Monday, March 27, 2017

The Rights of Nature: Indigenous Philosophies Reframing Law | InterContinental Cry via Truthout


Cofan Indigenous leader Emergildo Criollo looks over an oil contaminated river near his home in northern Ecuador. (Photo: Caroline Bennett / Rainforest Action Network (flickr))

Indigenous battles to defend nature have taken to the streets, leading to powerful mobilizations like the gathering at Standing Rock. They have also taken to the courts, through the development of innovative legal ways of protecting nature. In Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand, indigenous activism has helped spur the creation of a novel legal phenomenon -- the idea that nature itself can have rights.
The 2008 constitution of Ecuador was the first national constitution to establish rights of nature. In this legal paradigm shift, nature changed from being held as property to a rights-bearing entity.
Rights are typically given to actors who can claim them -- humans -- but they have expanded especially in recent years to non-human entities such as corporations, animals and the natural environment.
The notion that nature has rights is a huge conceptual advance in protecting the Earth. Prior to this framework, an environmental lawsuit could only be filed if a personal human injury was proven in connection to the environment. This can be quite difficult. Under Ecuadorian law, people can now sue on the ecosystem's behalf, without it being connected to a direct human injury.
The Kichwa notion of "Sumak Kawsay" or "buen vivir" in Spanish translates roughly to good living in English. It expresses the idea of harmonious, balanced living among people and nature. The idea centers on living "well" rather than "better" and thus rejects the capitalist logic of increasing accumulation and material improvement. In that sense, this model provides an alternative to the model of development, by instead prioritizing living sustainably with Pachamama, the Andean goddess of mother earth. Nature is conceived as part of the social fabric of life, rather than a resource to be exploited or as a tool of production…

more: The Rights of Nature: Indigenous Philosophies Reframing Law
by Kiana Herold
January 6, 2017



Saturday, March 25, 2017

Tell Bank CEOs to Defund Keystone XL - Rainforest Action Network | #DefundKXL #NoKXL




The Trump Administration has approved the final federal permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. But we still have a chance to stop Keystone XL — if we get 21 banks to drop TransCanada, the company behind this disastrous tar sands pipeline.
We need you to show banks that we won’t tolerate threats to clean water, clean air, and Indigenous rights. Sign this petition to tell banks to drop TransCanada and Keystone XL! #DefundKXL #NoKXL


SIGN NOW: Tell Bank CEOs to Defund Keystone XL - Rainforest Action Network



Thursday, March 23, 2017

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AGENDA for the next adminstration 2017-2021 (PDF)

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
Defenders’ expectations for the incoming Trump administration’s environmental priorities.



A CALL TO ACTION

Defenders of Wildlife believes we all share a common interest in the protection of America’s spectacular wildlife and our great systems of public lands that offer endless opportunities for hiking, fishing, wildlife watching and other pursuits Americans value.

We will seek to work with the new administration to:
1. Protect and restore our endangered and threatened plants and wildlife.
2. Defend and responsibly manage our federal public lands.
3. Invest in responsible renewable energy development that minimizes impacts to wildlife.
4. Protect wildlife from the impacts of climate change.
5. Encourage initiatives by private landowners, states and tribes to conserve imperiled species and habitats.
6. Strengthen our role as an international leader in imperiled species conservation.
7. Help our youth and diverse and changing communities connect with our federal public lands and wildlife conservation heritage.
8. Maintain our commitment to conservation based on sound science.

These eight priorities are the core of the conservation agenda we propose to the next administration. Working together, we can prevent species extinction, safeguard and restore our wildlife and public lands and proudly uphold our conservation legacy for future generations.



Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Thousands of underground gas bulges, formed by thawing permafrost, set to 'explode' in Siberia





Local Siberian media has reported that the very ground that people stand on is moving under their feet in the arctic regions of Siberia. Scientists have discovered 7000 gas filled bubbles according to the Siberian Times.  These, bulges or 'bulgunyakh' in the local Yakut language, were originally discovered last year by researchers in Siberia's remote Bely Island. At that time only 15 of these bubbles had been identified, but a survey in the wider region of the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas has revealed the massive number of 7000 which some scientists fear may explode at any time.
There is startling photo evidence in the Siberian Times article that is worth your time to see…

READ: Thousands of underground gas bulges, formed by thawing permafrost, set to 'explode' in Siberia


Current Action Alerts | Defenders of Wildlife


CURRENT ACTION ALERTS




WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AGENDA for the next adminstration 2017-2021 (PDF)
Defenders’ expectations for the incoming Trump administration’s environmental priorities.

GO >> Current Action Alerts | Defenders of Wildlife