US ravaged by one chemical spill after another

RT America

Published on Feb 13, 2014

This year has started off with one chemical spill after another, dominating headlines and contaminating waterways. Beyond West Virginia and North Carolina, a number of smaller spills have plagued communities and forced cleanup crews to work day and night to deal with the aftermath. RT correspondent Meghan Lopez brings us the latest information from these leaks.

Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

80,000+ Moral Monday Protesters Fight For Justice Regardless of Which Party Is In Power

TheRealNews   Published on Feb 13, 2014

Reverend Curtis Gatewood: Moral Mondays protests are not pro-Democrat or anti-GOP, as activists have been fighting against injustice in North Carolina under both parties

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

The Sixth Extinction: Elizabeth Kolbert on How Humans Are Causing Largest Die Off Since Dinosaur Age

freespeechtv   Published on Feb 11, 2014

In the history of the planet, there have been five known mass extinction events. The last came 65 million years ago, when an asteroid about half the size of Manhattan collided with the Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and bringing the Cretaceous period to an end. Scientists say we are now experiencing the sixth extinction, with up to 50 percent of all living species in danger of disappearing by the end of the century. But unlike previous extinctions, the direct cause this time is us — human-driven climate change. In “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,” journalist Elizabeth Kolbert visits four continents to document the massive “die-offs” that came millions of years ago and those now unfolding before our eyes. Kolbert explores how human activity — fossil fuel consumption, ocean acidification, pollution, deforestation, forced migration — threatens life forms of all kinds. “It is estimated that one-third of all reef-building corals, a third of all fresh-water mollusks, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles, and a sixth of all birds are headed toward oblivion,” Kolbert writes. “The losses are occurring all over: in the South Pacific and in the North Atlantic, in the Arctic and the Sahel, in lakes and on islands, on mountaintops and in valleys.”

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Bill McKibben on Global Extreme Weather from US to Sochi

freespeechtv   Published on Feb 13, 2014

While governors have declared states of emergency from Louisiana to New Jersey due to the massive snow and ice storm, other examples of extreme weather are being seen across the globe. California is facing possibly its worst drought in 500 years. In Russia temperatures have topped 60 degrees Fahrenheit at the Winter Olympic in Sochi. Meanwhile in Britain, gusts of more than 100 miles per hour lashed western England and Wales overnight, and in London the Thames has risen to its highest level in decades. “This is the kind of crazy weather that scientists said will mark the advent of climate change in its early stages,” says 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben. “And it should be the warning that we need to actually do something, but so far our leaders haven’t taken up that challenge.”

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

California’s Historic Drought Impacts All US

RT America   Published on Feb 13, 2014

The drought in California is one of the worst weather-related disasters the state has faced in decades, and it may soon have an impact nationwide. President Barack Obama is visiting the Golden State this week to highlight the significance of the dry spell. RT’s Ramon Galindo shows us how the lack of water in the West is hitting everyone in their wallet.

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics
Food-Matters

Bill McKibben on Fight Against Keystone XL, Fossil Fuel Divestment and Obama’s Failures on Climate

freespeechtv   Published on Feb 13, 2014

Hundreds of college students are expected to risk arrest on March 2 outside the White House to pressure President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline project. Organizers of “XL Dissent” say they hope to stage one of the largest acts of civil disobedience against the pipeline to date. The Keystone XL would carry 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada to the Gulf Coast. In January, a long-awaited environmental impact statement from the State Department found the Keystone XL would do little to slow the expansion of Canada’s vast oil sands, and would not significantly exacerbate the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. The Washington Post later revealed the review was run by a dues-paying member of the American Petroleum Institute with close ties to the company behind the pipeline, TransCanada.

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics

Beyond Capital: The Climate Crisis as a Challenge to Social Thought | Mahindra Humanities Center

Harvard University   Published on Feb 13, 2014

Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago

Global Climate Change
Environmental Justice
Environment Ethics