Betrayal, Lawsuits, and Alaskan Oil: This Week's Climate News
In this week's Doomer Dispatch: Biden approves the Willow Project, the Silicon Valley Bank threatens climate tech, and lawsuits are levied against Washington.
Welcome back to the Doomer Dispatch, weekly climate news to spur doomers into doers. Like that tagline? I’m proud of it.
Quick note: I started a TikTok account last week to start sharing climate news and topics. My first two videos have racked upwards of 70k views so far! Please check it out if you use the app. Now, on with this week’s climate news.
TL;DR Summary
Building on last week’s post: On Monday, President Biden approved the ‘carbon bomb’ Willow Project, the $8 billion oil drilling operation in Alaskan federal land.
As a result of Willow’s approval, two major lawsuits have promptly been filed against the federal government in an attempt to block the project- one on behalf of Indigenous Alaskans, and one by environmental organizations.
The Silicon Valley Bank fallout is affecting more than a thousand climate technology companies, many of them start-ups creating solar, hydrogen, and battery storage projects.
After years of pressure, the U.S. Department of Justice is finally throwing its weight behind lawsuits seeking to hold Big Oil companies accountable for climate damages.
This Week’s Top Stories
Biden Approves the Willow Project, betraying campaign promises
On Monday, President Biden approved the final permits for the controversial Willow Project, an $8 billion oil drilling operation in Alaska. Often referred to as a ‘carbon bomb,’ oil giant ConocoPhillips’ new moneymaker is estimated to emit nearly 280 million-metric-tons of CO2 over thirty years- the equivalent of adding almost 2 million cars to the road each year.
Announced alongside the approval were new protections for many natural areas across Alaska including lakes, rivers, wetlands, forests, 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve (the areas that Willow are not being built in), and a large swath of the U.S. controlled zones in the Arctic Ocean. Protecting these areas from oil and gas leasing is more than likely a tactic to dampen criticism over the Willow Project’s approval.
That tactic did not work. Harsh criticism over the government’s decision has been pouring out across the country since Monday. Many people are pointing out Biden’s hypocrisy, citing the promises he made on the campaign trail, including “No more drilling on federal lands, period.” Now that he has broken this promise, Biden betrays not only the climate, but the millions of young people who brought him to a 2020 victory.
In defense of their decision, the federal government essentially claimed they had no choice. Immense pressure from the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation and a majority of Alaskan Indigenous groups swayed Biden with claims of the potential economic benefits and boost for U.S. energy independence even though neither are guaranteed. Still, the Department of the Interior -who oversees federal land leasing- felt their hands were tied. After all, regardless of Willow’s effect on the climate crisis, choosing to deny ConocoPhillips’ permits would have potentially cost the government around $5 billion in legal fees- a price apparently too high for a livable planet.
Lawsuits line up against Biden and Willow
In response to Biden’s decision to approve the Willow Project on Monday, two major lawsuits were swiftly filed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The first lawsuit was filed by the Trustees for Alaska on behalf of a coalition of environmental groups and the Iñupiat, an Indigenous community native to the North Slope, the area where Willow is to be built. The suit demands the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska negate the approval because the federal government failed to consider the project's indirect and direct climate risks, as well as harm to local wildlife. This is a common path for environmental lawsuits- citing violations of laws like the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Clean Air and Water Acts.
The second lawsuit, filed by environmental groups Earthjustice and the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), also allege the Biden administration neglected to consider the full climate impact of the project. They cite “irreparable harm to the environment, Arctic wildlife and nearby people who depend on the land for subsistence,” as key drivers behind their suit.
At this time, it is hard to predict whether these lawsuits (and the likely more to come) will stop Willow, or just delay it.
The Silicon Valley Bank collapse may take climate tech companies down with it
The great fall of the Silicon Valley Bank that has tech bros across the country shaking in their Bitcoin boots may harm climate companies. The largest bank to fail since the Great Recession in 2008, SVB has issued billion in loans to more than 1,550 tech companies in the solar, hydrogen, and battery storage business.
Among the affected sectors, it appears community solar projects have been hit the hardest. According to the bank, it “led or participated” in 62 percent of financing deals for smaller-scale, residential solar projects.
While many loans can be reimbursed by the bank’s federal bailout -where the government seizes control of SVB’s assets and issues payments to borrowers- the major cause for concern is the ‘chilling’ effect this collapse could have on the climate tech industry. With such a major crash, it is possible that private investors may stay away from solar, hydrogen, or battery projects in the near future.
The Department of Justice steps into the ring for climate accountability lawsuits
On Thursday, the Department of Justice shared an opinion with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a Colorado case against fossil fuel giants ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. The DOJ’s opinion asks the justices to allow the case to proceed in state court, in opposition to the fossil fuel industry’s request to block it. This marks the first time the Biden administration has taken a stance in a climate accountability case, having neglected the pressure to do so for years.
The case in question is a suit filed by the City of Boulder, CO, Boulder County, and San Miguel County that claims Exxon and Suncor deceived the public about fossil fuels’ role in climate change. This lawsuit represents a larger movement to make the coal, oil, and gas industry pay for the damages they have knowingly caused and hidden from the public as climate impacts like storms, heat, and flooding worsen around the world.
Fossil fuel companies have spent years dodging and burying cases like the one in Colorado but have continued to lose their lawsuits as judges and courts side with local communities. While the industry begs the Supreme Court to intervene, the Department of Justice’s new opinion may be a tipping point in favor of American communities who demand climate accountability.
Editor’s Note: I feel I should comment on the hypocrisy of the Biden administration’s decision to advocate for the climate in this instance but NOT in the Willow Project decision- what wild, wild times we live in.
More climate news to watch
A new study finds that the United Nations has been drastically undercounting rich countries’ plastic pollution in the global waste trade.
Another new study finds that, over the past 20 years, climate change has “supercharged” floods and droughts across the world.
In Bloomberg’s anticipated 2023 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook, global private investment in the energy transition shattered records in 2022, rising to over $1 trillion.
The Environmental Protection Agency is restricting toxic chemicals in two new rules: one for drinking water and one for manufacturing.
The EPA is also imposing the ‘Good Neighbor’ rule- a regulation to prevent smog from carrying downwind into other states, polluting their air.
Chicago activists are suing the US Army Corps over a proposed dumping site to protect their environmental justice community from more toxic pollution.
President Biden plans to designate nearly a half-million acres of southern Nevada as a national monument, honoring Indigenous groups’ requests.
The US Treasury Department is struggling to define ‘green hydrogen’ as it determines who is eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act’s climate subsidies.
Adjuntas, a small town in Puerto Rico, is celebrating as it hosts the archipelago’s first cooperatively managed solar microgrid.
Other great climate content here on Substack
BREAKING: DOJ throws support behind communities suing Big Oil - A deeper dive into the DOJ opinion by ExxonKnews.
Willow is not just an “environmentalist” concern - HEATED finds that 75 percent of national news stories about the Willow Project framed its importance as primarily political.
Thank you for joining me for the second edition of the Dispatch. What do you think so far? Pester me in the comments! I am but your dutiful servant.
OK doomers, I’ll see you next week.
-Joey
Very informative! It’s so easy to ignore all this crucial information when it’s not right in our faces. Thanks for making it easily accessible.