When Kamala Harris sued Obama over fracking
Hi all—Emily here. As you know, the newsletter is going through its annual subscriber churn right now, which is when we see the biggest dip in revenue. Fortunately, almost 50 people stepped up last week. This is amazing and will really help us stem some of the bleeding! Sorry to keep asking. Either way, thank you for reading!! When Kamala Harris sued Obama over frackingA 2016 lawsuit illustrates why some activists believe Harris will be more aggressive on climate than Biden.It was 2016, and California’s coastline was about to get fracked. President Barack Obama’s administration had just finalized plans to allow oil companies to resume offshore hydraulic fracturing and acidizing in the Santa Barbara Channel, determining the controversial practices posed “no significant impact” to the local environment or global climate. Enter: Kamala Harris. Following the lead of state environmental groups, the then-California Attorney General sued the Obama administration in December 2016, seeking a halt to new offshore fracking permits. The lawsuit called the decision to move forward on Pacific Coast fracking “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to the requirements of [the National Environmental Policy Act].” The arguments in Harris’s lawsuit ultimately helped environmental groups convince a federal judge to pause all new Pacific offshore fracking. The injunction remains in place to this day, infuriating the likes of ExxonMobil and the American Petroleum Institute, who tried and failed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn it. Harris’s willingness to directly challenge Big Oil in 2016 set her apart from many mainstream Democrats at the time, who like Obama, considered fracking to be a “bridge” to a clean energy future. It’s clear now, as it was clear then, that expanding fracked methane production only further delays the transition to net zero energy sources. That willingness also speaks to why some climate activists are hopeful that, if nominated by the Democratic Party and eventually elected president, Vice President Harris might be willing to go further than President Joe Biden on tackling the climate crisis. (Biden, if you somehow missed it, dropped out of the presidential race this weekend.) “Biden’s been willing to say yes to clean energy, but he’s been unwilling to say no to fossil fuels as much as we’d want him to,” said R.L. Miller, the president of California-based political action committee Climate Hawks Vote, citing Biden’s decisions to approve major fossil fuel projects like the Alaska Willow project and the Mountain Valley pipeline, among other things. “Harris has shown more willingness to take the fight to Big Oil and prosecute bad guys,” Miller said. “I think she’s going to be willing to prosecute them for crimes against humanity.” Miller’s hopefulness about Harris stems mostly from the vice president’s record as California Attorney General. As Politico recently reported, “Harris made a habit of suing fossil fuel companies …. amassing $50 million in settlements from lawsuits against Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66.” These lawsuits weren't over oil companies' respective roles in causing and covering up the climate crisis; they were over extensive alleged violations of anti-pollution laws. But Harris has also shown a willingness to target oil companies over climate denial and delay as well. In 2016, her office opened up one of the first official law enforcement investigations into Exxon’s efforts to downplay the climate danger of their products. That investigation did not lead to a lawsuit; Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate less than a year later, and her successor Xavier Becerra chose not to continue it. And in 2019, during the presidential campaign, Harris told Mother Jones that she would appoint members of her cabinet based in part on their commitment to tackling climate change—even at the prosecutorial level. “We’re going to put pressure on the big companies to do what is required and what is responsible,” she said. But much time has passed since Harris’s first presidential campaign, as well as her prosecutorial career. After serving four years in the Biden White House, her outlook and vision for the presidency may be much different. Fortunately, we still have 104 days to press her on what that vision looks like. Until then, here are some more blasts from the past. Other signs Harris might be stronger than Biden on climate:
On the other hand…
And meanwhile, on the other side of the universe…On Thursday, former President Donald Trump took the stage at the Republican National Convention to deliver the longest presidential nomination acceptance speech in U.S. history. During his 90-minute speech, Trump never said the words “climate,” “environment,” or “pollution.” But he did say these things:
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Older messages
The electric utility screwing over Texans
Thursday, July 18, 2024
CenterPoint wants customers to pay to climate-proof the grid—all while pouring millions of customer dollars into climate delay. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Don’t turn the rhetoric down
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
If a person poses an existential threat to the planet, it's OK to say that. In fact, it's our responsibility to. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Trump and Biden are not the same
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
An analysis of both presidents' climate policies quantifies the difference. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Stop meatposting
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Progressives who glorify meat consumption are doing free PR for a highly-polluting industry working tirelessly to keep polluting. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
The climate stakes of the election just got much higher
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
By nixing the Chevron doctrine, the Supreme Court gave presidentially-appointed judges more power over the planet's fate. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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