Published on Jul 10, 2019
Thom Hartmann interviewed climate scientist Michael Mann in July 2019, here is a summary of it with a scope on our emissions, sea level rise, and what happens in the Arctic. The full over 11 minutes long interview can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDiQ7…
Published on Jun 16, 2019
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has apologized to the public, bowing to more than a week of mass protests by furious residents over a proposed extradition bill that would allow people to be extradited to mainland China for trial. But whether she will stay in the job as Hong Kong Executive is still in doubt. The people are still shouting louder than ever that they want her to step down. How will Beijing react to the massive protests? Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutsche…
published on Jul 22, 2019
A day of peaceful protests in Hong Kong, turned into a night of violence, after a group of “redical demonstrators” defaces a local government office. Attacks would breakout later in the evening at a Hong Kong Subway station as tensions rose during the seventh weekend of anti-government protests continue.
Published on Jul 22, 2019
The Environmental Protection Agency will not ban the widely used pesticide chlorpyrifos—even though the agency’s own research shows that it can cause brain damage in children. The substance is sold under the commercial name Lorsban and is banned for household use. But it’s still used by farmers on more than 50 fruit, nuts, cereal and vegetable crops. The announcement came Thursday. The Obama administration said it would ban the use of the toxic chemical in 2015, but the rule never took effect. It was suspended in 2017 by then-EPA head Scott Pruitt. We go to Seattle to speak with Patti Goldman, a managing attorney at Earthjustice who represented health and labor advocates in a lawsuit against the EPA’s original decision in 2017.
Published on Jul 22, 2019
A historic indigenous resistance is unfolding on the Big Island of Hawaii, where thousands have descended on Mauna Kea, a sacred Native site, to defend it from the construction of a $1.4 billion telescope. Scientists say the Thirty Meter Telescope will help them peer into the deepest corners of space, but indigenous resisters say the construction was approved without their consent and will desecrate their sacred lands. Last week, police arrested 33 people—most of them Hawaiian elders—as they blocked a road to prevent work crews from reaching the site of the telescope being planned atop Mauna Kea. And on Sunday, demonstrators reported that more than 2,000 people had gathered at the access road to stop construction. We speak with Pua Case, an indigenous organizer and activist defending Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.
Published on Jul 22, 2019
For ten years, activists and organizers have been fighting to block the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop the summit of the sacred mountain Mauna Kea. The proposed site for the 18-story telescope is the highest mountain in the world from the seafloor, a source of water for indigenous communities, and is known as one of Hawaii’s most spiritual mountains. The summit of the mountain is also part of Hawaiian ceded lands: land that is to be held in a public trust and is part of a conservation district. For six consecutive days, indigenous activists have been protesting on the land at the base of the mountain, rejecting new construction. On their sixth day of demonstrations, police arrested 33 community elders for blocking the main access road. Indigenous activist and organizer Pua Case spoke with Democracy Now! and described exactly what Mauna Kea means to the native Hawaiian community and how the construction of the latest telescope is “the one too many and the one too big.”
Published on Jul 22, 2019
The space race between the capitalist US and communist USSR saw decades of competition to push the boundaries of what mankind could achieve in space, all in the name of ideological superiority. Now, a new contest is underway, but instead of a clash of cultures, this is a clash of egos – between two billionaires who made their fortune on the internet. But Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk don’t simply want to get us back to space – they want us to stay there. Produced by James Wignall
Published on Jul 22, 2019
In contrast to the unwavering support that conservative and evangelical religious groups give President Trump, progressive churches and synagogues are fighting on the front lines against the administration’s anti-immigrant policies
One of India’s largest metropolitan cities is almost out of water. For many of the nearly 11 million residents of Chennai, everyday life has been put on hold and instead become about finding enough water to drink and stay clean.
Long lines are common at the water tankers brought in by the government each week. A special train is also bringing in some 2.5 million liters of water from a dam 250km away. But real relief won’t arrive until November, with the beginning of the monsoon season.
Climate change and a booming population have taxed Chennai’s water supply. But most are blaming poor government management for the current crisis.
Chennai’s woes are being watched closely in India, where 21 major cities are at risk of running out of groundwater by next year, according to a government think tank. The situation also serves as a cautionary tale for other countries that are water-stressed, including Morocco, Iraq, Spain and South Africa.
We’ll take a look at Chennai’s water woes and ask what the world can learn from this crisis.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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