Hill Heat

On Thursday, September 16, the House oversight committee sent letters to U.S. oil executives and to industry trade groups requesting “documents on the reported role of the fossil fuel industry in a long-running, industry-wide campaign to spread disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming.” The committee also announced a hearing set for October 28, 2021 in which the executives were requested to testify.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Chairwoman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Environment, sent the letters to the top executives at ExxonMobil Corporation, BP America Inc., Chevron Corporation, Shell Oil Company, American Petroleum Institute, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“We are deeply concerned that the fossil fuel industry has reaped massive profits for decades while contributing to climate change that is devastating American communities, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, and ravaging the natural world,” the chairs wrote. “We are also concerned that to protect those profits, the industry has reportedly led a coordinated effort to spread disinformation to mislead the public and prevent crucial action to address climate change.”

The four companies involved reported nearly $2 trillion in profits between 1990 and 2019. They and the trade groups are now the defendants in a growing number of civil lawsuits from individuals and localities suffering the harms of fossil-fueled climate pollution.

In 2019, Rep. Khanna oversaw a hearing examining the oil industry’s efforts to suppress the truth about climate change.

In 2015, InsideClimateNews and others broke the story of how ExxonMobil led the industry in waging a climate disinformation campaign with full knowledge of the dangers of fossil fuels. Following those reports, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) spoke on the Senate floor calling for a RICO investigation of ExxonMobil’s history of deliberate climate deception. Reps. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) called for the Department of Justice to investigate the legality of ExxonMobil’s “sustained deception campaign disputing climate science.”

From the committee’s press release:

Public reporting indicates that these companies and their allies in the fossil fuel industry have worked to prevent serious action on global warming by generating doubt about the documented dangers of fossil fuels and misrepresenting the scale of their efforts to develop alternative energy technologies—similar tactics deployed by the tobacco industry to resist regulation while selling products that kill hundreds of thousands of Americans.

These strategies of obfuscation and distraction span decades and still continue today. Between 2015 and 2018, the five largest publicly traded oil and gas companies reportedly spent $1 billion to promote climate disinformation through “branding and lobbying.”

Fossil fuel companies increasingly outsource lobbying to trade groups, obscuring their own roles in disinformation efforts. Recently, an ExxonMobil lobbyist was caught on video discussing the tactics employed by ExxonMobil to obstruct climate change legislation, including using API and other industry groups as the “whipping boy” to advocate for policy positions that ExxonMobil did not want to be associated with publicly.

The committee requested that the recipients produce documents and communications by September 30, 2021, “related to their organizations’ role in supporting disinformation and misleading the public to prevent action on the climate crisis.”

• The letter to ExxonMobil Corporation CEO Darren Woods
• The letter to BP America Inc. CEO David Lawler
• The letter to Chevron Corporation CEO Michael K. Wirth
• The letter to Shell Oil Company President Gretchen Watkins
• The letter to the American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers
• The letter to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne Clark

Join Congressional leaders for a bicameral rally calling for major climate investments in the Build Back Better Act!

Leaders in Congress know that now more than ever we need to cut emissions, lower costs for families, create millions of family sustaining jobs, and turbocharge our economy. That is why they are calling for the Build Back Better Act—a bold investment plan to tackle climate change, create jobs, and transform our economy.

The rally will be moderated by Tiernan Sittenfeld and feature Members including: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, Sen. Tina Smith, Sen. Martin Heinrich, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06).

Congress knows it’s time to go big, be bold, and put people to work.

at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Washington, DC 20016

The Red Road to DC is an online and on-the-ground mobilization happening in July connecting 20 Native-led struggles to protect sacred lands, waters, and wildlife from threats posed by dams, climate change, and extractive industries.

Members of Lummi Nation carved a 25 foot totem pole that is being transported from Washington State to Washington DC, visiting tribal nations and Native communities leading efforts to protect sacred places along the way. The journey ends in Washington, DC, with a totem pole blessing, press conference, exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, and delivering the pole to Secretary Deb Haaland at the Department of the Interior.

The House of Tears Carvers and our partners cordially invite you to the culmination of the #RedRoadtoDC Totem Pole Journey in Washington D.C., after thousands of miles traveled visiting dozens of Native-led struggles to protect sacred places. On the 29th, Secretary Deb Haaland will receive the totem pole at a 2pm blessing ceremony on the National Mall, followed by a rally featuring tribal leaders, organizers, and Congressional representatives.

On the 30th, the public is invited to view the totem pole outside the National Museum of the American Indian.

Join us in action, in prayer, or in person to demand:

• The Biden administration must support and uphold Native People’s Free Prior & Informed Consent, as guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• Support the demands and struggles of our frontline partners at each and every journey stop starting June 30.

Exposure to pollution and lack of access to clean, affordable energy solutions has created economic and health disparities – particularly in Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. What are the Biden administration’s policy priorities around environmental justice and pollution-free energy infrastructure? And how do we ensure all Americans have access to clean air, water, and sustainable housing?

The Hill will convene advocates and sustainable energy experts for a comprehensive discussion on environmental justice and climate priorities, moderated by Steve Clemons.

Speakers

• Kim Foreman, Executive Director, Environmental Health Watch
• Brenda Mallory, Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Ben Passer, Lead Director, Energy Access and Equity, Fresh Energy
• Jacqueline Patterson, Founder and Executive Director, The Chisolm Legacy Project
• Adrianna Quintero, Senior Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Energy Foundation

Sponsor Perspective

• Flo McAfee, President, Summerland Studios
• Peggy Shepard, Co-Founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

RSVP

On Thursday, Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland, the first Native American to hold that position, will meet with indigenous climate activists who have brought a totem pole from Washington state to Washington D.C. The “Red Road to DC” activists made the journey in support of Native groups opposing projects such as the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Line 3 tar-sands pipeline being constructed in Minnesota.

Haaland is scheduled to participate in the 2 pm blessing ceremony for the 25-foot pole carved by the Lummi Nation, which will be followed by a press conference featuring tribal leaders, organizers, and Congressional representatives.

The Red Road to DC took the totem pole to Chaco Canyon, Standing Rock, Bears Ears National Monument, Black Hills, White Earth, and other sites along the way that are home to Native Americans and threatened by mining and fossil-fuel development.

Federal and state forces have been part of the industry-led effort to harass and intimidate the growing group of activists opposing the Line 3 pipeline.

The demands of the Red Road to DC activists are:

We call on President Biden and Congress to direct all federal agencies to require the meaningful engagement and consent of affected Native Nations, early in the planning process, and before a project is approved.

Native Nations must be a part of the decision-making process. No more oil pipelines threatening water supplies without the consent of tribes. No more oil and gas drilling in ancient burial sites, without their permission. No more large-scale projects without tribes’ participation in planning and consent.

The U.S. must uphold the rights of Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples to Free, Prior & Informed Consent, as set forth by the United Nations.

Hearing page

Witnesses

• Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force
• Chas Robles, Corps Director, Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps
• Scott Segerstrom, Executive Director, Colorado Youth Corps Association
• LaJuan D. Tucker, Environmental Program Coordinator, Wildlife Austin and the Austin Nature Preservation System

Republican witness

• Tate Watkins, Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center

Markey your calendars: Evergreen’s next Policy + Pints happy hour is coming up—and, as you might have guessed, Senator Ed Markey is joining us! We’re going to be talking about the urgent need to launch a Civilian Climate Corps. (Think of it as a justice-driven, climate-centered version of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.)

In this virtual BYOB special hosted by Evergreen Action campaigns director Lena Moffitt, we’ll chat with:

• Senator Markey
• Tonya Gayle, executive director, Green City Force
• Lauren Maunus, advocacy director, Sunrise Movement

about:

• Why the CCC is such a powerful opportunity for taking on our overlapping climate and economic crises
• How overwhelmingly popular it is
• What corpsmembers would actually do in communities across the country
• And more!

Bring beer, tea, wine, kombucha—whatever!—and join us on Wednesday, July 14 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT.

The Democratic Party-aligned organizations Climate Power and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) have begun a $10 million spend on television spots to promote the Biden infrastructure plan with a clean-energy jobs message. This effort is part of a broader $28 million “Great American Build” campaign.

The new ads are airing on national cable and the Washington D.C. market, as well as the local markets of 23 congressional swing districts held by Democrats.

Climate Power is a joint effort of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club, with an advisory board of Democratic and environmentalist luminaries.

Four states:

• Arizona (Kelly and Sinema)
• Georgia (Ossoff and Warnock)
• New Hampshire (Hassan and Shaheen)
• Nevada (Cortez Masto and Rosen)

The congressional districts:

• AZ-01 (O’Halleran)
• GA-06 (McBath)
• GA-07 (Bourdeaux)
• IA-03 (Axne)
• IL-14 (Underwood)
• KS-03 (Davids)
• ME-02 (Golden)
• MI-08 (Slotkin)
• MI-11 (Stevens)
• MN-02 (Craig)
• NH-01 (Pappas)
• NJ-03 (Kim)
• NJ-07 (Malinowski)
• NJ-11 (Sherrill)
• NV-03 (Lee)
• NV-04 (Horsford)
• NY-19 (Delgado)
• OR-04 (DeFazio)
• PA-07 (Wild)
• PA-08 (Cartwright)
• VA-02 (Luria)
• VA-07 (Spanberger)
• WI-03 (Kind)

An example of the district ads: In addition to the television spots, there are digital ads. An example of the digital ads, targeting Georgia:

On June 30th, we are calling on climate activists to join us at the White House to demand President Biden act now to stop dirty fossil fuel projects in all our communities, from Line 3 to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and beyond, and call on Congress to prioritize climate justice, racial justice, Indigenous rights, housing justice and transit justice in the infrastructure discussions.

While fires rage out west and storms threaten the Gulf, President Biden is busy meeting with Republicans and failing us all on climate. If he wants to be a climate champion, time is running out, just as it is running out for our communities. There is no room for compromise when it comes to the very survival of our planet.

Please join us on June 30th to be a part of the movement that changes the trajectory of this administration so that the White House stands up for the rights of our communities instead of doing the bidding of corporate polluters.

Our demands for President Biden are simple and clear:

PROTECT PEOPLE, NOT POLLUTERS.

Use your executive authority to stop approving fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency. Fossil fuel pipelines, infrastructure, exports, and leases fuel the climate emergency, pollute in Black & Brown communities, and violate treaty rights. Act now to end the era of fossil fuel production, protect our communities, and Build Back Fossil Free.

PASS A CLIMATE JUSTICE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL.

Use your bully pulpit to make sure Congress includes strong climate, Indigenous rights, housing justice, racial justice, and transit justice commitments in an infrastructure bill. Build on the Thrive Agenda, to build a climate care economy, good jobs for all, an end to fossil fuel subsidies and a renewable energy standard!

Led by Indigenous Environmental Network and ShutDownDC, with many partner organizations.

Are you a faith leader or faith activist concerned about runaway global warming? If so, please RSVP to join 100 of your interfaith colleagues on June 9th in Washington, DC. We’ll gather outdoors near the Capitol lawn in support of President Joe Biden’s call for 100% clean electricity by 2035 as part of the American Jobs Plan.

Our faith traditions compel us to prevent the worst effects of the climate crisis and to create a more just and loving world for all. That is why we are urging Congress to pass the proposed American Jobs Plan, including its transformative requirement of 100% clean energy by 2035.

We need to invest trillions of dollars in zero emission affordable housing units, replacing lead pipes, expanding public transportation and electric vehicle use, creating walkable communities, promoting technological breakthroughs, a Climate Conservation Corps, renewable electricity, and much more. The American Jobs Plan does all of this while investing massively in historically disadvantaged communities.

The time to act is now. On June 9th we will gather at the US Capitol to show our support for 100% clean electricity and the American Jobs Plan. You are also invited to sign this interfaith letter of support for 100% clean power.

Co-sponsors of this event include Interfaith Power and Light, Dayenu, the Hip Hop Caucus, and CCAN Action Fund. The event will be outdoors and compliant with CDC guidelines.

For questions about the event, please email [email protected].

Frequently Asked Questions