#government oil companies

[nando161mando]

[jomnki]

time is a flat circle where we watch a country go to another country and randomly will civilians because "what if they're the enemies haha we totally aren't clearing people out to steal their land" etc and we all go "wow thats fucking messed up, good thing it won't happen again!" and then the exact same thing happens right now and the same people somehow are just incapable of accepting that fact that we are living through history and letting the thing we said wont happen again fucking happen again.

[tangerineneon]

okay but I need to yell about this somewhere and tumblr is the only social media platform I actually use.

In may my province is introducing a bill to the table in legislature (Compassionate Intervention Act) that essentially allows people to be sent for "rehabilitative care" against their will if it's deemed that they are in active addiction and a "danger" to themselves/the community because of it. Already sounds Not Great, right?

Well, the act is mainly intended for the rising homeless population. Their intent is that those suffering on the streets from addiction can be scooped up, evaluated, and dropped off at a rehab facility for detox/"treatment" regardless of if they want the help or not. The reality is they're going to use to it to scoop up EVERY homeless person and ship them off. Entering into the "Super Not Great WTF" territory now.

WELL. The government won't disclose where people will be sent. They haven't made plans for any new facilities to be built (besides a new voluntary center) and we don't have any existing infrastructure that could accommodate that kind of care. When prompted by the media or concerned citizens, they say it's TOO EARLY to be thinking about that stuff and there's no plan in place (you're introducing it NEXT MONTH. You should be able to say what the general plan is). We're now at "JFC what is WRONG with you!!!!" level.

WEEELLL, turns out we DO have infrastructure that can handle this kind of program. Our prisons have lots of room. Not to mention, hiring an "addiction specialist" (in quotes because they're not going to hire an actual qualified person) at each prison is WAY cheaper than creating a new properly equipped and staffed facility. So come May, we're all bracing for the announcement that involuntary rehabilitative care will be completed In Prison. They're going to be able to 100% legally move every homeless person to prison for the crime of being homeless and therefore likely on drugs if it's approved.

I'm fucking LIVID.

[thevioletcaptain]

the next customer to ask me "what's wrong with your eye?" is getting thrown into the sea :)

[oodlenoodleroodle]

I'm a little annoyed that US has started calling Russian diamonds "blood diamonds" because that term has a very specific meaning which as far as I understand doesn't apply to the war in Ukraine.

Like I haven't heard of Russia conquering Ukrainian diamond mines, these diamonds come from mines located in Russia, right? And the diamonds aren't being sold to fund the war, it just happens to be a product that Russia exports. So to my ears calling them "blood diamonds" really cheapens the weight of the term. Like the word "blood" in real "blood diamonds" refers to real blood of real humans that really were killed so that the insurgents/invaders could sell the diamonds to further the conflict. It's not an abstract idea that means "diamonds mined in a country that has started a war." Russia isn't a warzone. And again, if these diamond mines were in the parts of Ukraine that Russia has invaded, then "blood diamond" would be an accurate name.

And I have an added icky feeling about this terminology coup specifically because real blood diamonds come from Africa, and there is some sort of weird race thing vibe going on here, where a conflict involving white people takes a term from conflicts that involved Black people, except the situations aren't comparable, so it feels like yet again white people coopting Black pain, or something. Like it smells like they are taking this really emotionally charged word to try to morally blackmail people into sanctioning Russian diamonds.

Like for once could you just use a different word for different things? You are already at financial war with Russia so you can just go ahead and sanction the diamonds and be done with it. Making people like me feel icky about your choice of words is only harming your cause.

[mothercain]

i find it funny that conservatives try to paint me calling for the death and destruction of multi-billionaire CEOs as some radical "woke liberal" standpoint. as if that even has anything to do with politics, especially in this era of surface level circus politics. the same way they try to politicize the hurricanes or the wildfires destroying parts of america, as if climate change is somehow a red vs. blue issue. it's no secret i'm from a deeply conservative family in the sticks of florida and i still grew up hearing "i fought the law and the law won". the healthcare system has fucked each and every member of my family in a different way at one point or another, as is the case with pretty much every family in this scorched earth nation. remember when country music, the genre currently associated the heaviest with the most conservative faction of america, used to be staunchly anti-government and about sticking it to the man? remember when the coal miners, grandfathers to the "trump-er hillbillies" of appalachia that everyone loves to write off as ignorant, fought tooth and nail for unionization because the companies that were built off their labor didn't give a shit if they lived or died? since when has "upholding traditional values" gone hand in hand with... defending lawmakers and oil tycoons. my family and i complain about the same issues at the dinner table. the men in charge better hope they can keep their digital smokescreens running as long as they can because the moment the rednecks and the hippies lay down their swords long enough to realize they have the same enemy, all hell is gonna break loose.

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

You know it's somewhat amusing that due to the fact that Americans have been so tax avoidant for so long is the entire reason they don't have the funding to fix their infrastructure or fund healthcare like every other developed country in the world

The ironic thing is the only reason they're putting a tax hike in right now is to fund the trillionaire tax break the Republicans put through during trump's last tenure due to the fact that they have bankrupted themselves trying to take the Gaza strip in order to secure oil rights in that particular region and they know that they will not be able to fund the money in time, and our potentially going to bankrupt the United States of America in the process

So if you all want to be mad at someone be mad at the Blackrock oil companies lobbying the US government and all of its congressional and senatorial members who have been complicit with the people who want to wage war by using the proxy military government Israel to commit genocide in Palestine so that they can make themselves rich from getting access to Middle Eastern oil fields by attempting to take over the land rights of the Gaza strip by forcibly removing people from their land

And just to be clear the Democrats were fully in on this as well

[nando161mando]

[sapphia]

USA please listen to me: the price of “teaching them a lesson” is too high. take it from New Zealand, who voted our Labour government out in the last election because they weren’t doing exactly what we wanted and got facism instead.

Trans rights are being attacked, public transport has been defunded, tax cuts issued for the wealthy, they've mass-defunded public services, cut and attacked the disability funding model, cut benefits, diverted transport funding to roads, cut all recent public transport subsidies, cancelled massive important infrastructure projects like damns and ferries (we are three ISLANDS), fast tracked mining, oil, and other massive environmentally detrimental projects and gave the power the to approve these projects singularly to three ministers who have been wined and dined by lobbyists of the companies that have put the bids in to approve them while one of the main minister infers he will not prioritise the protection of endangered species like the archeys frog over mining projects that do massive environmental harm. They have attacked indigenous rights in an attempt to negate the Treaty of Waitangi by “redefining it”; as a backup, they are also trying to remove all mentions of the treaty from legislation starting with our Child Protection laws no longer requiring social workers to consider the importance of Maori children’s culture when placing those children; when the Waitangi Tribunal who oversees indigenous matters sought to enquire about this, the Minister for Children blocked their enquiry in a breach of comity that was condemned in a ruling — too late to do anything — by our Supreme Court. They have repealed labour protections around pay and 90 day trials, reversed our smoking ban, cancelled our EV subsidy, cancelled our water infrastructure scheme that would have given Maori iwi a say in water asset management, cancelled our biggest city’s fuel tax, made our treasury and inland revenue departments less accountable, dispensed of our Productivity Commission, begun work on charter schools and military boot camps in an obvious push towards privatisation, cancelled grants for first home buyers, reduced access to emergency housing, allowed no cause evictions, cancelled our Maori health system that would have given Maori control over their own public medical care and funding, cut funding of services like budgeting advice and food banks, cancelled the consumer advocacy council, cancelled our medicine regulations, repealed free prescriptions, deferred multiple hospital builds, failed to deliver on pre-election medical promises, reversed a gun ban created in response to the mosque shootings, brought back three strikes = life sentence policy, increased minimum wage by half the recommended amount, cancelled fair pay for disabled workers, reduced wheelchair services, reversed our oil and gas exploration ban, cancelled our climate emergency fund, cut science research funding including climate research, removed limits on killing sea lions, cut funding for the climate change commission, weakened our methane targets, cancelled Significant National Areas protections, have begun reversing our ban on live exports. Much of this was passed under urgency.

It’s been six months.

[snailpaste]

lotta floods "of the century" recently, huh? and "highest recorded" temperatures too. and a fair amount of some of the most disastrous storms, cyclones, and hurricanes on record. if only we knew what the cause was 🤷‍♂���

oh thats right! it must be weather manipulation! 🤡

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put forward a new regulation to limit bank overdraft fees. The CFPB pointed out that the average overdraft fee is $35 even though majority of overdrafts are under $26 and paid back with-in 3 days. The new regulation will push overdraft fees down to as little as $3 and not more than $14, saving the American public collectively 3.5 billion dollars a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency put forward a regulation to fine oil and gas companies for emitting methane. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas, after CO2 and is responsible for 30% of the rise of global temperatures. This represents the first time the federal government has taxed a greenhouse gas. The EPA believes this rule will help reduce methane emissions by 80%

The Energy Department has awarded $104 million in grants to support clean energy projects at federal buildings, including solar panels at the Pentagon. The federal government is the biggest consumer of energy in the nation. The project is part Biden's goal of reducing the federal government's greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. The Energy Department estimates it'll save taxpayers $29 million in the first year alone and will have the same impact on emissions as taking over 23,000 gas powered cars off the road.

The Education Department has cancelled 5 billion more dollars of student loan debt. This will effect 74,000 more borrowers, this brings the total number of people who've had their student loan debt forgiven under Biden through different programs to 3.7 Million

U.S. Agency for International Development has launched a program to combat lead exposure in developing countries like South Africa and India. Lead kills 1.6 million people every year, more than malaria and AIDS put together.

Congressional Democrats have reached a deal with their Republican counter parts to revive the expanded the Child Tax Credit. The bill will benefit 16 million children in its first year and is expected to lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. The proposed deal also has a housing provision that could see 200,000 new affordable rental units

[jetrocks]

Non-Britons! Instead of being distracted by the pomp and fanfare of the coronation, here’s a reminder that:

The coronation was funded by tax-payer money. This same tax could have gone towards the cost of living crisis. People are starving and freezing to death as this is going on.

Protests (peaceful or otherwise) are illegal now. A lot of anti-monarchists are being arrested for simply holding signs.

Our government is currently trying to push through a revision to the Equality Act that will exclude trans and non-binary individuals.

Oil companies have made a record profit in the past couple of years. Oil and gas prices aren’t rising because of an inflation issue.

Our NHS is crumbling because funding is going to stupid projects like this coronation.

[reasonsforhope]

"The Supreme Court said Monday [January 13, 2025] it won’t hear an appeal from oil and gas companies trying to block lawsuits seeking to hold the industry liable for billions of dollars in damage linked to climate change.

The order allows the city of Honolulu’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies to proceed. The city’s chief resilience officer, Ben Sullivan, said it’s a significant decision that will protect “taxpayers and communities from the immense costs and consequences of the climate crisis caused by the defendants’ misconduct.”

The industry has faced a series of cases alleging it deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change. Governments in states including California, Colorado and New Jersey are seeking billions of dollars in damages from things like wildfires, rising sea levels and severe storms. The lawsuits come during a wave of legal actions in the U.S. and worldwide seeking to leverage action on climate change through the courts.

The oil and gas companies appealed to the Supreme Court after Hawaii’s highest court allowed the lawsuit to proceed. The companies include Sunoco, Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and BP, many of which are headquartered in Texas.

The companies argued emissions are a national issue that should instead be fought over in federal court, where they’ve successfully had suits tossed out.

“The stakes in this case could not be higher,” attorneys wrote in court documents. The lawsuits “present a serious threat to one of the nation’s most vital industries.”

The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said declining to hear the Honolulu case now means the companies could face more lawsuits from activists trying to “make themselves the nation’s energy regulators.” [Good!!!]

The Democratic Biden administration had weighed in at the justices’ request and urged them to reject the case, saying it’s fair to keep it in state court at this point — though the administration acknowledged that the companies could eventually prevail...

Honolulu argued it’s made a strong case under state laws against deceptive marketing and it should be allowed to play out there. “Deceptive commercial practices fall squarely within the core interests and historic powers of the states,” attorneys wrote."

-via AP News, January 13, 2025

[hope-for-the-planet]

From the article:

The Supreme Court on Monday said it will not consider whether to quash lawsuits brought by Honolulu seeking billions of dollars from oil and gas companies for the damage caused by the effects of climate change, clearing the way for the cases to move forward. The legal battle pursued in Hawaii state court is similar to others filed against the nation's largest energy companies by state and local governments in their courts. The suits claim that the oil and gas industry engaged in a deceptive campaign and misled the public about the dangers of their fossil fuel products and the environmental impacts. A group of 15 energy companies asked the Supreme Court to review a decision from the Hawaii Supreme Court that allowed a lawsuit brought by the city and county of Honolulu, as well as its Board of Water Supply, to proceed. The suit was brought in Hawaii state court in March 2020, and Honolulu raised several claims under state law, including creating a public nuisance and failure to warn the public of the risks posed by their fossil fuel products.  The city accused the oil and gas industry of contributing to global climate change, leading to flooding, erosion and more frequent and intense extreme weather events. These changes, they said, have led to property damage and a drop in tax revenue as a result of less tourism. The energy companies unsuccessfully sought to have the case moved to federal court, arguing that the claims raised by Honolulu under state law were overridden by federal law and the Clean Air Act. A state trial court denied their efforts to dismiss the case.

[know-news-is-good-news]

The perfect example of how the entire world has been educationally bamboozled into believing things their governments and big business have psyched out their citizens ! ! The word hemp triggers most people to no end. What you are confusing hemp with is THC ! If a plant, no matter what you call, it contains THC it can make you high. No THC, then you can smoke it until it comes out your ears, you'll cough, for sure, but you'll only get dizzy from the asphyxiation !

HEMP is NOT Cannabis ! ! BUT plastic makers and oil companies want you to think that ! ! I'm surprised we haven't heard a report that people are eating things like coffee cups made of hemp trying to get high ? ! ? BTW you can eat hemp coffee cups, it won't hurt you ! ! Try eating a plastic cup and see what happens or ask a sea turtle ! !