180 results for author: No Coal in Oakland

WOEIP, Youth vs Apocalypse, and NCIO on KPFA’s “Full Circle”

Three Oakland activists shared their experiences working for environmental justice, including on the campaign to keep coal out of our city, on KPFA on August 14, 2020. “Full Circle” -- hosted by the First Voice Apprenticeship program at KPFA -- broadcast an interview conducted by Darlene Pagano with representatives of three local organizations: West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Youth vs. Apocalypse, and No Coal in Oakland. Ms. Margaret Gordon, Isha Tobias Clarke, and Michael Kaufman represented the three organizations, respectively (Ms. Margaret is both a founder and co-director of WOEIP and a member of NCIO’s Coordinating Committ...

A change of platform for NCIO Updates

No Coal in Oakland sends e-mail updates to let our community know about important developments in our campaign, and to engage Oaklanders and allies in helping to keep our waterfront free from toxic coal. For many years we have been using Mailchimp to send NCIO Updates. As of mid-year 2020, however, we’re changing platforms. Going forward, we’ll be using Action Network -- an organizing platform widely used since 2012 by progressive groups and campaigns, from the Black Friday Walmart Strikes to Daily Kos to Diablo Rising Tide -- both to maintain our e-mail list and to send future updates to our community. If you're not already subscribed, ...

Utah money laundering scheme aims to bail out bankrupt Oakland coal operators

“Utah coal counties pledge $20M in state money to help get Oakland port back on track,” an article in the Salt Lake Tribune published on Sunday July 5, 2020, exposes a money laundering scheme that has been years in the making. A No Coal in Oakland article of March 2016 describes the Utah state government's complicity in a shell game aimed at sidestepping initial legal challenges to attempts to squander public funding originally allocated to mitigate the effects of mining on local (Utah) communities. The scheme, driven by elected leaders in four Utah counties in the center of the state and laid out this week by SL Tribune journalist Brian ...

Oakland sues would-be coal developers

The City of Oakland has now sued the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) and California Capital Investment Group (CCIG) for breach of contracts to construct the bulk terminal at the West Gateway. This is the third lawsuit filed in the ongoing conflict between OBOT/CCIG and the City of Oakland, and the first filed by the City. The City filed its complaint in state court on May 27, 2020, the day after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sustained the federal trial court ruling that overturned application of the city’s ban on coal to OBOT. In its complaint, the City describes milestones that were contractually required of the developer, but ...

Ninth Circuit rules against Oakland, but the fight is far from finished

In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week against the City of Oakland in a breach of contract case brought by developers who claim they have a vested right to build a coal export terminal in West Oakland. The Oakland City Council passed a ban on storage and handling of coal in June 2016 in response to extensive evidence showing that coal poses substantial health and safety risks to workers and residents. The two-judge majority held that the developers’ contractual rights trumped the City of Oakland’s right to protect its residents from potential health and safety impacts on workers and Oakland residents. The ...

Japan’s Kiko Network: a new ally in opposition to an Oakland coal terminal

No Coal in Oakland has recently begun working with Japan’s Kiko Network, following discovery earlier this year that Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS) was pursuing a commitment from Japan’s largest energy company, JERA, to purchase 4 million tons of Utah coal per year. ITS, as we learned from the company’s bankruptcy court filings, is also pursuing financing from a Japanese bank, SMBC, for construction of a coal terminal in Oakland through which coal would be shipped to Japan. The Kiko Network introduced NCIO to its community last month, in an article published in English and Japanese. We are introducing Kiko Network to our community through this ...

NCIO challenges Japanese Bank: don’t fund Oakland coal terminal

In the last couple of days, two major Japanese banks have announced that they are limiting their investment in coal. This is of particular significance for No Coal in Oakland, as one of these banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), has been in discussion about providing financing for the construction of the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) as a coal terminal to ship four million tons of Utah coal to the Japanese energy company JERA. Japan has been increasing its consumption of coal as it has retired nuclear power plants after the Fukushima disaster. SMBC is the third largest bank in Japan. Its new policy calls for the “cons...

Shareholder resolution calls for Bank of Montreal to stop financing fossil fuels

On Tuesday, March 31, the Bank of Montreal (BMO) shareholder meeting will include a shareholder resolution calling for the bank to make a commitment to exclude or phase out financing for fossil fuels--including coal--in view of the “incongruities” between such financing and BMO’s public positions supporting sustainability. The resolution comes from John Harrington of Harrington Investments (HII), a socially responsible financial manager and NCIO supporter. For several years, NCIO waged a campaign to persuade the bank to drop its efforts to attract investment in an Oakland coal terminal, Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT). NCIO is ...

Would-be Oakland Coal Baron’s Bankruptcy Exposes Filthy Scheming

Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS) is the new corporate incarnation of the same five year old plot to ship millions of tons of toxic coal through Oakland's waterfront. But  they've filed for bankruptcy. And in bankruptcy court, ITS is fighting off a hostile takeover by a hedge fund manager who wants to operate the coal terminal.  It's not the sort of bankruptcy that shutters a business … alas. Instead, it's the kind that gives a bankrupt business a second chance by supervising the reorganization of its finances. But to get that second chance, the business is required to disclose piles of memos, plans, budgets, and correspondence to the court, ...

NCIO responds to Tagami profile in EB Express

In December 2019, the East Bay Express ran a cover-feature profile of would be coal-developer Phil Tagami ("Phil Tagami is Not Backing Down," East Bay Express, December 10, 2019). Over the signature of of No Coal in Oakland's coordinating committee member Ann Harvey, who identified her affiliation with our ongoing campaign, NCIO responded a few days after the article ran (the letter was drafted collaboratively by several members of NCIO's coordinating committee). Though a number of letters-to-the-editor were published by the paper in response to the profile, the EB Express did not publish our letter. No Coal in Oakland is therefore running its ...