#fossil-fuel-lobbying

#fossil-fuel-lobbying

Protesters blockaded the main entrance to the Cop30 climate conference for several hours early on Friday morning, demanding to speak to Brazil's president about the plight of the country's Indigenous peoples. About 50 people from the Munduruku people in the Amazon basin blocked the entrance with some assistance from international green groups, watched by a huge phalanx of riot police, soldiers and military vehicles.

The government defended the meetings, saying ministers held meetings with a wide range of representatives from the energy industry, unions and civil society to drive forward our clean energy superpower mission. But the findings have raised concern among critics about the extent of the fossil fuel industry's influence over government at a time when ministers are trying to lower bills and transition to a more sustainable energy system.

A California bill now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) signature would set a pathway to eliminate the state's trailblazing moratorium on pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide. The fossil fuel industry lobbied to shape the Democrat-sponsored legislation, which could allow such pipelines to be constructed without strict distance requirements around communities and sensitive wildlife habitats - raising fears that leaks or ruptures of the asphyxiant gas could occur close to people's homes.