From Sudipta:

The speakers while addressing the audience expressed their grave concern over the growing environment pollution in West Bengal. They expressed disappointment and ventilated their grievances over the indifferent attitude and reluctance of the West Bengal Government to take appropriate action to prevent environmental pollution. They urged the people to be united and raise their voices in protest against the inaction of the state government in implementing the court’s order to reduce vehicles emissions. They said the state government has, however, failed to contribute in a big way in curbing pollution and phasing out old and polluting vehicles. They expressed apprehension that if global warming is not checked and the sea level continues to rise at its present rate, an area of 100 sq km covering Kolkata, Hooghly, parts of North 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Nadia, entire South 24 Parganas would be submerged in the next 50 years. They said vehicular pollution has hit photosynthesis of plants robbing the city of precious oxygen. Kolkata is extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts. For a city that often experiences intense cyclonic activity, the rising sea level is a big threat.The Sundarbans is already a victim of rising sea level. On an average, 2.5mm of the Sundarbans is sinking annually due to erosion, deforestation, and destruction of Mangrove forests. They said the city’s highly polluted air is leading to the growing number of lung cancer patients. Kolkata’s air pollution results from the horribly high level of auto emissions, which the authorities have failed to control so far. If this is not checked with a heavy hand, the impact on the health of Kolkatans, particularly children, will be devastating.

As for our future plans, our prime aim is to spread the mission and message of Rainforest Action Network among the students throughout West Bengal. Our next steps will be reaching out to the students, mobilizing and getting them involved in RAN’s activities. We have decided to hold events in schools and college campuses. At the same time we will continue our campaigning on different local issues, as we have already been requested by the local people and clubs from different parts of the state to organize meetings on local environmental issues.

With Warm Regards,
Sudipta Sarkhel

The decision marks the first time that a judge has applied a U.S. Supreme Court finding that carbon dioxide is a pollutant to emissions from an industrial source.

I’m guessing that Dynegy’s bankers (Citi and Bank of America to name just two) aren’t feeling particularly proud of their investment decisions today. How many coal plants need to be canceled or stalled before the financial sector wakes up to the fact that investing in coal power is not bad for the climate, but bad for their pocketbooks too?

Hesperian’s New Book Supports the Struggle for Environmental Rights and Justice

By Jeff Conant

Aside from the damage to ecosystems, drilling, spilling, and burning oil cause an array of health problems, such as asthma, cancers, skin disease, and nerve damage. This is one of the reasons why the environmental justice movement tries to clean up and shut down refineries, why we campaign to protect the Amazon and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and why OilWatch and others call for a moratorium on oil drilling and a transition to just, clean energy alternatives.

Few resources exist to help community-based activists focus on oil’s immediate health impacts. Hesperian’s Community Guide to Environmental Health changes that. A popular education manual in the style of their widely used book, Where There Is No Doctor, the new Community Guide… provides an approach to health from the perspective of underlying social and ecological injustice.

Early in the book’s development, Ecuador’s Acción Ecológica shared with Hesperian a study of the health impacts of oil in the Amazon conducted ten years previously by lay health workers using the kind of popular methodologies that Hesperian promotes. Acción Ecológica, wanted to conduct a follow-up study to show the changes in health in the affected region in the intervening decade.

Hesperian accompanied a team of local researchers on a two-week trek through the misery of the oil-drilling zones from Lago Agrio south to Sucumbios and across the Cononaco River. What we witnessed was horrifying: one in three people with some form of cancer, household wells clogged with crude oil, livestock dead and swollen from toxics, and thousands of hectares of watershed and rainforest hopelessly destroyed. The native people of the area and the colonists who had migrated to the region were suffering from malnutrition, heavy metal poisoning, nervous exhaustion, reproductive health problems ranging from infertility to stillbirths to birth defects, and a deepening, inescapable poverty.

That experience became the chapter Oil, Illness and Human Rights. It discusses specific health impacts of oil development, the threats posed to people by oil from exploration through combustion, and the methodology used to conduct a health study (essential to the lawsuit against Chevron-Texaco, for which Luis Yanza and Pablo Fajardo recently won the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Early drafts of the chapter were sent for review to groundWork in South Africa and Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria. Their input further improved the material. Nnimmo Bassey, director of Environmental Rights Action, says about the Community Guide…:

“The community guide is more than just a book, it is a tool for change . . . and I say this from my experience testing the chapter on oil in local communities. By the time we concluded going through all the issues and exercises, the community people suddenly realized that the things they took for granted, things they thought were safe, were no longer safe. What they understood is that their entire body was filled with crude oil. They were so scared and so alarmed and they realized that, ‘look, we cannot just allow the companies to continue on as usual. They have to be responsible, they have to attend to the environmental safety, they have to do things in a way that is acceptable, that is transparent, they have to do things to the very best and highest standards.’ I think the book is a great inspiration for mobilizing communities to defend their environment.”

Activists need tools and information to combat damage caused by oil development, deforestation, resource abuse, and degradation of human rights and the environment. As you work to bring about change, be inspired by Acción Ecológica, Environmental Rights Action, and a host of other groups on the front lines whose stories and advice you’ll find in A Community Guide to Environmental Health.

Backing up traffic for miles, police eventually cleared their way through to cut the activists out of the lockboxes and barrels. The climber came down on his own. The police also detained eight other support people standing on the sidewalks supporting the lockdown team.

Non-violent direct actions against coal-fired power plants and mountaintop removal coal mining are increasing this year as it becomes more and more apparent that challenging the plants legally, legislatively and in the regulatory process are only parts of the strategy and that radical action is needed as well.

Earlier this year, U.S. based-activists engaged in civil disobedience actions in Boston, New York, North Carolina and Richmond in protest of coal and coal finance. Earlier this month, U.K. activists stopped and occupied a coal train headed to the Drax power plant for combustion.

Last week, Dr. James Hanson, NASA’s climate scientist, called for “radical steps” to stop the “perfect storm” of catastrophic climate chaos.

In the spirit of Dr. Hanson’s call to action, BREF! and Mountain Justice’s message was loud and clear this morning: “We Won’t Stop Until You Do.”

While plants in Florida, Kansas, Florida and beyond are being stopped in the courts, boardrooms, regulatory commissions and statehouses, the coal industry is mobilized, motivated and well-funded to lock the U.S. into decades of coal-fired power.

We must move out of our comfort zones and step up the actions against King Coal.

We Won’t Stop Until They Do.

WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS FOR BAIL! To donate to BREF! please login to your paypal account and send your donation to Drumplaya112@yahoo.com

Check out the pictures here.

Check out the press release here.

Abigail: Thursday, June 26

Activists in Charlotte paid a visit to B of A’s headquarters today, holding a banner that read “DIVEST FROM COAL” and passing out information on the bank’s dirty energy investments to bank employees and passers-by. We were visited a few times by some cops on Segways (you know, those electro-gyroscopic scooters), cops on foot, and cops on bicycles, all seeming very concerned about just how much public sidewalk we were taking up outside B of A’s monstrous building downtown. We spoke with a bunch of Charlotte residents, some of whom were genuinely surprised to hear about B of A’s involvement in financing the coal industry, and were interested to learn about the campaign against them. We were having so much fun that some local high school students joined us in handing out fliers and talking with folks as the business day ended and the street filled with busy businesspeople. A rousing day of public education and outreach was had by all.

Funny how they cite an environmental impact study for the moratorium, but have no problem with locking in 50 years of coal plants. Where’s the environmental impact study there?

I’d say it’s weak and pathetic, but actually I think it shows how strong oil and coal are in this society and they have the politicians in their back pocket and pull them out whenever they see a threat to their hegemony.

Anyway, like Joe Hill said “Don’t mourn, organize!”

Winning and Losing in Wise Co., Va
Published by meegee, June 27th, 2008 Act Locally , Coal , Dirty Energy , Political Participation , mountain top removal

For the last year in Virginia we have been fighting tooth and nail against a new coal fired power plant in Wise Co., Va, one of the few coal producing counties in this state, and a place where King Coal still definitely reigns, though today we dealt him a mighty blow.

Below you will find a dispatch from CCAN blogger Susanna, part 3 of a series about this last week in Wise, which you can find over at their Blog.

“This week I’m going to be in Wise County, where Dominion Power is planning to build a $1.8 billion coal-fired power plant. Members of the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and CCAN are putting on events around the meeting of the Air Board on Tuesday.

Today was the final day of the Air Board Hearing concerning the Wise County coal plant. The room was full of hope after yesterday’s comment period, and the board acknowledged the powerful citizen outcry over the plant’s health and environmental impacts. But ultimately, they approved the plant. While they significantly strengthened the emissions regulations, they did nothing to address mountain top removal mining or CO2 emissions.

They went as far as they could, without doing more harm than good. Fearing litigation from Dominion, they made no strong statement about regulating CO2—without the regulatory framework from the EPA, the Board felt it wasn’t able to take a strong stand. “My hope is,” stated one Air Board member, “that strong, forceful legislation will come at a federal level and that Governor Kaine will take state-specific actions to address CO2.”

It was because of the “loud public clamor” that the Air Board decided to take up this permit and make it as strong as it is now. Dominion will have to make a considerable effort to meet these demands, including cleaning up their mercury emissions. Dominion walked in the door expecting that their permit would get rubber-stamped approved with a 72 lb mercury emissions regulation. The Air Board demanded that they reduce that to 4.45 lbs per year. That’s a 120% reduction, made possible only by the strong grassroots outcry about this plant.

air boardIt was clear to me and other members of our coalition that this was a courageous move by the Air Board. They are going to take hits from both sides of the debate, neither of which got what they wanted. As Kathy Selvage said, “They gave no consideration for the mountains that will be the fuel for this plant.” MTR wasn’t mentioned by the Air Board at all. Also, the “out clause,” which allows Dominion to get a new permit if they cannot achieve the mercury standards, was also left in.

“There you go. We didn’t do it.,” said one Air Board member in his final comments. They didn’t take a strong stand on MTR, on CO2, or on the plant. But they did create a strong regulatory hurdle for Dominion, and they made an attempt to protect our air based on the Clean Air Act. The vote was unanimous.

Obviously, this is not enough. Southern Appalachian Law Center plans on taking the permit to court, further litigating the plant. It would also seem like as we impose delays and court battles, the plant is getting more and more expensive. It’s easy to see that a bank funding the plant would back out because of rising costs.

But it’s the people here who are going to continue to take up the fight. I want to thank every one that showed us such strong hospitality while we were here. Kathy Selvage, Larry Bush, and Jane Branham of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards welcomed us to their community and showed us the real side of coal in this state. Hannah Morgan was awesome enough to let us sleep at her house and organized a lot of our activities. To everyone who was involved—you guys rock!

On a final note, my sympathies run deep for the people who are trying to save their way of life. We also visited Stonega, a coal camp surrounded by strip mining sites. Mountains framed the valley on either side, where clear scars of strip mining were visible. Because they didn’t actually blast the mountain top off, it’s not MTR, but only a few scraggly trees had been left at the top. While we were standing there, 4 coal trucks went booming by in the space of a minute. A coal train also came and went while we were there and the screeching of their motors was jaw-clenching. That these people sleep through those noises not 20 feet from their doorsteps is incredible and also humbling. The people here sacrifice so much of the comfort of their lives to keep their jobs. It’s not just that their mountains are being torn down, but in their daily lives, they are constantly reminded of the dominion of coal. I can only hope that democracy will help to change life for the better here.”

We have learned a lot from this campaign, about how to take on a mega corporation, how to network students, ex coal miners, suburban physicians and town councils. We have made friends, and learned more about our enemies. But what we found out today is we have to keep standing up, keep rising up, until they make the right decision. This goes for all of us, for each of our individual fights that make up the big fight.

-Shame on ADM for its role in destroying tropical rainforests for soy and palm plantations;
-Shame on ADM for displacing Indigenous and local communities from their traditional territories and/or small farms to expand their soy and palm plantations;
-Shame on ADM for exacerbating climate change and the world food crisis by promoting the expansion of agrofuels, industrial biofuels, in tropical ecosystems; and
-Shame on ADM for lobbying against voluntary provisions in the U.S. Farm Bill to prove that companies are not using slave labor to harvest their products. (For more info and to sign a petition,click here.)

ADM, Archer Daniels Midland, one of the biggest and most powerful U.S. agribusiness companies likes to believe that it is feeding and fueling the planet. In reality, however, the company is causing widespread social and environmental abuses.

As you know, RAN is campaigning to get ADM to stop destroying rainforests, abusing human rights and exacerbating climate change. ADM is leading the charge for massive soy and palm oil expansion in Southeast Asia and South America. Huge areas of tropical rainforest have to be cleared and burned to make room for monocrop soy and palm oil plantations which will, in turn, be used to create agrofuels. This process — clearing forests to make fuel — is a climate nightmare.

Over its lifecycle, palm-based agrofuels can emit up to ten times more carbon dioxide per gallon than gasoline.

Not only is it a nightmare for the climate, it’s a nightmare for the communities on the frontlines of ADM’s soy and palm oil expansion. Indigenous and local communities are displaced off their land to make way for plantations. In one province in Indonesia alone, the UN predicts that up to 5 million people will be displaced by palm oil plantations for agrofuels.

But ADM doesn’t care. The company just wants to make a quick profit regardless of the environmental or social consequences of its actions. In March, we attended the Wall Street Journal’s Eco:nomics conference where we gave ADM’s CEO an opportunity to sign a pledge to stop destroying rainforests for agrofuels. She didn’t sign it. Shame on ADM! The only way ADM will care is if we speak out now!

So, Vote for ADM in the Corporate Hall of Shame Today!

Mind you, this is not terribly surprising–when Canadian customs started seizing our laptops and cameras at the border a couple years back, we kinda figured the snoop was on. What’s unsettling is that snooper was Canada’s shiny new counter-terrorism office.

The Post peeked at 22 secret reports including daily briefings prepared by Integrated Threat Assessment Center (ITAC) during the week last Summer’s protests. Daily briefings! And what does ITAC do? According to the FAQ on its website,

ITAC’s role is to help prevent and reduce the effects of terrorist incidents on Canada and its people, both at home and abroad.

Ok, fine. Good goal… So then what then what the hell were they doing in Grassy Narrows? First, the action wasn’t even in Grassy Narrows that week. It was in Toronto, where we joined the Christian Peacemaker Teams and folks from Grassy and KI to erect a big teepee on the legislature lawn to draw attention to Provincial backsliding on its obligations respect the rights of those communities (pictures, video).

Then there’s that Terrorism thing. No terrorists here, see? Just young folks trying to make a point creatively.

Aside from the astonishing waste of time and money, the unfortunate consequence of this kind of surveillance is that it makes us all less safe. It’s frightening to think that national authorities established precisely to prevent terrorism would rather rather justify their paychecks chasing protesters like us.