Why the Gallatin Range Deserves Protection
George Wuerthner | counterpunch.org | 2018-08-20
The Gallatin Range that lies south of Bozeman, Montana is the largest unprotected wildlands in the northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The Gallatin Range is highly scenic with glaciated cirques, grassy meadows, and subalpine lakes. Biologically it is one of the more diverse and important areas in the entire Yellowstone ecosystem. The range is critical…
counterpunch.org/2018/08/20/why-the-gallatin-range-deserves-protection/
Saying Goodbye to Planet Earth
Chris Hedges | truthdig.com | 2018-08-20
Climate change is not simply an environmental problem–it is a planetary transition. We will survive only if we rapidly evolve to create new forms of civilization. | The post Saying Goodbye to Planet Earth appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/saying-goodbye-to-planet-earth/
Most of 21,000 oil wells approved under Jerry Brown are in low income areas, communities of color
Dan Bacher | indybay.org | 2018-08-20
"I wonder if Jerry Brown would continue to shield the fossil fuel industry if his family was forced to breathe the same air we do," said Francisco Gonzalez, a Kern County resident. "I hope he will consider communities like mine and put an end to the drilling free-for-all. It's too late for me, but all the kids deserve better."
indybay.org/newsitems/2018/08/18/18816966.php
UN Protection Proposals Rejected by Israel
INA | imemc.org | 2018-08-19
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, condemned the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' report on improving Palestinian protection in the occupied territories. Danny Danon spoke on behalf of Israel and announced Israel's rejection of the report presented by Guterres on Friday. Danon said, in a statement, that "The only …
Law Students Fighting Trump Agenda Won't Find Support at Their Schools
Shared by Merula Furtado | truthout.org | 2018-08-19
In the days after Donald Trump issued his first travel ban, pro bono attorneys across the country were celebrated " like superheroes," and the number of people applying to law school is increasing. Many of these applicants are seeking to arm themselves with a Juris Doctor degree to resist Trump's agenda. | Unbeknownst to them, though, law schools are ruthlessly efficient at systematically changing the disposition of even the most passionate civil rights activists into apathetic and institutionalized corporate attorneys. | Over the past year, I have watched this phenomenon unfold firsthand. The majority of students I met at my law school orientation seemed genuinely interested in wanting to learn how to use their legal education to make the world a better place. From environmental protection to antiwar advocacy, there was hardly a social justice cause left unrepresented by my incoming…
truthout.org/articles/law-students-fighting-trump-agenda-wont-find-support-at-their-schools/
Iran Easing Entry Rules: Tourists Will Skip Passport Border Stamps
Sputnik News | iranian.com | 2018-08-19
Iranian authorities will introduce protectionist measures to support the nation's tourism industry in the wake of unilateral US sanctions on Iran, Mehr news agency reported Saturday. [dropcap]I[/dropcap]ranian media outlet cited Ali Asghar Mounesan, the Iranian vice president and head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO), who announced that passports of foreign tourists visiting Iran […] | The post Iran Easing Entry Rules: Tourists Will Skip Passport Border Stamps appeared first on…
iranian.com/2018/08/18/iran-easing-entry-rules-tourists/
Science Says: Hotter Weather Turbocharges U.S. West Wildfires
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-08-19
As human-caused climate change has warmed the world over the past 35 years, the land consumed by flames has more than doubled. | The post Science Says: Hotter Weather Turbocharges U.S. West Wildfires appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/science-says-hotter-weather-turbocharges-u-s-west-wildfires/
Conserving Oil Is No Longer an Economic Imperative, U.S. Says
Staff | truthdig.com | 2018-08-19
The position is outlined in a memo released last month in support of the Trump administration's proposal to relax fuel mileage standards. The government released the memo online this month without fanfare. | The post Conserving Oil Is No Longer an Economic Imperative, U.S. Says appeared first on Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists.
truthdig.com/articles/conserving-oil-is-no-longer-an-economic-imperative-u-s-says/
A Rebuttal: Mohammad Mossadegh vs. Mohammad Reza Shah
Fariba Amini | iranian.com | 2018-08-19
"Those who have experienced solitary confinement and have dealt with it know how excruciating and hard it is to any prisoner who is innocent and faultless." -Mohammad Mossadegh "For many years I have realized that Iranian oil is the cheapest oil in the world. Twenty years ago, we knew that we could extract Iranian oil […] | The post A Rebuttal: Mohammad Mossadegh vs. Mohammad Reza Shah appeared first on The Iranian.
iranian.com/2018/08/19/mohammad-mossadegh-vs-mohammad-reza-shah/
Ryan Zinke Uses Climate-Fueled Wildfires to Boost the Timber Industry — and It's Not the First Time
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2018-08-18
Ryan Zinke worked to gut forest protections as Montana's U.S. representative. Now, as interior secretary, he's pushing the same timber-friendly policies. | The post Ryan Zinke Uses Climate-Fueled Wildfires to Boost the Timber Industry — and It's Not the First Time appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/08/18/ryan-zinke-wildfires-timber-industry/
Sixty-one-year-old worker dies in horrific fall into vat of oil near Disney World
wsws.org | wsws.org | 2018-08-18
John Korody was killed shortly after midnight on Wednesday morning when he slipped on a grate and fell into a vat of oil.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/08/18/disn-a18.html
White House lets payday lenders prey on military families
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2018-08-17
WASHINGTON — In what may be a new low, even for this GOP regime, the Trump White House is scheming to let payday lenders — one of the sleaziest industries in the country — prey upon military families, despite a federal law designed to stop such abuses. | Needless to say, the plan, floated by the Republican president's acting director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney — who is also GOP President Donald Trump's budget director — outrages consumer groups, a pro-labor veterans group and congressional Democrats. The GOP is notably silent on the issue. | The payday lenders are some of the most-notorious financial predators in the U.S., along with loan sharks and collection agencies. Payday lenders advance people money against their paychecks, but if the full amount isn't repaid on the exact date it's due, the lenders roll…
peoplesworld.org/article/white-house-lets-payday-lenders-prey-on-military-families/
Hothouse Earth
Robert Hunziker | counterpunch.org | 2018-08-17
An interesting new study: "Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene," Will Steffen, Johan Rockstrà∂m et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Aug. 6, 2018 lays out the pathway for Earth entering a Hothouse Climate State.
counterpunch.org/2018/08/17/hothouse-earth/
65 California Cities, Counties Oppose Trump's Offshore Drilling Plan
EcoWatch | peoplesworld.org | 2018-08-17
At least 65 California cities and counties have taken action opposing new fossil fuel leasing in the Pacific Ocean since President Trump proposed a massive expansion of drilling in federal waters last year. That ongoing campaign now represents communities with 21.3 million Californians–more than half the state's population. | These actions, combined with recent public opinion polling showing that 69 percent of Californians oppose new offshore drilling, come as the California Legislature considers Assembly Bill 1775 and Senate Bill 834, which would prohibit new infrastructure to serve expanded federal offshore oil leasing. Members of the Coalition to Protect the Pacific have supported a campaign, which will continue through the fall as the Trump administration works on the next draft of its offshore leasing plan. | "We need to protect our beautiful South Bay as well as…
peoplesworld.org/article/65-california-cities-counties-oppose-trumps-offshore-drilling-plan/
DNC Reverses Ban on Accepting Fossil Fuel Industry Money
Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-08-16
DNC Chair Tom Perez reversed an agreement to ban accepting money from the fossil fuel industry that created a firestorm of protests, we speak with Janet Redman, climate change director at Greenpeace | The post DNC Reverses Ban on Accepting Fossil Fuel Industry Money appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/dnc-reverses-ban-on-accepting-fossil-fuel-industry-money
AP Investigation: Behind the Scenes in Yemen, U.S.-Backed Saudi Coalition Is Working with al-Qaeda
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-14
The U.S.-backed Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has repeatedly cut secret deals with al-Qaeda, even paying its fighters to retreat from towns or join the coalition, a bombshell Associated Press investigation has revealed. The AP probe accuses the United States of being aligned with al-Qaeda in the fight against Yemen's Houthi rebels, despite claiming to be fighting the extremist group in the region. One senior tribal leader told the AP, "Al-Qaeda wasn't defeated. It didn't fight in the first place." We speak with Maggie Michael, one of the three reporters for the Associated Press who broke the story, headlined "U.S.
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/14/ap_investigation_behind_the_scenes_in
What the 'Sensible Middle' Doesn't Get About Education
Peter Greene | progressive.org | 2018-08-14
There is no middle between facts and the story that the earth is flat.
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/what-the-sensible-middle-doesnt-get-about-education-180814/
Meet the Two Protesters Who Confronted Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke over Corruption & Climate Change
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-13
We go to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to speak with Sallie Holmes and Jesse Brucato, who interrupted a speech by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday. Zinke has faced 14 federal misconduct investigations since joining President Trump's cabinet. The protesters asked Zinke about his alleged ethical lapses and questioned why he refuses to acknowledge the role of climate change in the wildfires raging across the western United States. We are also joined by Politico reporter Ben Lefebvre, who broke the stories linking Zinke to a real estate deal with energy giant Halliburton's chairperson David Lesar.
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/13/meet_the_two_protesters_who_confronted
Interior Sec. Zinke Blames "Radical Environmentalists," Not Climate Change, as 100+ Wildfires Rage
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-13
As more than 100 fires rage in the western United States, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wrote an op-ed last week in USA Today about forest management on public lands that blamed "radical environmentalists" for the fires. "Most Americans get it, that climate change is no longer something we can just wish away with this administration," responds Joel Clement, who served as director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Interior Department until July of 2017 and worked at the Interior Department for seven years. We also speak with Ben Lefebvre, an energy reporter for Politico who has done a series of stories…
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/13/interior_sec_zinke_blames_radical_environmentalists_not
Experts: If We Don't Stop Climate Change, CA Fires "Will Seem Mild in Comparison to What's Coming"
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-08-09
The Mendocino Complex fire in Northern California is now the largest wildfire ever recorded in California's history. It started burning in July–the state's hottest month on record. Of the 20 largest wildfires in California history, 15 have occurred since 2000. This year's fires have already burned nearly three times as many acres as the same time last year. Experts say climate change has increased the length of fire season. In Oakland, California, we speak with Michael Brune, the director of the Sierra Club. We also speak with Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State Univer…
www.democracynow.org/2018/8/9/experts_if_we_don_t_stop
Venezuela's President Maduro Survives Assassination Attack On Live TV
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-08-05
Six arrests have already been made in the dramatic foiled terrorist attack.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13976
Fighting for a Way of Life in the Arctic
Debbie S. Miller | progressive.org | 2018-08-04
The coastal plain, opened for oil drilling by the Trump Administration, is the birthplace and nursery for the Porcupine caribou herd, and land that the Gwich'in call, "The Sacred Place Where Life Begins."
progressive.org/dispatches/fighting-for-a-way-of-life-in-the-arctic-180804/
Venezuela: Maduro Announces Economic Reforms Including Monetary Reconversion, Tax Breaks & Currency Control Changes
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-26
The measures also transfer an entire oilfield from PDVSA to the Central Bank.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13967
Glimmers of Economic Recovery amid Mixed Reports about Venezuelan Oil Production
Cira Pascual Marquina | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-20
Lower levels of oil production have been reportedly offset by rising prices and reduced domestic consumption.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13958
Trump Admin Closes Venezuela Sanctions Loophole in Favour of US Bondholders
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-20
The measure opens the way for seizures of Venezuela's US-based oil assets should the Maduro government default on PDVSA bond payments.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13955
Venezuela's Defunct National Assembly Attempts to Privatise Oil Industry
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-07-12
Grassroots movements have frequently denounced de facto back-door privatisation in PDVSA.
venezuelanalysis.com/news/13935