The Hand that Won't Sign the Paper: Adani's Stalling Project
Binoy Kampmark | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-31
It should be a sign for this Indian giant, a company that has done much to illustrate the ethical and moral bankruptcy in Australia's political classes. Despite support stretching from Canberra to rural Queensland, lifted by the fantasy of job creation, Adani is yet to dig the earth of what would have been one of…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/31/the-hand-that-wont-sign-the-paper-adanis-stalling-project/

Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil Would be a Disaster for the Amazon and Global Climate Change
Ed Atkins | globalresearch.ca | 2018-12-31
It is perhaps a cruel irony that, on the same day the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a landmark call for urgent action, Jair Bolsonaro surged to victory in the first round of Brazil's presidential elections. Although the leader … | The post Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil Would be a Disaster for the Amazon and Global Climate Change app…
globalresearch.ca/jair-bolsonaros-brazil-would-be-a-disaster-for-the-amazon-and-global-climate-change/5664339

Feeling Blue About Climate Change? You're Not Alone
Kristy Dahl | commondreams.org | 2018-12-30
Environmental protesters take part in a Greenpeace-organized march to call for the political and economic reforms needed to combat climate change while the COP24 summit takes place in Katowice, Poland. (Photo: Martyn Aim/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/climate_6.jpg…
commondreams.org/views/2018/12/30/feeling-blue-about-climate-change-youre-not-alone?cd-origin=rss

Greece child protection services 'disjointed and inadequate'
aljazeera | aljazeera.com | 2018-12-30
Successive governments are structurally unable to organise coherent system of child protection, experts say.
aljazeera.com/indepth/features/greece-child-protection-services-disjointed-inadequate-181222093452266.html

Polls Close in Bangladesh, At Least 10 Killed Amid Fraud Claims
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2018-12-30
Polls in Bangladesh closed Sunday at 4 p.m. (local time) after general elections marred by a series of violent clashes between rival parties that left at least 10 people dead. | RELATED: | Rohingya Refugees Pushed to a Frontline of Climate Change | Around 104 million Bangladeshis, of a total population of 164 million, were called to vote Sunday to elect 2…
telesurenglish.net/news/Polls-Close-in-Bangladesh-At-Least-10-Killed-Amid-Fraud-Claims-20181230-0001.html

The CPTPP is on, Despite Social and Environmental Concerns
teleSUR | telesurenglish.net | 2018-12-30
The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) signed by eleven countries and covering 500 million people came into force, Sunday. | RELATED: | A Revamped TPP Signed in Chile | The deal, which does not mention "climate change," has been criticized by experts for failing to adequately address climate change as trade is an important factor in producing global greenhouse (GHG) emissions. | "Silence on this issue isn't just a point of principle. Failing to recognize climate change has a policy…
telesurenglish.net/news/The-CPTPP-is-on-Despite-Social-and-Environmental-Concerns–20181230-0003.html

Canada's Barbaric Policies Toward Native Peoples (2/2)
Shared by Hezvo Mpunga | therealnews.com | 2018-12-30
MP Niki Ashton tells Paul Jay that Canadian government policy in Indigenous communities must be premised on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the principle of respect for free, prior, and informed consent in cases of land development | The post Canada's Barbaric Policies Toward Native Peoples (2/2) appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/canadas-barbaric-policies-toward-native-peoples-2-2

Climate Denial Still Reigns in Louisiana Despite Scientists' Dire Warnings
Shared by Anton Woronczuk | truthout.org | 2018-12-30
Louisiana is ground zero for the devastating impacts of climate change. Even though the state is already feeling the costly impacts to life and property due to extreme weather and an eroding coastline linked to a warming planet, its government continues to ignore the primary cause — human use of fossil fuels. | The impacts to the region, such as worsening floods, heat waves, and sea level rise, will only be intensified as the globe continues warming, warn federal scientists in the latest National Climate Assessment report. | But instead of heeding scientists' warnings, Louisiana's government continues to…
truthout.org/articles/climate-denial-still-reigns-in-louisiana-despite-scientists-dire-warnings/

Far More Is Needed, Say Green Groups, But Hour-Long Sunday Show Segment on Climate Crisis a 'Huge' Testament to Grassroots Pressure
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-30
"Sunday news show producers, more of this please. Especially with guests who acknowledge the scientific imperative of radical decarbonization over the next 12 years." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/climate_10.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/30/far-more-needed-say-green-groups-hour-long-sunday-show-segment-climate-crisis-huge?cd-origin=rss

How an Undercover Oil Industry Mercenary Tricked Pipeline Opponents Into Believing He Was One of Them
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2018-12-30
A former Marine working for the private security firm TigerSwan infiltrated an array of anti-Dakota Access pipeline groups at Standing Rock and beyond. | The post How an Undercover Oil Industry Mercenary Tricked Pipeline Opponents Into Believing He Was One of Them appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/12/30/tigerswan-infiltrator-dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock/

Climate Crisis is "Existential Threat," House Democrats Say — but Protecting Turf Comes First
Kate Aronoff | theintercept.com | 2018-12-30
Rep. Nancy Pelosi in her statement deemed the climate crisis an "existential threat," but her new committee will not have the power to issue subpoenas. | The post Climate Crisis is "Existential Threat," House Democrats Say — but Protecting Turf Comes First appeared first on The Intercept.
theintercept.com/2018/12/30/climate-crisis-green-new-deal-nancy-pelosi/

The Green New Deal: Let's Shake Things Up
Norah Vawter | zcomm.org | 2018-12-29
Is the Green New Deal too ambitious? No. We need ambition. The impending climate crisis is the biggest problem the human race has ever faced, and we can't think small…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/the-green-new-deal-lets-shake-things-up/

Climate Change Refugees Share Stories of Escaping Wildfires, Floods, and Droughts
Alleen Brown | theintercept.com | 2018-12-29
Tens of thousands of U.S. residents were displaced by climate change-fueled disasters in 2018. California saw a string of massive wildfires — from the Mendocino Complex in July, which became the state's largest wildfire on record, to the Camp fire in November, which was the deadliest. Meanwhile, Hurricane Florence, the second rainiest storm in 70 years of U.S. record-keeping, was quickly forgotten as Hurricane Michael slammed into the Gulf Coast, the third strongest ever to make landfall in the U.S. | The survivors of the disasters have resorted to camping in tents in retail parking lots, sleeping on friend…
theintercept.com/2018/12/29/climate-change-refugees/

Ten 2018 Extinction Awards
Bill Quigley | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-28
Given the way people are transforming the earth into a place where the human species cannot survive, it is only right and just that we honor achievement in the race to extinction. Without further ado, here are the top eight Extinction Awards of 2018. 2018 Extinction Global Person of the Year Award: Donald J. Trump…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/28/ten-2018-extinction-awards/

What is It About the American Character?
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2018-12-28
"What is it . . . about the American character that allows the long con of our politics to go on and on. . .?" — Ben Fountain, Beautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion and Revolution, 2018. What indeed can we say about the American character that clarifies the tribal state in which we now…
counterpunch.org/2018/12/28/what-is-it-about-the-american-character/

Rattled: Texas rancher stumbles upon dozens of venomous snakes (VIDEO)
RT | rt.com | 2018-12-28
A Texas man got quite a shock when he accidentally unearthed dozens of venomous rattlesnakes while working on his ranch. | …
rt.com/usa/447616-snakes-under-shed-texas/

10 Costliest Climate-Driven Extreme Weather Events of 2018 Caused at Least $84.8B in Damage: Analysis
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-28
From heat waves and hurricanes to fires and floods, the 10 costliest extreme weather events of 2018—driven by the global climate crisis—killed thousands of people and caused at least $84.8 billion in damage, according to a new analysis from Christian Aid. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/forestfire.jpeg…
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/28/10-costliest-climate-driven-extreme-weather-events-2018-caused-least-848b-damage?cd-origin=rss

'Not the Leadership This Moment Calls For': Progressives Slam Pelosi for Pushing 'Weak' Climate Panel Over Green New Deal Committee
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2018-12-28
Following presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) official announcement on Friday that Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) will chair the new Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, progressives accused the Democratic leadership of moving ahead with a "weak" congressional panel instead of listening to grassroots demands for a more bold and visionary Green New Deal Select Committee. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/pelosi_green_new_deal.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2018/12/28/not-leadership-moment-calls-progressives-slam-pelosi-pushing-weak-climate-panel-over?cd-origin=rss

How Curators Are Finding the Climate in Art History
Hannah Stamler | thenation.com | 2018-12-27
How Curators Are Finding the Climate in Art History…
thenation.com/article/curating-climate-change-princeton-natures-nation-show-review/

Without Notifying Anyone, ICE Dumps Hundreds of Migrants at El Paso Bus Station Around Christmas
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-27
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have ordered medical checks on every child in its custody, following the death of two Guatemalan children in recent weeks. On Christmas Eve, an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy named Felipe Gómez Alonzo died in New Mexico while in CBP custody. This follows the death of a 7-year-old indigenous Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal Maquín, who died on December 8–also in New Mexico–two days after she and her father presented themselves at the border in a bid for asylum. Meanwhile, authorities in El Paso, Texas, scrambled over the Christmas holiday to assist hundreds of migrant asylum…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/27/without_notifying_anyone_ice_dumps_hundreds

8-Year-Old Guatemalan Boy Dies in Border Patrol Custody Days After High Court Rejects Asylum Ban
Democracy Now! | democracynow.org | 2018-12-26
For the second time this month, a Guatemalan child has died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Eight-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo died in New Mexico on Christmas Eve, after being detained since December 18. This follows the death of a 7-year-old indigenous Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal Maquín, who died on December 8, two days after she and her father presented themselves at the border in a bid for asylum. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's asylum ban, which attempted to deny asylum to anyone entering the country from outside of a legal port of entry. Supreme Court Chief…
www.democracynow.org/2018/12/26/8_year_old_guatemalan_boy_dies

TRNN Doesn't Have Stances, but the Reporters Do — Q&A with Paul Jay
Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski | therealnews.com | 2018-12-25
Paul Jay and Dharna Noor respond to viewer comments that ask the Real News to engage with a wider variety of political opinion and question climate science | The post TRNN Doesn't Have Stances, but the Reporters Do — Q&A with Paul Jay appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/trnn-doesnt-have-stances-but-the-reporters-do-qa-with-paul-jay

2018: A Year of Climate Devastation and Resistance
Shared by Jocelyn Dombroski | therealnews.com | 2018-12-25
TRNN revisits the the apocalyptic extreme weather, dire reports, and resistance to climate inaction we saw in 2018. Help us make real climate news in 2019 | The post 2018: A Year of Climate Devastation and Resistance appeared first on The Real News Network.
therealnews.com/stories/2018-a-year-of-climate-devastation-and-resistance

A "Massive Outlaw"
Ralph Nader | zcomm.org | 2018-12-24
Interview on Single Payer, Climate Devastation, Impeachment…
zcomm.org/zvideo/a-massive-outlaw/

Willowbrook, Ill. residents call for closure of polluting Sterigenics plant
Michelle Zacarias | peoplesworld.org | 2018-12-21
CHICAGO–Controversy arose this week in Willowbrook, Ill., after the residents of Chicago's southwest suburb discovered that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has known about the cancer risk from the Willowbrook Sterigenics plant for decades. Community members are demanding accountability and the immediate closure of Sterigenics International. Demonstrators gathered around the medical supply headquarters this week …
peoplesworld.org/article/willowbrook-ill-residents-call-for-closure-of-polluting-sterigenics-plant/

'Domestic Workers Don't Have Protections Against Discrimination and Harassment' – CounterSpin interview with Mariana Viturro on Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Janine Jackson | fair.org | 2018-12-20
Janine Jackson interviewed Mariana Viturro about the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for the December 14, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. | Media…
fair.org/home/domestic-workers-dont-have-protections-against-discrimination-and-harassment/

ANC Deputy Julio Escalona: 'The People are Angry Because They Consider that We Aren't Doing Our Job'
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2018-12-20
The revolutionary's criticisms came during the passing of 2019's budget, 75% of which is destined for "social protection."
venezuelanalysis.com/news/14195

How to Feel Good about the Climate in 2019
Mrill Ingram | progressive.org | 2018-12-18
Despite national schizophrenia on the issue, a growing number of Americans are on board with accepting human-caused climate change–and doing something about it.
progressive.org/dispatches/how-to-feel-good-climate-change-181218/

Maldives: New Government Should Promote Rights
Human Rights Watch | hrw.org | 2018-12-18
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih interacts with supporters during a gathering in Malé, Maldives, September 24, 2018. | © 2018 Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo | (New York) — The Maldives' new government should make human rights protections a top priority, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih made public today. Solih, who was elected p…
hrw.org/news/2018/12/18/maldives-new-government-should-promote-rights

Climate movement attracts new generation of activists
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-10
The latter part of 2018 will be remembered for the re-emergence of climate action on the national agenda. | Independent Kerryn Phelps' win in the Wentworth byelection promising "meaningful environmental action" and Labor's subsequent adoption of a 50% renewable energy policy by 2030 has come in the midst of researcher Rebecca Huntley's findings that "climate and environmental concerns" have increasingly become "a test of leadership" for voters. | These centrist platforms, however, have been rightly superseded by the newest base of the climate movement: high school students. | Tired of the "dinosaurs in parliament…
greenleft.org.au/content/climate-movement-attracts-new-generation-activists

Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal
Lawrence Wittner | zcomm.org | 2018-12-08
In late November 2018, Noam Chomsky, the world-renowned public intellectual, remarked that "humanity faces two imminent existential threats: environmental catastrophe and nuclear war." Curiously, although a widespread environmental movement has developed to save the planet from accelerating climate change, no counterpart has emerged to take on the rising danger of nuclear disaster. Indeed, this danger‚Äïexemplified Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/reviving-the-nuclear-disarmament-movement-a-practical-proposal/

The fightback against Adani and Aurizon steps up
pip.hinman | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-06
Adani CEO Lucas Dow's November 29 declaration that work on a scaled-down coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin would begin before Christmas was met with one of the most powerful nationwide protests against it so far as primary and high school students walking out of class the next day for the Student Strike 4 Climate Action. | A reported 20,000 students, many of them with their parents and grandparents in tow, took to the streets with a powerful message to Adani and policymakers: ignore us at your peril. | This was followed by a sit-in at Parliament House in Canberra on December 5. | Another round of #StopA…
greenleft.org.au/content/fightback-against-adani-and-aurizon-steps

Sorry To Bother You offers rich lessons in seeking radical social change
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-04
Sorry to Bother You | Written & directed by Boots Riley | In cinemas now | This review includes mild spoilers. | As an Australian living abroad, incidents of Australians being racist and/or misogynistisic that attract attention from international media outlets are frequently forwarded to me in anticipation of a seething refrain. | My response is typically motivated by a mix of rage and embarrassment, as well as a deep concern for how racial capitalism has been almost completely normalised. I am deeply concerned by the fact that not only is our social and political climate ill-equipped to address racism, i…
greenleft.org.au/content/sorry-bother-you-offers-rich-lessons-seeking-radical-social-change

NSW law will 'lead to a new stolen generation'
kathy_f | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-03
Another stolen generation appears certain to be created in NSW, after the Coalition government passed a new adoption law making it easier for a child to be adopted by a foster family without parental consent. | The new adoption law, Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment Bill, passed on November 22 despite fierce opposition, imposes a two-year limit on fostering a child. The Children's Court now has the power to decide whether a birth parent should be rei…
greenleft.org.au/content/nsw-law-will-lead-new-stolen-generation

Eight new books for ecosocialists
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-01
Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus offers up eight new books as recommended reading for ecosocialists. Inclusion does not imply agreement with a book's contents. | *** | 1. The Biofuels Deception: Going Hungry on the Green Carbon Diet | By Okbazghi Yohannes | Monthly Review Press, 2018 | Eliminating fossil fuels is essential, but biofuels have far more to do with sating profit-hungry corporations than saving the Earth. Combining meticulous scientific narrative with devastating economic analy…
greenleft.org.au/content/eight-new-books-ecosocialists

A true people's artist
stuart_m | greenleft.org.au | 2018-12-01
Rock & Roll Harbour | Exhibition by The Shop Gallery | 112 Glebe Point Road, Glebe | Thurs January 3 — Wed Jan 9 | Peter Gow is the people's artist. | His ouvre is driven by his down-to-earth, inner-city environment such as boathouses and the heritage-listed Sydney Harbour Bridge in various attitudes, all of which feature prominently in this exhibition. | Gow is a qualified electrician and builder as well, very handy for making the frames in his spare time that embrace his art. | His deep, rich, contrasting colours leap from his palette onto the canvas. His short brush strokes create a palindrom…
greenleft.org.au/content/true-people%E2%80%99s-artist

"No Deal" Brexit predictions, GDP, average incomes, austerity and the CLIMATE CRISIS
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2018-11-30
If Bill Gates walks into a room full of factory workers then the average income of everybody in the room skyrockets. It would skyrocket even if everybody else in the room were going bankrupt as Gates entered. Similarly, the average income of the people in the room would plummet as Gates walked out the door even Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/no-deal-brexit-predictions-gdp-average-incomes-austerity-and-the-climate-crisis/