(2018-12-13). COP24: Dominican Republic Requests Funds for Affected Countries. telesurenglish.net The Dominican Republic insisted on the need to activate a fund to assist developing countries in tackling the damages derived from climate change Wednesday, at the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. | RELATED: | US Hinders Collective Commitments at Climate Change Conference | "In the Caribbean region, in the last 10 years, there have been more than 13 hydrometeorological phenomena with great consequences for our ec…
(2018-12-13). Green New Deal Advocates Shouldn't Overlook Militarism. mintpressnews.com The environmental crisis was laid bare by the sobering December report of the UN Climate panel: If the world fails to mobilize within the next 12 years on the level of a moon shot, and gear up to change our energy usage from toxic fossil, nuclear and industrial biomass fuels to the already known solutions for employing solar, wind, hydro, geothermal energy and efficiency, we will destroy all life on earth as we know it. The existential question is whether our elected officials, with the reins of power, are going to sit by helplessly as our planet experiences more devastating fires, floods, droughts, and rising se…
(2018-12-13). You Are Stealing Our Future: Greta Thunberg, 15, Condemns the World's Inaction on Climate Change. democracynow.org 
Fifteen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the U.N. plenary last night in Katowice, Poland, condemning global inaction in the face of catastrophic climate change.
(2018-12-13). As U.N. Calls for Urgent Action on Climate Change, U.S. Seeks to Dilute Pact to Cut Carbon Emissions. democracynow.org 
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres issued a dire warning Wednesday that nations must act now to save humanity from devastating climate change. Despite this call to action, talks here in Katowice have been hindered by the United States and the world's other biggest polluters, who are promoting fossil fuels and focusing on reducing emissions in developing countries but not their own. Talks are supposed to conclude Friday, but negotiators have expressed little hope in meeting the deadline. "It's really hypocritical that the United States is here, negotiating in what I would characterize as bad faith," says Meen…
(2018-12-13). EPA slams door to justice on historic Black community. peoplesworld.org 
TALLASSEE, Al. — On December 10, leaders of a historic Black community in Tallassee, Alabama, denounced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for closing a civil rights complaint filed in 2017 against the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in the face of clear evidence, acknowledged by EPA, that the state's actions caused "adverse harms" to …
(2018-12-13). Fossil-Free Costa Rica: How One Country Is Pursuing Decarbonization Despite Global Inaction. democracynow.org 
As world leaders struggle to agree on a plan to curb global emissions at the U.N. climate talks in Katowice, Poland, we look at Costa Rica's plan to go fossil-free beginning next year. It will be the first country in the world to decarbonize its economy. Costa Rica generates more than 90 percent of its electricity using renewable energy. Costa Rican officials have announced they want to host U.N. climate talks in 2019, since Brazil rescinded its offer to host the summit following the election of right-wing climate change denier President-elect Jair Bolsonaro. We speak with Mónica Araya, a Costa Rican climate acti…
(2018-12-13). What World Do We Seek? counterpunch.org 
If David Attenborough (the British Natural Historian, narrator of the video series, Planet Earth and a national treasure in the U.K.), gives a speech to the UN proclaiming the end of civilization and few hear it, does our world still collapse? If the President releases the Congressional report on climate change on Black Friday and More
(2018-12-13). Young Activists School the U.N. at Climate Summit. truthdig.com At COP24, the gathered heads of state and their climate negotiators would do well to listen to wise youths striving for climate justice.
(2018-12-13). A "Conference of Polluters": How Fossil Fuel Companies Are Shaping Policy at the U.N. Climate Summit. democracynow.org 
Officials from nearly 200 countries are in Katowice, Poland, to negotiate how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. But so are representatives from many of the world's largest fossil fuel companies, including a lobby group that represents BP, Shell and ExxonMobil. Just last week, The Intercept reported that an executive from Shell Oil told participants at a COP side event that Shell helped draft a portion of the 2015 Paris climate agreement dealing with emissions mitigation. This week, activists protested outside an event hosted by Shell. Among them was Nnimmo Bassey, a Nigerian environmental activist and the di…
(2018-12-13). Santa Cruz Earth First! Spokesperson Dennis Davie Has Gone to the Summerland. indybay.org Long time Santa Cruz Earth First! spokesperson Dennis Davie left the earth plane on Monday December 10th.
(2018-12-13). Your Responsibility to Climate Change. indybay.org What we have is a rogue economic system that threatens the future quality of our natural environment and our survival. We have no choice but to fight against extinction.
(2018-12-13). Elizabeth Warren Has a Track Record of Taking on the Rich and Powerful. Don't Write Her Off for 2020. theintercept.com 
Sen. Warren stumbled with a DNA test on her Native American ancestry. But she's harder on Wall Street than Kamala Harris and Cory Booker combined.
(2018-12-13). We Must Challenge Capitalist "Solutions" to Climate Change. truthout.org Climate activists have described this month's Conference of the Parties on climate change (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, as a make-or-break opportunity to avert disastrous climate change. | The COP21 in Paris was similarly cast as a make-or-break moment in 2015, as well as the 2009 COP15 in Copenhagen. Since 1995, when the states that are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change met in Berlin, Germany, there have been COPs every year. As the COP is the treaty's supreme decision-making body of the treaty, it has final decision-making authority over how the treaty will be interpreted an…
(2018-12-13). US Consumer Board Conceals how Wells Fargo Fleeces Students. therealnews.com 
The Consumer Financial Protection Board kept a detailed report about how Wells Fargo has long been involved in charging students up to three times more for financial services than other banks do. Why did the CFPB not reveal this? Bill Black explains
(2018-12-13). How We Stop the World From "Burning Up" truthout.org With each successive report on the crisis of climate change, the necessity of a rapid and total transformation of our energy systems becomes increasingly apparently. In Burning Up: A Global History of Fossil Fuel Consumption, author Simon Pirani examines how the runaway growth in greenhouse gas emissions is driven by the social and economic organization of our society. In this excerpt, Pirani argues that whether we transition away from fossil fuels is dependent on how deeply we transform society as a whole.One way or another, society will move away from fossil-fuel-dominated systems. There are dystopian scenar…
(2018-12-13). US Seeks to Dilute Pact to Cut Carbon Emissions. truthout.org UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a dire warning Wednesday that nations must act now to save humanity from devastating climate change. Despite this call to action, talks here in Katowice have been hindered by the United States and the world's other biggest polluters, who are promoting fossil fuels and focusing on reducing emissions in developing countries but not their own. Talks are supposed to conclude Friday, but negotiators have expressed little hope in meeting the deadline. "It's really hypocritical that the United States is here, negotiating in what I would characterize as bad faith," s…
(2018-12-13). Costa Rica Is Pursuing Decarbonization Despite Global Inaction. truthout.org As world leaders struggle to agree on a plan to curb global emissions at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland, we look at Costa Rica's plan to go fossil-free beginning next year. It will be the first country in the world to decarbonize its economy. Costa Rica generates more than 90 percent of its electricity using renewable energy. Costa Rican officials have announced they want to host UN climate talks in 2019, since Brazil rescinded its offer to host the summit following the election of right-wing climate change denier President-elect Jair Bolsonaro. We speak with Monica Araya, a Costa Rican climate activ…
(2018-12-12). Trump's Energy Adviser Runs Away When Questioned by Democracy Now! at U.N. Climate Talks. democracynow.org 
The Trump administration is promoting fossil fuels at the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, despite outcry from climate activists and world leaders concerned about the devastating threat of climate change. Chief among Trump's representatives at the climate summit is Wells Griffith, special assistant to the president for international energy and environment. He is a longtime Republican operative who served as deputy chief of staff to Reince Priebus when Priebus was chair of the Republican National Committee. Amy Goodman attempted to question Wells Griffith about the Trump administration's climate policy at…
(2018-12-12). Collaboration Failure: Trump Trashes Sage Grouse Protections. counterpunch.org 
Last week the Trump administration announced it was slashing the area dedicated to protecting imperiled sage grouse populations from 10.7 million acres to 1.8 million acres and opening the rest to drilling and mining. For the faux conservation collaborators who were crowing about their great victory in keeping sage grouse from being protected by the More
(2018-12-12). U.S. & Other Big Polluters Obstruct U.N. Climate Talks, Stalling Efforts to Reduce Carbon Emissions. democracynow.org 
The world's worst emitters are hindering negotiations at the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, even as countries from the Global South warn that they could face annihilation without drastic action to confront climate change. We speak with Harjeet Singh, who has been observing how the U.S. and other big polluters are hindering climate talks. He is the global lead on climate change for ActionAid. He's been working with climate migrants in several countries, and he is based in New Delhi, India.
(2018-12-12). Typhoon Haiyan Survivor: Fossil Fuel Companies Killed My Family by Hastening Climate Change. democracynow.org 
As we broadcast from the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, world leaders and officials from nearly 200 countries are here to negotiate how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. But three years after Paris, they appear no closer to curbing global emissions and halting catastrophic climate change. New studies show global carbon emissions may have risen as much as 3.7 percent in 2018, marking the second annual increase in a row. As the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that humanity has only a dozen years to mitigate climate change or face global catastrophe, we speak with Joanna Sustent…
(2018-12-12). "Ha, Ha, Ha": At U.N. Climate Talks, Protesters Laugh Out Trump Admin Official Pushing Fossil Fuels. democracynow.org 
Democracy Now! was in the room when indigenous and youth leaders disrupted an event Monday hosted by Trump administration officials promoting fossil fuels and nuclear interests at the U.N. climate talks in Katowice, Poland. Wells Griffith, special assistant to the president for international energy and environment, represented the U.S. at the event. Griffith said in his remarks, "We strongly believe that no country should have to sacrifice economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability." Moments later, nearly a hundred protesters began laughing, drowning out Griffith, calling th…
(2018-12-12). Northern Minnesota tribe shows country how to do community solar. peoplesworld.org 
Last summer on a reservation in northern Minnesota, students from Leech Lake Tribal College earned their solar installation licenses while they dug, drilled and connected five photovoltaic arrays. The panels shine blue on the plain, reflecting the sky as they generate roughly 235 megawatts of electricity a year, enough to help 100 families pay their …
(2018-12-12). The Nobel Prize for climate catastrophe. mronline.org 
The economist William Nordhaus will receive his profession's highest honor for research on global warming that's been hugely influential—and entirely misguided. | Source
(2018-12-12). 4.4 magnitude earthquake hits parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas. rt.com 
A 4.4. magnitude earthquake has struck parts of Tennessee, Georgia and the Carolinas and seismographs have also recorded a secondary shock in the area.
(2018-12-11). Climate's last stand: why Extinction Rebellion protesters are breaking the law (commentary). mronline.org 
(2018-12-11). School Strike for Climate: Meet 15-Year-Old Activist Greta Thunberg, Who Inspired a Global Movement. democracynow.org 
As government ministers from around the globe gather in Katowice, Poland, for the final days of the 24th U.N. climate summit, we speak with 15-year-old activist Greta Thunberg, who denounced politicians here last week for their inaction on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She has garnered global attention for carrying out a weekly school strike against climate change in her home country of Sweden. "We need to change ourselves now, because tomorrow it might be too late," says Thunberg. We are also joined by her father, Svante Thunberg, a Swedish actor.
(2018-12-11). Congress Must Take Action on Toxins. progressive.org Why is the Environmental Protection Agency refusing to study PFAS? The toxic chemicals are found in drinking water around the country.
(2018-12-11). "Our Leaders Are Behaving Like Children": Teen Climate Activist Confronts World Leaders at U.N. Summit. democracynow.org 
Democracy Now! is broadcasting from the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, this week, where world leaders gathered to negotiate climate solutions were confronted last week by a teenage climate activist who says they are not doing enough to turn back the clock and prevent catastrophic climate change. Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg stunned the world last week when she denounced world leaders for inaction and told them: "change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge. And since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have…
(2018-12-11). Headlines for December 11, 2018. democracynow.org U.K.: Prime Minister May to Hold Emergency Talks with EU over Brexit, France: President Macron Offers Concessions to Protesters in TV Address, EPA Proposes Rollback of Water Protection Laws, Youth Climate Activists Flood Congress, Demanding "Green New Deal", COP24: Activists Take Over Trump Administration's Pro-Fossil Fuels Event, The Intercept: Shell Oil Helped Draft Paris Agreement, U.S. Rejects U.N. Migration Deal Backed by 164 Countries, U.K.: "Stansted 15" Activists Convicted of Terrorism for Preventing Deportation, California: Faith Leaders Arrested at Gathering to Support Migrants, Yemen Peace Talks Take P…
(2018-12-11). Young Climate Activists Storm Capitol Hill Demanding A Green New Deal. therealnews.com 
Over 140 were arrested in protests calling for Democratic leaders to create a plan to decarbonize the economy
(2018-12-10). WATCH NOW: NAACP Represents Communities of Color at United Nations Climate Conference in Poland. naacp.org Katherine Egland, Member NAACP National Board of Directors and Chairwoman, NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee, was among an NAACP delegation at the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties #24.
(2018-12-10). "Shame on You!" Protesters Interrupt Trump Admin Promoting Coal & Fossil Fuels at U.N. Climate Talks. democracynow.org 
Just minutes before we began our Monday broadcast, Democracy Now! spoke to protesters at the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, as they interrupted a Trump administration event promoting coal and other fossil fuels. We speak with Diné climate activist Leona Morgan.
(2018-12-10). As Polish Gov't Promotes Coal, Advocate Warns Coal Hastens Climate Change, Devastates Human Health. democracynow.org 
This year's U.N. climate summit is in Katowice, Poland, and the Polish government is using the summit to promote coal, with several state-owned Polish coal companies sponsoring parts of the talks. Democracy Now! visited the Guido coal mine near Katowice, which has been turned into a mining museum, to speak with Polish environmental lawyer Bartosz Kwiatkowski. He is the director of the Frank Bold Foundation, which is involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the expansion of coal mining in Poland.
(2018-12-10). Thousands Protest at U.N. Climate Summit in Coal-Heavy Poland, Facing Riot Police & Intimidation. democracynow.org 
This week Democracy Now! is broadcasting from the U.N. climate summit in Katowice, Poland, where the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait have blocked language "welcoming" October's landmark IPCC climate report that warned of the catastrophic effects of a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius, beyond which global crises could unfold at a rapid pace. The four countries rejected using the word "welcome," insisting that members instead "note" the findings of the widely cited U.N. report. We begin our coverage with voices of some of the thousands of climate activists from around the world who marched in…
(2018-12-10). Climate movement attracts new generation of activists. greenleft.org.au 
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…
(2018-12-10). Headlines for December 10, 2018. democracynow.org Sentencing Memo for Cohen Implicates Trump in Federal Crimes, Trump's Chief-of-Staff Kelly to Leave Post by End of Year, NYT: Kushner Helped Crown Prince "Weather the Storm" After Khashoggi Murder, Trump Nominates William Barr as Next Attorney General, Brexit Vote Halted as EU Court Says U.K. Has Power to Reverse Course, France: Fourth Week of Mass Protests as Movement Spills over Border, COP24: U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait Block Adoption of U.N. Climate Report, Protesters Take to the Streets as COP24 Heads into Second Week, Colombia: Indigenous Governor Killed Amid Mounting Violence, Charlottesville: Ju…
(2018-12-10). We Can't Separate Climate Justice from Opposing Militarism. therealnews.com 
At the conclusion of the Sanders Institute Gathering, RoseAnn De Moro, John Cusack and Bob Pollin discuss the key policy ideas coming out of the sessions, with host Paul Jay
(2018-12-09). Trump's Attack on the Clean Water Act Will Fuel Destructive Pipeline Boom. theintercept.com 
A new water rule that will strip federal protections from an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways will dramatically ease restrictions on how polluting industries do business. | According to the rule, which is due out next week, streams that don't run year-round and many wetlands will no longer be subject to the Clean Water Act. As a result, a wide range of industries — including agriculture, mining, waste management, chemical companies, real estate development, and road construction — will be free…
(2018-12-08). Reviving the Nuclear Disarmament Movement: A Practical Proposal. zcomm.org 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 more…
(2018-12-08). Global Carbon Emissions Set to Hit Record High in 2018. therealnews.com 
From COP24 in Poland, Greenpeace USA's Naomi Ages says that carbon emissions are set to rise by 2.7% in 2018 due to more coal use in Asia, and that to combat this trend nations need to do more than what they agreed to in the 2015 Paris Accord
(2018-12-07). The Deadly Cost of Pipelines in Native Land: Winona LaDuke on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. democracynow.org 
As the oil and gas pipeline boom crosses the United States and Canada, indigenous activists say the influx of male workers in Native communities has corresponded with a spike in the kidnapping and murder of indigenous women. We speak with Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe environmental leader and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.
(2018-12-07). Winona LaDuke Calls for Indigenous-Led "Green New Deal" as She Fights Minnesota Pipeline Expansion. democracynow.org 
While world leaders converge in Poland for the U.N. climate change summit, we look at the indigenous-led fight against destructive oil pipelines and the revolutionary potential of the Green New Deal with Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe environmental leader and executive director of the group Honor the Earth. She lives and works on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.
(2018-12-06). Don't Do Anything About Climate Disaster, USA Today Warns Dems. fair.org 
USA Today ( 11/27/18) warns Democrats that efforts to address climate change might "whisk them out of power" again. | "Democrats Will Push on Climate Change," declared the lead story on the front page of the November 27 USA Today. (The online version bore the more verbose headline, "Once Democrats Take Charge of the…
(2018-12-06). On the Line: A Bright REDD+ Line. progressive.org Indigenous peoples fight schemes to buy and sell their land in the name of a climate change 'solution.'
(2018-12-06). Climate Sanity—How We Get There from Here. progressive.org The path out of this nightmare is relatively clear—and communities on the frontlines are leading the way.
(2018-12-06). The fightback against Adani and Aurizon steps up. greenleft.org.au 
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…
(2018-12-05). President Trump Is Accelerating the Militarization of the Southwest Border. aclu.org Under President Trump, the slide toward a fully militarized border between the U.S. and Mexico is happening rapidly to the detriment of civil rights. | For decades, the ACLU has fought back against the militarization of domestic law enforcement agencies and the use of the military in our communities. Nowhere is this militarization more pronounced than on the border between the U.S. and Mexico — and President Trump is only making it worse. | The creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 accelerated the government's operations on the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP…
(2018-12-04). Sorry To Bother You offers rich lessons in seeking radical social change. greenleft.org.au 
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…
(2018-12-03). NSW law will 'lead to a new stolen generation'. greenleft.org.au 
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…