Tag: Environment

#NoDAPL!!!

CELEBRATE! Courage, righteousness and tenacity overcome wealth, greed and cronyism in the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. For now.

Federal Judge Orders Halt to Pipeline Operation

Every now and again, the good people win.

On Monday, a federal judge’s order to halt operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) reinforced that belief.

The good people in this case are the members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North and South Dakota, other tribes that joined them in their lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps), and people from around the world who supported them as they fought for their sovereignty and human rights.

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Pouring coronavirus stimulus funds down a hole. Literally.

Despite people and small businesses struggling to make it day to day amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the North Dakota Emergency Commission is giving the oil industry a $33.1 million gift. That’s OUR money.

Using the money to plug oil wells? Surely not… Right?

A treatment that benefits only one industry in North Dakota is a tough pill to swallow for thousands of the state’s citizens who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, it shouldn’t go down easy for any U.S. taxpayer.

James MacPherson of the Associated Press reported last week that the all-Republican North Dakota Emergency Commission approved $33.1 million of the $1.25 billion the state received in coronavirus stimulus funding from the federal government to plug “orphaned” oil wells.

The funding came to the state as a result of the CARES Act, passed by Congress in March, which provided states financial assistance to help them deal with coronavirus pandemic-related expenses such as aid for hospitals and emergency response teams, purchases of medical and protective equipment and payroll support for healthcare providers. It also is intended to help states recover economically.

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Documentary Review: “Planet of the Humans”

The first and last question of the climate crisis: How long do YOU think we humans have?

Documentary Raises Green Energy Questions, Old and New

The profoundest of all the statements in the new documentary “Planet of the Humans” is the one left unspoken.

It comes in the final segment of the film, which was written, narrated and directed by self-proclaimed environmentalist and filmmaker Jeff Gibbs and produced by Academy-Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore. If the scene doesn’t leave you devastated, have someone check your pulse to make sure you’re actually a living, breathing and feeling human being.

Assuming you find proof of your humanity, then you’re also a being whose existence on planet Earth, a.k.a., “Planet of the Humans,” is intertwined with every other living thing. As such, your future existence depends on what we do to protect them, and ourselves, over the next decade.

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A Ray of Light Through Climate Crisis Smog

Oil companies are on the verge of bankruptcy. Now is the time to pivot.

Let. Them. Fail.

Donald Trump wants to bail out failing oil companies.

Wrong.

The right approach?

Let. Them. Fail.

The oil industry’s “doomsday scenario” is actually a ray of light through the smog for everyone else. Even, frankly, for its own workers.

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Activists Push for Fargo and Moorhead Climate Emergency Declarations

Declaration will be an acknowledgement that the climate crisis is an issue and that cities need to begin preparing to adapt.

Red River Valley Climate Action Members Gather Signatures for Resolutions

Activists with Red River Valley Climate Action (RRVCA) want the Fargo (N.D.) City Commission and Moorhead (Minn.) City Council to declare climate emergencies, and they’re collecting signatures to highlight community members’ support.

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Climate Change and Impending Battles for Humanity’s Most Valuable Resource

“All Politics is Local” – As global warming and climate change impact everything from oceans to prairies to peoples around the world, our “local” is the whole of the United States of America.

Water Wars & water wars

Disputes over water are as old as sand and… well… water, and they’re not about to dry up. Rapidly expanding and worsening effects of global warming and climate change are going to make them more intense and violent, to the point where they’ll likely be state-sponsored.

The climate crisis is affecting waterways, natural water-holding bodies, the severity of weather events and climate conditions around the world. Even as ocean levels rise, fresh water is becoming scarcer and ever more valuable to people and nations. Scientists tell us these conditions are worsening.

As they do, “water wars” changes from a mere euphemism for neighborly disagreements to “Water Wars,” armed conflicts between nations.

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