I'm ashamed of Britain's response to Ukraine invasion, says Labour MP


Labour MP Chris Bryant has said he is 'ashamed' of the UK's response the the Ukraine crisis. (Parliament)

A Labour MP has said he is "ashamed" of the UK's response to the Ukraine crisis and called for sanctions against the UK's wealthy Russian oligarchs and Vladimir Putin's Kremlin colleagues.

Chris Bryant, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia, said the UK hasn't done enough with its sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

He told MPs: "Putin is the only enemy.

"But I do feel ashamed. The United Kingdom signed the Budapest Accord in 1994 guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The UK government has issued sanctions against Vladimir Putin and defence minister Sergei Lavrov, but Bryant said other high-profile leaders in the Kremlin have been unaffected.

Read more: Ruthless Putin 'knows no limit' and will indiscriminately carpet bomb Ukrainian cities, UK warns

Both men's assets have been frozen across the US, EU, UK and Canada and each have been banned from entering the US.

Bryant said the UK needs to go further with who the measures are targeting.

"We are not guaranteeing the territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.

"I don't want war, nobody wants war, but we're not even sanctioning Sergei Shoygu, the Russian defence minister yet, nor Igor Osipov, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet," he said.

Russian president Vladimir Putin pictured on Wednesday, as his attempted invasion of Ukraine enters its seventh day. (Getty)

The MP for Rhondda went on to name other individuals including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, adding: “Why don’t we use parliamentary privilege to get this out there so the lawyers can’t attack the sanctions that we must surely bring, rapidly, today?”

His comments came after the UK defence secretary Ben Wallace warned Putin "doesn't really care" about sanctions,

In response, Boris Johnson said we "simply have to accept” that no Western nation will become militarily involved in the fight.

He added: “Because the consequences of a direct confrontation between the UK and Russia would be I think, and indeed other Western countries and Russia, would not be easy to control.

"And if I can repeat the point I made earlier, I think they would play directly into Putin’s narrative.”

During Prime Minister's Questions, Johnson was also quizzed on what the UK is doing to help with the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are feeling Ukraine in the hope of surviving Putin's onslaught.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the PM to'waive all visa requirements for the people Ukraine who are fleeing war'. (Getty)

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the PM to “waive all visa requirements for the people Ukraine who are fleeing war".

But Johnson was hesitant to committing to saying all refugees would be let in, despite pressure from the opposite benches.

“What we won’t do is simply abandon all checks," he said.

"We don’t think that, that is sensible, particularly in view of the security concerns, the reasonable security concerns about people coming from that theatre of war.”

On Tuesday Johnson announced more than 200,000 Ukrainians could be allowed to join family in the UK - twice the amount previously given.

Read more: Russia launches nuclear submarine drills after Putin puts them on high alert

Ukrainian nationals fleeing the conflict in their country queue to pass through border control upon arrival at the Paris-Beauvais Airport in France. (Getty)

Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine, seen is the city of Kharkiv. (Getty)

A burnt-out car is seen on the street after a missile in Kharkiv. (Getty)

Speaking during a visit to Poland, he said the government would "make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the UK to bring their relatives to our country".

Ukraine on Wednesday entered its seventh day of a sustained assault from Russian forces, and have so far targeted built-up areas in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv, but have been largely held by Ukrainian armed forces as well as citizens, many of whom have taken up arms.

In Kyiv, Tuesday evening's missile strike on a TV Tower killed five people while a 40 mile-long convoy of soldiers is on its way towards the capital, though US officials have claimed it has made little progress in the past 24 hours, frozen in place by logistical and supply problems.

Fears of nuclear war were stoked by Russian defence minister Sergei Lavrov, who warned that any world war sparked by the current crisis "will become nuclear".

DOING MORE THAN THE UK*

Germany seized the world's largest mega-yacht worth $600 million belonging to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, according to Forbes report

Taiyler Simone Mitchell
Wed, March 2, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses for a photo with USM Holdings founder, businessman Alisher Usmanov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017

Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs have been implemented by several countries.

A Russian billionaire had his yacht seized by German authorities Wednesday, according to Forbes.

Alisher Usmanov has spoken highly of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.

Germany seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's mega-yacht on Wednesday, according to Forbes, which cited multiple unnamed sources.

Usmanov's yacht, which has been docked in Hamburg, Germany, for months for a refitting, is the first to be seized since Russia's attack on Ukraine began on February 24.

Dilbar, a 512-foot yacht that weighs 15,917 tons, "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lürssen, the German ship's maker.

Usmanov bought the custom-built yacht for an estimated $600 million and it took 52 months to build, according to Forbes.

The US State Department was unable to confirm to Insider if the yacht was indeed seized. Usmanov and Germany's Federal Foreign Office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Many countries, including the US and the European Union, have implemented sanctions — financial consequences applied by one party to another — against Russian banks, Russian oligarchs, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an effort to end the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Usmanov's assets were frozen as part of sanctions levied by the European Union, according to the Guardian. After the European Union announced sanctions against Usmanov and other Russian oligarchs, he stepped down as President of the International Fencing Federation, one of his companies.

"I believe that such a decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation," Usmanov said in a statement on the company's website.

"I hereby suspend the exercise of my duties as the President of the International Fencing Federation effective immediately until justice is restored," he added.

The oligarch has historically supported Russian President Vladimir Putin, though he has not commented on the current attack on Ukraine.

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," the Uzbekistan-born oligarch told Forbes in a 2010 interview.

*LONDON IS THE OLIGARCHS HOME BASE

Russia billionaires move superyachts to Maldives as sanctions tighten, data shows

FILE PHOTO: St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)


Wed, March 2, 2022

In this article:

Alisher Usmanov
Uzbek-born Russian business magnate

Oleg Deripaska
Russian businessman


By Alasdair Pal

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -At least five superyachts owned by Russian billionaires were anchored or cruising on Wednesday in Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, ship tracking data showed.

The vessels' arrival in the archipelago off the coast of Sri Lanka follows the imposition of severe Western sanctions on Russia in reprisal for its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Late on Wednesday Forbes reported that Germany had seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's mega yacht in a Hamburg shipyard.

Usmanov was on a list of billionaires to face sanctions from the European Union on Monday. A Forbes report based on three sources in the yacht industry said his 512-foot yacht Dilbar, valued at $600 million, was seized by German authorities.

German authorities did not immediately respond to Reuters inquiries. Forbes said representatives for Usmanov did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier, the Clio superyacht, owned by Oleg Deripaska, the founder of aluminium giant Rusal, who was sanctioned by the United States in 2018, was anchored off the capital Male on Wednesday, according to shipping database MarineTraffic.

The Titan, owned by Alexander Abramov, a co-founder of steel producer Evraz, arrived on Feb. 28.

Three further yachts owned by Russian billionaires were seen cruising in Maldives waters on Wednesday, the data showed. They include the 88-metre (288 ft) Nirvana owned by Russia's richest man, Vladimir Potanin. Most vessels were last seen anchored in Middle Eastern ports earlier in the year.

A spokesperson for Maldives' government did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States has said it will take strict action to seize property of sanctioned Russians.

"This coming week, we will launch a multilateral Transatlantic task force to identify, hunt down, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs – their yachts, their mansions, and any other ill-gotten gains that we can find and freeze under the law," the White House said in a tweet on Sunday.

Washington imposed sanctions on Deripaska and other influential Russians in 2018 because of their ties to President Vladimir Putin after alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, which Moscow denies.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in New Delhi

Additional reporting by Mohamed Junayd, Editing by William Maclean)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Credit Suisse asked investors to destroy documents linked to oligarch yacht loans, report says

Kate Duffy
Wed, March 2, 2022

Man enters Credit Suisse's offices in New York.

Brendan McDermid/Reuters


Credit Suisse asked investors to destroy documents tied to oligarchs' yacht and jet loans, the FT reported

The bank said the request was after a data leak to the media but didn't specify which one, per the FT.

It comes as the US, UK, and the EU sanctioned Russian oligarchs in the wake of Ukraine's invasion.

Credit Suisse asked investors to destroy documents tied to its oligarch and wealthy clients' yacht and private jet loans after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, The Financial Times reported.

The move was part of the Swiss bank's effort to prevent leaks of its dealings with oligarchs who have been sanctioned, according to The FT.

Credit Suisse wrote a letter to investors this week, asking them to "destroy and permanently erase" information linking to a securitisation of loans financed by yachts, private jets, real estate, and financial assets, three sources whose company received the letter, told The FT.

The letter was sent during the week when the US, UK, and the EU issued sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, which included sanctioning numerous Russian oligarchs and billionaires.

Credit Suisse wrote in the letter that the request was because of a "recent data leak to the media," which was "verified by our investigators," according to the three people who spoke to The FT.

In late February, leaked data revealed that Credit Suisse managed hundreds of millions of dollars with known criminals and human rights abusers.

The bank declined to comment to Insider and The FT.

Credit Suisse's request comes after The FT reported in early February that the bank had used derivatives to offload risks relating to $2 billion of loans to oligarchs and tycoons.

The FT reported an investor presentation, which showed that one-third of the defaults on Credit Suisse's yacht and aircraft loans in 2017 and 2018 were tied to US sanctions against Russian oligarchs.

The Billionaire Attempting To Kill Australia’s Coal Industry


Editor OilPrice.com
Wed, March 2, 2022

Coal is having a renaissance. Despite the fact that even the most coal-dependent countries agree that coal needs to be phased out as soon as possible, it’s proving to be much, much easier said than done. As the price of energy soars on the back of geopolitical risks and supply shortages, legions of consumers are returning to the dirtiest of fossil fuels. In fact, the world consumed a record-breaking amount of coal in 2021 and is on track to reach an all-time high once again this year.

All of the UN climate scenarios which could feasibly lead to keeping the world from heating by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial averages require the complete elimination of coal, along with seriously scaling back the production and consumption of oil and gas. Despite this, economies around the world are having an all but impossible time weaning themselves off of it. Many developing countries are highly dependent on the cheap, reliable, and relatively readily available fossil fuel, and are faced with difficult trade-offs between climate-friendly policies and arrested economic development. But it’s not just the developing world that’s keeping coal alive. In fact, a recent study found that a handful of financial firms from just six countries – the United States, China, Japan, India, Canada, and the United Kingdom - are collectively responsible for more than 80% of coal financing and investment. What’s more, as European energy markets face the double whammy of Russian aggression in Ukraine and pandemic recovery, oil and gas supplies are painfully tight and coal has helped fill the gaps. And in Australia, its long love affair with coal simply never ended.

As a clear outlier among developed nations, Australia currently boasts the highest carbon emissions from coal in the world on a per capita basis. In one telling anecdote, the current Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison once physically toted a lump of coal to parliament and held it in his hands while saying, “This is coal. Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared, it won’t hurt you.” The coal-rich nation has been an ardent resister of phasing out the fossil fuel, which accounts for 65% of its domestic energy mix.

Many Australian citizens support the ousting of coal from the country’s economy, but one Australian man might actually have the power to do it. Mike Cannon-Brookes, the third-richest person in Australia with a net worth of A$20 billion, has declared that he wants to end the domestic coal industry by buying it up and shutting it down, and replacing it with renewable energy capacity. Cannon-Brookes has already made a bid to buy the nation’s biggest electricity company and says that negotiations are ongoing.

Morrison and other critics of this plan have warned that the continued use of coal in Australia is essential to keep energy prices affordable for the public. Cannon-Brookes has countered by saying that renewables are now cheaper than coal and that consumers only stand to benefit from the transition. It’s true that in terms of building new energy capacity, renewable energies are now the cheapest form of energy production on Earth. And when you factor in environmental externalities and the long-term economic impact of coal’s carbon footprint, it is hard to argue against. In the short term, however, a transition is sure to be painful.

A transition away from coal in Australia, where coal is the status quo and has been throughout the nation's post-colonial history, was always going to be a difficult one. Indeed, the energy transition around the world will be marked by price shocks and economic disruptions due to the magnitude of the task at hand. Now, with private interests and deep-pocketed investors, such Cannon-Brookes, getting involved and forcing the agenda forward without waiting for government or industry, the future for coal in Australia is looking more uncertain than ever.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

Scientists take rare look under Great Lakes' frozen surfaces





1 / 5
Great Lakes Winter WaterBridget Wheelock, wetland ecology lab manager in Central Michigan University's biology department, holds a chunk of ice she extracted while conducting a field study on the frozen surface of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022 in Standish, Mich. 

(AP Photo/Mike Householder)


MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and JOHN FLESHER
Tue, March 1, 2022, 

STANDISH, Mich. (AP) — Bridget Wheelock knelt onto the frozen surface of Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, reached a gloved hand into the frigid water below and pulled out a large chunk of ice.

“There’s a little bit of prism effect. Right here,” the Central Michigan University researcher said last week, pulling the block closer and pointing. “Can you see that?"

“Oh, yeah,” said her colleague, Matt Sand, leaning in for a look before holding open a collection bag as Wheelock slid the fragment inside.

They were members of more than a dozen crews from U.S. and Canadian universities and government agencies who ventured onto the frozen Great Lakes to gather samples and data.

The field studies over the past few weeks — a collective effort known as the “Winter Grab” — were intended to boost knowledge of what happens in the five lakes when they're covered partially or completely with ice.

“We got everything that we set out to get. The group as a whole did very well,” said Don Uzarski, director of Central Michigan University's Institute for Great Lakes Research, who oversaw the sampling work by Wheelock and Sand.

Lake scientists long have considered winter a season when aquatic activity slows. Most do their field studies at other times of year.

But researchers now think more is going on in the bitter depths than previously believed, including activity influenced by climate change.

“All of these different components of the ecosystem ... we always measured during the summertime, but we really don’t know what’s taking place out there in the wintertime at all," Uzarski said.

“You can't take half the puzzle and figure out what it looks like. You have to put the whole thing together.”

Saginaw Bay, off Michigan's eastern coast, is a favorite of anglers in pursuit of sport fish, primarily perch and walleye. Their fortunes have risen and fallen over the past half-century amid efforts to help the Great Lakes recover from industrial pollution, habitat loss, nutrient overloading and exotic species infestations.

Uzarski and fellow researchers study the bay's coastal wetlands, a stopover for migrating species such as great blue herons and sandhill cranes. The area is plagued by phragmites, an invasive reed that covers thousands of shoreline acres. Toxic algae blooms have formed in the waters, likely a result of farm fertilizer runoff.

For the recent excursion onto the icy bay, Wheelock and Sand affixed cleats to their boots and lugged a sled and wheeled cart loaded with tools and supplies. Temperatures hovered around freezing but a driving wind and slushy rain made it seem much colder.

Stopping nearly a tenth of a mile (0.16 kilometer) offshore, they used an auger, saws and other tools to bore holes through ice nearly 15 inches (38 centimeters) thick. In addition to their ice observations, they measured snow density and scooped samples from the shallow water.

The mission — and others around the lakes — will produce data on light penetration through the ice.

“Light is driving photosynthesis, which is the energy for the entire ecosystem,” Uzarski said.

Scientists also will analyze the samples for organic matter, particularly tiny plant and animal plankton at the base of aquatic food chains.

The Winter Grab was organized with a sense of urgency: Great Lakes ice cover has been shrinking since the 1970s. Some experts say it may become increasingly rare as the climate heats up.

That could have many ripple effects beyond devastating the ice fishing industry, Uzarski said.

Without ice, there's more winter evaporation. If that lost water isn't replaced by rain or snow, lake levels drop — with potential implications for wetlands, nutrient concentrations and fish.

“It is all connected,” Uzarski said.

___

Flesher reported from Halifax, Va.

___

Follow Mike Householder on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mikehouseholder and follow John Flesher at https://www.twitter.com/JohnFlesher.

Norway wealth fund held $3 billion in Russian investments at end of 2021

Gwladys Fouche
Thu, March 3, 2022

A general view of the Norwegian central bank, where Norway's sovereign wealth fund is situated, in Oslo

By Gwladys Fouche

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $1.3 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, said on Thursday it held investments in Russia worth some 27 billion crowns ($3.03 billion) at the end of 2021, equivalent to 0.2% of its total value and down from 30 billion crowns a year earlier.

On Sunday the government said the fund would first freeze and then divest its Russian assets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The fund's Russian assets consisted of shares in 51 companies, it said on Thursday. The most valuable stakes were in Gazprom, Sberbank and Lukoil, which together accounted for two-thirds of the total.

All the investments were in equities, with 80% of them listed on the Moscow stock exchange, 18% in London and 0.6% in New York, a fund spokesperson told Reuters.

Investing the state's revenues from oil and gas production and managed by a unit of Norway's central bank, the fund is one of the world's largest investors, investing its cash in equities, bonds, real estate and renewable energy projects.

The fund's value stood at 12.3 trillion Norwegian crowns at the end of 2021, equivalent to $257,000 for every Norwegian man, woman and child.

($1 = 8.8667 Norwegian crowns)

Market value of Norway's wealth fund - https://graphics.reuters.com/NORWAY-SWF/lgpdwajadvo/chart.png

(Editing by Terje Solsvik)

Exxon to exit Russia, leaving $4 billion in assets

Sabrina Valle
Tue, March 1, 2022

FILE PHOTO: Logo of the Exxon Mobil Corp is seen at the Rio Oil and Gas Expo and Conference in Rio de Janeiro

By Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil on Tuesday said it would exit Russia oil and gas operations that it has valued at more than $4 billion and halt new investment as a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The decision will see Exxon pull out of managing large oil and gas production facilities on Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East, and puts the fate of a proposed multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility there in doubt.

"We deplore Russia's military action that violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people," the company said in a statement critical of the intensifying military attacks.

Its planned exit follows dozens of other Western companies ranging from Apple and Boeing to BP PLC, Shell and Norway's Equinor ASA that have halted business or announced plans to abandon their Russia operations.

Exxon, which is scheduled to meet with Wall Street analysts on Wednesday, did not provide a timetable for its exit, nor comment on potential asset writedowns. Its Russia assets were valued at $4.055 billion in its latest annual report, filed in February.

Earlier, Exxon began removing U.S. employees from Russia, two people familiar with the matter said. The number of staff being evacuated was unclear. The company sent a plane to Sakhalin Island to retrieve staff, one of the people said.

Exxon operates three large offshore oil and gas fields with operations based on Sakhalin Island on behalf of a consortium of Japanese, Indian and Russian companies that included Russia's Rosneft. The group had been advancing plans to add a LNG export terminal at the site.

"Exxon's Russian business is relatively small in the context of its wider enterprise, so it does not have the same significance as it has to BP or TotalEnergies, if it were to abandon its Russian assets," said Anish Kapadia, a director at energy and mining researcher Pallissy Advisors.

The company, which has been developing its Russian oil and gas fields since 1995, had come under pressure to cut its ties with Russia over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".

The Sakhalin facilities, which Exxon has operated since production began in 2005, represents one of the largest single direct investments in Russia, according to a project description on Exxon's website. The operation recently has pumped about 220,000 barrels per day of oil.

India's ONGC Videsh, which owns a 20% stake in the Sakhalin-1 project, said the partners will decide over the next few weeks on how to keep operating the project after exit, the Indian company told Reuters in an emailed statemnt.

Rosneft holds a 20% stake in the project.

The overseas investment arm of India's top explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp also said it did not see "any immediate impact" on the operation of the project due to Exxon's decision.

Japan's Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development (SODECO), which owns a 30% stake in the Sakhalin-1 project, is trying to confirm details of Exxon's announcement, a spokesperson said, adding that it will keep an eye on the Russia-Ukraine situation and decide what to do in the future.

State-backed oil producer Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex), which owns 15.285% in SODECO, is also checking details of the Exxon's announcement and will talk to its partners to decide a future plan, a Japex spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle; Additional reporting by Gary McWilliams, Yuka Obayashi and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell Richard Pullin and Jonathan Oatis)

Environmental groups sue TotalEnergies over climate marketing claims

Simon Jessop, Gloria Dickie and Benjamin Mallet
Wed, March 2, 2022

The logo of French oil and gas company TotalEnergies is pictured at an electric car charging station in Courbevoie

LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - A group of environmental organisations has filed a lawsuit in France against the country's largest energy company TotalEnergies, accusing it of misleading consumers about its efforts to fight climate change.

The claim, which has been served on TotalEnergies and was to be filed before the Paris Judicial Court, concerns the company's "reinvention" marketing campaign. Claimants say the campaign broke European consumer law by suggesting TotalEnergies can reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 whilst still producing more fossil fuels.

Environmentalists have long complained about corporate "greenwashing" which they define as marketing or public relations campaigns that attempt to hide pollution or make a company's operations appear more environmentally friendly than they are.

TotalEnergies told Reuters it was implementing its strategy in a "concrete way", including through investments and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, and was acting "in line with the objectives that the company has set itself... It is therefore wrong to claim that our strategy is 'greenwashing'."

Launched globally in May 2021, the adverts said TotalEnergies was committed to being "a major player in the energy transition" and was aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050.

The campaigners allege the company's plan to continue increasing production of fossil fuels such as oil and gas - key contributors to man-made global warming - was at odds with this.

A report from the International Energy Agency last year said no more new oil and gas fields should be developed from this year if the world is to have a chance of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average by 2050.

Claimants allege TotalEnergies was in breach of the European Unfair Consumer Practices Directive (UCPD), which bans misleading practices that can include promoting false or leaving out relevant information that impacts consumer decision-making.

The case, part of a growing field of legal challenges to corporate climate efforts, was brought by Greenpeace France, Friends of the Earth France and Notre Affaire à Tous and supported by environmental lawyers ClientEarth.

"We need to protect consumers from disinformation PR strategies that leave them trying to tell fact from fiction and delay the urgent climate action we need," Clara Gonzales, legal counsel at Greenpeace France, said in a statement.

TotalEnergies has previously said it expects its oil production to peak in the decade before declining, with an increase of around 3% per year by 2026 driven by the growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG), expected at 6% per year.

It plans to spend $13-15 billion a year between 2022-25 and will allocate half to developing new energies, mainly renewables and electricity, and the other 50% to natural gas.

More companies have been making climate pledges to appeal to consumers, and investors and climate activists are increasingly probing their actions to determine whether they can help meet the world's climate goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

In the case of TotalEnergies, a leading investor group engaging with companies over climate transition plans has also flagged concern over its efforts https://www.climateaction100.org/company/total, including lack of a target to reduce emissions from the use of its products by consumers.

"We've seen a huge rush to adopt this language...even oil and gas companies which have a real challenge to get to net-zero," said Thomas Hale, a global public policy researcher at the University of Oxford and co-lead of the Net Zero Tracker Project.

"Companies who take on these targets are under additional scrutiny to see that they're really walking the walk."

(Reporting by Simon Jessop in London; Editing by David Gregorio)

New Dr. Seuss-inspired books to feature diverse creators
By MARK PRATT

A mural that features Theodor Seuss Geisel, left, also known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, covers part of a wall near an entrance at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum, May 4, 2017, in Springfield, Mass. Sketches of fantastic creatures by Dr. Seuss that have never before been published will see the light of day in new books being written and illustrated by an inclusive group of up-and-coming authors and artists, the company that owns the intellectual property rights to Dr. Seuss' works announced Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Sketches of fantastic creatures by Dr. Seuss that have never before been published will see the light of day in new books being written and illustrated by an inclusive group of up-and-coming authors and artists, the company that owns the intellectual property rights to Dr. Seuss’ works announced Wednesday.

The new line of books will include original stories inspired by previously unpublished illustrations selected from the author’s archives at the University of California San Diego, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said in a statement on the late writer’s birthday.

The announcement comes exactly one year after the business founded by the family of Dr. Seuss — whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel — announced that it would stop publishing six Dr. Seuss titles because they include racist and insensitive images, a decision that drew both condemnation and praise.

In “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” an Asian person is portrayed wearing a conical hat, holding chopsticks and eating from a bowl. “If I Ran the Zoo” includes a drawing of two bare-footed African men wearing what appear to be grass skirts with their hair tied above their heads. The other books affected were “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”

The new authors and illustrators will represent a diverse cross-section of racial backgrounds to represent as many families as possible, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said. Company officials were not available to comment, a spokesperson said.

“We look forward to putting the spotlight on a new generation of talent who we know will bring their unique voices and style to the page, while also drawing inspiration from the creativity and imagination of Dr. Seuss,” Susan Brandt, President and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said in a statement.

The books, under the banner Seuss Studios and published by Random House Children’s Books, will be geared toward readers ages 4 to 8.

“The original Dr. Seuss sketch that serves as the inspiration for each of the new Seuss Studios books will be included in the book, along with a note from the creators explaining how they were inspired, and their process,” the San Diego-based company said.




The images include a catlike creature with enormous ears and a series of colorful hummingbirds with pointy noses.

The goal is to continue Geisel’s legacy, started in 1957 with the launch of the Beginner Books imprint at Random House, of inspiring young readers and supporting writers and artists starting their publishing careers, the company said.

The company seems genuine in its efforts to address inclusiveness, said Pamela Good, president of Beyond Basics, a Michigan-based nonprofit that promotes literacy.

“We believe that literacy is for everyone,” she said. “And as you try to find solutions that really are thoughtful and are heartfelt, they really do embrace everyone and allow everybody to be celebrated. And I think that what they’re doing right now is is a step in the right direction.”

Dr. Seuss Enterprises has not yet disclosed the writers and illustrators who will work on the new books because contracts are still being ironed out.

The first of the new books is expected to hit shelves next year, and the goal is to publish at least two new books per year.

Dr. Seuss books such as “Green Eggs and Ham” and “The Cat in the Hat” remain popular more than 30 years after Geisel’s death in 1991.

He earned an estimated $35 million in 2021, making him the fifth-highest paid dead celebrity of the year, according to Forbes. Roald Dahl is No. 1, followed by Prince, Michael Jackson and Charles Schulz.

Geisel, who was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, was No. 2 on the list in 2020 with $33 million in earnings. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, as well as in Braille, and are sold in more than 100 countries.

___

AP video journalist Luke Sheridan in New York contributed to this story.

UN: Climate change to uproot millions, especially in Asia

By VICTORIA MILKO and JULIE WATSON

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A military truck drives through the water on a flooded toll road following heavy rains in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. A United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, says a staggering 143 million people will be uprooted over the next 30 years by rising seas, searing temperatures and other climate calamities. 

(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The walls of Saifullah’s home in northern Jakarta are lined like tree rings, marking how high the floodwaters have reached each year — some more than 4 feet from the damp dirt floor.

When the water gets too high, Saifullah, who like many Indonesians only uses one name, sends his family to stay with friends. He guards the house until the water can be drained using a makeshift pump. If the pump stops working, he uses a bucket or just waits until the water recedes.

“It’s a normal thing here,” Saifullah, 73, said. “But this is our home. Where should we go?”

As the world’s most rapidly sinking major city, Jakarta demonstrates how climate change is making more places uninhabitable. With an estimated one-third of the city expected to be submerged in the coming decades – in part because of the rising Java Sea – the Indonesian government is planning to move its capital some 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) northeast to the island of Borneo, relocating as many as 1.5 million civil servants.

A staggering 143 million people will likely be uprooted over the next 30 years by rising seas, drought, searing temperatures and other climate catastrophes, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published Monday by the United Nations.

In Asia, governments are already scrambling to deal with it.

One in three migrants in the world today comes from Asia, which leads the world in the number of people being displaced by extreme weather, largely storms and flooding, according to the report. With rural villages emptying out and megacities like Jakarta at risk, scientists predict migration flows and the need for planned relocations will only grow.

“Under all global warming levels, some regions that are presently densely populated will become unsafe or uninhabitable,” the report said.

By one estimate, as many as 40 million people in South Asia may be forced to move over the next 30 years because of a lack of water, crop failure, storm surges and other disasters.

Rising temperatures are of particular concern, said Stanford University environmental scientist Chris Field, who chaired the U.N. report in previous years.

“There are relatively few places on Earth that are simply too hot to live now,” he said. “But it’s beginning to look like in Asia, there may be more of those in the future and we need to think really hard about the implications of that.”

No nation offers asylum or other legal protections to people displaced specifically because of climate change, though the Biden administration has studied the idea.

People leave their homes for a variety of reasons including violence and poverty, but what’s happening in Bangladesh demonstrates the role climate change also plays, said Amali Tower, who founded the organization Climate Refugees.

Scientists predict as many as 2 million people in the low-lying country may be displaced by rising seas by 2050. Already, more than 2,000 migrants arrive at its capital of Dhaka every day, many fleeing coastal towns.

“You can see the actual movement of people. You can actually see the increasing disasters. It’s tangible,” Tower said.

The migration flows can be slowed if countries like the United States and European nations act now to drop their greenhouse gas emissions to zero, she said. Others say richer countries that produce more emissions should offer humanitarian visas to people from countries that are disproportionally impacted.

Dealing with climate migrants will become a major policy issue for Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America as well over the next few decades, according to the U.N. report. Most people will be moving from rural areas to cities, especially in Asia where two-thirds of the population could be urban in 30 years.

“It’s essentially people migrating from rural areas and then probably squatting in a slum somewhere,” said Abhas Jha, a practice manager with the World Bank’s Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management in South Asia.

The migration doesn’t have to cause a crisis, said Vittoria Zanuso, executive director of the Mayors Migration Council, a global group of city leaders.

In the northern part of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, for example, officials are building shelters for climate migrants and improving the water supply. They also are working with smaller cities to be designated “climate havens” that welcome migrants, Zanuso said.

The influx of a new work force offers smaller cities an opportunity for economic growth, she said. And it prevents migrants who may be fleeing villages threatened by rising seas from seeking refuge in a city with scarce water supplies and basically “swapping one climate risk for another.”

In coming years, she said helping prepare cities for the influx of migrants will be key: “They are on the frontlines.”

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Watson reported from San Diego. AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

UN: Africa, already suffering from warming, will see worse

By WANJOHI KABUKURU

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Stephen Mudoga, 12, the son of a farmer, tries to chase away a swarm of locusts on his farm as he returns home from school, at Elburgon, in Nakuru county, Kenya on March 17, 2021. Africa has contributed relatively little to the planet's greenhouse gas emissions but has suffered some of the heaviest impacts of climate change and the reverberations of human-caused global warming will only get worse, according to a new United Nations report released Feb. 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

Although Africa has contributed relatively little to the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, the continent has suffered some of the world’s heaviest impacts of climate change, from famine to flooding.

Yet from its coral reefs to its highest peaks, the reverberations of human-caused global warming will only get worse, according to a new United Nations report

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted Monday that Saharan flooding, heat and drought will increase, Africa’s rich array of wildlife and plants will decline and glaciers on its most iconic mountains will disappear in coming decades.

On a continent already grappling with high poverty levels and food insecurity, the panel warned that fishermen and farmers will feel the pain of future climate change on their lives and livelihoods.

In Kenya, farmer Safari Mbuvi already is trying to weather his country’s a four-year drought — and watching his crops fail, again and again.

“Since I was young, my father used to get a bounty harvest in this farm, but now, there seems to be a change in climate and the rains are no longer dependable,” he said. “I will not harvest anything, not even a single sack of maize is possible. ... And I am not the only one. Every farmer in this area has lost everything.”

Warming temperatures will weaken Africa’s food production system by leading to water scarcity and shorter growing seasons, the U.N. report said. Yields of olives, sorghum, coffee, tea and livestock production are expected to decline.

“Agricultural productivity growth has been reduced by 34% since 1961 due to climate change more than any other region.” the panel said.

Climate change, along with conflicts, instability and economic crises, has contributed to hunger. Since 2012, the undernourished population in sub-Saharan Africa has increased by 45.6%, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. And in 2020, approximately 98 million people suffered from acute food insecurity and needed humanitarian assistance in Africa, said the Global Report on Food Crises by the World Food Programme.

If the world warms just another degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050, an additional 1.4 million African children will suffer severe stunting from malnutrition that limits growth and cognitive development, the IPCC said.

“The lack of food and under-nutrition are strongly linked with hot climates in the sub-Saharan area and less rainfall in West and Central Africa,” the panel said in a FAQ document. “Climate change can undermine children’s education attainment, thus reducing their chances for well-paid jobs or higher incomes later in life.”

Jean Paul Adam, who heads the climate change division at the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa, said, “Africa constitutes 17% of global population but only accounts for less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is the region of the world already being severely impacted of climate change plus having an extremely low adaptive capacity.”

Climate change has a major social injustice component, with the poor hit harder by pollution from the rich, said former Ireland President Mary Robinson, now with The Elders, a Nelson Mandela- founded group of senior statesmen. “All of the injustices are captured by looking at the region of Africa.”

Drought is a problem that hits the continent particularly hard. While only 7% of the world’s disasters were drought related, they caused slightly more than one-third of the disaster deaths, “mostly in Africa,” the IPCC report said.

Droughts have also reduced Africa’s hydropower by about 5% compared to the long-term average, hindering growth, the report said.

“When we look at impacts, it isn’t just that Africa is getting hit with the droughts and cyclones and the sea level rise and the disruption of rainfall patterns,” said Canadian climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy. “It’s that their vulnerability is so much higher than a lot of other places.”

Scientists say it is impossible to untangle Africa’s poverty and harm from climate change.

“Africa gets the short shrift because it’s in some ways more vulnerable to physical impacts, but also because there’s going to be a lot of people living on less than a dollar a day,” said climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of the Breakthrough Institute.

Monday’s report said sea-surface temperatures are projected to rise, threatening fragile marine ecosystems, including East African coral reefs. The report warns of threats posed to livelihoods of 12.3 million people who depend on fisheries.

The report said global warming also will hit Africa’s famous wildlife and highest mountains.

It predicted glacier ice covers on the Ruwenzori Mountains and Mount Kenya would be gone by 2030 and that Mount Kilimanjaro would lose its around 2040.

By 2100, the report said, climate change is expected to lead to loss of more than half of African bird and mammal species — and a 20% to 25% decline in the productivity of Africa’s lakes and plant species. Increased damage to coral reefs from pollution and climate change is expected to harm fisheries and overall marine biodiversity.

In the coming decades, Africa’s mainland, islands and coastal cities will be exposed to climate change risks that can seriously undermine economic sectors such agriculture, tourism, transportation and energy.

The report predicts reduced frequency of Category 5 cyclones, although it says they are projected to be more intense with high impacts upon landfall.

By 2030, the report projects that 108 to 116 million people in Africa will be exposed to sea-level rise — and that without adaptation measures, 12 major coastal cities will suffer a total of $65 billion to $86.5 billion in damages.

Rapid African urbanization, inadequate infrastructure as well growth of informal settlements will expose more people to climate hazards, the report said.

It noted that sub-Saharan Africa is the only region that has recorded increasing rates of flood mortality since the 1990 — and that millions of people were displaced by weather-related causes in 2018 and 2019.

“A lot of cities are completely unprepared for the scale of the challenges ahead, or even actively making the situation worse,” said Kaisa Kosonen a senior policy advisor at Greenpeace Nordic. “Real action on climate change requires resilient urban development and justice.”

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

ECOCIDE
House to vote on bill to help veterans exposed to burn pits

By KEVIN FREKING

In this April 28, 2011, photo, an Afghan National Army pickup truck passes parked U.S. armored military vehicles, as smoke rises from a fire in a trash burn pit at Forward Operating Base Caferetta Nawzad, Helmand province south of Kabul, Afghanistan. The House is poised to pass legislation that would dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Simon Klingert, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is poised to pass legislation that would dramatically boost health care services and disability benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill set for a vote Thursday has the backing of the nation’s major veterans groups and underscores the continued cost of war years after the fighting has stopped. If passed into law, it would increase spending by more than $300 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“If we’re not willing to pay the price of war, we shouldn’t go,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The bill would open up Department of Veterans Affairs health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service even if they don’t have a service-connected disability.

The bill also would provide new or increased disability benefits to thousands of veterans who have become ill with cancer or respiratory conditions such as bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The VA would presume that veterans developed their illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances during their service.

The bill’s supporters say it is a clear recognition from Congress that veterans were exposed to toxic substances, they are suffering as a result, and the process of proving to the VA that their illness was caused by their exposure is too burdensome.

Opponents of the legislation say it would grant health and disability benefits to many veterans whose conditions may not have anything to do with their military service. They expressed worry that the influx of cases would tax an already stressed VA system, leading to longer wait times for health care and processing disability claims.

The political dynamics surrounding the vote was evident on the House floor Wednesday as scores of Democrats, some from competitive swing districts, spoke in favor of the bill.

“This bill addresses the true cost of war and opposing it would be a vote against our servicemembers and veterans,” said Rep. Mark Takano of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Republicans generally left it to Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa to do all the talking Wednesday in opposition to the bill. Miller-Meeks is a U.S. Army veteran and said she hears from fellow veterans frequently in Iowa who wait months, or even years, for the benefits they earned, and that problem will only grow if the bill becomes law. She also noted that the projected cost of the bill is more than the budgets of nine Cabinet-level departments combined.

“We are not doing right by our veterans by being fiscally irresponsible in their name,” Miller-Meeks said.

The military routinely used burn pits to dispose of waste during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2020 study from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine found that existing health studies provided insufficient evidence to determine whether exposure to burn pit emissions are linked to adverse respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. The authors of the study said the uncertainty doesn’t mean there is no association — only that there was insufficient data to draw definitive conclusions.

President Joe Biden is among those who has voiced suspicion that his son’s death from brain cancer was linked to burn pits that were in use while Maj. Beau Biden served in Iraq.

“And they come home, many of the world’s fittest and best trained warriors, never the same — headaches, numbness, dizziness, a cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin,” he said during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

Biden said it’s unknown whether a burn pit caused his son’s brain cancer, or the diseases of so many others who served, “but I’m committed to finding out everything we can.”

The White House has endorsed the House bill, which goes beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. It also adds hypertension to the list of illnesses that Vietnam veterans are presumed to have developed because of exposure to Agent Orange. The CBO estimates that about 600,000 of the 1.6 million veterans who served in Vietnam and who already receive disability compensation also have hypertension, or high blood pressure. They would be eligible for increased compensation, which would depend upon the severity of the illness.

Biden called on the VA last year to examine the impact of burn pits and other airborne hazards. He has backed expanding the number of conditions that the VA would presume were caused by toxic exposure from burn pits.

In November, the White House announced that soldiers exposed to burn pits who developed any of three specific ailments — asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis — within 10 years can receive disability benefits. The House bill greatly builds on that effort with 21 additional presumptive conditions, and possibly more to come in ensuing years.

The bill also provides for retroactive benefits to veterans whose disability claims have been denied, and to survivors of deceased veterans.

The sums are substantial. For example, Vietnam veterans eligible for retroactive payments due to hypertension from exposure to Agent Orange would receive retroactive payments averaging about $13,500, while survivors would receive about $100,000, the CBO said in a December report.

Meanwhile, some 268,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan whose claims have been denied would receive retroactive payments averaging about $50,000. And some 5,500 survivors would receive about $160,000, on average, CBO said.

It is unclear how the House bill will fare in an evenly divided Senate where legislation generally needs 60 votes to advance.

The Senate has unanimously passed a much narrower bill extending how long combat veterans are guaranteed VA care. But House Democrats said the Senate legislation is just a fraction of what is needed.

Tainted water ‘shatters’ Native Hawaiians’ trust in military

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER

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A group of demonstrators gather at the Hawaii state capitol for a rally over water contamination by the U.S. Navy near Pearl Harbor on Feb. 11, 2022, in Honolulu. Native Hawaiians who revere water in all its forms as the embodiment of a Hawaiian god say the Navy's acknowledgement that jet fuel leaked into Pearl Harbor's tap water has deepened the distrust they feel toward the U.S. military. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones)


HONOLULU (AP) — A well-known adage in Hawaiian, ola i ka wai, means “water is life.”

Native Hawaiians revere water in all its forms as the embodiment of one of the Hawaiian pantheon’s four principal gods.

The resource is so valuable that to have it in abundance means prosperity. The Hawaiian word for water — wai — is repeated in the word for wealth — waiwai.

So when the Navy confirmed petroleum from one of its fuel tank facilities had leaked into Pearl Harbor’s tap water, many Native Hawaiians were not just concerned, they were hurt and offended.

“This has been the most egregious assault on a public trust resource in the history of Hawaii,” said Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former trustee of the Commission on Water Resource Management.

Nearly 6,000 people, mostly those living in military housing at or near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, got sick after petroleum-laced water came pouring out of their taps late last year. Residents worry fresh water for broader Oahu also is in danger because the aging tank system sits above an aquifer that provides drinking water to most of the island and has a history of leaks.

The Navy is working to address the problem. But many say it has deepened a distrust in the military that dates to at least 1893, when a group of American businessmen, with support from U.S. Marines, overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom. More recently, Native Hawaiians fought to stop target practice bombing on the island of Kahoolawe and at Makua Valley in west Oahu.

“The military has a long history of poor stewardship of Hawaii’s natural and cultural resources,” Carmen Hulu Lindsey, chair of the board of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said in an email in response to questions. “Time after time the people of Hawaii have been left to clean up after the military ravages our sacred lands — from unexploded ordnance and toxic waste to the loss of cultural and historic sites and endangered species — without even appropriating resources to finance these efforts.”

For some, the water contamination was the last straw.

The crisis has “shattered people’s trust in the military,” said Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua, a Native Hawaiian political science doctoral student and one of the activists pushing to shut down the tank facility.

“I think this is really pushing people to the edge because we all need water to live,” Kapahua said. “And I think it’s a very scary thought for people that their children or their grandchildren may never be able to drink the water that comes out of the tap.”

Navy officials seemed aware of the distrust when they announced to members of Congress in January the Navy wouldn’t continue fighting Hawaii’s order to defuel the tanks.

“I understand the deep connection that the people of Hawaii, particularly the Native Hawaiian community, have with the lands and waters of Hawaii,” Rear Adm. Blake Converse, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said while noting he lived in Hawaii off and on for more than eight years.

Rear Adm. John Korka, commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, also noted his connection to the islands, sharing which church he worshipped in and the Catholic school his children attended while living in Hawaii. “This is a personal issue for me, and I’m sorry.”

Using 2019 Census data, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs estimates that 3,439 Native Hawaiians across the United States serve in the armed forces, which is 0.8% of the total Native Hawaiian adult population in the U.S.

Many see value in the state’s relationship with the military, which also provides civilian jobs that are considered desirable alternatives to service work in the tourism industry.

Native Hawaiian Vietnam War veteran Shad Kane said he is troubled by the contaminated water, but it hasn’t tested his faith in the military. His trusty pickup truck bears special Hawaii license plates indicating he’s a combat veteran. He plans to transfer the plates to his new Toyota Tacoma.

“Yes, I’m bothered by that, but I also know the Navy has a greater responsibility,” Kane said. “The Navy wants to do the right thing.”

The Navy hasn’t determined how petroleum got in the water. Officials are investigating a theory that jet fuel spilled from a ruptured pipe last May and somehow entered a fire suppression system drain pipe. They suspect fuel then leaked from the second pipe Nov. 20, sending it into the drinking water well.

The Navy has been trying to clear petroleum from the contaminated well and pump it out of the aquifer. Officials are also flushing clean water through the Navy’s water system — which serves 93,000 people in military homes and offices in and around Pearl Harbor. In the meantime, the Navy put up affected military families in Waikiki hotels.











A wood and stone shrine stands at the gates of the headquarters of the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 in Honolulu. The shrine was erected during a traditional ceremony by protesters who oppose the U.S. Navy's use of a giant fuel storage tank facility blamed for jet fuel that leaked into a drinking well. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)


Beamer, the former water commission trustee, had been calling for the decommissioning of the tanks since 2014, when more than 27,000 gallons (102,200 liters) of fuel leaked from one of tanks.

The Navy “promised us nothing like this would possibly happen,” he recalled. “They would never risk the lives of their own. ... They drink out of the same aquifer.”

After initially resisting, the Navy said in January it would comply with Hawaii’s order to remove fuel from the tank facility, which is used to power many U.S. military ships and planes that patrol the Pacific Ocean. But in February, the Navy lodged an appeal in court.

Rear Adm. Tim Kott, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, said in a statement this week that Navy officials will continue to work with, listen to and learn from the Native Hawaiian community.

“We know we have a lot of work ahead of us to gain the trust of the communities across the island, and in particular Native Hawaiians,” he said. “We will continue to work tirelessly to restore community trust and the safe drinking water of our families and neighbors.”

U.S. Rep. Kaiali‘i Kahele, a combat pilot who serves as an officer in the Hawaii National Guard, has invoked the Hawaiian word hewa, which can mean sinful or wrong, to describe the Navy water contamination. He has also called it “crisis of astronomical proportions.”

He traces his Native Hawaiian family’s roots to a small fishing village near the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island where there’s no running water and residents rely on catching rain.

Elders instilled in him that every drop is precious.

“All life originated through having healthy, fresh water,” Kahele said.

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Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.