Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! As a scheduling update, the newsletter is taking the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. We hope you have a great holiday, and we’ll see you on the other side.
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In today’s edition, we’ll cover an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the Environmental Protection Agency’s new grant competition, and the United Arab Emirates’ climate contradictions. But first:
Outdoor retailer Patagonia is urging President Biden to protect the Arctic
In 2020, Patagonia emblazoned the tags of limited-edition shorts with an explicit four-word message: “Vote the a--holes out.” The leading outdoor retailer said the message was intended for President Donald Trump, who had rolled back protections for America’s public lands and waters, as well as other politicians who refused to act on climate change.
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Now, as holiday shoppers gear up for Black Friday, the company is launching another provocative campaign, one aimed at shaping President Biden’s conservation legacy in the Alaska Arctic.
The campaign, which includes in-store ads and online videos, urges customers to submit public comments telling Biden to protect the Alaska Arctic from mining and drilling. It focuses on three ecologically sensitive areas: the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and the Brooks Range.
“My sense is the Biden administration recognizes the opportunity they have here,” Corley Kenna, a spokeswoman for Patagonia, told The Climate 202. “But we want to be helpful in getting a really broad coalition to support these protections.”
Biden has set an ambitious goal of conserving at least 30 percent of the nation’s land and waters by 2030. But he angered many climate activists this spring by approving an Alaska oil drilling project known as Willow.
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Kenna said the campaign is unrelated to Willow. Instead, she said it’s part of the company’s long-standing advocacy for the outdoors across both Republican and Democratic administrations.
“To be clear, we were advocating for the protection of public lands long before Donald Trump became president,” she said. “It’s part of a long history of fighting for these places.”
The Ambler Road
Roughly 50 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the Brooks Range is home to lush green valleys and glacial blue rivers. It’s also the site of a controversial 211-mile road that would allow Ambler Metals to access a proposed open-pit copper mine.
The road would carve through Gates of the Arctic National Park, crossing 11 major rivers and disrupting the migratory path of tens of thousands of caribou. It would also cross federal land, meaning the Biden administration must decide its fate.
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In October, the Interior Department found that the road could threaten Alaska Native communities and their lifestyle more than previously estimated. But the agency has yet to issue a final decision on the contested project.
The Ambler Road would cause “a lot of destruction … to our lands, to our people, to our food security and to our ways of life,” Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, a tribal nonprofit group, says in a video produced by Patagonia.
Interior’s Bureau of Land Management is soliciting public comments on the road until Dec. 22. A form letter drafted by Patagonia urges BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning to revoke all permits for the road.
Shalon Harrington, external affairs director for Ambler Metals, a joint venture of two companies that want to mine the site, blasted Patagonia’s new campaign. She said the project would provide a badly needed domestic source of copper, a key ingredient in electric vehicles and other technologies crucial to Biden’s clean-energy agenda.
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“Patagonia owes an explanation as to where the minerals will come from for all the EV batteries, electrification technologies and solar panels that are needed to save the planet,” Harrington said in an emailed statement, adding: “If the U.S. doesn’t source these minerals domestically, we will continue to be dependent on China and other nations with horrible human rights records in mining.”
Interior spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment.
No culture wars?
Other companies have faced backlash from conservatives for speaking up on social issues.
- Republican lawmakers called for boycotting Anheuser-Busch after the beer brand partnered with transgender actress and comedian Dylan Mulvaney.
- Target in June pulled its Pride merchandise and promotional materials from store windows following threats and harassment against employees.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard made waves last year by giving away the outdoor apparel maker, valued at about $3 billion, and declaring that “Earth is now our only shareholder.” But so far, the company has not been engulfed in the culture wars, Kenna said.
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“I’m not aware that we have faced any kind of backlash,” she said. “Whether it’s for future generations, for the climate crisis or for outdoor recreation opportunities, reasonable people can agree when they hear the story of these places. So we’re not going to be afraid of advocating for them.”
Correction: A previous version of this newsletter said Ambler Metals is the company behind the Ambler project. In fact, it is a joint venture of two companies that want to mine the site. The story has been corrected.
Pressure points
Oil spill tops 1 million gallons, threatens Gulf of Mexico wildlife
At least 1.1 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, the Coast Guard said yesterday, noting that it is still reviewing whether a nearby pipeline is the source of the contamination, The Washington Post’s Darryl Fears reports.
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The leak was first detected Thursday around a 67-mile pipeline operated by Main Pass Oil Gathering, owned by Houston-based Third Coast Infrastructure. The pipeline was shut down early Thursday, and yesterday, skimming vessels were still working to contain and recover oil.
Officials at Main Pass and Third Coast did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.
The incident is the latest in an area that has seen some of the worst offshore oil disasters in the nation’s history. In 2010, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and sent 130 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.
Such spills can harm wildlife. The Deepwater Horizon incident contaminated habitat for sea turtles, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, while exposing marine mammals, birds and fish to toxins.
Agency alert
EPA to deliver $2 billion for environmental justice communities
The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday opened up applications for about $2 billion in grants for low-income communities overburdened by pollution, marking the single largest investment in environmental justice of any administration.
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The money, which is meant to support local efforts to deploy clean energy and bolster resilience to worsening weather events, comes from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Community Change Grants program. The initiative also includes $200 million for technical assistance for applicants.
Recipients will be announced over the coming year, with $1.96 billion going to 150 projects and the remaining $40 million being spread among 20 projects. The agency is soliciting proposals for projects from community-based nonprofit groups, tribes, colleges and local governments in overburdened areas.
“Underserved communities often face multiple challenges,” John D. Podesta, President Biden’s senior adviser for clean energy, said on a call with reporters yesterday. He cited, for example, people who lack access to air conditioning during heat waves who are already dealing with unsafe drinking water.
International climate
The many contrasts of oil-rich UAE, host of the global climate talks
The United Arab Emirates, the host of this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, is touting its vision for a green economy, with its state-owned oil company planning to be net zero by 2045. But the UAE’s definition of climate-friendly efforts comes with some caveats, The Post’s Chico Harlan reports.
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While the nation is building solar projects that could power a small city, it is also ramping up offshore oil production capacity like never before. Its ambition is to supply the world with oil as long as there is demand.
“The world, I wish it could run on renewables tomorrow. But the reality is not,” said Musabbeh Al Kaabi, the executive director for low carbon solutions and international growth at Adnoc, the UAE’s state-owned oil company.
Still, the UAE is aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 — the most ambitious climate target of any Gulf state. It is also building what it calls the world’s first town with zero carbon and zero waste, although Masdar City is years behind schedule.
These contrasts are set to converge at the U.N. summit in Dubai starting Nov. 30, where Adnoc chief executive and chair of the UAE’s clean energy arm, Sultan Al Jaber, will preside over the talks. For many climate activists, Al Jaber’s appointment risks undermining the negotiations, since fossil fuel companies have a financial stake in maintaining the status quo. But Al Jaber has argued that oil and gas companies have a “central” role to play in solving climate change, given their expertise and scale.
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