Thursday a hearing in the US “Senate Environment and Public Works Committee” concluded climate change is a real (sic!), imminent and somewhat indirect “national security threat” as it will be heightening the intensity of conflicts abroad, create water shortages in some regions, crop failure, and cause environmentally displaced people to cross borders. “There’s a building…
Update: Azerbaijani oil & corruption
Just filling out a bit of a black hole of my coverage: oil and corruption in and around Azerbaijan. First, an American businessman is in trouble over bribing his way towards control over oil: The Wall Street Journal Law Blog / Breaking: Jury Finds Frederic Bourke Guilty of Bribery-Related Charges Frederic Bourke, a founder of…
Stealing sun and water
News in crime: theft of solar panels and fresh water is up. March 2008 we saw people stealing bees, essentially a work force in horticulture up in demand and down in availability due to diseases. Lately I have seen stories about people stealing water and solar panels. In fact, Treehuger / Solar Panel Theft is…
Workers of polluting and nature exploiting industries in violent attacks against environmentalists
Remember October 2008 when Old growth forest lumberjacks attack[ed] environmentalist protestors? Now fishermen have assaulted Greenpeace activists who suspected foul play. [As activst Emma boarded the vessel on sea] they punched her, pulled her hair, picked her up and threw her overboard [and later on the pier] She was viciously assaulted by a burly sailor…
Canadian gas pipeline bombed
For the 6th time in nine months a natural gas pipeline in western Canada has been bombed. “We are dealing with domestic terrorism. This is an attack on a critical infrastructure.” – Dan Moskaluk, Royal Canadian Mounted Police EnCana, the natural gas company owning the pipeline, has received threats to cease natural gas production in…
Diamonds still bloody: 200 killed at Zimbabwean mine, certification collapsing
200+ killed by troops in Zimbabwean mine Human Rights Watch said Friday that Zimbabwe’s armed forces have taken over diamond fields in the east and killed more than 200 people, forcing children to search for the gems and beating villagers who get in the way. See AP / Rights group: Abuse in Zimbabwe diamond fields…
A Drop of Life: Short film about water conflict
“As I became aware of the mounting global water crisis, I realized that it represented a clash of cultures – between a culture that values water as a shared sacred source of all life and a corporate culture that regards water as a commodity to be bought and sold.” Quote Shalini Kantayya, director of A…
Freshwater industrialization, privatization and pollution
Two links for this blogs 20th post tagged ‘water’. Depraved Injustice and the Privatization of the Global Freshwater Commons by Frank Joseph Smecker is a critical look at the increasing privatization of the worlds freshwater resources. Privatization is the preferred solution from those who brought us into this situation of scarcity and escalating conflict: traditional…
Let’s go HOME – to a sustainable carbon cycle
The world spends12 times more on military expendituresthan on aid to developing countries Quote Home, the new environmental film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand which I just watched. The film is available for free on YouTube for some time and I’d generally recommend it. Rather than detailing one or a couple of issues or projects this is…
Indigenous Peruvians and police in deadly clashes at oil and mining protests
Sometimes researchers are blamed of being alarmists stirring up fears of a fictional dystopia by the business-as-usual crowd. But it seems a forewarning of conflict over oil in Peru is proceeding according to exactly such a warning. The news first… 40+ dead at protest In extension of free trade agreements the Peruvian government has plans…
Water wars – myth or reality?
It appears the San Fransisco Gate runs a “water blog”. Latest entry is a take on the concept of water wars. There has been a lot of discussion about “water wars,” a term that sounds great, but to which I do not subscribe: wars start and are fought for many reasons and while water has…
West Bank becomes Waste Land
Israel has found a cheap and easy way to get rid of its waste, much of it hazardous: dump it into the West Bank. A few Palestinians can be bought, the rest are in no position to complain. Interesting article on the shocking extent of Israeli pollution of Palestinian Territories. Which, by the way, are…