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The Largest Civil Disobedience Protest of Fossil Fuels in History
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This past May global history was made as protesters staged the largest civil disobedience protest against fossil fuels and for clean energy that the world has ever seen. Tens of thousands of activists tied themselves to railroad tracks at oil refineries, paddled flotillas of kayaks to block oil tankers, and forced the shutdown of coal plants. Thousands of people risked arrest to demand action to address escalating climate change.
The collective action, called Break Free 2016, included civil disobedience actions on six continents. I covered the Pacific Northwest Break Free Event and witnessed as 52 activists were arrested. You can read the full article
here.
I chose to attend and report on this event because despite the historic enormity of the Break Free protests, most people likely didn't hear about it because there was very little coverage of it in mainstream media. As reported in a Media Matters study, even allegedly liberal-leaning CNN aired nearly five times as much oil industry advertising as climate change-related coverage during the study period which took place immediately following announcements that 2015 had been the hottest year on record and February 2016 was the most abnormally hot month on record. The study revealed that CNN aired 23.5 minutes of American Petroleum Institute ads during the two week study periods, compared to just five minutes of coverage about climate change or the temperature records.
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Can the Economy Benefit Everyone?
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The Economy for the Common Good has become an international movement that has grown rapidly in Europe, Latin America and Africa since its founding in 2011. At its heart is a simple but powerful idea: that our economy should be directed towards increasing the wellbeing of the entire population rather than simply towards maximizing narrowly-defined economic profits. This recognizes the fact that, as research in many countries has shown, the acquisition of material wealth beyond a certain point does not generally contribute to a corresponding increase in subjective wellbeing or happiness.
This summer 3EStrategies is working to help ECG make its introduction into the United States. We believe this is THE next major step in the sustainable business movement and we are thrilled to be part of this effort.
To learn more click here.
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A Ticking Time Bomb Goes Off
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There are times when you just don't want to be right. Just three days after I posted
this article on Huffington Post about the inevitability of an oil train derailment in the Pacific Northwest, the inevitable happened, when an oil train derailed in Mosier Oregon. According to State of Oregon officials the derailment spilled 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the soil, wastewater system and Columbia River.
This article in ThinkProgress, by Natasha Geiling, gives an excellent overview of the derailment and the ongoing damage it is causing. Meanwhile oil train traffic has already picked up again,
As of June 8th, Mosier still didn't have potable water or a sewages system because of the oil spill but the oil trains were already once again moving through the region, with miles' long trains rolling right past the derailed, burned out cars still lying alongside the tracks. As noted in the article, Dan Serres, conservation director for Columbia RiverKeeper, said, "It's clear that profit for the fossil fuel industry is trumping the health and safety of people that live along these corridors."
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"Stockbroker's Bible" Just Told Oil Industry To Accept Its Demise
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In a piece in Huffington Post Business, Alexander C. Kaufman, Senior Business Editor for the Huffington Post, wrote an article by the title above:
Here is an excerpt:
The editorial board of the Financial Times isn't exactly stacked with bleeding-hearted environmentalists. Just a month ago, the British paper defended ExxonMobil's right to question climate change amid legal probes into whether the oil giant covered up evidence of global warming.
But in an editorial published Saturday, the FT urged the oil industry to "face a future of slow and steady decline."
"Instead of railing against climate policies, or paying them lip-service while quietly defying them with investment decisions, the oil companies will serve their investors and society better if they accept the limits they face, and embrace a future of long-term decline," the editorial board wrote.
To read the full article click here.
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Great Position Opening with a Great Environmental Publication
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YES! Magazine has a rare opening for a new leader to help them deepen the impact of their work, reach new audiences, increase revenue, and evolve their nonprofit business model. They are looking for a person who cares about the world, is eager to contribute to transformational change, and is ready to lead a talented, ambitious media organization. For more information click
here.
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Cylvia Hayes (541) 617-9013
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