Members of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas and activists from a financial watchdog group arrived in Portland this week to ask the Oregon State Treasury to divest from a controversial gas terminal proposed along the Gulf of Mexico.
For more than eight years, tribal members and environmental and social justice activists from Brownsville, Texas, have fought the proposed Rio Grande Liquified Natural Gas terminal at the Port of Brownsville, arguing that it’s a risk to the climate, to public health and to the fishing and tourism industries that people along the Gulf Coast depend on.
They arrived ahead of a Wednesday meeting of the Oregon Investment Council, which includes State Treasurer Tobias Read. Read and the other five members of the council decide where to invest money from Oregon’s Public Employees Retirement System, or PERS. The Carrizo/Comecrudo tribal leaders and activists plan to speak at the meeting and submit written comments from activists who have been fighting the proposed terminal since 2015.
Oregon became involved last year, when the treasury department invested $350 million of the state’s public employees pension in Global Infrastructure Partners’ Fund V. Global Infrastructure Partners is a New York City-based private equity fund. Through its Fund V, the firm has invested $3.5 billion in the Rio Grande Liquified Natural Gas Terminal, according to the nonprofit financial watchdog group Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
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The Rio Grande terminal, if built, would receive fracked gas from West Texas oil fields via a proposed pipeline called the Rio Bravo pipeline. Both would be owned by Houston-based NextDecade Corporation. The Rio Bravo pipeline, if built, would go through the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe’s ancestral land.
At the terminal, the fracked gas would be cooled to a liquified state and exported via tanker ships as liquified natural gas for global markets. Natural gas is almost entirely methane gas, which is among the most potent climate-warming greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.
Global Infrastructure Partners’ media representative did not respond to questions from the Capital Chronicle by Tuesday evening. Read, who is also preparing to present a “net-zero” plan for Oregon’s pension system on Feb. 6, will meet with activists and tribal members on Wednesday following the investment council meeting.
He declined to talk with the Capital Chronicle Tuesday, but treasury spokesperson Eric Engelson said in an email that, in general, the state treasury is unaware of individual investments in a private equity fund. Engelson said private equity managers provide disclosure documents that outline general aspects of investments.
Emissions
The Rio Grande terminal is one of two liquified natural gas export terminals proposed at the Port of Brownsville. Construction on both was slated to begin by 2023, but both are instead still seeking financing. Two banks have already backed out of their investments in the terminals.
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The Rio Grande project could result in 163 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, according to the Sierra Club, as much as the emissions of 44 coal plants, or more than 35 million cars.
Rebekah Hinojosa, Gulf Coast campaign representative for the nonprofit Sierra Club and a member of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, a coalition of nonprofit environmental groups working to shut down the terminal, has been fighting the Rio Grande Terminal since she read about it in 2015. She lives in Brownsville and grew up in the Rio Grande Valley.
“We’re protesting every company, bank or pension fund that is involved,” Hinojosa said. “We are calling on them to immediately withdraw, because our community does not want to be sacrificed for gas projects.”
Joining members of the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe at Wednesday’s Oregon Investment Council meeting are representatives from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
Nichole Heil, a campaign coordinator with the group said at the very least, they are asking the investment council to bring their concerns to Global Infrastructure Partners. Company representatives have not responded to activists, including repeated requests to meet, Heil said.
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The group and coalition recently submitted comments to the Washington State Investment Board requesting it divest its $400 million investment in Global Infrastructure Partners’ Fund V.
At least three cities along Texas’ Gulf Coast have passed resolutions opposing the gas terminal and one, the city of Port Isabel, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency alleging officials did not conduct a sufficient environmental review.
Hinojosa said it feels as if gas projects are being forced on residents by the gas industry, and by state and federal governments.
“Every company, every private equity firm that’s involved, every regulatory agency, they’re all equally to blame,” she said. “And that’s why we’re urging Global Infrastructure Partners and the Oregon Investment Council to divest immediately. They should not be complicit with this project; with the destruction of our community. They can help us stop this project by withdrawing their investment immediately.”
Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney joins Varney & Co. to discuss the departure of Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and to address questions about the company’s future leadership and strategy.
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.
Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.
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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.
NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’
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The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.
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Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.
NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)
Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”
The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.
Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.
The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.
The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.
Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.
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Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.
Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.
Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.
CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.
“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.
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The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.
US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate state emergency response resources as a massive storm system threatens much of the state with hurricane-force winds, giant hail, and the risk of tornadoes.
Severe weather in Texas
The severe weather, expected to last through Monday morning, covers a vast footprint including West, North, East, Central, and South-Central Texas. Forecasters warned the system could produce wind gusts exceeding 75 mph and hail larger than 2 inches in diameter.
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What they’re saying:
“Texas is prepared to confront the severe storms that pose a threat to communities all across our state,” Abbott said in a statement. He urged Texans to monitor local forecasts and warned motorists never to drive through flooded roadways, invoking the phrase, “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”
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Heavy rainfall is expected to be widespread, with some areas potentially seeing isolated totals of 3 to 6 inches, which could lead to significant flash flooding. As the system progresses, the threat is expected to shift toward the South and Southeast Texas coasts.
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In preparation, the governor has deployed a wide array of state assets to assist local officials, including:
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Search and Rescue: Swiftwater and floodwater rescue boat squads and urban search and rescue teams from Texas A&M Task Forces 1, 2, and 3.
Aviation and Marine Support: Helicopters with hoist capabilities from the Department of Public Safety and Texas Parks and Wildlife, as well as Tactical Marine Units.
Infrastructure and Recovery: Texas Forest Service saw crews to clear debris from roads and Department of Transportation personnel to monitor highway conditions.
Medical and Utility Support: Emergency medical task forces with ambulances and all-terrain vehicles, along with monitors from the Public Utility Commission to coordinate power outage responses.
State agencies are also monitoring the state’s natural gas supply and water quality as the storms move through.
Officials encouraged residents to assemble emergency kits and check road conditions at DriveTexas.org before attempting to travel.
The Source: Information in this article is from the Governor Greg Abbott Press Office.
