Water Conservation Blog

RELEASE/VICTORY: Vedanta Mine Plan on Sacred Tribal Mountain Halted by Indian Government

2010-08-24T12:59:15Z

Vedanta's controversial bauxite mine on the Dongria Kondh�s tribal land has been stopped, after four years of protests by local peoples supported by Survival International and a wide range of affinity campaigns, including most recently by EI�s Earth Action Network.

By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

Controversial plans to develop a bauxite mine on sacred tribal land in India [search] have been cancelled by India's environment ministry. The Dongria Kondh�s � an indigenous tribe who have lived since time immemorial around the mountain Niyamgiri in the Indian state of Orissa � demands have been met, and the area will remain wild, lush and sacred. Multi-national company Vedanta�s existing aluminum refinery in the area had polluted local rivers, damaged crops and disrupted the lives of the local tribe; and will now not be able to expand six-fold. This is a Dongria Kondh victory first and foremost.

The project has been delayed by four years because of the Dongria Kondh�s intense opposition locally � including the brandishing of bows and arrows � as well as from environmental and tribal rights group. Globally, a loosely coordinated campaign sought to persuade multi-national Vedanta's shareholders and financiers to distance themselves from the company. This is their magnificent victory as well � for Survival International and Amnesty International, various celebrity activists such as Bianca Jagger and Michael Palin, and numerous other loosely affiliated affinity campaigns, including most recently from Ecological Internet working with the Rainforest Information Centre.

]]> �Yet again global people power has come to the aid of small, intact communities battling the ecosystem destroying economic growth machine. The Dongria Kondh�s amazing efforts should be placed in the context of a global people�s power movement to protect and restore ecosystems, and wrest control of land from industrial and speculative capitalism,� asserts Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet�s President.

�We are pleased to have contributed EI�s Earth Action Network�s [1] support � some 200,000 protest emails sent from nearly 100 countries [2] in a matter of weeks. I do not think it accidental that victory was achieved immediately after me and EI�s network, with John Seed and the Rainforest Action Network, launched our protests. We got exactly what we wanted from this timely, well-organized and locally coordinated cyber protest � Ecological Internet�s specialty!�

### MORE ###

The project had been thrown into doubt last week when a government inquiry said that mining would destroy the way of life of the area's "endangered" and "primitive" people. The four-person committee also accused a local subsidiary of Vedanta of violating forest conservation and environment protection regulations. Because Niyamgiri Mountain is an important spiritual place, it had not thus far suffered the deforestation and degradation experienced by similar areas in India but contains an elephant reserve with Sambar, Leopard, Tiger, Barking Deer, various species of birds and other endangered species of wildlife. With the announcement, the area is free (for now) from the planned Vedenta bauxite mine.

Jairam Ramesh, India�s minister for environment and forests, said today that the government will issue what is termed a show-cause notice and take action against Vedanta. The news sent Vedanta�s shares down almost 6%, wiping almost �300m off the value of the business. "There are very serious violations of environment act and forest right act," Ramesh told Bloomberg. "There is no emotion, no politics, no prejudice in the decision. It is purely based on a legal approach." Vedanta, which can appeal against the decision, had wanted to expand its existing refinery in the area, generating a six-fold increase in capacity.

Survival campaigner Dr Jo Woodman said: "This is a victory nobody would have believed possible. The Dongria's campaign became a litmus test of whether a small, marginalised tribe could stand up to a massive multinational company with an army of lobbyists and PR firms and the ear of government�. Incredibly, the Dongria's courage and tenacity, allied with the support of many people in India, and Survival's supporters around the world, have triumphed."

This is the second time Ecological Internet�s Earth Action Network has recently achieved major conservation successes in India. Last year, also working with John Seed and the Rainforest Information Centre, Ecological Internet was able to single-handedly achieve major Asian elephant migration corridor protections [3].

### ENDS ###

[1] Earth Action Network�s current alerts are found at http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/alerts and you can subscribe to new alert notifications at: http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/subscribe/ and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet

[2] Action Alert: UPDATE: India's Dongria Kondh Tribal Way of Life Threatened by British/International Vedanta Mining - http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=india_mine

[3] Action Alert: Critical Elephant Corridor in India to be Severed - http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=india_elephants

This release uses information provided by the Guardian:
Vedanta mine plan halted by Indian government
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/aug/24/vedanta-mine-plan-halted-indian-government

DISCUSS RELEASE:
http://forests.org/blog/ | http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet | http://www.twitter.com/ecointernet

ALERT! Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sells Out Democracy, Local Peoples and Resources to Red China's Mining Agency

2010-08-12T16:14:49Z

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Sir Michael Somare [search] - PNG's deeply corrupted PM, and once the great founder of this amazing country - is illegally clinging to power and giving away natural resources by gutting environmental law. PNG has Earth's third largest rainforests [search] and important intact fisheries which are being threatened by his efforts to run roughshod over landowners, including those trying to stop the dumping of mine waste into Madang's bays and lagoons. Given his increasingly despotic and unbalanced behavior, it is clearly time for Mr. Somare to resign.

DISCUSS THIS ALERT:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/ and http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet

ALERT! Save Poland�s Bialowieza Forest, Europe's Last Primeval Temperate Forest

2010-08-10T13:24:09Z

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Ask the Polish government to stop exploitation of the primeval Bialowieza Forest [search]. Bialowieza Forest is on the verge of ultimate devastation caused by the state foresters and the timber industry that exploit precious Bialowieza Forest to manufacture products like furniture. Let�s support local calls for the cut to be reduced immediately, as a step to quickly ending primary forest logging in the area, and make all efforts possible to enlarge Bialowieski National Park to cover the entire area of Bialowieza Forest. EI has been active in campaign for over a decade, and things are getting active again locally as well, so time to renew the call of the Bialowieski Forest.

ALERT UPDATE: India's Dongria Kondh Tribal Way of Life Threatened by British Vedanta Mining � Let�s Build on Initial Success

2010-08-06T18:40:27Z

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Vedanta Resources, a British mining company, is set to destroy the forests, wildlife and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people. A new protest email has been added which is going to Indian government officials in support of local demands. Please take part in this new protest target. Also, our action to date has caused HSBC and WestLB banks to publicly distance themselves from Vedanta and Niyamgiri mining, an early success. This is reflected in the updated 2nd email to send. Please send both! EI is doing this alert in close consultation with local communities through John Seed and Rainforest Information Centre, Australia.

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW

]]> The Dongria Kondh are an indigenous tribe who have lived since time immemorial around the mountain Niyamgiri in the Indian state of Orissa. Because they revere this mountain as their god, it has not thus far suffered the deforestation and degradation experienced by similar areas in that part of the world but contains an elephant reserve with Sambar, Leopard, Tiger, Barking Deer, various species of birds and other endangered species of wildlife. However now Vedanta Resources, a British mining company, is set to destroy the forests, wildlife and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people. These local peoples have been vociferously and bravely protesting for years.

Many groups from around the world have been campaigning to persuade Vedanta's shareholders and financiers to distance themselves from the company. A group of international NGO's wrote to Vedanta's bankers in April this year asking them to dissociate themselves from the company. None of the banks have done so, so now it�s time to name and shame them, time for people from all around the world to send emails expressing our disgust that they continue bankroll this disgraceful project. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can send emails to people who could, if they wished, prevent this ecological destruction and injustice from taking place. Please share this action alert with your friends and ask them to do the same.

MORE INFORMATION AND TAKE ACTION NOW

DISCUSS THIS ALERT

RELEASE/VICTORY: Ecuador Sets Major Rainforest and Climate Protection Precedent

2010-07-31T22:20:56Z

By Earth's Newsdesk and the Rainforest Portal, projects of Ecological Internet

CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

It is reported Ecuador will be compensated for leaving oil reserves in Yasuni National Park untouched. This is a major victory for Ecuador, the rainforest movement, and Ecological Internet � who was the first to campaign internationally on the issue.

Ecuador�s government announced today it has reached a deal with the United Nations Development Program under which donor countries will compensate Quito for leaving oil reserves untouched in a large primary rainforest filled national park. Yasuni National Park [search] � covering some 9,820 km2, or about the size of Massachusetts � is thought to be one of Earth�s most biodiversity rich sites and is also home to several nomadic Indian tribes. Yasuni�s preservation (total protection, not �sustainable management� or �conservation�) would spare Earth some 410 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that contribute to global warming; while keeping biodiversity, ecosystems and cultures fully intact. The official signing is reported to be held on Tuesday.

Ecological Internet�s Earth Action Network [1] was the first to campaign internationally on threats to Yasuni from oil exploration, successfully internationalizing the issue. �This marvelous rainforest and climate victory is very gratifying and exciting,� states Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet President. �Ecological Internet began to campaign in the early 2000s to protect Yasuni National Park from oil development, and continuously since. Like so many of our campaigns, it has just taken off. Our efforts were picked up by �The Ecologist� Magazine, and since then a large local and global movement has been built � including the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, Scientists Concerned for Yasuni, Save America�s Forest and many other participants � who share in this victory.�

]]> In 2007, Ecuador�s then President Rafael Correa launched the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, which sought compensation for agreeing to forgo exploiting the estimated 846 million barrels of crude in the Yasuni National Park. Negotiations had centered on the amount of compensation Ecuador would receive, with Correa insisting his nation get at least 3.5 billion dollars over ten years -- about half the value of the estimated reserves in the protected area. When international donors were slow to respond, Ecological Internet launched another campaign which successfully �nudged� donor nations to fund this Yasuni-ITT proposal[2]. As of early this year, about half had been pledged, with Germany (910 million) and Spain (241.8 million) leading the group of donors that included France, Sweden and Switzerland.

### MORE ###

Much of the remainder of the Western Amazon -- home to some of the most biodiverse and intact primary rainforest ecosystems left on Earth, which are critical for driving regional and global ecosystems and climatic patterns necessary for life � is threatened with decimation by oil rigs and pipelines. Over 180 oil and gas "blocks" � covering some 688,000 km2 (170 million acres) of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil (nearly the size of Texas) � are areas zoned for exploration and development. This energy production is concentrated in the Amazon's largest remaining un-fragmented primary rainforest wildernesses, containing the most species of birds, mammals, and amphibians.

�Destruction of primary rainforests for oil production and other industrial development is a global ecological emergency. Regional governments, international donors and global citizens must decide whether every last bit of the Earth's old forest wildernesses; and intact, large ecosystems which make Earth habitable, will be sacrificed to delay having to transition now to renewable energy sources. In the process, abrupt run-away climate change, mass extinction and social disintegration will be ensured. This deal, if indeed signed as reported on Tuesday, represents a major new model for achieving global ecological sustainability, which must be replicated wherever primary rainforests shroud oil reserves. Further, it sets the precedent that to truly be protected, primary rainforests must be fully preserved in an intact condition, and not �sustainably managed�, which is a myth,� explains Dr. Barry.

### ENDS ###

[1] Earth Action Network�s current alerts are found at http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/alerts/ and you can subscribe to new alert notifications at: http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/subscribe/ and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet/

[2] http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=ecuador_oil_underground

DISCUSS RELEASE:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/
http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet
http://www.twitter.com/ecointernet

EARTH MEANDERS: The Rights of Earth

2010-07-30T02:57:36Z

By Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Earth Meanders come from Earth's Newsdesk

...and All Gaia�s Creatures to Ecological Self-Defense

Gaia � the Earth System [search] � is alive and like any living entity has rights. Earth has a right to not be stripped of its vegetative skin, its flesh mined, body punctured by wells, ecosystems liquidated; and precious water, air and oceans tainted. Gaia has the right to peacefully exist and to be free of harm, violence or ecocide (to be murdered). Air, water, land and ocean ecosystems are Gaia�s self-regulating internal ecosystem organs. All Gaia�s creatures possess an equal claim upon a fair share of her bounty for continued existence. Yet Gaia has a right to prohibit at any time, using any means, any one species from over-running the biosphere and habitats shared by all.

Sadly the industrial, speculative and unsustainable capitalistic economy benefiting some humans is killing Earth. This growth machine in population, economy and inequitable consumption has established as the norm an immoral, short-sighted way of life based upon eating ecosystems and children (or at least their future) to wantonly consume and grow a bit more. If cumulative impacts of human ecosystem destruction upon Gaia continue; the Earth System dies, taking humanity, all life and creation with her. The current paradigm�s emphasis upon growth at all costs is so pernicious that almost certainly only revolution, fundamental social change and personal transformation can eradicate it.

]]> Earth�s life � from seeds to plants, bees to trees, plant communities to ecosystems, and all life in between � is remarkable. We are witnessing the end product of 3.5 billion years of glorious evolution, now being cleared for toilet paper and fish sticks. Three hundred years ago humans began dismantling these priceless biological and ecological systems that provide their habitat for growth in population, economies and consumption. Somewhere around the time Europeans spilled forth to enslave and conquer the world, this idea was lost. These ideals of ecological colonialism � equating ecosystem destruction, biological diminishment, hierarchical subjugation and growth in virtually everything; with progress � have spread globally, creating a world of over six billion human super-predators. These beasts exist upon the flesh of Earth, and are raping her supine bounty for selfish self-aggrandizement.

Ecological Internet is not the first or only one to note limits to growth and collapsing ecosystems, however we are amongst the first to diagnose people's power Earth Revolution on Gaia�s behalf as the only workable means to achieve ecologically sufficient solutions for global sustainability. Humanity has a long history of expanding rights necessary for a broader sense of well-being to humans, and has fought just revolutions and wars to broaden this sphere of rights. The very same Europeans whose worldview led them to slaughter natives and natural ecosystems developed the Rights of Man, later amended to include most women and races. In just the past few hundred years humans have made great strides in personal liberty, freedom and equality that rank amongst the greatest human achievements ever. Monarchy and systematic slavery have largely been banished from Earth, and this is true human progress in understanding the nature and rights of being.

Sadly human liberties remain incomplete, fragile and are not universalized. Billions continue to live under authoritarian regimes, women are not given equal rights in most places, billions more are unable to exercise personal liberties as gross economic depredation leads to a scramble to survive, and the dominant economic system of hierarchical capitalism continues to bind most to a life of slave wages. Shockingly, two billion live on under $2/day, just under a billion each lack fresh water and food. And a system of elite rule remains firmly entrenched. Yet the idea that all humans are created equal and enjoy liberties and freedom has become established and continues to be perfected. Now what of the rights of Earth that makes human rights possible?

The Rights of Earth and all creatures will surely be the next great expansion of revealed truth and natural law. The non-human world � the air, water, land, oceans and their plants and wildlife � provide the living context for all biological existence including, for now, humans. Together these ecosystems, organisms and their ecological processes and patterns combine to create Gaia � a living, self-regulating organism � who�s right to exist is independent of human notions of value. That is birds, plants, trees, wildlife, wetlands and other ecosystems have intrinsic value; and a right to exist independent of human needs and wants. The disease that permeates the human condition is to continue viewing Gaia as mere resources for consumption, rather than being acknowledged as the ecosystems that make all life and the Rights of Man possible.

This state of enraged human ecocide must end immediately at all costs. Humans are entirely dependent upon Earth for every aspect of our existence. Continued ignorance, greed, fear, or just giving up because we are overwhelmed are not options. Each of us is now called to be the greatest of the great generations and save Earth from ourselves, by granting and enforcing her rights. Earth has the right to continue evolving. It has the right to be free from human geoengineering technology that further destroys creation. Earth has the right to not have its skin � natural terrestrial ecosystems � peeled from its body. Water � the Earth�s blood � has the right to flow freely creating the conditions for life. Earth has a right to bounteous oceans, to be toxic free, to not drown in carbon and nitrogen. Earth has the right to have it's human load lightened, so that it may heal, and to be ecologically restored to its original condition.

Earth has a right to exist independent of any other human concern � including growing the economy and population, providing outrageous consumption for some and little for others, or any obligation to lift the over-populated poor from material poverty by destroying the future. The biosphere has a right, indeed an obligation, to continue functioning regardless of whether this inconveniences the wants of any one species or some of its members. Without Gaia there is no being; no singing, politics, love or making love, dance, sport, economics, living, or anything. Earth�s rights are paramount over every other consideration. As the foundation of known being, Earth is the ultimate truth. Gaia is God.

Earth and her humanity and all creatures are poised upon a precipice of total and complete ecological and social collapse. Earth has the right to mercilessly slaughter any creatures that threaten the integrity of the whole and other parts. Insofar as knowledgeable humans can positively help, Earth�s ecocide must be resisted at all costs using all means, or being ends and there is nothing. Should the human animal � the current rulers of Earth (for now anyway) fail to expand the notion of the Rights of Earth, and stop its pervasive dismembering of Gaia, it will be to their own detriment and eventual demise. As one species amongst many, continued human being and shared survival depends upon taking a hard turn back to Earth, natural ecosystems and Gaia�s defense.

Gaia and all creatures including humans have a right to ecological self-defense. Gaia � and those with global ecological vision acting on her behalf � have the right to eradicate the disease consuming being. Earth has the right to inspire revolution on its behalf. The past movements and revolutions to end monarchy and slavery are examples but not blueprints. Earth and those human defenders whom have evolved to fully appreciate their connection with Gaia have a right to take any and all reasoned, thoughtful actions deemed strategic to protect and restore Gaia � ranging from protests, boycotts, civil disobedience, sit-ins, swarming, sabotage, non-cooperation, insurgency, guerrilla warfare � all stages in an escalating global peoples� power Earth Revolution until global ecological sustainability is achieved.

The meaning of the rest of enlightened human being is protecting and restoring ecosystems making up our habitat � air, water, land, soils, fish, oceans, toxics - and to make a just, equitable and sustainable world for all Gaia�s creatures. You are encouraged to hurry back to land and dedicate your being, your very life, to Gaia. Provision of Earth�s right to exist means getting back to the land to protect terrestrial, water, ocean and atmospheric ecosystems. Organic gardening, permaculture, population limits, ending coal and old forest logging and much more are keys to Earth and humanity�s survival.

All our shared futures, all life's survival, are being determined now. If Gaia undergoes much more ecosystem loss and diminishment, and her human inhabitants fail to turn the corner to embrace ecological protection and restoration, it almost certainly will be too late. Earth and her defenders have all rights to use escalating revolutionary tactics, to do whatever is necessary to avert an end to being. Indeed all global citizens that understand what is at stake for the planet and all of Gaia�s shared survival have a sacred obligation to slay the growth machine, banish speculative and industrial capitalism, and return to a rewilded, relocalized and a just, free, equitable and ecologically sustainable Earth.

Simply, the environmental movement lifts its game and embraces radical tactics or it's over. What is continued being worth to you? What sacrifices are you willing to make? Are you willing to organize, sacrifice, protest, prepare, sabotage and revolt? Would you die fighting for Earth�s continued being? A people�s power Earth Revolution must be built. Long-standing campaigns, protests and petitions will continue and expand. Some may engage in leaderless resistance Earth revolution, forming autonomous cells with friends, to clandestinely sabotage the growth machine. Continued intransigence by the elite, and a full-scale Earth insurgency may be necessary, and there should be preparations now.

We are at a point in history where any future revolutions would rightly find indiscriminate killing intolerable. There is no need for terrorism, and this is not what is being discussed. Yet there are so very many soft property targets for sabotage within the growth machine. To say "violence is never the answer" as Earth is dying by known perpetrators relegates the biosphere and society to apocalyptic ecological collapse which will assuredly not be non-violent. It is well past time for the global ecological sustainability movement to carefully consider all options and begin escalating its tactics. Or we can just roll over with Gaia and die.

###

Discuss essay at http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet

ACTION ALERT ! India's Dongria Kondh Sacred Mountain and Tribal Way of Life Threatened by Unwanted British Vedanta Mining

2010-07-14T03:20:50Z

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Vedanta Resources, a British mining company, is set to destroy the forests, wildlife and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people. The Dongria Kondh have been struggling with all their might to protect their mountain but are being overpowered by the financial and political might of this multi-billion dollar company. They have been protesting locally for years, and have appealed for international support for their campaign to keep their sacred Niyamgiri Mountain ecologically and culturally intact.

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW:
http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=india_mine

The Dongria Kondh are an indigenous tribe who have lived since time immemorial around the mountain Niyamgiri in the Indian state of Orissa. Because they revere this mountain as their god, it has not thus far suffered the deforestation and degradation experienced by similar areas in that part of the world but contains an elephant reserve with Sambar, Leopard, Tiger, Barking Deer, various species of birds and other endangered species of wildlife. However now Vedanta Resources, a British mining company, is set to destroy the forests, wildlife and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people. These local peoples have been vociferously and bravely protesting for years.

MORE INFORMATION AND TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://forests.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=india_mine

DISCUSS THIS ALERT:
http://forests.org/blog/

ALERT! Protest Madagascar's Breaking of Moratorium on Illegal Rosewood Log Exports from Protected Rainforests

2010-06-20T02:38:01Z

TAKE ACTION!

Despite a recent two year moratorium on further illegal logging [search] and export of precious timber from the protected areas of Madagascar, the government recently approved shipment of nearly $16 million worth of timber stolen from the country's rainforest parks. Post-coup illegal log and wildlife trade continue to threaten Madagacar's biodiversity rich rainforest [search] remnants, ecological sustainability and future potential for national advancement. Let Madagascar's transitional government, shipping industry, and French government know they will be held responsible for these ecological crimes.

TAKE ACTION!

RELEASE: Papua New Guinea�s Indigenous Landowners Stripped of Land Rights as Chinese Communist Influence Grows

2010-06-08T13:37:39Z

PNG government amends Environment Act [search] with no debate to remove powers from landowners to challenge in court resource development projects on their customary land. Move reflects increased pressure by foreign developers, particularly Chinese government�s mining agency, whose efforts to dump uncapped 100 million tons of mine waste on ocean floor in Madang Province has been thwarted by pressure exerted by successful legal efforts and campaigning.

(Madang, PNG) - Indigenous landowners have been stripped of ancestral and constitutionally-protected land rights [search] by the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The fact that 97% of land has been under communal, customary land tenure has long been a source of pride, provided an important social safety net, and protected against resource corruption. Similar efforts pushed by the World Bank in the 1990s were met with national protests and over-turned. Ultimate power to irrevocably issue resource development environmental permits will now reside with the Department of Environment secretary, an office who�s current and past occupants have long been known for flagrant corruption.

The government, through the Environment Minister, Benny Allan, made changes to sections of the Environment Act 2000 to prevent landowners and concerned Papua New Guineans from �interfering� with industrial resource development projects destroying oceans and rainforests � like the Chinese Ramu Nickel Mine in Madang and Exxon-Mobil Liquid Natural Gas project in the Southern Highlands. Without any warning or consultation, on May 27, 2010, the government of PNG introduced emergency legislation that dissolved the Constitutional rights of all landowners in PNG, including the right of Indigenous People to own land, challenge resource projects in court and receive any compensation for environmental damage. The bill was passed without being seen or debated by parliamentarians.

]]> �Chinese communist techniques are corroding Papua New Guinea�s democracy. Environment Act amendments reflect increasing Chinese communist control of the PNG government, and Prime Minister Michael Somare�s move towards authoritarian rule. The amended act makes communities powerless third parties as their resources are stolen. The most vulnerable in PNG society are being stripped of customary as well as English common law rights, denying democratic freedom. With no means to protect their land, families and culture; this can only lead to more Bougainville type revolutionary conflict, as landowners are pushed over the cliff, become desperate, and have no legal recourse to remedy legitimate grievances.� states Dr. Glen Barry, Asples Madang and Ecological Internet President.

The Act refers to recent court decisions concerning the Chinese-owned Ramu nickel mine in Madang Province. The mine has been met with a great deal of resistance by local indigenous landowners, local NGOs and Ecological Internet because of its submarine tailings disposal plan that would dump more than 100 million tons of tailings waste into Basamuk Bay. A secret report commissioned by the PNG government recently confirmed "mine waste will not lie dormant on the sea floor, as claimed by the Chinese State owned Ramu mine, but will be widely dispersed in the Vitiaz Strait, notably towards Madang and Karkar Island and across Astrolobe Bay." This is one of the world�s last great tuna fisheries.

Sadly, with this new law in place, the largest Chinese mine outside of China is now free to dump into Madang�s Basamuk Bay with impunity. They don't even have to worry about getting fined. The Act�s amendments come after a petition against ocean waste dumping was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister in Bongu Village, Madang Province on April 10th. In response, the corrupt regime chose to suppress the rights of landowners who are concerned about their lives and the environment. Without legal means to protect their land and seas from foreign resource invaders, there is already talk in Madang of �taking it up to the next level� and pursuing other means of resistance. It is highly unlikely the mine will ever commence as anger grows.

DISCUSS THIS ALERT: http://www.rainforestportal.org/blog/ and http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet

EARTH MEANDERS: United States of Ecocide: Spilling and Consuming Way to Oblivion

2010-05-29T16:38:43Z

By Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Earth Meanders come from Earth's Newsdesk

A great, free nation remains immobilized in the face of ecological collapse

The United States of America is an epic experiment, as despite great accomplishments and numerous imperfections, we share a long history of constantly striving to improve our union. As Americans settle in for Memorial Day to remember veterans of all stripes � from great wars of world defense to more recent military adventurism � it is appropriate to consider what the current Gulf Oil Spill says about the American way of life. Plainly, our addiction to oil and consumption in general threatens to destroy regional and global ecosystems � the water, air, land and oceans �upon which Americans, humanity and all species depend upon for habitat and life.

America is truly exceptional. Yet it is not because of our materially excessive lifestyles, as best demonstrated by our wide girths and ample posteriors. There is more to America than consumption. Our greatness is primarily due to our wavering, imperfect yet unique commitment to freedom and liberty. Over two hundred years ago a just revolution was fought asserting individual liberties from monarchial authoritarianism. The principles of freedom and liberty were a gift to the world. This is what truly has set us apart. And despite two decades of consistent roll-backs in civil and human rights, Americans remain for now free peoples to prosper or expire.

America has and continues to face many challenges � repudiating slavery, enfranchising most, world wars � and most recently the inevitable slowdown of economic growth as speculative, industrial capitalism runs its course. America has enjoyed for awhile super-sized living and grown to be what it is based upon liquidating ecosystems. We have progressed to the point where regional ecosystems are collapsing � most obviously in the Gulf Coast, but throughout the vast country as ecosystems are dying. America now faces our most difficult and profound test ever, coming to terms with our deeply ecologically unsustainable lifestyles, and committing to national and global ecological sustainability.

]]> Clearly the American way of life has been built upon liquidating our own and foreign natural life-giving ecosystems to access resources for consumption. To equate mowing ancient forests, dumping waste into water, over-fishing oceans, polluting the atmosphere, and the pervasive toxic chemical cocktail with progress and development is absurd. It is entirely possible that oil deep undersea and within our shared Earth was not meant to be drilled, much less burnt. America must directly face our profound dependence upon oil and destruction of natural ecosystems as the basis of our economy; or our country will collapse, many if not all will needlessly suffer and prematurely die, and a livable Earth may cease to exist.

The oil spilling endlessly into the Gulf of Mexico � one of America�s most rich ecosystems �shows clearly Americans of all types will commit to ecological sustainability or our free country will cease to exist. Marshes and rivers and forests and fish are far more than resources � they and all natural ecosystems provide for humanity�s habitat and existence upon Earth. The American way of life must be updated by what Ecology � the radical science � teaches us about limits to growth and requirements to sustain the biosphere. And to reflect moral outrage that as we continue to literally stuff ourselves and over-develop to death, two billion people live worldwide on under $2/day, 800 million without access to clean water. Collapsing ecosystems will almost certainly be used as the pretext for some sort of more authoritarian political system.

The American dream and way of life are built upon ecocide � willful murder of the environment. Such ecocidal behavior is problematic not only because we are literally eating Earth to death, but also because Americans use so much more than their fair share of the surplus natural capital, relative to the family of nations, than can be done sustainably. It is deeply troubling � bordering on evil � that 4% of the world�s population consumes 25% of its oil. And now sadly the rest of the world is copying America�s conspicuous over-consumption as a way of life. In an over-populated Earth plagued by inequitable consumption, clearly there has to be more meaning to life than having more stuff, including first meeting all humanity�s basic needs.

The resources necessary for all the gadgets, cars, energy and consumption found in the American dream are largely being taken at the point of gun by the U.S. military, and through neo-colonial dependency arrangements between U.S. business and resource owners. 911 was direct blowback from several decades of such behavior. It is time to stop thinking in terms of tribal nationalism and embrace the human family; as ecological challenges including forest loss, water scarcity, ocean decline, air pollution, soil depletion, nitrogen saturation and biodiversity loss threaten to destroy all nations� peoples. How many more U.S. soldiers must kill and die needlessly in foreign lands to support these inequities and unsustainability?

Let us buttress America�s commitment to true freedom and liberty with equal devotion to equity, justice and global ecological sustainability. Future American and global ecological sustainability looks less urban, more organic; simple but quality lives; less government, more community, and dedication to protecting and restoring ecosystems. It is possible and crucial for all our shared survival to live simply, laugh often, and love deeply as we lead deeply fulfilling lives within the context of a healthy and vibrant environment, and a steady state economy which can last forever.

It is well past time to show American resolve and commitment and get the damn oil leak capped. This is an unprecedented ecological emergency that portends the future. There should be millions of Americans streaming to partake in skimming oil and cleaning what comes ashore. This is our task, our job, our life, our future, our country, our Earth and our ecology at stake. Further, I would like to take this opportunity to call for criminal investigations of BP and the U.S. government�s oil departments, for the immediate resignation of Ken Salazar as Secretary of Interior, and for a permanent global ban to ecocidal offshore oil drilling.

Ecological Internet recently declared a planetary ecological emergency[1] based upon overwhelming new ecological science indicating Earth is at or near the tipping point, and key global ecosystems and life-support systems are failing. All true Americans and global citizens are urged to dramatically reduce their personal consumption and to commit to massively reducing their personal use of oil. And the U.S. government must cease to be an oil oligarchy, divorce itself from this Earth destroying industry, and stop waging war to feed its oil addiction. Failure on either account may justly lead to the next great American Revolution: a people�s power Earth Revolution on behalf of Earth, all her life, and the human family.

###

Dr. Glen Barry is the President and Founder of Ecological Internet (EI). He is recognized internationally by the environmental movement as a leading global visionary, environmental policy critic and public intellectual committed to communicating the severity of global ecological crises and actively organizing with others sufficient responses. He is an independent political ecologist, a writer of essays and blogs, and a computer specialist and technology researcher. See http://www.ecoearth.info/ and http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet for more information

[1] April 13, 2010, RELEASE: Planetary Ecological Emergency Declared

RELEASE: Greenpeace Partners with Industry Logging Canadian Boreal Forests

2010-05-21T15:56:12Z

Along with ForestEthics and other foundation-dependent primary forest logging apologists, Greenpeace negotiates weak agreement that legitimizes continued old growth forest logging in exchange for vague promises of possible future protections. Old forest greenwashing must end.

By Earth's Newsdesk, a project of Ecological Internet (EI)
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

(Canada) - In what they gratuitously herald as the 'world's largest conservation agreement', twenty Canadian forestry companies and nine environmental organizations including Greenpeace have announced an agreement that will temporarily suspend for three years any new logging in 29 million hectares of Canadian boreal forest [search] � about the size of Montana � to plan for possible protections of woodland caribou [search]. In return the nine environmental groups have vowed to stop protesting the companies involved (listed below), including ending their 'Do Not Buy' campaigns.

More troubling, the agreement provides much needed legitimacy to timber and pulp industry efforts to log much, if not all, of the remaining 43 million hectares of Canada�s old growth Boreal forests, and ultimately much of the caribou habitat after the moratorium lapses. The agreement uses fancy, meaningless worlds like �ecosystem-based� and �sustainable forest management� to describe first time industrial logging of primary forests for toilet paper and other throw-away consumer items.

]]> Ecological Internet (EI) President, Dr. Glen Barry, labeled the agreement "disgraceful", saying it "traded temporary, vague protections for business as usual industrial forestry across huge expanses of primary and old growth forests." Ecological Internet advocates a global permanent ban on industrial-scale logging in primary forests both in temperate and tropical forests, and will continue the campaign to end these practices in Canada�s ecologically priceless Boreal forests.

"Greenpeace's commitment to 'sustainable' and 'ecosystem based' forest management�for consumer items including toilet paper and lawn furniture from old forests�is an ecological crime, as we know we have already lost more primary forests than necessary to maintain global ecosystems and the biosphere. The agreement accepts not only FSC, but industry�s own certification of antiquated logging practices. This will not stand, and local communities, provincial governments and First Nations are encouraged to reject this forest greenwash."

### MORE ###

The Canadian Boreal Forest is North America�s largest primary forest, holding massive amounts of water, threatened wildlife and migratory birds, and containing 25% of the world's remaining intact ancient forests. It is also the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on the planet, storing the equivalent of 27 years worth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Globally 60% of boreal forests have been diminished and fragmented, largely from logging resulting in more fires.

Ecological Internet and allies vigorously condemn Greenpeace Canada's greenwash endorsement of continued ancient boreal forest logging, largely to make throw away paper items. They completely fail to understand that all primary and old growth forests are endangered and of high conservation value. Instead they perpetuate the ecologically criminal myth that old forests can and should be industrially logged for the first time in an environmentally acceptable manner.

Old forests must be protected and restored for global ecological sustainability. Forests logged industrially for the first time are permanently ecologically damaged in terms of composition, structure, function and dynamics. Real solutions to the Boreal forest/paper crisis require shrinking demand, increasing recyclables, and only accessing new fiber from regenerating secondary forests and mixed species, non-toxic, locally supported plantations.

EI calls upon Greenpeace to immediately cease and desist globally from negotiating agreements with industry that continue the production of throw away consumer items from Earth's dwindling old forests. Ecological Internet calls upon Greenpeace to work for full protection of primary forests, restoration of old growth forests, and dramatic reduction in paper and timber use globally. Ecological Internet�s message remains end primary forest logging. Expect further protest urging Greenpeace to realize the forest protection movement has moved past claims of sustainable forest management in primary and old growth forests.

### ENDS ###

Environmental organization that signed to the agreement include: Canadian Boreal Initiative, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative), the David Suzuki Foundation, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Ivey Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and the Pew Environment Group�s International Boreal Conservation Campaign.

The companies that signed the agreement include: AbitibiBowater, Alberta Pacific Forest Industries, AV Group, Canfor, Cariboo Pulp & Paper Company, Cascades Inc., DMI, F.F. Soucy, Inc., Howe Sound Pulp and Paper, Kruger Inc., LP Canada, Mercer International, Mill & Timber Products Ltd, NewPage Port Hawkesbury Ltd, Paper Masson Ltee, SFK Pulp, Tembec Inc., Tolko Industries, West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd, Weyerhauser Compnay Limited−all represented by the Forest Products Association of Canada.

DISCUSS THIS RELEASE:
http://forests.org/blog/ and http://www.facebook.com/ecointernet

ALERT! Obama�s Crude Awakening: Offshore Oil Drilling Is Ecologically Devastating and Must End

2010-05-16T02:19:20Z

By Ecological Internet's Climate Ark Climate Change Portal

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

U.S. oil addiction [search] is killing American and global ecology. An international wake-up call must be delivered to both the administration and Congress, to focus more effort upon reducing the demand for oil. The risks and costs of offshore oil [search] exploration far outweigh their benefits, and the U.S. would be better off focusing upon promoting alternative energy sources. Will virtually every remaining intact ecosystem be razed to access every last bit of oil before we transition to lower energy use, a low carbon economy and renewable energy?

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=gulf_oil_spill

New estimates are the Gulf Oil Spill is leaking at least 10 times the amount of oil as previous estimates of 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons, or 795,000 liters) a day, meaning the ongoing spill already far exceeds the Exxon Valdez accident. BP has shown it lacks the necessary capacity to handle the spill, as capping the leak has taken too long, and the cleanup will be massive. Given the extent of the ongoing spill, and the potential for the spill to spread more widely during the hurricane season, the federal government must immediately nationalize the spill response and take the lead in capping the leak and containing the spill.

The Gulf Oil Spill is a clarion call to implement comprehensive climate and energy policies that address U.S. oil addiction. The first step is to ensure offshore drilling does not accelerate. Obama and his top deputies have yet to talk about reducing the nation's dependence on fossil fuels in connection with the oil spill. The underlying cause of this disaster is our dangerous and dirty addiction to oil. This addiction is killing American and global ecology. An international wake-up call must be delivered to both the administration and Congress, to focus more effort upon reducing the demand for oil, and end offshore oil drilling.

MORE INFORMATION AND TAKE ACTION NOW:
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=gulf_oil_spill

DISCUSS THIS ALERT:
http://www.climateark.org/blog/

ALERT! Brazil's Proposed Belo Monte Dam Damns Amazonian Rainforests and Peoples

2010-04-25T20:00:55Z

The wild and free Xingu River is critical to maintaining intact the Amazon, its peoples, Brazil's national advancement, and the Earth we share

TAKE ACTION! The Brazilian government continues with plans to build the massive Belo Monte Dam [search] on the Xingu River in the Amazon rainforest [search], despite massive domestic and international opposition. The 11.2 billion dollar dam will flood an estimated 500 square kilometers of the Amazon rainforest and threaten the survival of tens of thousands of indigenous and traditional peoples who depend on the Xingu River for their livelihoods. The Kayap� leader Raoni Metuktire, who gained international exposure touring the world with Sting, said indigenous men from the Xingu were preparing their bows and arrows in order to fight off the dam. "I think that today the war is about to start once more and the Indians will be forced to kill the white men again so they leave our lands alone.�

RELEASE: Planetary Ecological Emergency Declared

2010-04-13T14:21:02Z

Human pressures on Earth System�s nine life-support systems have reached a scale where people power revolutionary action may be necessary and warranted to stop abrupt global environmental collapse

From Earth's Newsdesk and New Earth Rising, projects of Ecological Internet (EI)
Contact: Dr. Glen Barry, President, Ecological Internet glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org

Ecological Internet (EI) today declares a planetary ecological emergency [search]. On the basis of overwhelming new ecological science indicating Earth is past the tipping point and key global ecosystems and life-support systems are failing � EI calls for an immediate and escalating people�s power Earth Revolution on behalf of Earth, all her life, and the human family. A recent highly significant scientific paper entitled �Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operating Space for Humanity�[1] highlights the numerous means by which the Earth System�s life-support systems are failing. The natural right of all species to take all necessary actions to protect themselves, their habitat and do what is necessary to avoid ecocide is thus activated. This is not a drill.

The human family faces the imminent collapse of the biosphere � the thin layer of life organized into ecosystems, upon an otherwise lifeless planet � that makes Earth habitable. Marshes and rivers and forests and fish are far more than resources � they and all natural ecosystems provide for humanity�s habitat and existence upon Earth. A few centuries of unprecedented explosion in human numbers and surging inequitable consumption are needlessly destroying being for all living things. Environmental movement accommodation and compromise have not brought required policies necessary to avert widespread ecosystem collapse, or to lay the basis for achieving global ecological sustainability.

]]> Ecological Internet believes biocentric, deep ecologists must carefully, quickly and thoroughly consider possibly using widespread leaderless resistance, sabotage and carefully targeted insurgency on behalf of our ecosystem habitats and shared survival. Revolutionary actions such as ending coal use, reforming industrial agriculture, and protecting and restoring old forests and other natural ecosystems, are a requirement for living within the biosphere and life-support systems� carrying capacities. This declaration establishes �New Earth Rising� [2] as a political wing of an Earth Revolution to freely discuss and debate, though not directly incite or partake, in these matters.

There exist ways to live well within Earth's carrying capacity as we equitably and justly further human advancement with all Earth's plants and creatures at our side. Solutions exist: powering down, ecosystem protection, ecological restoration, reducing population, ending old forest logging and coal, and working for global equity, justice and peace. Earth and humanity�s survival depend upon getting these items implemented quickly using protest, civil disobedience, and if rebuffed yet again; considering carefully targeted sabotage and insurgency of the growth machine which is eating our ecosystem habitats.

Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet�s President, explains �I don't want to be doing any of this myself, and I am most assuredly not trying to incite any imminent illegal activities. As an academic �Political Ecologist� I study and write about revolutionary strategies to achieve global ecological sustainability. We seek to discuss what revolutionary tactics could possibly be used to sustain Earth's biosphere and constituent ecosystems required to maintain habitability. This is free speech, and given the importance of the topic of Earth System global change, surely is appropriate.�

### ENDS ###

[1] In �Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operating Space for Humanity,� published this past fall in the journal Ecology and Society, and presented also in Scientific American magazine�s April issue, twenty-eight luminaries from environmental and earth-systems science identified nine "planetary life-support systems" that are vital for human survival. It was found humanity had already overstepped three of nine planetary boundaries �biodiversity loss, climate change and nitrogen cycle � and is approaching boundaries for the use of fresh water and land, and ocean acidification.

*Journal Article: Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operating Space for Humanity
http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/docfeed/planetary_boundaries.pdf
* Popular Media: Easy to Understand New Scientist article:
http://www.newscientist.com/special/ocean-to-ozone-earths-nine-life-support-systems
* Graphic: http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2749/27491201.jpg
* YouTube Video: Big Question: Is Earth past the tipping point? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkkKZgKmdP4

[2] New Earth Rising � http://www.newearthrising.org/ -- Ecological Internet�s biocentric e-zine dedicated to knowing Earth's crises, and to pursuing social change and personal transformation sufficient to achieve global ecological sustainability. The next issue will begin serializing book of the same name by Dr. Barry considering the need and justification for Earth Revolution, as well as possible people power strategies and tactics.

DISCUSS RELEASE:
http://www.ecoearth.info/blog/

ALERT! Resistance Growing to Ecologically Devastating Chinese Mining Invasion of Madang, Papua New Guinea

2010-04-01T22:19:07Z

TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!

Chinese government owned China Metallurgical Construction (MCC) corporation's efforts to establish the massively destructive Ramu Nickel mine in Madang Province [search], Papua New Guinea � the largest investment in metal exploration and mining by the Chinese outside of China � is in serious jeopardy. Local landowners are successfully initiating court cases and protests to demand mine tailings not be dumped into the sea �poisoning fish stocks and causing extreme ecological destruction � or the mine be stopped. The entire project has been mismanaged, marked by shoddy construction; and disregard for local rights, life, and marine and rainforest ecology. Chinese mining investment in Madang against local wishes can only be described as an invasion of sovereign peoples, and will be resisted at all costs.