postMigrator

Native Peoples Out in Cold at Warming Meet

By postMigrator December 5, 2008 December 5, 2008 RT Newswire

Published on Thursday, December 4, 2008 by Inter Press Service

by Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS – Global efforts to combat climate change will lead nowhere as long as the indigenous peoples’ representatives have no say in discussions to lay out future plans, say activists who are attending the international conference on climate change being held in the Polish city of Poznan this week.

“Indigenous peoples have for centuries adapted to changing environments and would be able to contribute substantially to adaptation strategies the U.N. is trying to include in a new climate change treaty,” said Mark Lattimer of the London-based Minority Rights Group International (MRG).

URGENT! Indigenous Communities in Arizona Threatened With Runaway Coal-Mining on Ancestral Lands

By postMigrator December 4, 2008 November 19, 2010 RT Newswire

——————Original Message —————————-
Subject: URGENT Support Needed: Navajo & Hopi Coal Fight Goes to DENVER!!!
From:    “Enei Begaye” <enei_begaye@yahoo.com>
Date:    Wed, December 3, 2008 5:29 pm
To:      blackmesawc@gmail.com
————————————————————————–

**** SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED! ****

Navajo and Hopi communities under threat for more coal mining on Black Mesa, Arizona

The U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) will soon release a “Record of Decision” on the “Black Mesa Project” Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This decision will determine if the now closed Black Mesa Mine will re-open more lands for coal strip mining, potentially relocate more families from Black Mesa and give Peabody Coal Company a Life-of-Mine permit to mine on Black Mesa. A “Record of Decision” in favor of Peabody Coal Company’s “Black Mesa Project” would also allow the company the use of the Navajo Aquifer, which has been a center of controversy for the past 30 years and give Peabody Coal Company the right to mine untouched coal reserves indefinitely. For more information on the OSM process & the FEIS at:

http:// www.wrcc.osmre.gov/wr\BlackMesaEIS.htm

Arctic Tundra Emits Methane Even in Winter

By postMigrator December 4, 2008 December 4, 2008 Uncategorized

Arctic tundra emits methane even in winter
Wed Dec 3, 2008 2:17pm EST

By Michael Kahn

LONDON (Reuters)-The arctic tundra emits the same amount of methane in winter as in the warmer months, a surprising finding that bolsters understanding of how greenhouse gases interact with nature, researchers said on Wednesday.

Scientists have long known that wetlands produce large amounts of methane and had thought it unlikely that greenhouse gases escaped from beneath frozen tundra, said Torben Christensen, a biogeochemist at Lund University in Sweden.

EPA To Gut Mountaintop Mining Rule That Protects Streams

By postMigrator December 4, 2008 November 19, 2010 RT Newswire

Published on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 by McClatchy Newspapers

EPA To Gut Mountaintop Mining Rule That Protects Streams
by Renee Schoof and Bill Estep

WASHINGTON-The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved a last-minute rule change by the Bush administration that will allow coal companies to bury streams under the rocks leftover from mining.

The 11th hour change before President George W. Bush leaves office would eliminate a tool that citizens groups have used in lawsuits to keep mining waste out of streams. Mining companies had been pushing for the change for years.

It also means that President-elect Barack Obama’s administration will have to decide whether to try to restore and enforce the rule, a process that could take many months of new rulemaking. Obama’s transition team declined to comment on its plans on Tuesday.