October 11, 2018
By Bob Ciesielski
Sierra Club, Atlantic Chapter
Energy Committee Chair
This November’s election is as vital. In what is probably the greatest threat to life on our planet Earth and democracy in the United States, the energy industries have President Trump, the federal administration and the vast majority of elected federal and state Republicans doing their bidding. Through a long and skillful misinformation process to weaken public concern about climate change, and through the use of their profits to elect and support politicians who are required to deny climate change to stay in office, fossil fuel oligarchs are increasingly desperate to maintain their global energy dominance.
The financial power of the oil and gas industry has reached its apex with Trump, who is completely taken with the strength of the industry and its ability to keep him and other supporters in power. The September 13 meeting between US Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the Russian Energy Ministry to discuss how the two countries can jointly control world gas distribution is the most recent example of the industry’s influence over our politics. How in fact did our country’s energy secretary gain a pass to discuss oil and gas deals with Russia, which is still officially under US financial sanctions?
The insidious activities of the US under the Trump administration in the energy field are noteworthy and blatant. We’re the only country in the world to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Shills for the energy sector were placed in charge of prime government agencies: Rick Perry in the Energy Department, Scott Pruitt in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ryan Zinke in the Interior Department and Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.
We know that methane gas released to the atmosphere is 105 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first 15 to 20 years of release. Ignoring science and the public good, one of Scott Pruitt’s first acts was to halt the monitoring of methane release by the oil and gas corporations, claiming it was too expensive. Incredulously, Pruitt visited Morocco in December to negotiate the sale of US-produced liquefied methane gas. This September, the EPA proposed rules to limit gas company responsibility to inspect and repair its infrastructure for methane gas leaks.
Among other gifts to the gas industry, Secretary Zinke has proposed opening millions of acres of public land to fracking, permitting drilling in the Arctic and along the entire coast of the United States, limiting the reporting of hazardous chemicals used in drilling, and permitting flaring and release of excess methane directly into the atmosphere.
There is no denying that the Trump administration thinks big. Touted to “make America great again,” one major effect of the president’s trade wars is support for the oil and gas industry on a global scale. This is done in several ways. One is to cripple the burgeoning solar and wind industries. An early tariff imposed by Trump was a 30% duty on imported solar panels. A second round of tariffs against this industry involved a 25% tariff imposed on Chinese panels, one of the world’s largest producers. These actions roiled the rapidly growing US solar industry, which employed 200,000 in 2017.
Each round of tariffs includes a demand for an increased purchase of American oil and gas products. In European Union (EU) talks, Trump’s rantings — about our withdrawal from NATO and how the Europeans were taking advantage of Americans — were calmed when the EU agreed to purchase a greater amount of methane gas and oil products from the US. A similar tactic has been used against China, which has also tentatively agreed to increase gas imports from the US. Countries that have agreed to purchase American gas products, such as Poland, are praised by the president.
Even Trump’s “withdrawal” from the Iran nuclear deal has turned into a campaign to promote American oil and gas interests. Reports indicate that the US is strong-arming countries, such as India and Japan, to stop importing Iranian gas and oil products. Any shortage of gas or oil in these countries can, of course, be filled by the US.
While campaigning in Utica this summer, Trump claimed that New York has missed the economic boat by banning high-volume fracking for methane gas. Rick Perry and FERC officials are threatening the state if we oppose the build-out of a fracked-gas infrastructure.
States such as California and Hawaii are showing how an energy system based on solar, wind and hydro can be created for the benefit of all citizens. California recently adopted a law that its entire electric system will be supplied by renewable energy by 2045. California continues to show the economic value of renewable energy, as well as an electrified transportation system. Electric vehicle sales in California far outpace those in the rest of the country. Public transportation systems, such as in Los Angeles, are planning to use 100% electric buses. The economic growth in California is one of the reasons that the Trump administration has been having a difficult time pushing its anti-renewable energy policies in the state.
So what can we as New Yorkers do to alleviate this situation? We must vote this November as if our lives depend on it — because they do! We will certainly face a deluge of fossil-fuel money to support the candidates who maintain the power of these corporations. We are asking all our Sierra Club members to support candidates who recognize the danger of climate change and support renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation.
The threat our federal government poses to democracy and life on Earth may be most obvious. But we ask Sierrans to become involved in all federal, state and local elections. Many legislative measures that have languished for years in New York could be enacted with an environmentally attuned New York State Senate. The Atlantic Chapter has endorsed a number of federal and state candidates, who can be found on our website (click here). Your vote can help turn environmental threat into economic opportunity in New York.
This November, vote as if your life depends on it.