We can't let EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler place polluter profits above our children's health. Send a message today urging him NOT to censor the science that keeps our children safe. MCAF. C3. Regional.

We can't let EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler place polluter profits above our children's health. Send a message today urging him NOT to censor the science that keeps our children safe. MCAF. C3. Regional.

Murder in the rainforest: 1700+ defenders killed, but their legacy lives on

In late 1988, less than two weeks before he was assassinated by a gunman linked to a group of lawless ranchers, the Amazonian rubber tapper, forest defender and environmental icon Chico Mendes told Jornal do Brasil, “It's not with public proclamations and well-attended funerals that we’re going to save the Amazon. I want to live.”

The jury is still out on what, if anything, is going to save the Amazon. But as the bell continues to toll for murdered environmental defenders in the Amazon and around the world — the most recent victim being Paulo Paulino Guajajara, a rainforest guardian in the Araribóia Indigenous Territory — it’s worth considering what has and hasn’t changed since that winter evening when Chico fell.

What’s behind the murder of environmental leaders

There’s been no change in the killing of environmental leaders. Over 1,700 defenders have been killed since 2000 alone, with only about 10% of the killers brought to justice. A strikingly disproportionate 30% to 40% are indigenous people, and many more are undoubtedly poor people of color. Last year, Global Witness counted 164 murders around the world, community leaders defending collective rights to forests, land and water ecosystems. Individuals or small groups covet these resources for short term profit, regardless of the environmental consequence or local peoples’ rights. In the case of Paulino — part of a group of Guajajara men who stood against illegal loggers as Chico did in his time — they are dedicated to protecting their rainforest territories.

For forest defenders and indigenous people in particular, the situation is worse in countries ruled by extremists like Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro. For the first time in the country’s history, it has a president who publicly promotes lawbreaking. “I primed the fires in the Amazon,” Bolsonaro declared to investors in October in Saudi Arabia, “because I didn’t agree with previous governments’ environmental policies.”

This kind of overt contempt for the rule of law is heard and understood by land grabbers, illegal loggers and miners as presidential endorsement. From there, it’s a short step to murder.

It’s not too late: Three ways to help save 1 million species from extinction

The Bolsonaro administration has also slashed funding for indigenous services. The Catholic Church Missionary Indigenist Council has described the severe cutbacks to its programs to protect forest peoples as “planned extermination.” Twenty-one protected indigenous territories with isolated indigenous groups are currently invaded, and the federal National Indian Foundation’s capacity to control or reverse these invasions has been virtually eliminated.

What it will take to stop the murders and deforestation

In such a dark time, we can’t lose sight of Chico Mendes’ legacy, or the movement he galvanized. Chico died, but he didn’t lose. His murder touched off a loud, sustained international outcry that resulted in real change. Today almost half of the Amazon is officially recognized indigenous and/or protected territory.

This vast network of protected land is one of the principal reasons Brazil was able to reduce deforestation by about 80% from 2005 to 2015. It’s why, even with an outrageous 30% increase in forest destruction this year over last, and tens of thousands of fires, deforestation rates are still far lower than before 2005. Leaders like Joênia Wapichana, Brazil’s first indigenous congresswoman; Sonia Guajajara, Coordinator of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil; and Raoni Metuktire, a chief of the Kayapô tribe nominated for the Nobel prize, are mobilizing effective resistance to the destruction locally, nationally and internationally. They need — and have more than earned — our support. Groups like the Instituto Socioambiental, Rainforest Foundation U.S. and EDF are working to provide it.

How you can help

As they did after Chico's murder, governments, civil society, businesses and indigenous organizations inside and outside Brazil are stepping up today. Outrage over the fires and murders is galvanizing support for new forest policy frameworks that create value for forest protection at scale and benefit both law-abiding farmers and forest peoples.

It has been three decades since Chico Mendes died. If we’re going to save the Amazon, and ourselves, the time for action is now. The organizations supporting environmental defenders need your help. And companies that buy commodities from tropical countries need to hear from you too. Let them know that they need to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains and work with first-mover governments that are putting deforestation control policies into practice.

Act when it matters most

Every day more than 60 people sign up for news and alerts, to find out when their support helps most. Will you join them? (Read our privacy statement.)

Donate to support this work $35 $50 jkornegay November 22, 2019 - 02:06

Murder in the rainforest: 1700+ defenders killed, but their legacy lives on

In late 1988, less than two weeks before he was assassinated by a gunman linked to a group of lawless ranchers, the Amazonian rubber tapper, forest defender and environmental icon Chico Mendes told Jornal do Brasil, “It's not with public proclamations and well-attended funerals that we’re going to save the Amazon. I want to live.”

The jury is still out on what, if anything, is going to save the Amazon. But as the bell continues to toll for murdered environmental defenders in the Amazon and around the world — the most recent victim being Paulo Paulino Guajajara, a rainforest guardian in the Araribóia Indigenous Territory — it’s worth considering what has and hasn’t changed since that winter evening when Chico fell.

What’s behind the murder of environmental leaders

There’s been no change in the killing of environmental leaders. Over 1,700 defenders have been killed since 2000 alone, with only about 10% of the killers brought to justice. A strikingly disproportionate 30% to 40% are indigenous people, and many more are undoubtedly poor people of color. Last year, Global Witness counted 164 murders around the world, community leaders defending collective rights to forests, land and water ecosystems. Individuals or small groups covet these resources for short term profit, regardless of the environmental consequence or local peoples’ rights. In the case of Paulino — part of a group of Guajajara men who stood against illegal loggers as Chico did in his time — they are dedicated to protecting their rainforest territories.

For forest defenders and indigenous people in particular, the situation is worse in countries ruled by extremists like Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro. For the first time in the country’s history, it has a president who publicly promotes lawbreaking. “I primed the fires in the Amazon,” Bolsonaro declared to investors in October in Saudi Arabia, “because I didn’t agree with previous governments’ environmental policies.”

This kind of overt contempt for the rule of law is heard and understood by land grabbers, illegal loggers and miners as presidential endorsement. From there, it’s a short step to murder.

It’s not too late: Three ways to help save 1 million species from extinction

The Bolsonaro administration has also slashed funding for indigenous services. The Catholic Church Missionary Indigenist Council has described the severe cutbacks to its programs to protect forest peoples as “planned extermination.” Twenty-one protected indigenous territories with isolated indigenous groups are currently invaded, and the federal National Indian Foundation’s capacity to control or reverse these invasions has been virtually eliminated.

What it will take to stop the murders and deforestation

In such a dark time, we can’t lose sight of Chico Mendes’ legacy, or the movement he galvanized. Chico died, but he didn’t lose. His murder touched off a loud, sustained international outcry that resulted in real change. Today almost half of the Amazon is officially recognized indigenous and/or protected territory.

This vast network of protected land is one of the principal reasons Brazil was able to reduce deforestation by about 80% from 2005 to 2015. It’s why, even with an outrageous 30% increase in forest destruction this year over last, and tens of thousands of fires, deforestation rates are still far lower than before 2005. Leaders like Joênia Wapichana, Brazil’s first indigenous congresswoman; Sonia Guajajara, Coordinator of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil; and Raoni Metuktire, a chief of the Kayapô tribe nominated for the Nobel prize, are mobilizing effective resistance to the destruction locally, nationally and internationally. They need — and have more than earned — our support. Groups like the Instituto Socioambiental, Rainforest Foundation U.S. and EDF are working to provide it.

How you can help

As they did after Chico's murder, governments, civil society, businesses and indigenous organizations inside and outside Brazil are stepping up today. Outrage over the fires and murders is galvanizing support for new forest policy frameworks that create value for forest protection at scale and benefit both law-abiding farmers and forest peoples.

It has been three decades since Chico Mendes died. If we’re going to save the Amazon, and ourselves, the time for action is now. The organizations supporting environmental defenders need your help. And companies that buy commodities from tropical countries need to hear from you too. Let them know that they need to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains and work with first-mover governments that are putting deforestation control policies into practice.

Act when it matters most

Every day more than 60 people sign up for news and alerts, to find out when their support helps most. Will you join them? (Read our privacy statement.)

Donate to support this work $35 $50 jkornegay November 22, 2019 - 02:06

Your holiday dinner talking points on climate change

Polls show that most people now understand that climate change is real — so you’re less likely to have to fight that battle at the Thanksgiving table this year. But what, your cranky uncle wants to know, are we going to do about it?

We think the answer is to move to a 100% clean future, which is a bold goal, but one we need since climate change is such a big problem. Here’s how to explain it over pie.

What is a 100% clean future?

A 100% clean future means we don’t produce any more climate pollution than we remove — resulting in net zero pollution. To do that, we need a lot more clean energy, and cost-effective ways to take climate pollution out of the air. We have to get started now, make big progress over the next ten years and get to 100% clean by 2050.

How will it work?

A 100% clean future is practical and achievable because it lets us have a mix of energy sources, as long as the overall balance is zero pollution. So pollution still produced by some factories, for example, will be balanced out by having bigger forests or farming practices that remove carbon from the air. New carbon dioxide removal technologies could pull carbon pollution directly out of the atmosphere, too. They’re not cost-effective yet, so we need more research and development.

Dig deeper: Getting 100% Clear on 100% Clean What else will it solve?

Reaching 100% clean will help reduce air pollution that causes asthma and heart disease. And reorienting our economy toward using more clean energy will help us win the race for clean energy jobs — we’ll be selling new technology to Europe and China, not the other way around.

Tell Congress: It's Time to Go 100% Clean Why now?

The threat of climate change is the biggest reason to get to 100% clean, and the consequences of failure are huge. Citibank estimates that it will cost the U.S. more than $40 trillion if we don’t deal with climate change. And the best science says we have to get there by the middle of the century at the latest to avoid the worst impacts.

There are lots of good reasons for transitioning to a 100% clean future, but the most important one is that kid across the table with gravy on her face. We need to leave a better world for her.

Tell Congress it's time to go 100% clean tmoran November 22, 2019 - 02:00

Your holiday dinner talking points on climate change

Polls show that most people now understand that climate change is real — so you’re less likely to have to fight that battle at the Thanksgiving table this year. But what, your cranky uncle wants to know, are we going to do about it?

We think the answer is to move to a 100% clean future, which is a bold goal, but one we need since climate change is such a big problem. Here’s how to explain it over pie.

What is a 100% clean future?

A 100% clean future means we don’t produce any more climate pollution than we remove — resulting in net zero pollution. To do that, we need a lot more clean energy, and cost-effective ways to take climate pollution out of the air. We have to get started now, make big progress over the next ten years and get to 100% clean by 2050.

How will it work?

A 100% clean future is practical and achievable because it lets us have a mix of energy sources, as long as the overall balance is zero pollution. So pollution still produced by some factories, for example, will be balanced out by having bigger forests or farming practices that remove carbon from the air. New carbon dioxide removal technologies could pull carbon pollution directly out of the atmosphere, too. They’re not cost-effective yet, so we need more research and development.

Dig deeper: Getting 100% Clear on 100% Clean What else will it solve?

Reaching 100% clean will help reduce air pollution that causes asthma and heart disease. And reorienting our economy toward using more clean energy will help us win the race for clean energy jobs — we’ll be selling new technology to Europe and China, not the other way around.

Tell Congress: It's Time to Go 100% Clean Why now?

The threat of climate change is the biggest reason to get to 100% clean, and the consequences of failure are huge. Citibank estimates that it will cost the U.S. more than $40 trillion if we don’t deal with climate change. And the best science says we have to get there by the middle of the century at the latest to avoid the worst impacts.

There are lots of good reasons for transitioning to a 100% clean future, but the most important one is that kid across the table with gravy on her face. We need to leave a better world for her.

Tell Congress it's time to go 100% clean tmoran November 22, 2019 - 02:00

Written by Sasha Tenenbaum

Moms Clean Air Force staff and members made news throughout the country this week!

EDF, Allies Sue EPA over Attempt to Revoke State Clean Cars Authority

Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak today issued an executive order reaffirming the state’s climate goals set last spring in SB254, and directing state agencies to develop the menu of policy options necessary to meet those targets—most critically cutting climate pollution 45% below 2005 levels by 2030.

(This post was co-written by Mandy Warner) Two new analyses show significant opportunities for Pennsylvania under environmental protections that are compatible with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – commonly known as RGGI. RGGI is a collaboration of nine northeast states that is designed to lower carbon pollution from the power sector. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf […]

Editor’s note: This is the last in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we have investigated how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

The post Building fisheries for the future appeared first on EDFish.

Editor’s note: This is the last in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we have investigated how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

The post Building fisheries for the future appeared first on EDFish.

Editor’s note: This is the last in a multi-part blog series, Fisheries for the Future, examining the impacts from climate change on global fisheries and the opportunities to address these emerging challenges. Throughout the series, we have investigated how climate change will impact the world’s supply and distribution of fish and what we can do […]

Written by Dominique Browning

The House released a historic bill today to address the climate emergency, called the 100% Clean Economy Act. It calls for sweeping, urgent action, starting immediately, to cut net US climate pollution to zero. 100% Clean.

By Ananya Roy and Tammy Thompson As production of oil and gas in the United States has expanded, it’s no longer uncommon to see rigs and well pads nestled in communities. For example, Weld County in Colorado ranked fourth in the nation for population growth in 2017, and has issued thousands of new permits for […]