Environmentalism

On Wednesday night, indigenous and environmental-rights activist Berta Cáceres was shot dead in her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. And while the Honduran police claim that she was killed as part of a “botched robbery,” her family, friends and supporters are convinced that her death was a political assassination, particularly after the long string of death threats the 44-year-old had received throughout her career defending natural resources and indigenous lands against corporate projects in Honduras. “It was absolutely a political crime,” one supporter told Reuters at a Thursday rally, protesting Cáceres’s death and calling for a full investigation into the murder. “Bertita [an affectionate nickname] Cáceres was totally committed to the fight for the defense of waters, rivers, forests, and the land of indigenous peoples and the rights of peasants. Today she has paid with her life at dawn.” Honduras is one of the murder capitals … [Read more...] about Who Murdered Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres?

Environmental groups are criticizing new draft agreements presented at a United Nations (UN) climate summit, saying they won't do enough to combat the threats of climate change as participating countries fail to come to a consensus. Vanessa Perez-Cirera, the head of the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) delegation to the conference, which is being held in Madrid, on Saturday called the latest draft "weak" and "shocking."“The extremely weak draft decision text made available this morning is shocking, especially in regards to climate ambition. We are in a climate crisis - references to enhancing climate pledges.... in 2020 are desperately needed in this draft text and they have been virtually eliminated," she said, according to the WWF. "This version of the draft text is unacceptable."ADVERTISEMENTIt was also criticized by Alden Meyer, a policy and strategy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.“I’ve been attending these climate negotiations since they first … [Read more...] about Environmental groups blast draft agreements as UN climate talks deadlock

Southeast Asian environmental activists  – including young counterparts to teenage activist and Time magazine person of the year Greta Thunberg – are concerned they are not getting the attention that the climate emergency deserves, complaining that the region's authorities are leaving this month’s climate negotiations in Madrid, also known as COP25, without committing to new climate action plans for 2020, as other nations have done. The negotiations are meant to find a way to carry out the plans, agreed to in Paris in 2015, to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. However they have broken down as negotiators cannot agree on how much rich nations should spend to support poor nations to enact the plans. Many Southeast Asian governments want such supporting funds but their constituents also say the governments need to promise more dramatic emissions decreases. Disagreement Drags UN Climate Talks Into Second Extra Day Among main issues still being discussed are … [Read more...] about Southeast Asian Environmental Activists Say Region Must do More

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio appeals court this week upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the state against the builders of a natural gas pipeline over spills of drilling fluid into wetlands during construction in 2017. A three-judge panel for the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Canton said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency lacked the authority to enforce regulations against Rover Pipeline LLC because it failed to act within a year’s time on the company’s 2016 application for a clean water certificate. The $4.3 billion Rover Pipeline consists of twin 42-inch high-pressure lines that span 713 miles (1,147 kilometers) miles from northern West Virginia into Michigan. They are capable of carrying 3.25 billion cubic feet (92 million cubic meters) of natural gas per day, an amount that can serve the needs of 30,000 homes for a year. The pipelines began carrying gas in August 2017. The project developed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners drew the attention … [Read more...] about Dismissal Of Ohio Lawsuit Against Pipeline Company Is Upheld

From the Town of Danvers:December 13 2019FREE CURBSIDE TEXTILE RECYCLING SERVICE STARTING DECEMBER 16Beginning Monday, December 16, 2019 , Danvers residents with curbside trash and recycling pickup will be able to recycle unwanted textiles simply by bagging them and leaving them at the curb on their regular scheduled recycling collection day. The Danvers Department of Public Works (DPW) is providing this new service, free to the residents of Danvers, in partnership with Simple Recycling.According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), about 84% of old clothes, shoes, belts, handbags and textile items end up in a landfill or an incinerator. On average, that results in approximately 68 pounds of textile items per household each year. As a result, textiles comprise more than 6% of all the residential and municipal trash in the United States, and more than 8% in Massachusetts. Simple Recycling aims to change that.Simple Recycling provides free curbside collection and … [Read more...] about Danvers Offering Curbside Textile Pickup