EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS - June 11, 2020

[Emerald]

​EARTH ACTION IN THE NEWS  

Welcome to the people who have joined recently.  This is a simple weekly newsletter.  Your participation is encouraged.  Please share information and actions about climate change, climate justice, GMOs, toxic chemicals, and Earth-related topics.
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This newsletter is focused on Earth-related topics within the context of intersectionality recognizing that the same capitalist system responsible for environmental harm is the white supremacist system perpetrating oppression and brutality.  Each of us is doing our part to uphold or dismantle this system in our daily choices.  We also create a collective reality by envisioning a world that we choose and live within that: a world of equality, love, and reverence for the sanctity of all life.

BREAKTHROUGH!

Charges Dropped Against 22 Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders (video)

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/6/8/headlines/charges_dropped_against_22_wetsuweten_land_defenders

LEED Platinum-certified Half Moon Bay Library targets net-zero energy

https://inhabitat.com/leed-platinum-certified-half-moon-bay-library-targets-net-zero-energy/?fbclid=IwAR36qiHr7BOKIJ1nRxEy4l0XbfqY1uIFFp9kKhjSGujR2bc7ozl6IU-liis

Waterkeeper Groups Achieve Settlement with EPA on Drinking Water Safety
https://waterkeeper.org/news/waterkeeper-groups-achieve-settlement-with-epa-on-drinking-water-safety/

LOCAL REPORTS

Three killed when helicopter hits power line in Solano County
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/11006957-181/helicopter-crashes-onto-hillside-near?trk_msg=963HHNKGENJ4T1ENFH7FFGHN0S&trk_contact=QQQLPEJ4NTMGK1AJ6O84IQKD2K&trk_module=new&trk_sid=J6TMP10N9VVKLQRIH6QPHGK66K&utm_email=94D5D43DA4752562A4E1D47CED&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pressdemocrat.com%2fnews%2f11006957-181%2fhelicopter-crashes-onto-hillside-near&utm_campaign=pd_daily&sba=AAS

GMOs, GLYPHOSATE & TOXINS

A Federal Court Just Halted Use of a Highly Controversial Herbicide

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/06/a-federal-court-just-halted-use-of-a-highly-controversial-herbicide/

Court overturns EPA approval of Bayer dicamba herbicide; says regulator “understated the risks”

https://usrtk.org/pesticides/court-orders-epa-approvals-of-bayer-dicamba-herbicide-vacated-says-regulator-understated-the-risks/

FOSSIL FUELS

Shunning virus and Big Oil, Alaska tribe revives traditions

https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/shunning-virus-and-big-oil-alaska-tribe-revives-traditions?fbclid=IwAR2jK1WhHYqVsHKY0O2IjiX_06UAU9vkK89avldDv2v45hHTTwGOgyMFL-0

ECB injects over €7 billion into fossil fuels since start of COVID-19 crisis

https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/3933/ecb-injects-e7-billion-into-fossil-fuels-coronavirus-crisis/

PIPELINES

RCMP, Pipeline Firm Spill Fuel on Wet’suwet’en Territory

https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/06/04/Pipeline-Spill-Wetsuweten-Territory/

Enbridge Line 3 oil pipeline replacement faces new delay over water concerns

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-global-enbridge-inc/enbridge-line-3-oil-pipeline-replacement-faces-new-delay-over-water-concerns-idUSKBN23A34P

PLASTIC & POLLUTION

Plastic Is the Hero of Coronavirus, Says the Plastics Industry
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/plastic-is-the-hero-of-coronavirus-says-the-plastics-industry-1.1447143

"The biggest factor in whether single-use plastic will maintain its momentum post-Covid-19 may be the price of oil, which has collapsed because of the twin pressures of the pandemic and the Russia-Saudi Arabia price war. BloombergNEF materials analyst Julia Attwood says that while she and her colleagues have adjusted their forecasts slightly downward in the near term, strong demand should keep plastic production high despite the lower margins on cheaper product. That’s not ideal for manufacturers, but it’s worse for recyclers. With businesses around the world hurting, they may not be able to justify the expense of using recycled plastic when the virgin material costs so much less."

3 Innovations Leading the Fight to Save Our Ocean
https://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-innovations-2646152801.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

Gas stoves making indoor air up to five times dirtier than outdoor air, report finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/05/gas-stoves-air-pollution-environment
"Gas cookers making people sick and exposing tens of millions to air pollution levels that would be illegal if they were outside."

GREEN NEW DEAL
Europe’s Recovery Plan Has Green Strings Attached

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-27/europe-pledges-green-recovery-in-historic-stimulus-program?sref=1Akj1jLg

European Call: 3 solutions for climate and jobs

https://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/opinion/european-call-3-solutions-for-climate-and-jobs

WAKE UP CALL

BP to Cut 10,000 Jobs as Oil Demand Plummets

https://www.ecowatch.com/bp-job-cuts-oil-demand-coronavirus-2646165522.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=944bfec7d9-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-944bfec7d9-86095421

Laudato Si' validates centuries of indigenous knowledge to defend nature

https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/laudato-si-validates-centuries-indigenous-knowledge-defend-nature

Melting permafrost behind the worst spill in Arctic history

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-06-06/Worst-spill-in-Arctic-history-caused-permafrost-to-melt-R6blWUcMQ8/index.html

Forests are losing their oldest and tallest trees, study says. Here’s why

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article243107616.html

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article243107616.html#storylink=cpy

SoCalGas ramps up use of Aliso Canyon, site of worst gas leak in U.S. history

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-06-09/socalgas-ramps-up-use-of-aliso-canyon-site-of-worst-gas-leak

The Path Beyond Extinction and Escape: Return to Earth, Regenerate and Share by Vandana Shiva
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/06/05/path-beyond-extinction-and-escape-return-earth-regenerate-and-share?cd-origin=rss&utm_term=AO&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_content=email&utm_source=Weekly%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Email

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE ARTICLE READ THIS ONE!

Putin orders state of emergency after huge fuel spill inside Arctic Circle

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/03/vladimir-putin-orders-state-of-emergency-huge-fuel-spill-siberia-power-plant-kerch

Gulf of Mexico ‘Dead Zone’ Will Be Large This Summer, Scientists Predict

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/climate/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone.html

THINK TANK & STRATEGY

Beyond a climate of comfortable ignorance

https://theecologist.org/2020/jun/08/beyond-climate-comfortable-ignorance

New Jersey Becomes First State to Put the Climate Crisis in Its K-12 Curriculum

https://www.ecowatch.com/new-jersey-schools-climate-science-curriculum-2646152515.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5

US Outlines $4.6 Billion Plan to Protect Miami From Climate Impacts

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/us-outlines-4-6-billion-plan-to-protect-miami-from-climate-impacts/2244978/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_wtvj_twt_shr

Ocean Discovery Complicates Plans to Slash Climate Pollution
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-05/covid-19-affects-how-much-co-the-oceans-absorb-slowing-warming

To Save the Climate, Look to the Oceans

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/to-save-the-climate-look-to-the-oceans/

Racism Is Killing the Planet

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/racism-killing-planet#.Xt-SvHbn60d.twitter

"The ideology of white supremacy leads the way toward disposable people and a disposable natural world."

Why Every Environmentalist Should Be Anti-Racist

https://www.vogue.com/article/why-every-environmentalist-should-be-anti-racist

"Why is fighting for my humanity considered an optional or special add-on to climate justice? I’ve stood beside white environmentalists during climate protests, but I’ve felt abandoned by my community during acts of unjustifiable violence toward Black and Brown people. I’ve had enough. The time is now to examine the ways the Black Lives Matter movement and environmentalism are linked."

Why we can’t count on carbon-sucking farms to slow climate change

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/03/1002484/why-we-cant-count-on-carbon-sucking-farms-to-slow-climate-change

"These allow the businesses to claim credit for the carbon dioxide pulled out of the atmosphere, without cutting emissions from their own operations."

Black Environmentalists Talk About Climate and Anti-Racism
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/climate/black-environmentalists-talk-about-climate-and-anti-racism.html

DIRECT ACTIONS

New Orleans Activists Call out Environmental Racism Alongside Police Brutality in Week of Protests

https://www.desmogblog.com/2020/06/09/new-orleans-environmental-racism-police-brutality-protests

"Environmental advocates see the latest executive order as a gift to the oil and gas industry and warn that forgoing environmental reviews will further hurt the communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by polluting industries."

As Protests Rage Over George Floyd’s Death, Climate Activists Embrace Racial Justice

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02062020/george-floyd-racial-justice-police-brutality-environment-climate-activism?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3r7JKlg93nV0oy4KTtBnxG-wXFWxfhiH7ixODZz0fgJ1t_LLpxS6LG0Ds

"Protecting the environment must include protecting the health & lives of others. Without recognizing this & acting on it, the environmental movement will be spinning its wheels. The roots of the disproportionate impacts of things like pollution are tied to systemic racism."

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

19 Individuals and Organizations Building Stronger Black Communities and Food Systems

https://www.ecowatch.com/black-activists-food-2646150738.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

CATCHING UP

Moscow outlines €210 billion plan for Arctic oil

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic-industry-and-energy/2020/02/moscow-outlines-eu208-billion-plan-arctic-oil

Chomsky Declares “Morrison’s Australia” Amongst Top Three Climate Criminals

https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/chomsky-declares-morrisons-australia-amongst-top-three-climate-criminals/

Permafrost Is Already Thawing. Will It Tip the Scales in the Climate Crisis?

https://truthout.org/articles/permafrost-is-already-thawing-will-it-tip-the-scales-in-the-climate-crisis/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5b33e91b-8266-4172-b32a-2b7c2b938bf9

Why action on militarism is essential to action on climate change

https://wagingnonviolence.org/wr/2020/02/why-is-action-on-militarism-essential-to-action-on-climate-change/

ENDING ON A POSITIVE
Two-sided solar panels that track the sun produce a third more energy
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2245180-two-sided-solar-panels-that-track-the-sun-produce-a-third-more-energy/

Call To Action! 
We urge all groups including schools, neighborhood associations, organizations, clubs and groups of any kind to adopt a Climate Declaration.  Adopt ours or write your own.  Share your Climate Declaration with local governments, the media, write articles, and share information. 
Occupy Sonoma County Climate Declaration

Occupy Sonoma County, along with concerned, forward thinking people all over the world, declares that climate change has reached catastrophic proportions as evidenced by the current level of CO2 in the atmosphere, the melting of polar ice caps, and the continual rising of global temperatures.  This is a global emergency, and we must act immediately.​  We invite all forces of life to join together for our survival.  We stand up for life.

We recognize that the root of climate change is a capitalist system run by money greedy corporations and the governments that they control.  We actively oppose greenhouse gas producers, nuclear power investors, and fossil fuel companies by boycotting their products, developing alternatives, divesting from corporations that endorse them and insisting that governments at all levels take action.  We call on all governments and corporations to adopt life-sustaining practices immediately.

The people must act now to stop this destruction from continuing and reverse the damage this has caused​.  The future is in our hands.  We are the 99%!

What Earth Actions are you taking?

707-877-6650
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org
http://OccupySonomaCounty.org/es ​ (en español)
http://www.facebook.com/OccupySonomaCounty
https://twitter.com/OcSoCo
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJoCP-ePUTPWNgHZwtBelg

Occupy Sonoma County embraces the egalitarian, deep democracy principles of the Occupy Movement with a regional strategy for effectively organizing countywide social justice campaigns that are globally relevant.