NEWS: Opponent of Canadian mine in Colombia killed
EWS:By Brent Patterson, Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
More info: Grahame Russell, Rights Action, 011 502 4955-3634, info@rightsaction.org
The Independent Catholic News reports, “Father Jose Reinel Restrepo Idairraga was killed by unknown assailants…on Thursday, 1 September…in Colombia. …Father Restrepo was 36 years old…and since 2009 was pastor in Marmato, where he was appreciated and respected by the locals because of his commitment to the poor. The authorities have begun investigating the case to determine whether the reason for the priest’s killing was mugging or if there is any other reason. This area of Colombia is well-known because about 80 percent of the population of Marmato works in gold mining.”
In a video posted to YouTube just days before his murder, Father Restrepo spoke against an open pit gold mine proposed by Toronto-based Medoro Resources (which recently merged with another Canadian company, Gran Colombia Gold Corp). Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper reports, “The priest had spent the past two years in Marmato where he had opposed the moving of the town, a possibility that has been considered if the mining company Gran Colombia Gold mines its open pit project.”
The Marmato Project: As noted on their website, “Medoro Resources Ltd. is a gold exploration, development and mining company with a primary emphasis on Colombia. Medoro owns most of the prolific Marmato gold district and the producing Mineros Nacionales underground gold mine located in Zona Baja at Marmato. The Company is conducting an exploration and infill drilling program at its Marmato Project to expand and upgrade its already substantial gold resources there as the basis for its plan to develop a large open pit gold mine to realize the large potential of the Marmato Project. The Company’s Marmato Project currently hosts measured and indicated gold resources of approximately 6.6 million ounces, and an inferred resource of approximately 3.2 million ounces.”
‘Economic Forced Displacement’: The company’s website also notes, ” In October 2009, Medoro acquired the Zona Alta license through its share purchase of Colombia Goldfields Ltd.” A March 2008 article in The Dominion by Micheál Ó Tuathail of Edmonton’s La Chiva collective reports, “Five years ago, (Marmato’s) roots were shaken when the Compañía Mineras de Caldas, a subsidiary of Toronto-based Colombia Goldfields Limited, began its project of consolidating ownership of the mountain, leading to what many call the ‘economic forced displacement’ of Marmato and the social eradication of a working community. …(An article in El Colombiano) claims that an open-pit gold mine at Marmato would be ‘one of the largest in South America’, requiring the removal of ‘between 30,000 and 60,000 tonnes of earth daily in order to produce 250,000 ounces of gold annually.’ The operation would exploit in 20 years what small miners could in 200.”
Water: The Dominion article adds, “While small mining practices are notorious for their use of harmful chemicals such as cyanide, open-pit mines are environmental disaster zones, according to critics, who say they bring limited short-term employment and leave behind gigantic holes in the ground where communities once lived.” A Colombia Goldfields media release from February 2007 says, “The first detailed water monitoring ever undertaken at Marmato was completed in December 2006 at 18 locations in three creeks and two locations on the Cauca River. The sampling was a joint effort with Corpocaldas, the State Environmental Agency responsible for the Environment in the Department of Caldas. Due to unregulated discharge from the mills and the lack of any tailings disposal facilities at Marmato, cyanide levels are toxic in all locations and the amount of suspended solids is many times above acceptable levels.”
also -
Maude Barlow to visit Goldcorp mine in Guatemala
Tomorrow, Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow will be visiting the controversial Canadian-owned Marlin mine in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, which is located about 300 kilometres north of Guatemala City.
“Community activists have risked their lives to protect their water from depletion and the discharge of toxic tailings,” says Maude Barlow.
Among the water-related concerns with the Marlin mine, Tech International, a US-based non-governmental organization, has expressed concern that tailings water from the mine is seeping into a downstream tributary. In 2009, a research team from the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology confirmed the Marlin mine had contaminated local water supplies. And University of Ghent researchers believe the mine is depleting surface water causing arsenic-rich groundwater to be drawn into surface waters, and that arsenic may be the reason for skin problems being found among local residents.
“By allowing Goldcorp to operate this way in Guatemala, the Canadian government is violating the right to water of the local communities in the regional and river basin where the Marlin mine operates,” says Barlow, referring to the legally binding resolutions passed at the United Nations last year recognizing the right to water and sanitation.
“To Harper, the right to water in Guatemala, and other countries Canadian mining companies operate in, is simply a barrier to trade,” adds Barlow, noting the federal government is seeking a free trade agreement with Guatemala. “But you can’t trade away human rights.”
NOTE:
Given Canadian investments (including through the Canada Pension Plan) and subsidies that have funded the mine's operations, the Canadian government and public have a responsibility here, notes Barlow. The Council of Canadians is calling for legislation in Canada that recognizes the right to water and ends the impunity Canadian mining companies currently enjoy abroad.
“With Guatemala’s federal election less than a week away, mining should be a central issue given its widespread impacts in Guatemalan society and environment,” says Barlow. “With the terrible international record of Canadian mining companies, it should be a central issue here too.”
This past May, the Council of Canadians, along with 200+ people, participated in a protest at Goldcorp's annual shareholders meeting in Vancouver. The protest demanded that Goldcorp suspend its operations at the Marlin mine.
Tuesday
This Company Turns Plastic Bottles Back Into Crude Oil
This Company Turns Plastic Bottles Back Into Crude Oil - Environment - GOOD (you can be certain mr Koch is not an investor...)
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But if life gives you plastic? Make crude oil. Vadxx, an Ohio-based energy company, is taking even plastics that can't be recycled and reverting them to the material state from whence they came: crude oil.
"Plastics are made from oil, and Vadxx has figured out how to create the lowest sulfur content crude oil in the world, from a commodity that might otherwise occupy space in landfills," Vadxx CEO Jim Garret said in a press statement. Vadxx will take the picked-over scraps of plastics that don't make the cut for recycling, including "auto fluff" (the non-metal parts of junked cars) and e-waste, and run it through its reactors. Out comes crude oil, which the company will sell. Vadxx says that each of its oil production units could shrink landfill deposits by 10 to 14,000 tons a year.
Last month, Vadxx won a piece of Akron, Ohio's recycling contract and will start helping process the city's waste into oil at a pilot plant. Residents of Akron who put their recycling on the curb will be providing the raw materials for fuel. And while we might hope that some day we won't need oil at all, for now, this is certainly a step up from drilling in the Arctic.
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But if life gives you plastic? Make crude oil. Vadxx, an Ohio-based energy company, is taking even plastics that can't be recycled and reverting them to the material state from whence they came: crude oil.
"Plastics are made from oil, and Vadxx has figured out how to create the lowest sulfur content crude oil in the world, from a commodity that might otherwise occupy space in landfills," Vadxx CEO Jim Garret said in a press statement. Vadxx will take the picked-over scraps of plastics that don't make the cut for recycling, including "auto fluff" (the non-metal parts of junked cars) and e-waste, and run it through its reactors. Out comes crude oil, which the company will sell. Vadxx says that each of its oil production units could shrink landfill deposits by 10 to 14,000 tons a year.
Last month, Vadxx won a piece of Akron, Ohio's recycling contract and will start helping process the city's waste into oil at a pilot plant. Residents of Akron who put their recycling on the curb will be providing the raw materials for fuel. And while we might hope that some day we won't need oil at all, for now, this is certainly a step up from drilling in the Arctic.
Leonard Peltier wins rights prize
Jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier wins rights prize
MONTEVIDEO — Leonard Peltier, an indigenous rights activist jailed in the United States for decades, has received the first Mario Benedetti Foundation international human rights prize, the group said Monday.
The group called Peltier, a Native American activist convicted in 1977 for the murder of two US FBI agents, the longest serving political prisoner in the Americas. The case stemmed from a shootout at a reservation in the US state of South Dakota.
"Leonard Peltier, who on September 12, 2011 will turn 67, has spent more than half his life in prison. He is a symbol of resistance to repressive state policies by the United States, where there are people in jail for ethnic, racial, ideological and religious reasons," a foundation statement said.
Ricardo Elena, a member of the foundation's honorary board, said Peltier's case "is one that is repeated over and over: violation (of rights); persecution, eviction, invasion and expropriation of the indigenous people from the time it was 'discovered' until now.
"It did not just happen in the United States; it is happening in southern South America with the (indigenous) Mapuche people, and with indigenous people in North America," he stressed.
Peltier, whose family is indigenous Chippewa and Lakota, fled to Canada after the shooting and was later extradited. He was convicted in part based on the testimony of a woman, Myrtle Poor Bear, who claimed she was his girlfriend and witnessed the shootings. Poor Bear however admitted later she was pressured to make the testimony, but a judge blocked her testimony.
Elena took a swipe at the United States saying it "likes to think it is the seat of democracy, but it has political prisoners just like a dictatorship might have."
The Mario Benedetti Foundation was set up to support human rights and cultural causes in synch with the work of the Uruguayan writer who died in 2009.
MONTEVIDEO — Leonard Peltier, an indigenous rights activist jailed in the United States for decades, has received the first Mario Benedetti Foundation international human rights prize, the group said Monday.
The group called Peltier, a Native American activist convicted in 1977 for the murder of two US FBI agents, the longest serving political prisoner in the Americas. The case stemmed from a shootout at a reservation in the US state of South Dakota.
"Leonard Peltier, who on September 12, 2011 will turn 67, has spent more than half his life in prison. He is a symbol of resistance to repressive state policies by the United States, where there are people in jail for ethnic, racial, ideological and religious reasons," a foundation statement said.
Ricardo Elena, a member of the foundation's honorary board, said Peltier's case "is one that is repeated over and over: violation (of rights); persecution, eviction, invasion and expropriation of the indigenous people from the time it was 'discovered' until now.
"It did not just happen in the United States; it is happening in southern South America with the (indigenous) Mapuche people, and with indigenous people in North America," he stressed.
Peltier, whose family is indigenous Chippewa and Lakota, fled to Canada after the shooting and was later extradited. He was convicted in part based on the testimony of a woman, Myrtle Poor Bear, who claimed she was his girlfriend and witnessed the shootings. Poor Bear however admitted later she was pressured to make the testimony, but a judge blocked her testimony.
Elena took a swipe at the United States saying it "likes to think it is the seat of democracy, but it has political prisoners just like a dictatorship might have."
The Mario Benedetti Foundation was set up to support human rights and cultural causes in synch with the work of the Uruguayan writer who died in 2009.
Friday
Obama Halts EPA Regulation On Smog Standards
Obama Halts EPA Regulation On Smog Standards
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama on Friday scrubbed a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional Republicans who complained the rule would kill jobs in America's ailing economy.
Withdrawal of the proposed regulation marked the latest in a string of retreats by the president in the face of GOP opposition, and it drew quick criticism from liberals. Environmentalists, a key Obama constituency, accused him of caving to corporate polluters, and the American Lung Association threatened to restart the legal action it had begun against rules proposed by President George W. Bush.
The White House has been under heavy pressure from GOP lawmakers and major industries, which have slammed the stricter standard as an unnecessary jobs killer. The Environmental Protection Agency, whose scientific advisers favored the tighter limits, had predicted the proposed change would cost up to $90 billion a year, making it one of the most expensive environmental regulations ever imposed in the U.S.
However, the Clean Air Act bars the EPA from considering the costs of complying when setting public health standards.
Obama said his decision was made in part to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty at a time of rampant questions about the strength of the U.S. economy.
Underscoring the economic concerns: a new report Friday that showed the economy essentially adding no jobs in August and the unemployment rate stubbornly stuck at 9.1 percent.
The regulation would have reduced concentrations of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, a powerful lung irritant that can cause asthma and other lung ailments. Smog is created when emissions from cars, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic reversal, President Barack Obama on Friday scrubbed a clean-air regulation that aimed to reduce health-threatening smog, yielding to bitterly protesting businesses and congressional Republicans who complained the rule would kill jobs in America's ailing economy.
Withdrawal of the proposed regulation marked the latest in a string of retreats by the president in the face of GOP opposition, and it drew quick criticism from liberals. Environmentalists, a key Obama constituency, accused him of caving to corporate polluters, and the American Lung Association threatened to restart the legal action it had begun against rules proposed by President George W. Bush.
The White House has been under heavy pressure from GOP lawmakers and major industries, which have slammed the stricter standard as an unnecessary jobs killer. The Environmental Protection Agency, whose scientific advisers favored the tighter limits, had predicted the proposed change would cost up to $90 billion a year, making it one of the most expensive environmental regulations ever imposed in the U.S.
However, the Clean Air Act bars the EPA from considering the costs of complying when setting public health standards.
Obama said his decision was made in part to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty at a time of rampant questions about the strength of the U.S. economy.
Underscoring the economic concerns: a new report Friday that showed the economy essentially adding no jobs in August and the unemployment rate stubbornly stuck at 9.1 percent.
The regulation would have reduced concentrations of ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, a powerful lung irritant that can cause asthma and other lung ailments. Smog is created when emissions from cars, power and chemical plants, refineries and other factories mix in sunlight and heat.
Ontario 'mega-quarry' faces environmental review
Ontario 'mega-quarry' faces environmental review
Sometimes you get your news from the FINANCIAL sector, and not from the 'democracy' reporters - here's the headline on the currency exchange network today about the Mega Quarry, note the language - "opposition from 'wealthy' retirees"
TORONTO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ontario has ordered a full environmental review of a proposed 'mega-quarry' backed by one of Boston's best-known hedge funds, a move that may threaten a project that has already raised local opposition.
The project, which would supply crushed limestone for Toronto's booming construction industry, has counted value investor Seth Klarman's Baupost Group as one of its investors.
Highlands Cos, the company behind the quarry, plans to carve out the huge pit on thousands of acres of potato fields it has bought up about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Toronto.
A review announced late Thursday by the Canadian province's environmental ministry could complicate those plans.
'After reviewing the company's application for a quarry, it became clear that more work needs to be done to demonstrate that the project would be fully protective of the surrounding environment,' said a ministry spokeswoman in an email.
The project is already subject to a multi-year review by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. As part of that process, the Environment ministry expressed serious concerns, especially with the project's impact on groundwater.
Minister of the Environment John Wilkinson said his counterpart in Natural Resources had agreed that a comprehensive environmental review was needed.
The company will have to submit an environmental assessment, which the ministry, technical experts and the public will then review.The quarry would extend below the water table, and its operators would have to pump 600 million liters of water each day to keep the mine, and later rehabilitated farmland, from becoming a lake.
The development has faced opposition from the area's wealthy retirees, local farmers and the environmental lobby.
Highland Companies could not immediately be reached for comment.
Baupost, which was reported last year to have $23 billion in assets, does not often publicize its investments and returns.
Klarman's reported double-digit returns over more than two decades and his celebrated book on value investing - 'Margin of Safety' - mean investors closely track his portfolio picks.
His investment in Highland is in line with recent efforts by hedge funds to seek profits beyond traditional investments such as stocks and bonds.
Sometimes you get your news from the FINANCIAL sector, and not from the 'democracy' reporters - here's the headline on the currency exchange network today about the Mega Quarry, note the language - "opposition from 'wealthy' retirees"
TORONTO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Ontario has ordered a full environmental review of a proposed 'mega-quarry' backed by one of Boston's best-known hedge funds, a move that may threaten a project that has already raised local opposition.
The project, which would supply crushed limestone for Toronto's booming construction industry, has counted value investor Seth Klarman's Baupost Group as one of its investors.
Highlands Cos, the company behind the quarry, plans to carve out the huge pit on thousands of acres of potato fields it has bought up about 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Toronto.
A review announced late Thursday by the Canadian province's environmental ministry could complicate those plans.
'After reviewing the company's application for a quarry, it became clear that more work needs to be done to demonstrate that the project would be fully protective of the surrounding environment,' said a ministry spokeswoman in an email.
The project is already subject to a multi-year review by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. As part of that process, the Environment ministry expressed serious concerns, especially with the project's impact on groundwater.
Minister of the Environment John Wilkinson said his counterpart in Natural Resources had agreed that a comprehensive environmental review was needed.
The company will have to submit an environmental assessment, which the ministry, technical experts and the public will then review.The quarry would extend below the water table, and its operators would have to pump 600 million liters of water each day to keep the mine, and later rehabilitated farmland, from becoming a lake.
The development has faced opposition from the area's wealthy retirees, local farmers and the environmental lobby.
Highland Companies could not immediately be reached for comment.
Baupost, which was reported last year to have $23 billion in assets, does not often publicize its investments and returns.
Klarman's reported double-digit returns over more than two decades and his celebrated book on value investing - 'Margin of Safety' - mean investors closely track his portfolio picks.
His investment in Highland is in line with recent efforts by hedge funds to seek profits beyond traditional investments such as stocks and bonds.
Oxfam- Take action: Protect Guatemalan rights activists.
Oxfam - Take action: Protect Guatemalan rights activists.
Defending the rights of the poor and marginalized is often dangerous – and right now, two of Oxfam’s Guatemalan partners are under direct threat for their lives.
Yuri Melini and Rafael Maldonado recently received death threats – and we need your voice, now, to ensure that these threats don’t come to fruition. Melini and Maldonado work daily on oil and mining issues in Guatemala and this week received death threats in the mail in connection with their work to protect human rights and expose corruption in the natural resource sectors. We need to get the public eye on this case immediately – please don’t stay silent.
Please send a message to the President of Guatemala – we must do everything we can, NOW, to protect our Oxfam partners.
Human rights defenders have a right to carry out their work without fear of reprisals, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As such, we call on you to immediately:
1. Order an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats made against CALAS staff, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice.
2. Take immediate steps to provide full and appropriate protection to Rafael Maldonado and Yuri Melini, as well as other CALAS staff members, in accordance with their wishes.
We won't stand by while CALAS workers are threatened.
Defending the rights of the poor and marginalized is often dangerous – and right now, two of Oxfam’s Guatemalan partners are under direct threat for their lives.
Yuri Melini and Rafael Maldonado recently received death threats – and we need your voice, now, to ensure that these threats don’t come to fruition. Melini and Maldonado work daily on oil and mining issues in Guatemala and this week received death threats in the mail in connection with their work to protect human rights and expose corruption in the natural resource sectors. We need to get the public eye on this case immediately – please don’t stay silent.
Please send a message to the President of Guatemala – we must do everything we can, NOW, to protect our Oxfam partners.
Human rights defenders have a right to carry out their work without fear of reprisals, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As such, we call on you to immediately:
1. Order an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats made against CALAS staff, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice.
2. Take immediate steps to provide full and appropriate protection to Rafael Maldonado and Yuri Melini, as well as other CALAS staff members, in accordance with their wishes.
We won't stand by while CALAS workers are threatened.
Thursday
Canadian Action on Tar Sands: Sept 25, OttawaAction.ca
Join Us This Fall ! | OttawaAction.ca
There comes a time when you need to take a stand. When sending letters and signing petitions isn't enough. When together we must say, "enough is enough — not on our watch". That time is now. We must act together for the health of our planet, our air, our water, our climate, and our children.
On September 26th we need you to come to Ottawa to join a historic action to oppose the tar sands. In a large peaceful protest, many will be risking arrest to tell the Harper government that we don’t support his reckless agenda; that we want to turn away from the toxic tar sands industry; and that we oppose the direction he's taking this country.
In the U.S., people by the thousands are taking a stand. From Aug 20th to Sept. 3rd, thousands are pledging to risk arrest in daily acts of civil disobedience to convince President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring dirty tar sands oil to the U.S. On September 26th, we will stand up to Prime Minister Harper to pressure him to stem the tar sands industry at its source.
Tar sands mining and other extreme forms of energy extraction like Arctic drilling, shale fracking, and nuclear power generation send us in the exact opposite direction that we, as a civilization, must go to ensure global survival. If we burn the tar sands, we blot our nation's reputation; if we leave that carbon in the ground, we'll do the world an enormous favour.
On September 26th we are asking you to come to Ottawa to participate in one of the largest acts of civil disobedience on the climate issue that Canada has ever seen.
Be a part of turning Canada away from the toxic tar sands industry. Help forge the future we all want to live in.
If you are interested and willing to take action email ottawaaction@gmail.com or go to www.ottawaaction.ca to sign-up today. It will be a powerful day, and more powerful if you're a part of it: email ottawaaction@gmail.com or go to http://www.ottawaaction.ca to sign-up today.
The Council of Canadians
Greenpeace Canada
Indigenous Environmental Network
This summer, 11 veteran U.S. and Canadian scientists and environmentalists — Maude Barlow, Wendell Berry, Tom Goldtooth, Danny Glover, James Hansen, Wes Jackson, Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, George Poitras, David Suzuki, and Gus Speth — issued a continental call-out. The call was for people right across the U.S. to come to Washington D.C. and join in two weeks of non-violent civil disobedience actions to try to stop the massive tar sands Keystone XL pipeline. The response has been overwhelming.
Knowing the horrific impacts a mega-pipeline from the tar sands in Alberta to refineries in the U.S. gulf coast would pose to communities, waterways, ecosystems and the planet, people are signing up by the thousands. They are pledging to risk arrest to draw a line in the sand and say “no.” They'll deliver that message by daily risking arrest until the project is stopped. On September 26th, we have a chance to match their courage and do the same in Ottawa.
There comes a time when you need to take a stand. When sending letters and signing petitions isn't enough. When together we must say, "enough is enough — not on our watch". That time is now. We must act together for the health of our planet, our air, our water, our climate, and our children.
On September 26th we need you to come to Ottawa to join a historic action to oppose the tar sands. In a large peaceful protest, many will be risking arrest to tell the Harper government that we don’t support his reckless agenda; that we want to turn away from the toxic tar sands industry; and that we oppose the direction he's taking this country.
In the U.S., people by the thousands are taking a stand. From Aug 20th to Sept. 3rd, thousands are pledging to risk arrest in daily acts of civil disobedience to convince President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring dirty tar sands oil to the U.S. On September 26th, we will stand up to Prime Minister Harper to pressure him to stem the tar sands industry at its source.
Tar sands mining and other extreme forms of energy extraction like Arctic drilling, shale fracking, and nuclear power generation send us in the exact opposite direction that we, as a civilization, must go to ensure global survival. If we burn the tar sands, we blot our nation's reputation; if we leave that carbon in the ground, we'll do the world an enormous favour.
On September 26th we are asking you to come to Ottawa to participate in one of the largest acts of civil disobedience on the climate issue that Canada has ever seen.
Be a part of turning Canada away from the toxic tar sands industry. Help forge the future we all want to live in.
If you are interested and willing to take action email ottawaaction@gmail.com or go to www.ottawaaction.ca to sign-up today. It will be a powerful day, and more powerful if you're a part of it: email ottawaaction@gmail.com or go to http://www.ottawaaction.ca to sign-up today.
The Council of Canadians
Greenpeace Canada
Indigenous Environmental Network
This summer, 11 veteran U.S. and Canadian scientists and environmentalists — Maude Barlow, Wendell Berry, Tom Goldtooth, Danny Glover, James Hansen, Wes Jackson, Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, George Poitras, David Suzuki, and Gus Speth — issued a continental call-out. The call was for people right across the U.S. to come to Washington D.C. and join in two weeks of non-violent civil disobedience actions to try to stop the massive tar sands Keystone XL pipeline. The response has been overwhelming.
Knowing the horrific impacts a mega-pipeline from the tar sands in Alberta to refineries in the U.S. gulf coast would pose to communities, waterways, ecosystems and the planet, people are signing up by the thousands. They are pledging to risk arrest to draw a line in the sand and say “no.” They'll deliver that message by daily risking arrest until the project is stopped. On September 26th, we have a chance to match their courage and do the same in Ottawa.
350.org: Send your messages of support to 2,000 brave folks sitting in at the White House
Send your messages of support to 2,000 brave folks sitting in at the White House | 350.org
Snap a pix on your cell phone, and email it to 350.org and they'll post it to the Tar Sands protest.
Snap a pix on your cell phone, and email it to 350.org and they'll post it to the Tar Sands protest.
Tar Sands Action
Tar Sands Action
another Tar Sands Petition, endorsed by Al Gore, et. al
Tell President Obama: No to Keystone XL
"The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy."
another Tar Sands Petition, endorsed by Al Gore, et. al
Tell President Obama: No to Keystone XL
"The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy."
Speculating with Lives: How Global Investors Make Money Out of Hunger -
Speculating with Lives: How Global Investors Make Money Out of Hunger
In recent years, the financial markets have discovered the huge opportunities presented by agricultural commodities. The consequences are devastating, as speculators drive up food prices and plunge millions of people into poverty. But investors care little about the effects of their deals in the real world.
Alarming article - M
In recent years, the financial markets have discovered the huge opportunities presented by agricultural commodities. The consequences are devastating, as speculators drive up food prices and plunge millions of people into poverty. But investors care little about the effects of their deals in the real world.
Alarming article - M
Violence Against Women and Girls in the Horn of Africa
Sarah Costa: Violence Against Women and Girls in the Horn of Africa: The Untold Story
Why latrines with locks, and cooking fuel alternatives are critical to the safety of women in disaster and displacement
.....Based on years of research and direct experience, the Women's Refugee Commission has identified the top ten critical needs facing displaced women and girls in crisis-affected settings. Our immediate recommendations include not only ensuring that they have safe access to basic necessities, such as food, cooking fuel, potable water, sanitation and shelter, but that they are protected from sexual violence and that health care, particularly reproductive health care, is available. Victims of sexual violence must also receive psychosocial support. The recently updated Minimum Initial Service Package for reproductive health outlines the basic measures needed to respond to the priority reproductive health needs of women and girls from the onset of a crisis. Governments and humanitarian agencies have initiated these efforts, but activities must be rapidly scaled up to meet the magnitude of the need.
One of the greatest risks the women and girls face arises out of what should be a simple task -- cooking for their families. Most of the food rations they receive from humanitarian agencies -- lentils, flour and a corn-soya blend -- need to be cooked. But often they don't receive cooking fuel, and firewood is becoming harder and harder to find because of widespread deforestation caused by the large influx of displaced persons over the past several decades. Women and girls have to go deeper into the desert around the camps to find wood, which makes them more vulnerable to sexual assault and rape. The solution is simple: they should have safe access to the cooking fuel required to cook the food rations they receive. Given the level of environmental degradation in the region, this will require the international community to invest more in alternative fuel sources and to promote fuel-efficient stoves.
There are other solutions that should not be difficult to implement. For example, women's and girls' risks of sexual violence would be greatly reduced if the camps had better lighting, latrines with locks and tighter security.
As the world responds to this and other emergencies, the particular plight of women and girls has to be put into better focus. Humanitarian agencies must recognize that women and girls are almost always among those at most risk in such crises and that their specific needs -- and rights -- must be met. If we don't take these most basic measures to protect them, we will further compound the tragedy and the devastating impact it is having on them....
Why latrines with locks, and cooking fuel alternatives are critical to the safety of women in disaster and displacement
.....Based on years of research and direct experience, the Women's Refugee Commission has identified the top ten critical needs facing displaced women and girls in crisis-affected settings. Our immediate recommendations include not only ensuring that they have safe access to basic necessities, such as food, cooking fuel, potable water, sanitation and shelter, but that they are protected from sexual violence and that health care, particularly reproductive health care, is available. Victims of sexual violence must also receive psychosocial support. The recently updated Minimum Initial Service Package for reproductive health outlines the basic measures needed to respond to the priority reproductive health needs of women and girls from the onset of a crisis. Governments and humanitarian agencies have initiated these efforts, but activities must be rapidly scaled up to meet the magnitude of the need.
One of the greatest risks the women and girls face arises out of what should be a simple task -- cooking for their families. Most of the food rations they receive from humanitarian agencies -- lentils, flour and a corn-soya blend -- need to be cooked. But often they don't receive cooking fuel, and firewood is becoming harder and harder to find because of widespread deforestation caused by the large influx of displaced persons over the past several decades. Women and girls have to go deeper into the desert around the camps to find wood, which makes them more vulnerable to sexual assault and rape. The solution is simple: they should have safe access to the cooking fuel required to cook the food rations they receive. Given the level of environmental degradation in the region, this will require the international community to invest more in alternative fuel sources and to promote fuel-efficient stoves.
There are other solutions that should not be difficult to implement. For example, women's and girls' risks of sexual violence would be greatly reduced if the camps had better lighting, latrines with locks and tighter security.
As the world responds to this and other emergencies, the particular plight of women and girls has to be put into better focus. Humanitarian agencies must recognize that women and girls are almost always among those at most risk in such crises and that their specific needs -- and rights -- must be met. If we don't take these most basic measures to protect them, we will further compound the tragedy and the devastating impact it is having on them....
Avaaz - Australia: the next great hope for climate
Avaaz - Australia: the next great hope for climate
Right now, a major climate fight is blowing up in Australia -- the government is about to pass a law that would cut carbon emissions and get polluters to pay. But big businesses, backed by Rupert Murdoch, are trying to kill the bill.
This carbon pricing law is a win win measure -- it will push dirty businesses towards clean production and tax polluters, generating more resources for working families. If it passes, it will spur other major emitters to follow suit and could be the next best hope for climate. But Murdoch's megaphone of fear is massive -- he owns seventy percent of Australia's press. If together we can drown out his campaign to crush the bill with messages of hope from across the world, we could help it pass.
This battle is being fought on the Australian air waves now. Sign the urgent petition to back this bold initiative -- when we reach 250,000 signatures, we’ll run inspiring radio ads that deliver our global messages, lay out the benefits of the law and rouse public support:
From across the world we applaud the Australian proposal to tackle climate change through carbon pricing and investment in solutions for the future. With this law Australia will join a slew of forward thinking governments and will spur other major emitters to take bold action. We urge you to support your government's determination to fight for our planet's future.
Right now, a major climate fight is blowing up in Australia -- the government is about to pass a law that would cut carbon emissions and get polluters to pay. But big businesses, backed by Rupert Murdoch, are trying to kill the bill.
This carbon pricing law is a win win measure -- it will push dirty businesses towards clean production and tax polluters, generating more resources for working families. If it passes, it will spur other major emitters to follow suit and could be the next best hope for climate. But Murdoch's megaphone of fear is massive -- he owns seventy percent of Australia's press. If together we can drown out his campaign to crush the bill with messages of hope from across the world, we could help it pass.
This battle is being fought on the Australian air waves now. Sign the urgent petition to back this bold initiative -- when we reach 250,000 signatures, we’ll run inspiring radio ads that deliver our global messages, lay out the benefits of the law and rouse public support:
From across the world we applaud the Australian proposal to tackle climate change through carbon pricing and investment in solutions for the future. With this law Australia will join a slew of forward thinking governments and will spur other major emitters to take bold action. We urge you to support your government's determination to fight for our planet's future.
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