Trump's EPA Chooses Foreign Mining Interests Over Critical Alaska Watershed | Common Dreams

"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first—and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last—then sadly it's succeeding"

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump has shelved a lawsuit against a proposed Canadian gold and copper mine that would endanger Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed, allowing the mining company to revive the controversial Pebble Mine project.

"If the Trump administration's strategy is to put a foreign mining company first—and America's greatest wild salmon fishery dead last—then sadly it's succeeding," wrote the NRDC's (Natural Resources Defense Council) Taryn Kiekow Heimer.

The legal settlement was reached late Thursday, the Washington Post reported, and reverses an Obama-era determination that Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. could not apply to a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for the project because Pebble Mine would cause "significant near- and long-term risk to salmon, wildlife, and Native Alaska cultures" in the region. The EPA's 2014 decision has now been removed from its website.

Alannah Hurley, executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, told the WashingtonPost that local Alaskans who have spent years opposing the mine "are outraged that this is happening…"

more: Trump's EPA Chooses Foreign Mining Interests Over Critical Alaska Watershed | Common Dreams

Ever wondered what happens when an oil pipeline bursts underwater?

Ever wondered what happens when an oil pipeline bursts underwater? 

This footage of a oil spill in Moscow that caught on fire last week will give you an unforgettable picture.

via Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Facebook

Te Urewera national park has been granted legal personhood, meaning nobody owns it, and it has the same rights and powers as a citizen

Te Urewera national park has been granted legal personhood, meaning nobody owns it. The park has the same rights and powers as a citizen. The ruling could set a new precedent for land rights and conservation around the world.


original post on Facebook:

The Guardian

September 3 at 2:20am 

Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Statement on Fukushima | Indigenous Action Media

mirrored at whats up nuclear blog

Council Statement

This statement reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of North and South America, working in unity to restore peace, harmony and balance for our collective future and for all living beings.This statement is written in black and white with a foreign language that is not our own and does not convey the full depth of our concerns.

View the original statement with signatures here (PDF): COUNCIL_FUKUSHIMA_STATEMENT_OCT_2013.

The Creator created the People of the Earth into the Land at the beginning of Creation and gave us a way of life. This way of life has been passed down generation-to-generation since the beginning. We have not honored this way of life through our own actions and we must live these original instructions in order to restore universal balance and harmony. We are a part of Creation; thus, if we break the Laws of Creation, we destroy ourselves.

We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, have no choice but to follow and uphold the Original Instructions, which sustains the continuity of Life. We recognize our umbilical connection to Mother Earth and understand that she is the source of life, not a resource to be exploited. We speak on behalf of all Creation today, to communicate an urgent message that man has gone too far, placing us in the state of survival. We warned that one day you would not be able to control what you have created. That day is here. Not heeding warnings from both Nature and the People of the Earth keeps us on the path of self destruction. This self destructive path has led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Gulf oil spill, tar sands devastation, pipeline failures, impacts of carbon dioxide emissions and the destruction of ground water through hydraulic fracking, just to name a few. In addition, these activities and development continue to cause the deterioration and destruction of sacred places and sacred waters that are vital for Life.

Powerful technologies are out of control and are threatening the future of all life The Fukushima nuclear crisis alone is a threat to the future of humanity. Yet, our concern goes far beyond this single threat. Our concern is with the cumulative and compounding devastation that is being wrought by the actions of human beings around the world. It is the combination of resource extraction, genetically modified organisms, moral failures, pollution, introduction of invasive species and much much more that are threatening the future of life on Earth. The compounding of bad decisions and their corresponding actions are extremely short-sighted. They do not consider the future generations and they do not respect or honor the Creator’s Natural Law. We strongly urge for the governmental authorities to respond with an open invitation to work and consult with us to solve the world’s problems, without war. We must stop waging war against Mother Earth, and ourselves.

We acknowledge that all of these devastating actions originated in human beings who are living without regard for the Earth as the source of life. They have strayed from the Original Instructions by casting aside the Creator’s Natural Law. It is now critical for humanity to acknowledge that we have created a path to self destruction. We must restore the Original Instructions in our lives to halt this devastation.

The sanctity of the Original Instructions has been violated. As a result, the Spiritual People of the Earth were called ceremonially to come together at the home of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle. These Spiritual Leaders and those that carry great responsibility for their people from both North and South America came together with the sacred fire for four days at the end of September 2013 to fulfill their sacred responsibilities. During this time it was revealed that the spirit of destruction gained its’ strength by our spiritually disconnected actions. We are all responsible in varying degrees for calling forth this spirit of destruction, thus we are all bound to begin restoring what we have damaged by helping one another recover our sacred responsibility to the Earth. We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, offer our spiritual insight, wisdom and vision to the global community to help guide the actions needed to overcome the current threats to all life.

We only have to look at our own bodies to recognize the sacred purpose of water on Mother Earth. We respect and honor our spiritual relationship with the lifeblood of Mother Earth. One does not sell or contaminate their mother’s blood. These capitalistic actions must stop and we must recover our sacred relationship with the Spirit of Water.

The People of the Earth understand that the Fukushima nuclear crisis continues to threaten the future of all life. We understand the full implications of this crisis even with the suppression of information and the filtering of truth by the corporate owned media and Nation States. We strongly urge the media, corporations and Nation States to acknowledge and convey the true facts that threaten us, so that the international community may work together to resolve this crisis, based on the foundation of Truth. We urge the international community, government of Japan and TEPCO to unify efforts to stabilize and re-mediate the nuclear threat posed at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. To ensure that the Japanese government and TEPCO are supported with qualified personnel and information, we urge the inclusion of today’s nuclear experts from around the world to collaborate, advise and provide technical assistance to prevent further radioactive contamination or worse, a nuclear explosion that may have apocalyptic consequences.

The foundation for peace will be strengthened by restoring the Original Instructions in ourselves Prophecies have been shared and sacred instructions were given. We, the People of the Earth, were instructed that the original wisdom must be shared again when imbalance and disharmony are upon Mother Earth. In 1994 the sacred white buffalo, the giver of the sacred pipe, returned to the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people bringing forth the sacred message that the winds of change are here. Since that time many more messengers in the form of white animals have come, telling us to wake up my children. It is time. So listen for the sacred instruction.

All Life is sacred. We come into Life as sacred beings. When we abuse the sacredness of Life we affect all Creation

We urge all Nations and human beings around the world to work with us, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, to restore the Original Instructions and uphold the Creator’s Natural Law as a foundation for all decision making, from this point forward. Our collective future as human beings is in our hands, we must address the Fukushima nuclear crisis and all actions that may violate the Creator’s Natural Law. We have reached the crossroads of life and the end of our existence. We will avert this potentially catastrophic nuclear disaster by coming together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths.

We are the People of the Earth united under the Creator’s Law with a sacred covenant to protect and a responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are expressing deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.

Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Statement on Fukushima | Indigenous Action Media

Keystone XL Controversy: Investigation Reveals Scientific Misconduct, Abuse of Whistleblowers in Review of Pipeline

For Immediate Release, August 8, 2013

Contact: Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495

Keystone XL Controversy:
Investigation Reveals Scientific Misconduct, Abuse of Whistleblowers in Review of Pipeline

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Scientists Punished for Objecting to
Downplaying of Pipeline Impact to Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— Yet another scandal surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline surfaced today: Media are reporting that an investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general has found that agency scientists were improperly retaliated against after blowing the whistle on flaws with a map of American burying beetle habitat along the pipeline’s southern route.

“Here we go again: Keystone is at the center of another controversy, this time over an apparent attempt to downplay how this pipeline is going to hurt endangered species,” said Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Good policy decisions require good science and an honest review of the facts. That’s especially true for Keystone, whether you’re talking about harm to wildlife or the impacts on climate change.”

Last month, the Interior Department’s inspector general asked Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to take “immediate action” to address an “unreasonable and inappropriate response” by agency officials in response to three U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists who questioned the use of a new map that reduced the range of the American burying beetle in Oklahoma along the route of Keystone’s Gulf Coast segment.

The new map would have replaced an existing map that delineated the beetle’s range based on spatial models rather than county lines, reducing the beetle’s Oklahoma range from 17 million acres to 12.6 million acres and making it more palatable to TransCanada, the proponent of Keystone XL. 

After the three biologists filed a 29-count complaint about the new beetle range map and other issues related to the Interior Department’s scientific integrity process, the map was withdrawn. However, in retaliation, two Fish and Wildlife Service supervisors docked the biologists’ pay and transferred their duties. After the biologists complained about the reprisals, the inspector general investigated and found wrongdoing, but the officials have yet to be disciplined.

“The biologists should be applauded for standing up for good science, not punished by their own supervisors,” Greenwald said. 

The map that was withdrawn could have lessened the need for mitigation or avoidance measures in connection with the Gulf Coast Segment of the Keystone XL pipeline. The segment has been constructed pursuant to a separate path than the northern segment, which is currently being reviewed by the State Department for a permit to cross the U.S.-Canada border.

In 2011, the Center and allies brought legal action and successfully halted the preemptive relocation of endangered American burying beetles in the Nebraska Sand Hills. That lawsuit resulted in a change of Fish and Wildlife Service policy regarding the use of “recovery permits” for endangered species, making clear that scientists may not use such permits on behalf of industry.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 625,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Keystone XL Controversy: Investigation Reveals Scientific Misconduct, Abuse of Whistleblowers in Review of Pipeline | Center for Biological Diversity

Are pro-mining forces trying to sway the EPA on a massive proposed mine in Alaska? #NoPebbleMine

#NoPebbleMine ::

Global mining giants—including the Anglo American and Rio Tinto corporations—want to gouge one of the world’s largest open-pit gold and copper mines out of Alaska’s incomparable Bristol Bay wilderness.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is beind 99.25% of the pro-mining comments.

Are pro-mining forces trying to sway the Environmental Protection Agency on Pebble Mine?

Last month, I reported on the potential environmental threats posed by the massive proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska. The EPA conducted a watershed analysis, released in April, that showed that the mine would endanger rivers and the Bristol Bay, as well as the region's salmon fishery. The EPA extended the comment period through the end of June, allowing more time for the public to weigh in.

A number of organizations, both pro- and anti-Pebble, had circulated mass mailings asking supporters to comment. You've seen the type; they're form letters that people can sign onto via email. As of Friday, pro-mining groups had generated 118,294 comments from those mass mailings. But 117,401 of those comments—or 99.25 percent—came from a single group called Resourceful Earth...

MORE > Are pro-mining forces trying to sway the EPA on a massive proposed mine in Alaska? http://t.co/18KvzRMUbZ by @kate_sheppard (via @MotherJones)

TAKE ACTION

1> PETITION > Pebble Mine Project Endangers Bristol Bay, Alaska | Save BioGems

2 > PETITION > Take Action Today | www.SaveBristolBay.org

3 > SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS to EPA before JUNE 30! SEE wildsalmoncenter.org

• see also

Proposed Pebble Mine stirs opposition > blogs.seattletimes.com/opinion

West Coast senators want Alaska’s Bristol Bay protected > http://blogs.seattletimes.com/

Bristol Bay - Running Line - American Angler Magazine

what next: tag = Pebble Mine: Global mining giants—including the Anglo American and Rio Tinto corporations—want to gouge one of the world’s largest open-pit gold and copper mines out of Alaska’s incomparable Bristol Bay wilderness.

One U.S. Nuclear Reactor Uses as Much Water as All of D.C. - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

It takes the same amount of water required by a city of 5 million to fuel a typical U.S. nuclear power plant for one hour: 30 million gallons, Fast Company reports. Charles Fishman, author of the book The Big Thirst, notes that "the U.S. has 104 nuclear power plants--more than any other country, a quarter of all plants worldwide." As the world's largest energy consumer, "49% of the water used in the U.S. goes to generate electricity," Fishman notes. That's "the single largest use of water" in the country.

One U.S. Nuclear Reactor Uses as Much Water as All of D.C. - Technology - The Atlantic Wire

see also: whats up nuclear blog

Plundering Appalachia - The Tragedy of Mountaintop-Removal Coal Mining

Plundering Appalachia - The Tragedy of Mountaintop-Removal Coal Mining - YouTube

Appalachia, a region of extraordinary beauty and natural diversity, is under attack. Mountaintop removal is strip mining on steroids—a radically destructive form of surface mining whereby coal companies bulldoze the forest, decapitate the peaks with explosives, push the shattered rubble into adjacent valleys, and destroy the ecologically crucial headwater streams that had been there before. This is an ecological and human tragedy of epic proportions—and yet few Americans realize how the coal industry, seeking maxium profit and abetted by lax government regulation, is turning an entire region into an undeclared national energy sacrifice zone.

Plundering Appalachia is a searing exposé, in words and images, of the greatest ecological calamity now being wreaked upon America—an outrage justified by the desire for “cheap” power. With large-format photography and engaging writing from Wendell Berry, Judy Bonds, Ross Gelbspan, Denise Giardina, Richard Heinberg, Mary Anne Hitt, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., David Orr, Carl Pope, Erik Reece, Vivian Stockman, and others, Plundering Appalachia illuminates Big Coal’s assault on the people and wildlife of the region. The book includes first-person testimonies from coalfields residents about life in the shadow of mountaintop-mining operations, and dissects the current coal-powered energy economy that is toxic to people and nature—and helping cook the planet.

www.plunderingappalachia.org

Australia's Fair Game for Coal

Australia's Fair Game for Coal - YouTube

Coal barons are advancing on Australia. Let them know that our coral and our climate are not a playground for billionaires. www.savethereef.org.au

Mining Giant Joins Belo Monte Dam | International Rivers

Vale's Amazon blemish. An aerial view of the Carajás mines.

infoescola.com

The world's second-largest mining corporation, Vale, has stepped into one of the world's most controversial dams: Belo Monte. With its new share in the dam, Vale – and the Brazilian government – are banking on the hope that the electricity from so-called "clean" dams can power Brazil's continued export of commodities to China. In the case of the Amazon, Belo Monte may help power a record expansion of dirty mining. In so many ways, a nightmare "Avatar" scenario is ever closer to reality.

Hydropower – far from the "clean" reputation that development pundits have given it – has long been utilized to power dirty mining and smelting operations around the world.  Despite the Brazilian government's best efforts to paint Belo Monte as impact-free – check out the government's latest expensive public relations spots released in 17 Brazilian airports last week – Belo Monte will be no different, as Vale's 9.2% share will allow it to dedicate about 400 MW of the dam's guaranteed capacity for use in mining.

400 MW may be a drop in the bucket, but when added to Vale's investment in 9 other Brazilian dams, and after considering the more than 60 dams planned by the Brazilian government for the Amazon, the future of dam-powered mining in the Amazon becomes a bit more frightful.According to Brazilian Mining Institute IBRAM, over $40 billion USD of investment in mining is expected to cover the entire Brazilian Amazon through 2015.  

A New Mining Threat in the Amazon

Scroll through the slideshow below to see maps of current, planned, and future mining concessions, in that order, in the region of the Belo Monte Dam. Southeast of the Belo Monte Dam is one area of concern: the Carajás mines, the world's largest iron deposits, owned and operated by Vale. On the maps, the Carajás mines are colored red, near the bottom center of the image. Over the next few years, Vale is set to begin a massive expansion of these enormous Carajás mines, by adding 40 million tons of iron ore per year to the 90 million tons per year that are already produced there. With the expansion of the Carajás mines on the horizon, Vale's entry into Belo Monte looks like the portent of a drastically different landscape.

Vale's use of hydroelectric dams to power mining dates back almost 30 years to 1984, when the 256-foot high Tucuruí Dam (4000 MW) began operation, powering an explosion of iron ore extraction at the Carajás mines, and putting Brazil on the map in the global minerals trade. The Tucuruí Dam created the 72-meter deep Lago Tucuruí reservoir, which flooded 2,850 square kilometers. The reservoir displaced 35,000 people, flooded 38,700 hectares of the Parakanã Indigenous Reserve, and led to the removal and relocation of the Eastern Parakanã, a tribe that had been contacted only a decade earlier. Construction of the Tucuruí Dam attracted thousands of migrants to the area, which increased incidences of malaria and HIV. A full 20,000 workers were laid off after the completion of Phase I of Tucuruí’s construction, and by 1985, the Carajás mines had already produced 1 million tons of iron ore using Tucuruí’s electricity. By 1987, powered by Tucuruí Dam, the Carajás mines were producing 13.5 million tons of iron ore per year.

In 1998, Phase II of the Tucuruí Dam began when Eletrobrás added eleven 375 MW Francis turbine generators, bringing Tucuruí's total installed capacity to 8370 MW. As a result, by 2006, the Carajás mine produced 81.7 million tons of iron ore per year, and in 2009, that number reached 90 million tons of iron ore per year. What worries technical experts and civil society alike is that the Belo Monte Dam may follow the same progression as Tucuruí: what began as one hydropower project may become a larger, more harmful project years down the road. 

Xikrin Kayapó.

Instituto Socioambiental

The impacts of the Carajás mines on indigenous people have continued through recent history. In 2006, in protest over the dangerous impacts of iron ore production near the Catete indigenous territory, Xikrín Kayapó took 600 Vale workers hostage and blocked the Carajás train, which exports 250,000 tons of iron ore daily to the port of Porta Madeira in São Luiz for export abroad. It was a true protest against the dangers of ruthless commodity export. As seen in the above maps, future mining concessions could even take place inside indigenous territories themselves, including the Catete territory.

If the electricity from mega-dams like Belo Monte and theTapajós Complex comes on line, Vale – and also its competitors Alcoa, Gerdau, ArcelorMirral, Mineração do Rio Norte, AngloAmerican, and Colossus -- would be able to extract and refine unprecedented amounts of minerals from the soils of the Amazon. Mining would proliferate, and the Amazon could look more like the Alberta tar sands than a forest sea of green.

Dilma's Agenda for Vale

Vale may have decided to join the Belo Monte Dam only because the Brazilian government is playing a stiff hand to gain greater control over the company's profits. Indeed, Dilma recently sent CEO Roger Agnelli packing, a step towards gaining greater control over the company after it was partially privatized ten years ago. 

Having Vale in the Belo Monte Dam is a way for the government to make sure that Vale's profits from Chinese commodity purchases flow more easily into Treasury coffers. Treasury capitalizations to the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) have allowed BNDES to disburse record amounts to Brazilian industries, eclipsing the amount lent by multiateral development banks in the region. BNDES has disbursed $300 billion reais since 2008, including $20 billionreais for the Madeira Dam Complex, and an expected $25 billion reais or more for the Belo Monte Dam Complex.

Why is greater government control of Vale a problem? Environmentally and socially, the sheer size of the mining operations planned for the Amazon should scare anyone, whether a company like Vale is private or state-owned. Mining is one of the dirtiest industrial activities on the planet, due to both its immediate environmental impacts and its CO2 emissions. Also, mining enclaves often lead to poverty and social conflict, rather than improved livelihoods and development benefits.

Financially, government control of Vale is a problem because there have been recent concerns over Brazil's monetary policy. Some say that there is a direct line between the Treasury and BNDES that acts as a "parallel economy". According to Miriam Leitão, Brazil's military dictatorship similarly created a parallel economy that funneled public sector money directly into the pockets of government-owned developers. At the time, millions of reais were grafted from pension funds by government cronies and invested in pet hydropower projects such as Tucuruí Dam, Itaipú Dam, and Balbina Dam, three dams that emitted far greater amounts of greenhouse gases than equivalent-sized fossil fuel power plants. So far, commitments for the financing of the Belo Monte Dam have followed suit, as both BNDES and construction consortium Norte Energia, S.A. have relied on subsidies from Brazilian pension funds to bankroll their accounts.

With Vale in Belo Monte and the government taking greater control of the mining sector, it looks like the Amazon will turn increasingly into a hotbed for dirty mining. For centuries, citizens of the Brazilian Amazon have asked when their lands will be worth something greater than the resources extracted from them. With Vale now in Belo Monte, it doesn't look like they'll be getting an answer any time soon.

Mining Giant Joins Belo Monte Dam | International Rivers

MUST LISTEN: Secwepemc Elder Irene Billy: No Mining on Sewepemc Lands

Secwepemc Elder Irene Billy: No Mining on Sewepemc Lands - YouTube

This interview with Secwepemc Elder Irene Billy was conducted in May 2012. Irene Billy, most well-known for her defense of Indigenous land rights when she was arrested in 2001 for protesting Sun Peaks Resort, speaks here about mining on Secwepemc lands. Interview and video by Harjap Grewal and Harsha Walia.