Message From the Editor

Sharon Lavigne of St. James Parish, Louisiana, is one of six winners of the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize, in recognition of her work within the “Cancer Alley” community where she was born and now, at 68 years old, continues to mobilize for environmental justice. The Goldman prize, sometimes called the “Green Nobel Prize,” is given annually to six “grassroots environmental heroes,” one from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions. Sharon Kelly reports.

Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples in Canada and a coalition of environmental groups launched a “Global Week of Action” for June 14-21, aimed at pressuring an array of insurance companies to cut ties with a long-distance tar sands pipeline under construction in Canada. “The Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project is an existential threat to Tsleil-Waututh Nation. It also fuels the climate crisis, which is a threat to us all,” said Charlene Aleck of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative. Nick Cunningham has the story.

Have a story tip or feedback? Get in touch: editor@desmogblog.com.

Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director

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Cancer Alley Activist Sharon Lavigne Among Goldman Environmental Prize Winners for 2021

— By Sharon Kelly (8 min. read) —

Sharon Lavigne of St. James Parish, Louisiana, is one of six winners of the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize, in recognition of her work within the “Cancer Alley” community where she was born and now, at 68 years old, continues to mobilize for environmental justice.

Lavigne, who founded the community group RISE St. James in 2018, worked for nearly 40 years as a special education teacher at St. James High School before being drawn into the fight against heavy industry — and its public health and environmental impacts — in her home town alongside the Mississippi River.

Insurance Giants Under Fire from First Nations for Backing Trans Mountain Tar Sands Pipeline

— By Nick Cunningham (6 min. read) —

Indigenous peoples in Canada and a coalition of environmental groups launched a “Global Week of Action” for June 14-21, aimed at pressuring an array of insurance companies to cut ties with a long-distance tar sands pipeline under construction in Canada.

On Wednesday, the Braided Warriors, an Indigenous youth group in British Columbia, held a rally in front of Chubb Insurance Canada in Vancouver, B.C. On Friday, activists in London are set to protest outside Lloyd’s of London — one of the world’s largest insurers of fossil fuels. Other acts of solidarity are planned as far away as the Pacific Islands and Sierra Leone.

Norwegian Arctic Oil Drilling Targeted by Campaigners in New Legal Action

— By Isabella Kaminski (3 min. read) —

Climate campaigners are again taking Europe’s second largest oil and gas producer to court over the climate impacts of fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic, after a previous attempt failed at the country’s Supreme Court in December.

Six climate activists, alongside Greenpeace Nordic and Young Friends of the Earth Norway, have filed an application at the European Court of Human Rights claiming the Norwegian government’s approval of new licences for offshore oil drilling in the fragile Arctic region violates their human rights.

The ‘Big Con’ Revealed: Report Details Fossil Fuel Industry’s Deceptive ‘Net Zero’ Strategy

— By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams (5 min. read) —

A new report published Wednesday, June 9, by a trio of progressive advocacy groups lifts the veil on so-called “net zero” climate pledges, which are often touted by corporations and governments as solutions to the climate emergency, but which the paper’s authors argue are merely a dangerous form of greenwashing that should be eschewed in favor of Real Zero policies based on meaningful, near-term commitments to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

From the Climate Disinformation Database: Independent Women’s Voice (IWV)

Independent Women’s Voice (IWV) is a 501(c)(4) “advocacy” group that operates as the sister organization to the 501(c)(3) Independent Women’s Forum (IWF). According to the IWV website, IWV.org, the group works to “educate and persuade those who don’t already share our understanding of the benefits of liberty and free markets, so their policy and political choices will be based on better information and understanding.” IWV has received at least $250,000 from the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR), now American Encore, a group founded and run by Koch strategist Sean Noble. In September 2019, Independent Women’s Voice director Tammy Bruce posted an article at IWV.org titled “Climate Change Activism: The Left’s New Power Play.” According to Bruce, “Climate activism is a new power-play by the left, taking on a fanatical religious facade making manipulation of its followers even more assured.”

Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database and Koch Network Database.