Political news coverage tends to focus on strategy over substance, and that’s making it less likely that the public will agree on big policy ideas when we need them the most.
The Green New Deal is an ambitious proposal that outlines how the U.S. might begin transitioning towards a green economy over the next ten years. It includes steps like upgrading our power grid and renovating our transportation infrastructure. But most people watching news coverage likely don’t know what’s in the Green New Deal. And that’s because political news coverage tends to focus on strategy over substance, fixating on a bill’s political ramifications rather than its ability to solve a problem. That approach to news coverage is known as “tactical framing,” and research shows it makes audiences at home more cynical and less informed about big policy debates. The result is a cycle of partisanship, where solutions to big problems like climate change are judged on their political popularity rather than their merit.
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Vallejo City Council to get update on VMT/Orcem on Tuesday
By John Glidden, March 9, 2019 at 6:22 pm
The site of the Vallejo Marine Terminal/Orcem Americas project proposed for South Vallejo is shown. (Times-Herald file photo)
As the relationship between City Hall and VMT continues to sour, a short-handed Vallejo City Council will receive an update Tuesday regarding the decision by city officials to pause the release of a Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the proposed South Vallejo project.
This week, city officials informed representatives with Vallejo Marine Terminal (VMT) and Orcem California, LLC, that due to VMT’s lack of responses to several questions posed by City Hall, which they say is needed, the document’s release date has been pushed back.
“The city needs to know with certainty who is responsible for the project, and any conditions of approval which might attach to the land use entitlement being sought,” staff wrote in the report to the council about City Hall’s decision to hold the FEIR. “The city is prepared to resume processing once VMT is in a position to operate and clarifies that it does want to pursue the appeal by furnishing the needed information, or, alternatively, it gives all of its interest to Orcem, or some other party in interest to continue processing the appeal.”
Vallejo has been attempting for months to have VMT’s new principals, William Gilmartin and Alan Varela, sign an assignment and assumption agreement confirming they have assumed all responsibilities of the business from the original VMT principal Blaise Fettig and former past project manager Matt Fettig.
“…it is unclear whether the purported principals have the authority to manage and bind VMT to agreements that are necessary to finish processing the EIR, or if they are prepared to assume the responsibilities left behind by the previous principals,” staff explained.
Gilmartin and Varela have yet to sign the document.
Meanwhile, the issue between VMT and the city hasn’t stopped Orcem from demanding the city release the FEIR for public review. In recent weeks, Orcem has paid for several print advertisements in the Times-Herald, challenging City Hall to release the document.
The most recent advertisement was printed on Wednesday — the same day as Vallejo’s State of the City event.
“Let’s put an end to the delays,” Orcem’s quarter-page ad reads. “Let the public see the FEIR. Let the City Council vote.”
The advertisement does not include any mention of VMT.
Staff additionally said VMT has stopped collaborating with City Hall by not executing needed agreements to update the Environmental Justice Analysis (EJA), hasn’t provided funding for their half of the EJA, and failed to provide answers to Vallejo’s data requests for the Barge Implementation Strategy and Fleet Management Plan.
Attorney Krista Kim, who represents Gilmartin and Varela, has communicated to the city that Varela and Gilmartin want to meet with city staff next week to “discuss a few important matters as those discussions are very relevant to how VMT would respond to your letter.”
The letter in question is a Feb. 25 piece of correspondence informing VMT of the city’s decision to stop the appeal process due to the lack of relevant information from VMT.
In Match 2017 the Vallejo Planning Commission rejected VMT/Orcem’s application to build a a deep-water terminal (VMT) and cement facility (Orcem) on the same 31 acres at 790 and 800 Derr St. next to the Mare Island Strait in South Vallejo.
The applicants subsequently appealed that decision to the City Council. In June of the same year, councilors directed staff to complete the FEIR so they could review the potential impacts the project might cause if built.
Those opposed to the project say it will pollute the surrounding area, while harming residents and wildlife. Orcem/VMT deny those allegations, saying the project is safe. They further argue the project will provide jobs and tax revenue for the city.
Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan confirmed that Vice Mayor Pippin Dew-Costa, along with councilmembers Rozzana Verder-Aliga, and Hakeem Brown are attending a conference in Washington, DC and will not be at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The Vallejo City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, inside the Vallejo City Hall Council Chambers, 555 Santa Clara St.
Norway’s $1 Trillion Wealth Fund To Dump All Its Oil & Gas Stocks
By Irina Slav – Mar 08, 2019, 9:30 AM CST
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund will exit all investments in oil and gas production acting on a government recommendation in line with a more cautious approach to energy investments by the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund worth about US$1 trillion.
The move is bound to shake up the oil and gas industry as Norway’s fund has assets worth some US$37 billion in upstream investments that the government now considers too risky in light of the heightened price volatility post-2014.
“The goal is to make our collective wealth less vulnerable to a lasting fall in oil prices,” the Financial Times quoted Finance Minister Siv Jensen as saying. This suggests the companies most affected by the decision would be pure-play producers rather than Big Oil majors but even the latter’s stocks are bound to be hurt by the decision.
The decision has been about a year in the works. In 2018, the fund’s management recommended the move to make itself less vulnerable to oil and gas price shocks and won the support of several top local economists as well as academics. The portion of oil and gas stocks in its portfolio constitutes 5.8 percent of its total equities holdings at end-2018.
“The oil business will be a major and important industry in Norway for many years to come. The government’s income from the [continental] shelf basically follows the profitability of upstream companies. Therefore this is about spreading the risk,” Jensen said at the announcement of the decision.
However, as the FT notes, chances are environmentalists organizations will seize on the opportunity to step up pressure on other institutional investors in oil and gas to consider dialing back their exposure to the fossil fuel industry.
The Norwegian fund is invested in more than 9,000 companies worldwide and owns 1.4 percent of listed companies around the world and 2.4 percent of all listed companies in Europe. As at December 31, 2017, the fund held stakes in 350 oil and gas stocks around the world, including just over 2 percent in each of Shell and BP, 1.9 percent in Total, 1.4 percent in Eni, 0.9 percent in Exxon worth more than US$3 billion, and just below 1 percent in Chevron worth US$2.24 billion.
Vallejo confirms delay in release of FEIR for Orcem/VMT project
By John Glidden, March 7, 2019 6:41 pm
The site of the Vallejo Marine Terminal/Orcem Americas project proposed for South Vallejo is shown. (Times-Herald file photo)
Vallejo officials confirmed earlier this week that the much anticipated release of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Orcem/VMT project has been delayed, perhaps indefinitely.
In a three-page letter sent to Vallejo Marine Terminal (VMT) representatives on Monday, city leaders wrote that since VMT failed to provide the necessary clarifying answers to several concerns posed by city staff, the decision was made to hold the document.
“Due to this lack of clarity, the city is pausing the release of the FEIR at this time. However, as soon as VMT lends the needed clarity to the issues discussed herein, the city stands ready to proceed,” according to the city’s letter.
City Hall told VMT in a Feb. 25 letter that the municipality was ready to release the lengthy document on March 1. However, in that communication along with Monday’s letter, the city said it couldn’t due to a lack of required signatures on an assignment and assumption agreement, declaring that William Gilmartin and Alan Varela have assumed all responsibilities of the business from the original VMT principal Blaise Fettig and former past project manager Matt Fettig.
VMT’s refusal to execute a reimbursement agreement to update the Environmental Justice Analysis (EJA), the company’s lack of payment to help fund completion of that analysis, its failure to provide answers to Vallejo’s data requests for the Barge Implementation Strategy and Fleet Management Plan, and the need for an accurate site map and ownership status of the property were also cited by the city as reasons it held onto the FEIR.
“The city’s concern is that several of the mitigation monitoring measures are dependent upon your funding and execution of various agreements,” officials added in Monday’s letter. “To the extent VMT is currently not providing funding and not executing agreements, these conditions which seemed reasonable when VMT/Orcem was providing funding and signing agreements are now less reasonable.
“Including them in the mitigation and monitoring plan when we do not believe that VMT will either fund them or sign the agreements necessary to put them in place is not reasonable,” the city added. “Thus many conditions, especially those reliant on employing persons as air quality monitors, are now in danger of being reclassified as being ‘not feasible.’”
Attorney Krista Kim, who represents Gilmartin and Varela, provided an official response. In a letter dated March 1, the same day as the deadline imposed by the city, Kim wrote to Shannon Eckmeyer requesting a brief extension of time.
Kim said she spoke by phone to Eckmeyer earlier in the day.
“I explained that both Alan (Varela) and Bill (Gilmartin) want to schedule a meeting with the City the week of March 11th to discuss a few important matters, as those discussions are very relevant to how VMT would respond to your Letter,” she wrote. “This request seemed to really upset you.”
Kim goes on to accuse Eckmeyer of making “threatening statements” against VMT and its ground lease.
“You rejected VMT’s request to extend the response deadline and indicated that if VMT did not respond in writing by March 8, 2019, the City would take the position that VMT has in fact abandoned its appeal,” Kim wrote. “You also threatened that if VMT did not withdraw its appeal in writing that VMT’s inaction would be tantamount to killing the project and further, that the City would take immediate action to challenge the validity of VMT’s ground lease.”
Kim said she was “taken aback” by the statements. However, the city had a different interpretation.
“We would not characterize Ms. Eckmeyer’s communications as threatening,” wrote city spokeswoman Lyan Pernala in an email to the Times-Herald. “The City’s position is as stated in the correspondence sent to VMT on March 4.”
Kim couldn’t be reached for comment regarding this article.
The two sides remain in a stalemate, as VMT asserts it has not abandoned its appeal. Meanwhile, city staff is expected to bring an update on the situation to the Vallejo City Council next Tuesday.
VMT is eyeing creation of a deep-water terminal on 31 acres at 790 and 800 Derr St. It submitted a joint application to the city with Orcem California, which is seeking to open a cement facility on the same site.
Planning commissioners voted in 2017 to reject the project. In response, Orcem/VMT filed an appeal seeking that the City Council overturn the Planning Commission decision. A divided council in mid-2017 directed staff to complete the FEIR so the council can make a decision on the appeal.
The project has caused consternation with a segment of the Vallejo community, which argues the project will pollute the immediate area and harm local residents. Both VMT and Orcem deny those allegations, while also stating that the project will provide jobs and tax revenue for the city.
