Hypothetical Dystopia

Belo Monte Dam Suspended by High Brazilian Court →

Federal Judge Souza Prudente of the Federal Tribunal of Brazil’s Amazon region suspended all work today on the Belo Monte Dam, invalidating the project’s environmental and installation licenses.

While the project has been suspended previously on numerous occasions, and those suspensions overturned on political grounds, this latest decision could have some legs. The decision breaks down in the following way:

The federal judge ruled that no consultations were held with indigenous people prior to Congress issuing Decree 788 in 2005, which effectively approved the Belo Monte Dam. Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution requires consultations to be held directly by the Congress prior to approval. In this case, approval was given three years before publication of the environmental impact assessment, and no consultations with indigenous peoples were ever carried out by the Brazilian Congress.

As a result, the project’s environmental license (granted in 2010) and installation license (granted in 2011) are now considered invalid, meaning that no further work can continue on the dam.

Brazil’s National Congress must hold a series of public hearings, or consultations, with the indigenous tribes that will be affected by Belo Monte. Only after such consultations occur and are considered satisfactory, must the Congress legislate a new approval for the dam.

The government and project consortium Norte Energia, S.A. can appeal to Brazil’s Supreme Court, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice, the President of the Federal Tribunal, and Brazil’s Attorney General, in the next 30 days. Since this is a constitutional matter, the appeal is likely to go to the Supreme Court.

In a press conference given today late in Brasil, Souza Prudente stated that “only in a dictatorial regime does a government approve a project before holding consultations.”

The decision supports the arguments that the affected tribes have been making over the lifetime of Belo Monte: tribes will face downstream livelihood impacts as a result of a reduction in the flow of the Xingu River on the 100-km stretch known as the Volta Grande or “Big Bend,” and were never properly consulted, much less gave their consent.

In the words of the decision itself,

“installation will cause direct interference in the minimal ecological existence of the indigenous communities, with negative and irreversible impacts on their health, quality of life, and cultural patrimony, on the lands that they have traditionally occupied for time immemorial. This requires the authorization of the National Congress after holding prior consultations with these communities, as deemed by law, under the penalty of suspension of the authorization, which has been granted illegally.”

# indigenous people environmentalism Environment human rights

Reblogged 9 months ago from socialuprooting 27 notes

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nrdc:

Stocking up on paper? Buy recycled.

One hundred million tons of paper are used in the United States each year, making up 40 percent of our municipal solid waste stream. The paper industry is the third-largest energy consumer in the nation and one of the largest water polluters in the world. Before you buy paper, look for the product with the highest percentage of post-consumer recycled content and “PCF” on the label, a mark indicating that the recyled paper was processed without chlorine. Staples carries postconsumer, chlorine-free copy paper and college-ruled filler paper. Visit treecycle.com for a wide variety of PCF and recycled paper products, including spiral notebooks.

Get more shopping tips: NRDC’s Back-to-School Checklist

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Reblogged 9 months ago from nrdc 11 notes

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nrdc:

Killer Summer Heat

Climate change is literally killing us. According to NRDC’s “Killer Summer Heat” report, more than 150,000 Americans could die by the end of this century due to the excessive heat caused by climate change. And that estimate only covers America’s top 40 cities.

Why will climate change cause so many casualties? Illnesses that are caused or made worse by extreme heat — including heat exhaustion, heat stroke, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease — currently lead to hundreds of deaths each year.

As carbon pollution continues to rise, the number of dangerously hot days each summer will increase even further, leading to a dramatic increase in the number of lives lost.

Read more: Killer Summer Heat
Take action: Send a message urging the EPA to support strong carbon pollution standards.

# carbon pollution climate change environment global warming heat heat waves killer summer heat nature news nrdc science environmental activism

Reblogged 9 months ago from nrdc 43 notes

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climateadaptation:

The Keystone XL Pipeline route will separate thousands of miles of animal habitat, destroy fragile forests, put thousands of farms at risk, and threaten drinking water aquifers used by dozens of cities where millions of Americans work and live - all for Canadian oil that will primarily be sold on the international market.

Above: South of Fort McMurray, swaths of trees were removed to make way for an underground oil pipeline that carries product from the oil sands mines to processing facilities. Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post

# Environment important keystone pipeline pipeline keystone keystone xl pipeline keystone xl

Reblogged 9 months ago from thegreenurbanist (Originally from climateadaptation) 257 notes

You can literally put facts in front of people, and they will just ignore them.

— Mark Lubell, the director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior at the University of California-Davis • Discussing the nature of the debate over “fracking” in recent months, where both sides have been known to use questionable facts to support their arguments for or against the practice. Example: Protesters claim that the air pollution threats caused by fracking are significant, despite the evidence that the popularity of the practice cuts back on the production of far-more-damaging-to-the-atmosphere coal energy. On top of this, EPA regulations have helped to limit air pollution from fracking. Honestly, environmental issues are emotional. But let’s be honest when bringing up said emotional issues. (via shortformblog)

# fracking shale pennsylvania science groundwater contamination environmental issues environment marcellus shale

Reblogged 10 months ago from shortformblog 111 notes

inothernews:

picturedept:

Palíndromo Mészáros: The Line
On October 14, 2010, a catastrophic toxic aluminum waste spill inundated the Hungarian town Ajka, and spread all the way to the Danube river, killing at least 9 and injuring over 100 people. The accident left a visible legacy on the land, the flood line marked by a very noticeable deposit of caustic red mud. Palíndromo Mészáros photographed this landscape 6 months later, in the aftermath, “when the silence takes the place of the headlines and just The Line is left.”
View more from The Line at www.palindromo.info.

Blood red.

inothernews:

picturedept:

Palíndromo Mészáros: The Line

On October 14, 2010, a catastrophic toxic aluminum waste spill inundated the Hungarian town Ajka, and spread all the way to the Danube river, killing at least 9 and injuring over 100 people. The accident left a visible legacy on the land, the flood line marked by a very noticeable deposit of caustic red mud. Palíndromo Mészáros photographed this landscape 6 months later, in the aftermath, “when the silence takes the place of the headlines and just The Line is left.”

View more from The Line at www.palindromo.info.

Blood red.

# environment environmentalism toxic hungary social justice sj health environmental health public health red

Reblogged 10 months ago from westxylophone (Originally from picturedept) 609 notes

Environmental devastation will not be stopped in conference rooms and treaty negotiations: only mass action can make a difference. Urban and rural workers, peoples of the global south and indigenous peoples everywhere are at the forefront of this struggle against environmental and social injustice, fighting exploitative and polluting multinationals, poisonous and disenfranchising agribusinesses, invasive genetically modified seeds, biofuels that only aggravate the current food crisis. We must further these social-environmental movements and build solidarity between anticapitalist ecological mobilizations in the North and the South.

— The Belem Ecosocialist Declaration (via socialuprooting)

(Source: ecosocialistnetwork.org)

# Environment environmentalism

Reblogged 10 months ago from socialuprooting (Originally from unripeavocados) 87 notes

While many Americans were firing up barbecues and breaking out the sparklers to celebrate Independence Day, biotech industry executives were more likely chilling champagne to celebrate another kind of independence: immunity from federal law.

A so-called “Monsanto rider,” quietly slipped into the multi-billion dollar FY 2013 Agricultural Appropriations bill, would require – not just allow, but require - the Secretary of Agriculture to grant a temporary permit for the planting or cultivation of a genetically engineered crop, even if a federal court has ordered the planting be halted until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed. All the farmer or the biotech producer has to do is ask, and the questionable crops could be released into the environment where they could potentially contaminate conventional or organic crops and, ultimately, the nation’s food supply.

—

The “Monsanto Rider”: Are Biotech Companies About to Gain Immunity From Federal Law? (via socialuprooting)

oh no.

oh no.

# monsanto hiddleston tom hiddleston avengers government politics news july 4 july congress bill environment environmentalism oh no food organic gmo nooooooo activism social activism

Reblogged 10 months ago from socialuprooting (Originally from progressivefriends) 47 notes

reality-czech:

Actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo explains how the controversial practice of hydro-fracking threatens our health and that of our planet. The conversation with Deepak investigates how government policy has exempted fracking from the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, permitting the natural gas industry to inject hazardous chemicals and millions of gallons of water deep into the earth. Mark hopes to inspire millions to join the movement to protect our water and shift to a renewable energy economy.

# mark ruffalo hydrofrack environment ruffalo avengers politics news activism social activism

Reblogged 10 months ago from reality-czech 11 notes

Belo Monte Dam Suspended by High Brazilian Court →

Stocking up on paper? Buy recycled.

Killer Summer Heat

Most Americans Don’t Know What Fracking Is, Study Finds