EarthAction

Will We See the Trial of the Century?

The midterm election on Nov. 6 is one of the most important in memory. It will decide whether checks and balances will be restored to the federal government and especially to our out-of-control president.

An even more important event is scheduled to take place nine days earlier, however. It could make history by ensuring that our children and future generations have a constitutional right to a livable world. 

On Oct. 29, the United States government is scheduled to go on trial for contributing to global climate change. The trial is the result of a lawsuit, Juliana v United States, filed three years ago by a group of 21 young adults and children. They allege that the federal government is violating their constitutional rights by promoting the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel pollution is the principal cause of global warming. 

The Julianas, as I’ll call the young plaintiffs for the sake of simplicity, want the courts to rule that the federal government must stop subsidizing fossil fuels, opening public lands to fuel production, and doing other things that result in carbon pollution. They want the government to rapidly phase out carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion and to develop a national plan to stabilize the climate system and “restore Earth’s energy balance”.  

Finally proceeding to trial would obviously be a big milestone in the Julianas’ long fight through the federal court system. It is not motivated by partisanship. It was filed when Barack Obama was president and it named his as well as many federal agencies as defendants. Now, the Trump Administration is on trial and the U.S. Department of Justice has been fighting furiously to keep the case from being tried.  

Justice Department lawyers have filed motion after motion to have the case dismissed, including legal maneuvers one judge called “rare as hen’s teeth”. But so far, the legitimacy of the case has been upheld repeatedly by a U.S. District Court, a Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel and even the U.S. Supreme Court.  As I write this, the Supreme Court is deciding yet another late motion by the Justice Department to keep the trial from happening.

By William S. Becker

Read more here

The bruges whale

Near the statue of Jan Van Eyck, Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) rises up from the Canal. Skyscraper is 5 tons of plastic waste pulled out of the ocean to create a 4 story tall whale: a powerful reminder of the 150,000,000 tons of plastic waste still swimming in our waters. Skyscraper is a physical example of why we need to change how we use and dispose of plastic in the world today.

The Installation

The gigantic sculpture is more than just a representation of a whale; the animal is made of waste, collected from the plastic soup that floats on the seas and oceans of the world. Working with volunteers from the Hawaii Wildlife Fund and the Surfrider Foundation, StudioKCA combed the beaches of Hawaii to gather up the waste. The installation was built out of those finds. StudioKCA seeks this way to draw attention to the universal problem of pollution that affects us all, and to make viewers aware that individual action is necessary.

About the Skyscraper Kickstarter Project

StudioKCA has started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Processing and transporting the waste on this scale is larger than expected. StudioKCA is still looking for $15,000 to complete the manufacturing of the steel and aluminium parts, to hire the cranes and tools, to transport everything to Bruges in time for the event and to assemble all 107 parts that Skyscraper consists of on location. Deposit your contribution to this project via the Kickstarter website and receive exclusive Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale) returns!

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Strengthen local forest rights for best climate solutions

A group of tribal voluntary forest guards in Thengapalli forest in Odisha (Photo by Ranjan K Panda)

India needs to proactively include indigenous communities and forest dwellers in its efforts to restore and expand forest cover to sequester carbon, and not exclude them from forestry management

In India, a new wave of admiration about our traditional knowledge has emerged in public discourse, but it is not reflected in the ways the State wants to manage our forests. Politicians, bureaucrats and intellectuals are holding forth on importance of indigenous knowledge and practices. For instance, the Indian government has been championing the cause of Yoga in the international arena, and has successfully put it on the global map by pushing for an International Yoga Day. Similarly, traditional medicines including Ayurveda have become a buzzword among policymakers.

In this rush to promote India’s traditional knowledge and practices, policymakers have seemingly forgotten another longstanding, rich tradition of India. Indians, especially the indigenous communities living in and around forests, have been living with and protecting India’s biodiversity-rich forests for thousands of years, with a vast repository of lived and traditional knowledge about forest ecosystems.

Most importantly, many of them have demonstrated scientific methods of conservation much before modern forest science emerged. Thousands of villages across India have been protecting natural forests for decades. For example, over 10,000 communities in Odisha have been protecting state-owned forests, often through voluntary labour, and have a deep understanding and commitment to conservation. The vast number of scared groves across the country remains a living testimony to the traditional conservation ethics of Indian tribal communities and forest dwellers.

Ranjan K. Panda, from India Climate Dialogue

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Top 3 Shocking Facts About Plastic Pollution

Fact #1:

8.3 BILLION Metric Tons (9.1 BILLION US Tons) of plastic has been produced since plastic was introduced in the 1950s. The amount of plastic produced a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity!

Fact #2:

Virtually every piece of plastic ever made still exists in some shape or form (with the exception of the small amount that has been incinerated).

Fact #3:

Nearly TWO MILLION single-use plastic bags are distributed worldwide every minute.

Plastic pollution is killing our planet, and plastic pollution is killing us. It's choking our oceans, poisoning our food and water supply, and wreaking havoc on the health and well-being of humans and wildlife worldwide.

That's why we are dedicating Earth Day 2018 to ending plastic pollution. We've developed a series of comprehensive resources and toolkits to help Individuals, Organizations, and Educators like you inform, inspire, and mobilize everyone you know to join the movement to END PLASTIC POLLUTION this Earth Day.

Every week, we'll be releasing new resources to help you build the Earth Day 2018 End Plastic Pollution movement-starting now, with our Scope of Plastic Pollution Fact Sheet offering 10 shocking facts about plastic pollution.

Stay posted for more upcoming resources you can use to play a role in saving our planet. Putting an End to Plastic Pollution is a fight citizens across the world MUST win.

Our survival depends on it.

Join the fight today!

DONATE NOW

The Earth Day Network Team

Takoma Park Becomes First US City to Declare Its Compliance with Nuclear Ban Treaty

Photo Credit: Google "labeled for non-commercial reuse"

TAKOMA PARK, MD, March 15, 2018 — The City Council of Takoma Park, Maryland, last night (March 14^th) voted unanimously on a resolution that reaffirms the city’s support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or ‘Nuclear Ban Treaty.’

The Nuclear Ban Treaty was adopted last year at the UN by 122 countries. The Treaty comprehensively prohibits everything to do with nuclear weapons and makes these weapons illegal under international law. Fifty-seven countries have signed it so far, and as many as 146 countries are expected to sign it in the coming months.

The United States is not one of them, but as with the Paris Climate Agreement, that does not stop cities, states, businesses, colleges and faith communities from complying with this Treaty.

Takoma Park was one of the first cities in the US to declare itself a ‘Nuclear-Free Zone’ back in 1983. Since then, through a city ordinance, Takoma Park has banned companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons from doing business in Takoma Park, or from bidding on City contracts, and has avoided investment in companies engaged in the production of nuclear weapons.

Since these prohibitions mean that Takoma Park already complies with the new Treaty, the March 14 resolution declaring the City ‘treaty compliant’ was more of a formality. As the first city in the US to do so, however, Takoma Park has led the way for many more to follow.

As many as 220 Nuclear Free Zones were established across the US during the 1980s. Many of these, including Chicago, still have legally-binding ordinances on their books which comply with the new Treaty. Others, including New York City, are now looking into this afresh in light of this Treaty.

By aligning themselves with the rest of the world in support of the Nuclear Ban Treaty, Takoma Park is turning its back on the $1.2 trillion plans to upgrade and modernize the US nuclear arsenal. Takoma Park is the first to officially do so, but it will not be the last.

By Tim Wallis, Treaty Compliance Campaign

Protect Wild Salmon

Juvenile sockeye salmon swimming past salmon farms are exposed to piscine reovirus shed by the farm salmon. Photo by Tavish Campbell

 

Finally, good news!  Washington State, on the West Coast of the USA, is the first government anywhere, to legislate removal of Atlantic salmon farming from a region of our oceans.

It was a tough fight, but determined organizations and citizens won an impressive and life-saving victory. 

I have released a new 5 minute innovative film - behind-the-scenes on farm salmon science because, frankly it is hard to believe. The film is spreading rapidly. You can see it here:

Alexandramorton.typepad.com

We are getting closer to finally closing this disastrous chapter in our history, but for now the next generation of wild salmon leaving BC rivers face the same exposure to farm lice and disease and they really are in no condition to survive this. 

Thank you for sticking with me on this!

Alexandra Morton

Climate Change Public Opinion Surveys Show Growing Concern

Climate Scorecard Report #15 highlights the results of climate change public opinion surveys that have been conducted in leading greenhouse gas emitting countries over the last five years. Looking across countries we see the following trends:

• Citizens in many countries agree that climate change is caused by humans and that it is a major threat to national security and their own well-being. (Argentina, France, India, Italy, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa)
• Citizens in many countries are in favor of their nations taking stronger action to reign in greenhouse gas emitters. E.g. Germany, Spain
• There is strong support for the Paris Agreement in many countries. (China, Canada, the United States)
• In several countries, citizens believe that their country as well as other countries are not doing enough to combat climate change, e.g. Brazil, India
• Citizens beliefs in the importance of climate change is at a low level in certain countries, e.g. China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea

The surveys also reveal the need for increased efforts in all countries to better inform citizens about the nature of climate change and the importance of both their governments and individuals taking stronger action to mitigate the impact of global warming.

Download Climate Scorecard Report 15

EarthAction is a founding partner of Climate Scorecard, an international project that monitors and reports on the status of efforts to implement the UN Paris Agreement among leading greenhouse gas emitting countries. This is Climate Scorecard’s 15th Report. Learn more at climatescorecard.org

“From the start, the palm oil project has been tainted with lies, abusive clauses, a doubtful license and illegal practices.” Greenpeace

Since 2012, a series of agribusiness corporations have been at work to destroy 75,000 hectares of tropical rainforest in southwestern Cameroon. Their goal is to replace the forest with a palm oil plantation. This rainforest, situated between five protected areas, including world-renowned Korup National Park, is known for its rich biodiversity. It provides a wildlife corridor between the various preserves. Cutting down the rainforest and replacing it with palm oil trees is ripping the heart out of the forest. Many animal species are being pushed to extinction. And the homes, communities, and lives of humans are being destroyed. We have succeeded in cutting back the size of this project. Now, with your help, we want to end it all together.

Greenpeace, Cultural Survival, Save Wildlife, AFJN and EarthAction ask for your help now as part of a global campaign to protect this forest, its people and wildlife.

TAKE ACTION:

Click here to add your name to Greenpeace’s petition to stop this destruction in Cameroon.

100% Renewable Energy: What We Can Do in 10 Years By Richard Heinberg

If our transition to renewable energy is successful, we will achieve savings in the ongoing energy expenditures needed for economic production. We will be rewarded with a quality of life that is acceptable—and, perhaps, preferable to our current one (even though, for most Americans, material consumption will be scaled back from its current unsustainable level). We will have a much more stable climate than would otherwise be the case. And we will see greatly reduced health and environmental impacts from energy production activities.

But the transition will entail costs—not just money and regulation, but also changes in our behavior and expectations. It will probably take at least three or four decades, and will fundamentally change the way we live.

Nobody knows how to accomplish the transition in detail, because this has never been done before. Most previous energy transitions were driven by opportunity, not policy. And they were usually additive, with new energy resources piling onto old ones (we still use firewood, even though we’ve added coal, hydro, oil, natural gas, and nuclear to the mix).

Since the renewable energy revolution will require trading our currently dominant energy sources (fossil fuels) for alternative ones (mostly wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biomass) that have different characteristics, there are likely to be some hefty challenges along the way.

Therefore, it makes sense to start with the low-hanging fruit and with a plan in place, then revise our plan frequently as we gain practical experience. Several organizations have already formulated plans for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. David Fridley, staff scientist of the energy analysis program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and I have been working for the past few months to analyze and assess those plans and have a book in the works titledOur Renewable Future. Here’s a very short summary, tailored mostly to the United States, of what we’ve found.

This piece first appeared in YES magazine 

'Licence to Launder' Shows Wider Problem in African Logging

Greenpeace's recent report reveals how Herakles Farms had illegally obtained a permit to export timber, most of which was illegally felled to establish a palm oil plantation in Cameroon. Their 'Licence to Launder' report demonstrates the persistent illegalities at the heart of the Herakles Farms project, indicative of a wider problem in the logging sector in Africa. If allowed to persist, this new development will also seriously undermine Cameroon’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU aimed at stopping illegal logging. The forests and people of Africa will have no protection if companies such as Herakles Farms are allowed to contravene national laws and ignore the rights of local communities. 

This is the second story EarthAction shares in a series of recent articles about the unfolding situation in Cameroon. Click here to subscribe to our RSS Feed so you won’t miss a post. 

"The oil palm plantation being developed by Herakles Farms in the southwest region of Cameroon – an area of great biodiversity surrounded by five protected areas – illustrates what happens when irresponsible companies are not held accountable to local laws and processes. The company’s activities pose a serious threat to forested areas and the communities who rely upon the forest for their livelihoods." - Greenpeace

Click here to learn more or here to view the entire 'Licence to Launder' report. 

For more on Herakles Farms and palm oil in Africa, click here.

TAKE ACTION Greenpeace has set up a quick and easy way for you to send a message to the Cameroon Minister of Forest and Wildlife and other important policymakers to save this forest. 

Image: Greenpeace