Image Source: RIANOVOSTI
In 2011, EarthAction continued its work to help preserve the Khimki Forest in Moscow. Despite local and international campaign efforts, logging was resumed in April by a Russian company hired by the French construction firm Vinci. Attacks against opponents of the planned Moscow-St. Petersburg highway continued throughout 2011. On behalf of Save Khimki Forest, we requested our Partners to ask President Medvedev to route the path away from the woods to stop the socially, economically, and ecologically unsustainable road, and to end fabrication of criminal charges against grassroots activists. We also requested our Partners to ask Vinci to stop cutting the trees and to pursue an alternative route for the highway.
As a result of the Khimki Forest defenders’ struggle, the width of the highway has been cut to 4 traffic lanes. Nevertheless, this does not solve the issue of Khimki’s ecosystem destruction. Over 10 alternative routes were shown by the independent expertise to spare Khimki Forest. EarthAction will continue working with the local defenders to preserve the forest.
EarthAction also addressed the following issues in 2011:
- Saving sacred sites in Mexico from mining
- Requests to the King of Norway to stop farm fishing in British Columbia
- The Global Day of Action to Reduce Military Spending
- Stopping development of nuclear power in the wake of Japan’s earthquake
- Promoting Earth Day
- Stopping uranium mining in the Grand Canyon in the USA
- Saving the Mekong River in Southeast Asia
- Promoting the Dignity Movement and Ending Rankism
- Calling on the heads of government of the five major nuclear weapons nations to take steps “to achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
- Ending human trafficking
- Promoting, ‘I AM the documentary’
- Saving the Prey Lang Forest in Cambodia
In 2011 EarthAction also sponsored the following projects
2020 Action
2020 grew to over 500 members. It produced 12 monthly action postcards in 2011, each one focused on a current U.S. environment or peace issue. Victories included:
- Increased funds in the U.S. budget for securing the world’s nuclear materials
- The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) instituted new national standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel efficiency of heavy-duty trucks and buses. Once implemented, these new standards will achieve 7-20% reductions in emissions from these vehicles and save up to 500 million barrels of oil over the lives of the vehicles produced in the first five years of the program.
- The U.S. Senate and the President successfully opposed most of the efforts to cripple the EPA and undermine the Clean Air and Water Acts.
- Cuts to military spending: The failure of the Super Committee to reduce the budget deficit requires additional automatic cuts to military spending equaling half of the $1.2 trillion that the committee failed to specify.
- President Obama announced he would postpone the decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline that would carry tar-sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico, until 2013.
In 2012 we will have a membership drive to increase 2020’s membership. We will need your help.
The Alliance for Renewable Energy
In 2011 EarthAction continued to provide leadership for the Alliance for Renewable Energy—ARE, a coalition of businesses, NGOs, academics, and others that promote the world’s most effective renewable energy policy: feed-in tariffs (FITs). Lois Barber, EA’s Executive Director, served as Co-chair of ARE, and organized and chaired monthly Steering Committee conference calls. EarthAction also regularly updated ARE’s website: AllianceForRenewableEnergy.org
It’s been slow, but steady progress. Feed-in tariff (FIT) policies have been adopted by several states, cities and provinces in the US and Canada and are being considered by several more.
Science and Spirituality in the Global Awakening
As part of an ongoing project with Amherst College, EarthAction provided the transcriptions for a series of interviews between the project coordinators and leading scientists throughout the world who are exploring the relationship between science and spirituality. The interviews will form the basis for an upcoming book by Arthur Zajonc, author, lecturer, and Amherst College Professor of Physics.
The Elders Project
In 2009 EarthAction launched The Elders Project to preserve and protect the indigenous culture of the peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. In 2010 and 2011, Rick Harlow, the Program Coordinator, accompanied groups of indigenous leaders and support staff on several journeys along The Black Line of the Sierra Nevada region. The Black Line, as the mamos or spiritual leaders call it, is the ancestral territorial boundary of the four Indigenous pueblos and is in great need of restoration. A written report and a 25-minute film were produced documenting the journeys.
Rick Harlow has also carried out work initiated by Saga Benerexa of the Arhuaco tribe to train and support the women's spiritual work that has been an integral aspect of the indigenous tradition. This transmission of knowledge is considered crucial for maintaining the harmony and balance of spiritual forces in “the Heart of the World.”
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