Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Our Daily Planet is a daily morning email (M-F) to keep you informed of the stories shaping our environment. If these issues matter to you, we’d like to be the best ten minutes of your morning.
Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press via The New York Times
The Secretary of Energy stunningly accused the major financial institutions that refuse to now invest in Arctic oil and gas exploration of discrimination against the oil and gas industry and likened the decision to the banks’ refusal in the past to make loans to minorities. In an interview with Axios, here is exactly what he said:
“For years and years and years, banks would not lend money, insurance companies would not write policies in minority areas in the country. Redlining is the term used all throughout those debates. We didn’t want banks redlining certain parts of the country. We don’t want that here. I do not think banks should be redlining our oil and gas investment across the country.”
Why This Matters: Arctic drilling has been fought due to its environmental toll since the 1960s,The Administration can raise false flags (as if oil and gas companies at all resemble minorities subjected to systemic racism) and twist the facts, but in the end, drilling won’t happen without financial backers and the prospect that it would be profitable. It’s absurd to feel bad for either the unfairly maligned big banks or those “poor” oil and gas companies. It’s an outrageous and deeply insensitive comparison.
Senator Bernie Sanders said: “Racist redlining denied wealth to generations of Black Americans. Today, the fossil fuel industry dumps its pollution on communities of color. This comment from Trump’s Energy Secretary is disgusting.”
Bill McKibben of 350.org said: “The Secretary of Energy thinks that banks deciding not to invest in oil and gas because of climate change is the same as banks redlining minority communities for decades. This is some combination of gross and pathetic.”
Cleaning Up The Mess
After the comment, the Energy Department spokesperson put out this statement: “Secretary Brouillette has zero tolerance for discrimination of any type, and he was not in any way equating the plight of minority communities to that of energy companies,” Department of Energy spokesperson Shaylyn Hynes said of the redlining analogy. “Accusing him of doing so in order to manufacture a dramatic headline is both disingenuous and not based in any truth.”
The Colorado River is drying up, millions are at risk of losing their water supply, and Indigenous communities are fighting to keep their water rights. The Western megadrought is taking its toll on American communities, but how did we get here? In his new film, River’s End: California’s Latest Water War, Jacob Morrison delves […]
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and HP just announced that they’re taking their friendship to the next level. The odd couple is teaming up and expanding their partnership to restore, protect, and improve the management of almost one million acres of forest. HP is pledging $80 million to forest conservation and restoration, and not stopping there […]
Researchers from the National University of Singapore used data from more than 1,000 twin siblings to evaluate their opinions about environmental policy. They found identical twins were more likely to have similar views on green policy than non-identical twins, suggesting that support for climate action may have a genetic component. Felix Tropf, a professor in […]
Subscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
Want the lastest climate news summarized for you each morning?
Our Daily Planet is your daily dose of the stories shaping our world and the ways that you can take action. From the climate crisis to the protection of biodiversity, if these issues matter to you then please subscribe & stay informed!
Your privacy is Important! We promise never to use your email address to send you spam or advertisements.