action lawsuit have never actually worked for Patriot. They actually put in their time (many with upwards of 30 years of service) with Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Coal Inc. The UMWA contends that Peabody and Arch sold off the benefits to a company that was doomed to fail, therefore getting rid of the debt and leaving thousands without health insurance.

Read more: Thousands of Miners' Benefits In Jeopardy As Patriot Coal Claims Bankruptcy
Thu, 2012-12-27 06:00Laurel Whitney
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How Electric Providers Use Sleazy Scams To Sell Energy

Imagine this:

You're working from home on a Friday, winding down from the week, furiously reading the latest climate news until you commute from the living room to your bed to begin your normal 3:00 brainstorming session (aka a nap). Suddenly, the door rings. Who could be stopping by on a Friday afternoon?

Groggy from your midday siesta, you drag yourself to the front door wearing your pink fluffy robe (because seriously, if you're working from home and taking a nap, you're not wearing pants), only to open it to two smiling men in business suits.

"Ma'am, there's something wrong with your energy bill, you're being charged too much. May we see it?"

In your somewhat drunken stupor, you're baffled as to how that could be, but oblige. Somehow, 20 minutes later, you're signing a contract just to get these weirdos out of your doorway and back to your nap.

All of a sudden, the realization sets in- you've been scammed by energy brokers.

Read more: How Electric Providers Use Sleazy Scams To Sell Energy
Sun, 2012-12-16 07:00Laurel Whitney
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Medical And Scientific Experts Urge Halting Fracking Rush Until Medical Unknowns Are Better Understood

This week, the group Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE) declared they would submit a petition to the White House signed by 107 experts to urge the administration to slow down and consider the health effects of natural gas fracking before allowing any new permits. They want the government to consider the two ethical principles adhered to by physicians: "do no harm" and that of "informed consent."

The petition stems from the possibility that the Obama administration might "fast-track" the permits for LNG exports. LNG, or liquefied natural gas, comes almost exclusively from the fracking process. The government wants to build export terminals to sell the gas overseas, which would increase demand and production for fracked gas within our borders.

The main concern is with flowback water produced during the fracking process that comes back up to the surface. Companies still won't reveal what's in the chemical fluid mixed with water used to extract the gas citing a potential "loss of competitive advantage."

Even with known chemicals, doctors and scientists are still studying the ways that public health could be put at risk by exposure. The flowback water from the wells poses a high risk to communities through both water and air contamination.

Read more: Medical And Scientific Experts Urge Halting Fracking Rush Until Medical Unknowns Are Better Understood
Sun, 2012-11-25 06:00Laurel Whitney
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ACCCE PR Rhetoric On Low-Income Households Does Not Compute

The ACCCE PR robots suffered a bit of malfunction recently when attempting to spit out the coal industry's usual talking points. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst released a report last week which discovered that low-income households, and often minorities that encompass the low-income bracket, are disproportionately affected by coal pollution.

The report looked at the distribution of people who live within 3 miles of coal-generating power plants. Residents living within this range are the most likely to suffer negative health effects associated with sulfate and nitric oxide pollution.

Unsurprisingly, most of the people living in this zone are low-income or people of color. So how did the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity PR bots respond?

JOBS!! ENERGY COSTS!!

Read more: ACCCE PR Rhetoric On Low-Income Households Does Not Compute

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