Message From the Editor

Typically sleepy Grant Town, West Virginia, was in the spotlight on Saturday, April 9, as more than 50 activists from the region and around the United States gathered outside its power plant, which happens to be the primary customer for expensive waste coal sold by Sen. Joe Manchin’s company. That day 16 people were arrested after trying to block the entrance to the Grant Town Power Plant. The protesters — some of whom formed a human chain — called attention to the nearly half million dollars a year Sen. Manchin earns from these coal investments, while the conservative Democrat again stymies climate action in D.C. One protester who was in the process of being chiseled by police out of the plastic tube over her and another protester’s joined arms, remarked, “At this point, everybody knows what needs to be done.” Photojournalist Zach Roberts reports from the scene. [[link removed]]

This week, DeSmog welcomes award-winning climate journalist and former Reuters reporter Matthew Green to the team [[link removed]] as our first Global Investigations Editor. He’s hit the ground running with a review of the new documentary Rebellion, which charts the wild rise of the Extinction Rebellion movement just as a new wave of protests erupts across Britain. Perhaps the most notable of the recent protests came from an art teacher who this week managed to infiltrate Shell’s headquarters while livestreaming his impassioned plea to stop fossil fuel extraction. Read more. [[link removed]]

But fossil fuels aren’t the only form of energy posing an environmental threat. Leaked documents show a powerful United States-based biomass industry group is lobbying hard to dilute European Union biodiversity rules that could limit the supply of wood going to UK power plant Drax, which is at the heart of those lobby efforts. Phoebe Cook has the story. [[link removed]]

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: [[email protected]].

Thanks,

Brendan DeMelle

Executive Director

P.S. We have powerful investigations coming in the next few weeks, made possible by our generous donors. If you’d like to help, can you donate $10 or $20 right now? [[link removed]]

West Virginia Protest Calls out Manchin’s Coal Profits [[link removed]]— By Zach Roberts (4 min. read) —

On Saturday, April 9, a group of more than 50 activists from the region and around the country convened on a coal power plant in West Virginia, calling for it to be closed and rallying around a small blockade outside its entrance. By the end of the day, 16 of them had been arrested.

The plant the protesters targeted, in Grant Town, West Virginia, isn’t just any of the over 200 coal power plants still operating in the United States. It’s the one where Sen. Joe Manchin makes nearly $500,000 per year selling a dirty coal waste called “gob.”

READ MORE [[link removed]] Introducing Matthew Green, DeSmog’s Global Investigations Editor [[link removed]]— By Brendan DeMelle [[link removed]] (2 min. read)—

DeSmog is excited to welcome Matthew Green as our Global Investigations Editor.

Matthew joins DeSmog from Reuters, where he has covered climate and environmental stories for the past four years — with a particular focus on the intersection between the climate crisis, finance, and the energy transition.

In 2018, he reported from West Africa, Borneo, and Norway for Reuters’ Ocean Shock project on the impact of climate change on marine communities, sharing a prize for explanatory journalism from the Society of Environmental Journalists.

READ MORE [[link removed]] As Extinction Rebellion Returns to Britain’s Streets, A New Film Charts the Movement’s Wild Rise [[link removed]]— By Matthew Green [[link removed]] (6 min. read)—

Oil prices surged this year, and natural gas traded at record levels. There are no equivalent metrics to gauge the strength of the global climate movement – but civil disobedience in Britain appears to be hitting an all-time high.

In the past two weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested for blockading fuel depots by climbing over fences, digging tunnels, and clambering on top of oil tankers. Scientists in lab coats have glued themselves to government buildings and doused Shell’s London headquarters with fake oil. But the most memorable moment was provided by an art teacher who somehow managed to work his way to the eighth floor of the building on Wednesday to livestream an emotional plea.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Biomass Industry Pushes Back Against Europe’s Plans To Protect Woodland [[link removed]]s— By Phoebe Cooke [[link removed]] (6 min. read)—

A powerful US biomass lobby group is pushing for a raft of changes that would weaken European renewable energy rules geared to better protect biodiversity and tackle climate change, DeSmog can reveal.

Leaked documents shared with DeSmog show that Yorkshire wood-burning power plant Drax is at the heart of the effort to water down EU sustainability criteria.

READ MORE [[link removed]] Media Gives Climate Denier Fuel Lobbyist a Platform to Attack ‘Just Stop Oil’ Protests [[link removed]]— By Adam Barnett (4 min. read) —

A climate denier and fuel lobbyist who campaigns against net zero policies was given a platform by major media outlets to attack fossil fuel protests – without any mention of his climate views or industry funders.

Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUK campaign against fuel duty, was quoted in The Sun, MailOnline, inews and the Telegraph’s live blog and was interviewed on Sky News this week about “Just Stop Oil” activists, who were blocking fuel terminals to protest against new oil drilling licences.

READ MORE [[link removed]] From the Climate Disinformation Database: [[link removed]]Stand Together

Stand Together [[link removed]], describing itself as a “philanthropic community,” is the new face of The Seminar Network/Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce. The Seminar Network previously encompassed a group of entities funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers that was formed roughly three years prior. Stand Together does not appear to have released any official statements on climate change, although Charles and David Koch have made statements about climate change and have funded groups to obstruct efforts to try to mitigate the climate changes that are underway.

Read its full profile [[link removed]] and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database [[link removed]] and Koch Network Database [[link removed]].

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