Friday was a Great Day for the U.S. climate movement. President Obama finally rejected the Keystone XL pipeline. If you’re not familiar, trust me when I say this is a monumentally big deal. Climate activists have been protesting and getting arrested for almost a decade while fighting this pipeline.

But now that I’ve finished celebrating – there was much jumping, I’m ready to turn my attention to something equally exciting – a new fight.

Well, not exactly new – but a new step. ExxonMobile has been at odds with the environmental movement since, let’s face it, the company’s incorporation. Now, New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has begun investigating ExxonMobil and Peabody Energy.

The two fossil fuel giants have been subpoenaed over claims that they misled investors and the public about the dangers of climate change.

Climate leaders have been calling for this sort of government investigation for years. Since I was a baby-activist I’ve heard chants that ExxonMobile and Peabody have been funding climate denial studies and spreading harmful dis-information. And I’m pretty likly to believe them considering Shell once sent me this email :

shell-email

I’m not confident that Exxon and Peabody aren’t treading in similarly murky waters. But don’t take my word for it, check out this handy-dandy graph.

And because the 2016 elections are an ever-present feature in our collective internet consciousness – it is worth nothing that both Bernie and Hillary have called for an investigation into Exxon after allegations that the company knew for decades the dangers of climate change.

Although general consensus suggests that knowing about the dangers of climate change does very little to sway individuals behaviors – a large, powerful company angrily yelling NO CLIMATE CHANGE ISN’T REAL, POLAR BEARS LIKE SWIMMING probably didn’t help.

This investigation comes at an ideal time; hopefully, riding the wave of the #NOKXL success, it will force climate change and environmental justice further into presidential candidates debates, stump speeches and policies. And with the Paris Climate talks right around the corner it may even help the U.S. take a more substantial stand.

via The Guardian & NY Times

 

Watch moments from a 2014 Keystone XL protest

Written by miriam

Striving to be "The Infinite Probability Drive within the Heart of Gold," Miriam's interests include accidentally purchasing everything in purple, going deep on the frisbee field, local food, and taking the stairs. She studied film at Middlebury College even though she won't admit it (her degree was in Environmental Studies).

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