Climate and South Africa

Worldwide, the media – especially the print media
– have been coming seriously awake to climate
change in just the past few years. Newspapers
I’ve noticed giving increased coverage to
climate-driven changes include Gulf Times (Qtar),
the Tehran Times (Iran), the Bangkok Post
(Thailand), the Jarkarta Post (Malaysia), and
others around the globe.

The deference to debunkers/deniers so common
until 2007 is all but gone,  the timidness about
reporting scenarios out toward the worst case end
of the spectrum has been going, and I think that
the new frankness in the media is helping the
conservation community proceed with a frankness
of its own.

Until very recently, the British press has
generally been ahead of the pack. But the world,
including the US, is catching up fast. And, tough
as life there is, the article below shows how
candid the discussion is becoming in Africa too.
Lance

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“The most recent report from the International
Panel on Climate Change says yields from rain-fed
agriculture in Africa could decrease by 50% by
2020 due to global warming, and the continent
would also be plagued by worse fires and more
pests and diseases.”

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Southeast Climate Convergence march visits Richmond climate criminals. Two lockdown at Bank of America

August 11 Richmond, VA Despite a massive police presence throughout the city and our major action plan derailed by law enforcement harassment, 50 activists snaked their way through Richmond today in an un-permitted march, paying visits to several climate criminals. Carrying banners reading, “No Nukes, No Coal, No Kidding” and “Social Change not Climate Change,” people marched to the headquarters of Massey Energy, Dominion, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Bank of America.

At Massey Energy, a notorious coal company involved in mountaintop removal coal mining, activists surrounded the entrance and yelled, “Hands off our mountains!.” The group then moved on to the Department of Environmental Quality which recently rubber stamped Dominion’s dirty coal plant in Wise County, VA. Next the group brought the party to Dominion, who is building the aforementioned coal plant as well as proposing a new nuke plant in Louisa County, VA. Chanting “No coal, no nukes, we won’t stop until you do!” the activists attempted to take over Dominion’s plaza but were repelled by police on horses. In a show of interspecies solidarity one horse bucked a cop off its back.

To wrap things up for the day, the crowd moved on to the the towering Bank of America building, one of the largest funders of the coal industry. Continue reading

Southeast Climate Convergence occupies nuclear facility, Police set up checkpoints around convergence site

August 7 Louisa, VA Activists from the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action occupied the welcome center for Dominion’s North Anna nuclear power plant today. The action was taken to protest Dominion’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors and to call out nuclear power for the false solution that it is to the climate crisis. “We are here to serve notice on the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’ that the anti-nuclear movement is alive and well,” said Glenn Carroll, coordinator of Nuclear Watch South.

In all 25 people occupied the visitors center for 2 hours until police came in to remove them. The protestors wore shirts that read “Nukes not Welcome” and chanted and sang. “We chose to take non-violent direct action because Dominion and the federal government have completely failed to address the climate crisis,” said Paxus Calta who lives twenty miles from the plant. The protesters also gave their own version of a tour for visitors revealing the true nature of the nuclear industry. In all 6 people were arrested for refusing to leave the building and were escorted out in handcuffs to the cheers of their friends. Continue reading

Indigenous Peruvians Appeal Dismissal of Federal Lawsuit Against Oxy Petroleum For Contaminating Amazon Rainforest, Poisoning Communities

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2008
3:29 PM 

CONTACT: Earth Rights International / Amazon Watch
Ateqah Khaki, Riptide Communications, 212-260-5000
Marco Simons, EarthRights International, 917-696-3304
Simeon Tegel, Amazon Watch, 415-487-9600

 

Indigenous Peruvians Appeal Dismissal of Federal Lawsuit Against Oxy Petroleum For Contaminating Amazon Rainforest, Poisoning Communities

LOS ANGELES – July 23 -Lawyers working on behalf of a group of indigenous plaintiffs from the Peruvian Amazon yesterday filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, seeking to overturn a ruling that their landmark human rights lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum must be heard in Peru, not in United States.

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