The Action Report has a new name and look! In this issue, we're focusing on climate and energy. Learn why carbon capture won't solve the climate crisis; what you need to know about carbon pipelines; and the successful campaign to put a moratorium on fossil fuel-powered crypto mining in the state of New York.
Thank You For Fighting Like You Live Here!
WHY CARBON CAPTURE
WON’T SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS
The Action Report Has a New Name and Look!
SPRING 2023 ISSUE
Focus on Climate and Energy DANGEROUS: What You Need to Know About Carbon Pipelines
Donor Spotlight: Carol Johnson
Moratorium on Fossil Fuel- Powered Crypto Mining in NY
A MESSAGE FOR YOU
It seems like there is no limit to the schemes the fossil fuel industry comes up with to grow their industry. It's driving the climate crisis, the greatest threat to our food and water. Twelve years ago Food & Water Watch sounded the alarm about the growing threat of fracking, becoming the first national organization to call for a ban on this dangerous practice. Like fracking, carbon capture is the latest industry ploy to continue burning fossil fuels while claiming to reduce carbon pollution in the name of climate action. But carbon capture will not resolve global warming. As this issue of Livable Future NOW details, carbon capture will keep fossil fuel power plants running, furthering the climate crisis. In the process, it will impact our water, destroy produc- tive agricultural land, and pose a great public health and safety threat. Because of you, Food & Water Watch is working in communities across the country against this practice, mobilizing people and standing with local partners. Thank you for fighting against this latest threat to our food, water, and climate.
DANGEROUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CARBON PIPELINES
Wenonah Hauter Executive Director
The Denbury Pipeline rupture near Satartia, Mississippi resulted in a crater dangerously close to Highway 433. The sudden release of CO 2 caused a visible coating of ice in the area surrounding the rupture. Aerial drone photo courtesy of THE MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY / USED WITH PERMISSION
Cover photo: Activist Hannah Hayes in Iowa. Photo by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
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Iowa landowners held an educational event about carbon pipelines at the Emmet County fairgrounds in North-Central Iowa. In this small county with a populations of just over 9,000, more than 150 people showed up!
Investigative journalist Dan Zegart in Iowa
Two years ago, on a quiet winter night in the small town of Satartia, Mississippi, an invisible fog sucked the oxygen out of the air. Cars rolled to a stop. People collapsed in their homes. The culprit? A nearby carbon pipeline had ruptured, releasing a hazardous colorless, odorless gas.
I was surprised by the sheer level of chaos. Folks overcome by CO 2 were wandering around, disorientated. Their cars had stalled because CO 2 displaces oxygen. And the heroic, almost battlefield mentality, of the first responders surprised me as well. What did the accident at Satartia teach us about carbon pipelines? You can’t predict where the plume of CO 2 is going to go, or how long it’s going to be in the air. All the models that had been done to predict this were wrong.
Dan Zegart was the first nation- al journalist to investigate the catastrophe , which hospital- ized nearly 50 people. Now, he’s covering the fight against three corporations plotting 3,000 miles of carbon pipeline through Iowa. These pipelines are part of the fossil fuel industry’s newest scam: carbon capture. They claim they can fight climate change by capturing CO 2 from the air surrounding their carbon-emitting plants, trans- porting it via pipelines, and storing it underground. But it doesn’t work, and it’s not safe. Food & Water Watch Senior Iowa Organizer Emma Schmit sat down with Dan for an interview. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
You broke the story on how danger- ous carbon pipelines can be. What surprised you? The people in Satartia were not prepared. They were not notified by the company that [a rupture] could happen. They had very little
knowledge about the pipeline. That didn’t surprise me much. What surprised me was how bad the injuries were. People who had
The people in Satartia were not prepared. They were not notified by the company that [a rupture] could happen.
To those who say, “We’ve built pipelines [for other products], we can do it with CO 2 .” Nope! You can’t. In many ways, it's a much more hazardous type of pipeline. The people in Satartia were guinea pigs, sacrificed for this
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) under control are now on inhalers full-time. People are disoriented still, have memory problems. One of the most seriously- injured people can’t recognize his friends on the street. He can’t hold a job.
Dangerous - continued on Page 3 >
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5 Reasons
Carbon Capture Is Bogus
1 2 3 4
Carbon Transport and Storage are Unsafe Carbon pipeline ruptures can expel lethal levels of carbon dioxide, an invisible asphyxiant, for miles. What’s more, CO 2 displaces oxygen, stalling combustion engines and impairing emergency response. CO 2 can also leak from storage wells and contaminate groundwater and soil. Carbon Capture is an Expensive Failure After billions of dollars in public and private invest- ments over decades, there are no carbon capture success stories — only colossal failures. One of the largest was the Petra Nova coal plant in Texas. Once the poster child for CO 2 removal, it closed last year after persistent technological problems such as leaks led to frequent shut-offs — 294 days over a three-year period. Carbon Capture is Energy Intensive Our country emits roughly five billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year. Capturing just a quarter of that would require nearly the entire electricity output of the United States. Carbon Capture Has Increased Emissions Due to the large amount of energy required to power carbon capture and the life cycle of fossil fuels, carbon capture projects in this country have emitted more CO 2 than it has removed. Moreover, 95% of the captured carbon is currently being used to extract more oil in a practice known as ‘enhanced oil recovery.’ Carbon Capture Diverts Investments Away From Renewable Energy We need a rapid transition to 100% renewable energy to stop the worst of climate change, the greatest threat to our food, water, and a livable future. This transition will be slowed as long as the fossil fuel industry can fool government officials and the public into investing in carbon capture instead of focusing on safe and proven clean energy solutions.
Landowners and impacted Iowans showed up en masse at the Iowa State Capitol to voice their opposition to the proposed carbon pipelines.
> Dangerous - continued from Page 2
technology. Unless we want a lot more sacrifices, we better stop because we don’t know what we’re doing. What are your thoughts on the pipelines proposed for Iowa? These companies jumped in because the federal government is offering a tremendous amount of money for carbon capture proj- ects. But the amount of carbon they can actually sequester is tiny compared to what we emit. In the meantime, we’re going to forgo opportunities to produce less carbon as we move through the century. Why, after knowing the safety concerns and how this technology doesn’t work, are we still trying to make carbon capture happen? Oil companies have realized that carbon capture allows them
5
What's Carbon Capture?
Watch Dr. Sandra Steingraber's excellent explanation of carbon capture's flaws, in the film Dear President Biden .
fwwat.ch/carboncapture
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So, think about that in the context of... let’s say, a [pipe- line] broke near a school, an old-folks home, a strip mall. What’s going to happen to those people? How are we going to get to them without internal- combustion engines? There’s no guaranteed path to safety. In Iowa, this issue has brought rural Republicans and left-wing Democrats together. Why has this issue overcome this divide? First, it attacks a fundamental value in our democratic capital-
ist system — private property is not to be messed with.
No one wants to be poisoned, and there’s a good chance of that with these pipelines.
The other issue is safety. No one wants to be poisoned, and there’s a good chance of that with these pipelines. It’s extraordinary. I’ve been in meetings where people talk to each other as neighbors. You have the makings of a move- ment when people can put aside their differences.
to stay alive longer. Maybe they’ll never have to change if we bury the emissions. CO 2 is the industry’s waste. They’re forcing taxpayers to pay them to throw out their garbage. Nobody else gets paid to throw out their garbage.
ON THE GROUND How You're Protecting Communities from Carbon Pipelines The nation’s heartland has
permits until it has updated safety standards. Your generosity makes sure Food & Water Watch organizers like Emma Schmit are on the ground fighting with her fellow Midwesterners for their land, health, and safety.
become a key battleground for the future of carbon pipelines. Three corporations, Summit Carbon Solutions, Navigator Heartland Greenway, and Wolf Carbon, have proposed 3,650 miles of hazardous pipeline to cross Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Because of you, Food & Water Watch is mobilizing people of all political stripes to urge the Iowa Utilities Board to deny permits for these projects. We’re also pressing the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Mate- rials Safety Administration to advise states to stop issuing
Emma Schmit
There are so many reasons carbon capture projects and their pipelines shouldn’t be built here, or anywhere. Only one thing is proven about carbon capture — it doesn’t work. It keeps the U.S. addicted to fossil fuels, degrades our agricultural land, threatens our water, and puts our communities and climate at risk. Thank you so much for powering this fight!
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DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Carol Johnson’s Lasting Impact on the Fight for Our Planet We are filled with immense gratitude for our long-time monthly donor, Carol Nord Johnson, who recently made a legacy gift of $500,000 to Food & Water Watch. As one of the largest legacy contributions ever made to Food & Water Watch, we are honored to be included in Carol’s lasting wishes. In her life, Carol’s monthly Food & Water Watch contribution provided steady support for our most critical campaigns. Through her bequest, she will continue to power and shape our work
to protect the health and well-being of our planet and its people well into the future. Her lasting investment is an inspirational act of optimism and motivates us to fight even harder for a livable future.
How to Make a Lasting Impact for Future Generations
Many donors interested in giving to charity through a will are surprised to learn that it requires zero immediate investment. If you’d like to learn more, visit fwwat.ch/legacy or reach out to Ryan Nuckel at rnuckel@fwwatch.org. Carrie Dike, a Food & Water Legacy Society member, says,
I have always looked to support organizations like Food & Water Watch… that try to solve issues by doing something about
Carrie Dike
Creating a legacy gift by including Food & Water Watch in your will makes sure your commitment to building a livable future will have a lasting impact for generations to come. You’ll also be recognized as a member of our Food & Water Legacy Society which comes with unique perks and our profound gratitude.
it. The least I can do is to help financially support these groups that raise awareness and make things better.
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YOUR FOOD & WATER WATCH AT WORK
ACTION SHOTS!
Together we’ve successfully prevented this proposal from being tacked onto any must- pass bills.
Our Executive Director, Wenonah Hauter, was arrested on Capitol Hill back in the fall. She protested in solidarity with her peers from prominent envi- ronmental, labor, and progressive
groups against Senator Manchin’s permitting reform proposal, which would have fast-tracked fossil fuel projects and undermined community and environmental review.
FEATURED VICTORY
In November, New York became the first state to pass a morato- rium on cryptocurrency mining powered by fossil fuels. Crypto mining compa- nies had been rapidly expanding across New York, reopening retired coal- and gas-burning plants to fuel their
fighting to make this moratori- um permanent. Your contributions mobilized our community. Thank you for standing against polluting industries and making victories like this possible!
Together we’ve made incredible strides toward sustainable food, clean and affordable water, and a livable future for all.
Photo: New York City’s Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams spoke at a rally and press event in front of New York Governor Hochul’s Manhattan office. Photo by Caroll Andrewsk
operations. This bill stops new permits from being issued for two years. While the state uses this time to study cryp- to’s impact on its emissions reduction goals, Food & Water Watch will be
Visit fwwat.ch/spring23wins or scan this QR code to see more of your impact on our website.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Food & Water Legacy Society: Protecting our food, water, and climate for future generations
MARCH 22 World Water Day: Accelerating Change for Water Justice APRIL 19 Celebrate Earth Week with Food & Water Watch! MAY 14 A Fair Farm Bill for All education series featuring the latest environmental news and sharing what you can do to protect our food, water, and climate. JOIN US FOR Livable Future LIVE! Livable Future LIVE! is our monthly virtual
Everyone needs a plan , no matter what your estate includes. Having a legal, up-to-date will in place is a powerful way to protect your loved ones, make important decisions about the future, and support the causes you care about for decades to come. We recommend FreeWill as a trusted, secure resource that removes the hurdles that often surround this important life task of making a will. To date, 550,000+ individuals have used their platform and obtained peace of mind for the future.
Save Your Seat at fwwat.ch/live
Watch past events at fwwat.ch/LFL
Our February event featured an in-depth conversation about carbon capture. See the recording by scanning this QR code or by visiting fwwat.ch/LFLccs
To learn more, use this QR code or visit fwwat.ch/will
foodandwaterwatch.org Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that educates and advocates for safe food, clean water, and a livable climate. Gifts to Food & Water Watch are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. foodandwateraction.org Food & Water Action is our affiliated 501(c)4 nonprofit that mobilizes people to win campaigns that builds political power. Gifts to Food & Water Action Fund are not tax deductible.
MISSION Our food, water, and climate are under constant assault by corporations who put profit over the survival of humanity. They have seized control of the very institutions that were built to protect us. We mobilize people to reclaim their political power, hold our elected officials accountable, and resist corporate control — ensuring we all have the essential resources we need to thrive. This is a fight we must win because this planet is the only one we get.
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