Material World

The President of the Philippines must be a fan of James Cameron’s movie Avatar, because he is turning the fictional world of Pandora into a reality. On October 12, he approved a military proposal to allow privately-owned mining companies (including Canadian companies) to form and fund militias that will be trained by the Philippine army. These hired militias supposedly protect mining companies, but militias in the Philippines have a history of targeting civilians, indigenous peoples, and environmentalists. Six anti-mining advocates have already been killed this year, and 33 environmentalists have been killed since 2001. None of these cases have been resolved to date. The most recent victim was Fr. Fausto Tentorio, an Italian missionary who advocated for indigenous people as they faced violations of their rights by mining companies. He was murdered on October 17th. Please sign a petition which calls for the immediate repeal of this law by clicking the Sign Petition button on the box on the left! If you can’t see petition box, click here to visit the petition on ThePetitionSite.com. (via PNoy Loves Mining Militias)

"In 2009," Angus and Butler continue, "the U.S. military used 5.7 trillion gallons of oil, just under 16 million gallons a day. Its operations produced an estimated 73 million tons of greenhouse gases," making it the biggest polluter - and the largest petroleum gobbler - in the universe. »

In fact, in just four years, 2003-2007, the Iraq War resulted in 141 metric tons of CO2 emissions - the equivalent of 25 million cars. “Those who claim [that] slowing population growth,” Angus and Butler write, “will stop or slow environmental destruction are ignoring these real and immediate threats to life … Corporations and armies aren’t polluting the world and destroying ecosystems because there are too many people, and they won’t stop if the birth rate is reduced. If Afghan women have fewer babies, the US military won’t stop firing shells made of depleted uranium into their villages. Nor will military bases in Afghanistan stop dumping toxic wastes into open burn pits.”

climateadaptation:

Too Many People? Population, Immigration, and the Environment…

aphoticoccurrences:progressivefriends:

Removal of Indigenous Peoples of Belo Monte, Brazil Has Begun

The Brazilian government is moving ahead “at any cost” with plans to build the third-largest dam in the world and one of the Amazon’s most controversial development projects – the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River in the state of Pará. … Original plans to dam the Xingu have been greenwashed through multiple public relations programs over the course of two decades in the face of intense national and international protest.

In order to feed the powerhouse of the Belo Monte dam complex, up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river’s “Big Bend,” and directly affecting the Paquiçamba and Arara territories of the Juruna and Arara indigenous peoples. … Belo Monte’s two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 is standing forest. The flooding will also force more than 20,000 people from their homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu.

Wangari Maathai - in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk

Wangari Maathai - in pictures | World news | guardian.co.uk

OTTAWA — The federal government is distancing itself from its own lobbying and public relations campaign to polish the image of Alberta’s oilsands, following revelations that an internal strategy document labelled First Nations and environmentalists as “adversaries,” while describing the National Energy Board, an independent industry regulator, as an “ally.” The descriptions were highlighted in a March 2011 document from the government’s “pan-European oilsands advocacy strategy,” released through access to information legislation.

“

—	Feds list First Nations, green groups as oilsands ‘adversaries’

sustainable-sam:

“BOGOTA — An appellate court in Ecuador has upheld an $18 billion judgment against Chevron in an 18-year battle that is thought to be the largest environmental verdict in history. In its ruling late Tuesday, the court found the company liable for the shoddy environmental practices of its predecessor, Texaco, that included pumping millions of gallons of oil-tainted water in to creeks and streams. Texaco operated in the Ecuadorian Amazon from 1960 to 1992 and the two companies merged in 2001. “The decision by an independent appellate court is yet further confirmation of Chevron’s extraordinary greed and criminal misconduct in Ecuador,” Karen Hinton, the spokeswoman for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. The plaintiffs accuse the company’s practices of poisoning the water supply and causing cancer among indigenous groups.”

Ecuador court upholds historic environmental case against Chevron - Americas - MiamiHerald.com (via stopkillingourworld)

selchieproductions:

Indigenous spokesman dismissed from Brazilian government
© Survival International

Megaron Txucarramãe, an indigenous spokesman from the Brazilian Amazon, has been dismissed from his post in the government’sIndian Affairs Department, FUNAI.

Megaron, of the Kayapó tribe, has stated that his dismissal is a result of his opposition to the Belo Monte dam, which is being constructed on the Amazon region’s Xingu river.

The Belo Monte dam threatens to cause huge devastation to the forest and to fish stocks, upon which thousands of Indians rely.

It has sparked widespread opposition, amongst Indians, river communities, environmentalists, scientists and experts, and Brazil’s Public Ministry.

The Kayapó have appealed Megaron’s dismissal and stated that he has always fought ‘for the survival of all the indigenous peoples of Brazil’, and that he ‘is the best person to defend and fight for our interests and rights, as he always has done’.

Indigenous spokeswoman Sheyla Juruna, who travelled to Europe earlier this year to protest against the dam, was beaten up last week by opponents to the project, as a result of her campaigning.

In response to an appeal by the Public Ministry calling for the Indians’ constitutional rights to be respected, a judge recently stated that the Indians need not be consulted about the dam before the project proceeds, and that they are ‘privileged’ to have the right to be consulted at all.

This extraordinary assertion contradicts both the Brazilian constitution and Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, both of which stipulate that indigenous peoples must be consulted about developments on their land.

Kayapó spokesman Raoni Metuktire recently warned the UN that the dam is causing ‘major suffering and negative effects for my people and my relatives’.

things that are not good

$via Tulsa IFF Interview with Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Director of BLOODLAND Bloodland sends an extremely powerful message with disturbing images and a clear message of taking away what belongs to you and others. What is the overall response of your community to this film? MT: This film has yet to be shown to the community at large. In terms of the community’s response to the issue of fracking, we are very divided. Due to larger systemic issues, the unemployment rate on the Blood Reserve is nearly 70% so one can understand that the idea of economic development is very appealing to many. However, there is a large contingent of people that recognize that hydraulic fracturing presents only short-term economic gain ultimately at the expense of the well-being of the entire community and the land that we have called home since time immemorial. Bloodlands = a new documentary short about a Canadian Indigenous communities experience of dealing with coal seam gas mining interests. There’s a few docos coming out now re: CSG conflicts, especially over the long term water quality and health risks posed by fracking . Interested in this one as it sounds similar to the AU minority experience of mining companies taking divisive approaches in communities already facing economic pressure and job discrimnation.$

via Tulsa IFF

Interview with Elle-Maija Tailfeathers, Director of BLOODLAND

Bloodland sends an extremely powerful message with disturbing images and a clear message of taking away what belongs to you and others. What is the overall response of your community to this film?

MT: This film has yet to be shown to the community at large. In terms of the community’s response to the issue of fracking, we are very divided. Due to larger systemic issues, the unemployment rate on the Blood Reserve is nearly 70% so one can understand that the idea of economic development is very appealing to many. However, there is a large contingent of people that recognize that hydraulic fracturing presents only short-term economic gain ultimately at the expense of the well-being of the entire community and the land that we have called home since time immemorial.

Bloodlands = a new documentary short about a Canadian Indigenous communities experience of dealing with coal seam gas mining interests.

There’s a few docos coming out now re: CSG conflicts, especially over the long term water quality and health risks posed by fracking . Interested in this one as it sounds similar to the AU minority experience of mining companies taking divisive approaches in communities already facing economic pressure and job discrimnation.

Black Farmers
As the sun rises on tilled soil on the outskirts of Fresno, Calif., Mori Vance bends to pick black eyed peas, then disappears among towering okra bushes. Vance, who is African-American, is harvesting her first crop with several other novice black farmers, all hoping to make it their life’s work.
The African American Farmers of California started the 15-acre demonstration farm to teach about growing and eating healthy food and to get African-American kids interested in agriculture. The project is part of a nationwide effort to revive the pride of black farmers and reverse the decline of black-owned farms.
In Milwaukee, Atlanta and Chicago, black-run nonprofit organizations are providing African-Americans with land to farm, conducting workshops in agriculture and training youth in gardening. “A lot of black people, their grandparents were farmers, but they were forced out of agriculture. We’re trying to help them easily re-enter into it,” said Will Scott, president of the California farmers group. “The goal is that they eventually become self-sufficient.
The challenge is great because farming carries negative connotations for many African-Americans due to the legacies of slavery, sharecropping and recent discriminatory government policies. “Black farmers were the backbone of American agriculture,” said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. “We went from being slaves to sharecroppers. Black farmers left farming because they didn’t see the financial rewards. Instead, they saw pictures of the old South where there were racial tensions and they didn’t want that for their families.”
via Black Farmer Movement Gets Support From Group In California

Ok this is from HuffPo, but it’s great that the experiences and ambitions of POC farming for food self sustenance rather than exploitation is starting to get more coverage.

Black Farmers

As the sun rises on tilled soil on the outskirts of Fresno, Calif., Mori Vance bends to pick black eyed peas, then disappears among towering okra bushes. Vance, who is African-American, is harvesting her first crop with several other novice black farmers, all hoping to make it their life’s work.

The African American Farmers of California started the 15-acre demonstration farm to teach about growing and eating healthy food and to get African-American kids interested in agriculture. The project is part of a nationwide effort to revive the pride of black farmers and reverse the decline of black-owned farms.

In Milwaukee, Atlanta and Chicago, black-run nonprofit organizations are providing African-Americans with land to farm, conducting workshops in agriculture and training youth in gardening. “A lot of black people, their grandparents were farmers, but they were forced out of agriculture. We’re trying to help them easily re-enter into it,” said Will Scott, president of the California farmers group. “The goal is that they eventually become self-sufficient.

The challenge is great because farming carries negative connotations for many African-Americans due to the legacies of slavery, sharecropping and recent discriminatory government policies. “Black farmers were the backbone of American agriculture,” said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. “We went from being slaves to sharecroppers. Black farmers left farming because they didn’t see the financial rewards. Instead, they saw pictures of the old South where there were racial tensions and they didn’t want that for their families.”

via Black Farmer Movement Gets Support From Group In California

Ok this is from HuffPo, but it’s great that the experiences and ambitions of POC farming for food self sustenance rather than exploitation is starting to get more coverage.

teacherlp:

#geographyteacher

The world honey bee population has plunged in recent years, worrying beekeepers and farmers who know how critical bee pollination is for many crops. A number of theories have popped up as to why the North American honey bee population has declined—electromagnetic radiation, malnutrition, and climate change have all been pinpointed. Now a leaked EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide, despite warnings from EPA scientists.

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Wik-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees

(via janedoe225)

This week, the blooms of lemon myrtle, borage, giant sunflowers and marigolds that self seeded around my area from last years flowers, were all literary swaying and buzzing with bees.

Flowers in the seed bombs, makes some bees happy.

Christchurch earthquake photos

Christchurch New Zealand hit by earthquakes, Flood warnings for Melbourne, Oz, as inland Victoria floods.

FYI if you know anyone there. Natural disasters outside geographic media centers tend to be overlooked in the news until it’s past time to get out. When my relatives in Nth Queensland where on their roofs as 75% of the state flooded last year, I found out about it via a note on BBC news [here in Australia!] while their local communication infrastructure collapsed.