9/8/14, "Charges Dropped Against Climate Activists," NY Times, Jess Bidgood, Fall River, Mass. (9/9/print ed.)
"In May 2013, two environmental activists piloted a lobster boat close to the vast pile of coal at the Brayton Point Power Station, the hulking plant that overlooks this industrial inlet near the border between Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
With
the tiny boat, the two men — Jay O’Hara, 32, and Ken Ward, 57 — dropped
anchor and for a day blocked a freighter with a 40,000-ton shipment of
coal, and they were arrested and charged with conspiracy, disturbing the
peace and other violations.
The two were schedules to be tried on Monday, and they planned to deploy an
old legal argument called the necessity defense: They had no choice but
to act because the consequences of climate change
are so dire. But instead of a jury trial, the major charges were
dropped or downgraded by the district attorney, who said, in effect,
that he was sympathetic to the defendants’ point of view on climate
change.
Sam
Sutter, the Bristol County district attorney who dropped the conspiracy
charge and downgraded the others to civil infractions, strode out of
the Fall River Justice Center clutching an article on climate change
written by the environmentalist and author Bill McKibben,***
who was prepared to testify as an expert witness for the defense. Mr.
Sutter told more than 100 climate activists who had gathered outside
that he had reached his decision in part because of environmental
concerns.
“Climate
change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced,” Mr.
Sutter said. “In my humble opinion, the political leadership on this
issue has been sorely lacking.”
It
is by no means the first time prosecutors have downgraded charges for
civil disobedience, but Mr. Sutter’s strong words about climate change
surprised many of the advocates gathered outside the courthouse.
“I
think it was very bold; I don’t know of another politician — maybe
including Al Gore — who has said it as quickly, as forthrightly, at the
point of decision in something under his purview,” said Mr. Ward, who,
like Mr. O’Hara, still has to pay $2,000 in restitution to settle the
case.
Mr.
Sutter, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the Ninth District in
2012, describes himself as a “fervent environmentalist,” and said a
trial could have put him in an awkward position. Despite his personal
beliefs, he said, he was not sure the defense team would meet the legal
burdens required for the necessity defense.
“I
would have been in a position of saying, ‘Well, I legally don’t think
you have a necessity defense, but this is a crisis,’ ” said
Tim DeChristopher,
a Harvard Divinity School student who spent nearly two years in federal
prison after he disrupted an oil and gas auction in Utah in 2008, was
in Fall River on Monday, and he said he hoped Mr. Sutter’s action would
encourage other elected officials to take bolder action on climate
change.
“We
rarely ask people in official positions to make the kind of risks that
activists take,” Mr. DeChristopher, 32, said. “What D.A. Sutter did
today is to show that there’s no reason for that.”"
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9/18/2013, "Sutter, a Fall River resident and Democrat, has cast his eyes on the attorney general’s office."
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***NY Times doesn't note that Bill McKibben is backed by fossil fuel billions of the Rockefeller Brothers:
.
4/21/11, “1Sky and 350.org: Stronger as One,” rbf.org, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jessica Bailey
“This month marked the exciting marriage of 1Sky and 350.org—two grantees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Sustainable Development program….
The announcement to merge 1Sky and 350.org—two of the biggest movements on climate—into a single organization under the banner of 350.org, gives me hope that we just might build a people-powered movement strong enough to protect this planet. 1Sky and 350.org were born around the same time and involved many of the same leaders. Bill McKibben, who has been a 1Sky board member and will chair the new 350.org board…. 1Sky was founded to support ambitious environmental action in the United States that would keep emissions targets to scientifically defendable levels, stop new coal-fired power plants, and build a green economy strong enough to create five million new green jobs."...
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Forbes profile, David Rockefeller, Sr., net worth “$2.5 billion,” “Source of Wealth: Standard Oil, Banking”
===============================
Exxon was created from John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company:
“A Guide to the ExxonMobil Historical Collection, 1790-2004: Part 1,” University of Texas at Austin
“With the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, the newly formed Exxon Mobil Corporation brought together a shared history that dates back over 120 years to their origins as part of the Standard Oil family of companies.
John D. Rockefeller and partners formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1870.”…
==========================
6/26/12, “The Incredible Shrinking Carbon Pollution Forecast – Part 2,” switchboard.nrdc.org, Dan Lashof
————————————–
6/29/12, “US Carbon Output Forecasts Shrink Again,” American Interest, Walter Russell Mead
————————————–
6/4/12, “Climate change stunner: USA leads world in CO2 cuts since 2006,” Vancouver Observer, Saxifrage
————————————–
4/21/12, “Why [CO2] Emissions Are Declining in the U.S. But Not in Europe,” by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, newgeography.com
“As we note below in a new article for Yale360, a funny thing happened: U.S. emissions started going down in 2005 and are expected to decline further over the next decade.”
————————————--------
—————————————————————
Forbes profile, David Rockefeller, Sr., net worth “$2.5 billion,” “Source of Wealth: Standard Oil, Banking”
===============================
Exxon was created from John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company:
“A Guide to the ExxonMobil Historical Collection, 1790-2004: Part 1,” University of Texas at Austin
“With the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, the newly formed Exxon Mobil Corporation brought together a shared history that dates back over 120 years to their origins as part of the Standard Oil family of companies.
John D. Rockefeller and partners formed the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1870.”…
==========================
6/26/12, “The Incredible Shrinking Carbon Pollution Forecast – Part 2,” switchboard.nrdc.org, Dan Lashof
————————————–
6/29/12, “US Carbon Output Forecasts Shrink Again,” American Interest, Walter Russell Mead
————————————–
6/4/12, “Climate change stunner: USA leads world in CO2 cuts since 2006,” Vancouver Observer, Saxifrage
————————————–
4/21/12, “Why [CO2] Emissions Are Declining in the U.S. But Not in Europe,” by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, newgeography.com
“As we note below in a new article for Yale360, a funny thing happened: U.S. emissions started going down in 2005 and are expected to decline further over the next decade.”
————————————--------
7/2/2012, "Shale Gas Causes First Quarter 2012 US Carbon Emissions To Plummet Again," JohnHanger.blogspot.com
"The bottom line is that America's carbon emissions may drop back close to 1990 levels this year. That result would have been thought impossible, even at the end of 2011.
But the shale gas revolution makes a reality many things recently thought impossible.
.
It was thought impossible to slash carbon US carbon
emissions back to 1990 levels by 2012. It was thought impossible to
massively, quickly cut carbon emissions and, at the same time, have
lower energy bills.
Shale gas production has slashed carbon emissions and saved consumers more than $100 billion per year. Truly astonishing!"
Shale gas production has slashed carbon emissions and saved consumers more than $100 billion per year. Truly astonishing!"
"America's carbon emissions may drop back close
to 1990 levels this year. That result would have been thought
impossible, even at the end of 2011.
But the shale gas revolution makes a reality many things recently thought impossible. It was thought impossible to slash carbon US carbon emissions back to 1990 levels by 2012. It was thought impossible to massively, quickly cut carbon emissions and, at the same time, have lower energy bills.
Shale gas production has slashed carbon emissions and saved consumers more than $100 billion per year. Truly astonishing!" - See more at: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/07/more-shockingly-good-news-from-shale.html#sthash.4P9KcdkI.dpuf
But the shale gas revolution makes a reality many things recently thought impossible. It was thought impossible to slash carbon US carbon emissions back to 1990 levels by 2012. It was thought impossible to massively, quickly cut carbon emissions and, at the same time, have lower energy bills.
Shale gas production has slashed carbon emissions and saved consumers more than $100 billion per year. Truly astonishing!" - See more at: http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/07/more-shockingly-good-news-from-shale.html#sthash.4P9KcdkI.dpuf
US EIA data. Chart from Carpe Diem, 7/2/2012. EIA is a division of the US Dept. of Energy
======================
11/23/11, “Europe’s $287 billion carbon ‘waste’: UBS report,” The Australian, by Sid Maher
“SWISS banking giant UBS says the European Union’s emissions trading scheme has cost the continent’s consumers $287 billion for “almost zero impact” on cutting carbon emissions.”…EU CO2 trading provided “windfall profits” to participants paid for by “electricity customers.”"
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McKibben and his oil billionaire partner David Rockefeller have accomplished their goal for the US. Science says US CO2 has plunged and is on track to drop further.
Other countries’ CO2 hasn’t dropped–despite billions spent on cap and trade and extra taxes. Mr. McKibben failed to factor in the scientific possibility that US CO2 reduction would be achieved so soon. The Rockefellers picked another winner. CO2 terror is a $1 billion a day industry. Not bad for something that doesn't exist.
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