Category: ecology

Save the Amazon, veto the new Forest Code

GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL

    Dear friends,
The Amazon rainforest is facing its biggest threat ever. Damaging changes to Brazil’s Forest Code – the main laws protecting the rainforest – were just approved by Brazil’s Senate. These changes open up the Amazon to rampant deforestation and we now stand to lose more of this amazing ecosystem to destruction. Soon the only thing standing between the Amazon and the chainsaws will be Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who can veto these changes. We all have a stake in protecting this irreplacable resource.

You can urge President Dilma to protect the Amazon and veto the new Forest Code. clic HERE http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/amazon

We are edging closer to an “ecological calamity” in the Amazon rainforest and a vote in the Brazilian Senate has pushed us closer to the brink. It voted to approve destructive changes to the laws governing forest protection – called the Forest Code – that would open up the Amazon rainforest to rampant destruction. But it is not too late. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will have the opportunity to veto the changes – you can ask her to protect the Amazon and veto the new Forest Code.

Losing the Amazon rainforest to further deforestation would be an unimaginable loss for our planet and life on it, and the approval of this new Forest Code in Brazil would bring us one step closer to this terrible reality.

Not only is the Amazon home to one out of every ten species on the planet and important to the livelihoods of local communities, but it also functions as a carbon storage system, which can help us avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change. If deforestation and degradation of the Amazon continues increasing at the current pace the damage could actually transform the Amazon into part of the problem instead of part of the solution. The emissions from Amazon destruction contribute to a feedback cycle that will not only make climate change worse, by increasing warming trends, but cause further damage to the remaining forest, as forest fires in the region would intensify. The new Forest Code would bring us closer to this vicious cycle. Some scientists are already discussing the potential of losing the Amazon completely – imagine a world with no Amazon rainforest.

It won’t happen, because we will all keep demanding real protection for the rainforest until we get it. We know that a future free from destruction is possible, and we’ll condemn any attempts to destroy that future for the short-term profit of a few – the new Forest Code is one such attempt.

This past year the agricultural lobby pushed hard inside Brazil to weaken forest protection, many of the people pushing for these changes have been fined themselves for illegal deforestation. The result is the new Forest Code – it reduces the size of areas under protection, pardons people who deforested illegally and weakens enforcement of protection laws.

The text that has now been approved by the Senate is really bad; after the vote, Greenpeace Amazon campaign director Paulo Adario reemphasized that it opens up the rainforest to further deforestation. He also pointed out that scientists and the public prosecutors office have already said that the new Forest Code is not good for the environment and will be challenged.

There is still time to turn this situation around. You can send President Dilma an email right now and make it clear that she has a duty to protect the Amazon rainforest and veto the new Forest Code. All of us, including President Dilma, have a stake in the survival of this amazing ecosystem.

We’d like to keep you updated on this situation as it develops, so please keep in touch and make sure you are following us on Facebook and Twitter.

Repsol gana 5% con ‘Fracking’ Argentina

note. posts on NH3 the CO2-Free fuel now have their own blog HERE.. http://co2freefuelexistsnow.wordpress.com/
Repsol YPF amenaza con el ‘fracking’ una región argentina.
Con el truco de declarar ‘nuevos’ depósitos que podrían ser explotados con la nueva técnica de ‘fracking’ Repsol ha ganado 5% en valor, no sé cuantos milion. No les importa que ‘fracking’ envenena permanentement el acuífer.
Pero los depositos de hydrocarburos ya conocidas son más que suficientes para llevar el Cambio Climático al límite absoluto de +2·C , así que
las prospecciones de Repsol son crimenes masivos contra el futuro de la tierra, denegando una vida a nuestros hij*s y condenando miles o miliones de especies maravilosas a la extinción.

| Continue reading “Repsol gana 5% con ‘Fracking’ Argentina”

Parlament aprova la mort de 60.000 ocells

E
catalan politicians vote death of 60,000 singbirdsEl Parlament de Catalunya ratifica un Decret Llei per a la captura d’ocells fringíl·lids encara que va ser informat en repetides ocasions de la il·legalitat de la norma aprovada.

SEO/BirdLife va enviar a tots els membres de la cambra un contundent informe en què es demostra que el DECRET LLEI 2/2011 aprovat, contravé la Directiva d’Aus (92/43/CEE) i la Llei 42/2007 de Patrimoni Natural i Biodiversitat.

Tots els parlamentaris estaven informats de la il·legalitat de la pràctica que autoritza aquest Decret Llei, fins i tot alguns d’ells van presentar els informes enviats per SEO/BirdLife posant de manifest les sentències del Tribunal de Justícia de les Comunitats
Europees contra aquesta pràctica i els informes dels propis tècnics de caça de la Generalitat i de la Secretaria General Tècnica del Ministeri de Medi Ambient i Medi Rural i Marí (MARM), però el Parlament de Catalunya ha ratificat, amb els vots a favor de CiU, PP i el PSC, aquest Decret i s’autoritzarà la captura de 60.000 ocells al territori autonòmic.

Actualment, SEO/BirdLife realitza una campanya contra la caça il·legal d’ocells a Espanya, que intenta acabar amb aquest tipus de pràctiques mitjançant la sensibilització dels ciutadans i el compliment de la legislació vigent.

La documentació remesa a tots els parlamentaris pot descarregar del següent enllaç:
http://www.seo.org/programa_seccion_ficha.cfm?idPrograma=24&idArticulo=6

Per a més informació:
Cristina Sánchez. Delegada de SEO/BirdLife en Catalunya;

Antarctica: Climate deniers murder Mother Nature

There is a myth among the climate change denial industry that the climate of Antarctica is actually cooling rather than warming, and that this disproves the case for global warming. One theory is that the (man made) ozone hole has temporarily cooled the stratosphere and this makes for local cooling in spite of global warming; but needless to say, even this week, outright deniers claim that the thinning and breaking of huge swathes of glaciers is meaningless.

This surprising claim is in the face of the 1.2C average increase in Antarctic temperatures between 1959 and 1996. And it also ignores the plain fact that on a more front line level, there is clear warming taking place – for example, the Antarctic tourist industry (yes, there is such a thing, now) is rubbing its hands with glee at the profitable prospect of being able to take tourists deeper into Antarctica – one tour has been extended from 11 to 14 days because there are far more opportunities to disembark and sight see compared to a few years ago.

And study after study, including this year, has shown increasing thinning and melt of ice shelves, with massive icebergs resulting. while a plague of parasitic crabs moving south with warmer water is currently causing concern for local flora and fauna. By contrast, the supposed cooling evidence comes from data collected at just one location on the Continent – the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research Station, along with rather a lot of extrapolation.

Antarctica has been described as the canary of the world – perhaps we should be listening harder to its faltering song.

from Viridis Lumen with thanks  http://viridislumen.blogspot.com/2011/11/antarctica.html

Greedy climate politicians trash the World

greedy politicians doom our children

note. posts on NH3 the CO2-Free fuel now have their own blog HERE.. http://co2freefuelexistsnow.wordpress.com/

The latest climate Talks in Durban are set to be an obscene farce as countries vie to be the greediest, stupidest, cruelest and most destructive. We need a revolution NOW, since the Nation States  REFUSE to adopt any reformist solutions, in the name of humanity and the millions of other species threatened with extinction…lets Occupy the Environment

Not content with burying the remains of the Kyoto Protocol the proposal is to  DO NOTHING until at least 2015. Continue reading “Greedy climate politicians trash the World”

Corrupt Brazil Senate votes for Amazon slaughter.

In what may go down as one of the worst environmental crimes of the 21st Century, the Brazilian Senate voted on Wednesday to retain most of the bad changes to the national Forest Code that had passed the House of Deputies earlier this year.

Brazil’s international commitments to mitigating climate change, maintaining biodiversity and it’s status before the upcoming RIO+20 global environmental meetings are now on collision course with the insatiable demand of its agri-business sector. In the coming months the issue will be laid squarely before President Dilma Rousseff who has thus far avoided comment.

re-posted from JustMeans    A revised version of Brazil’s Forest Code, a piece of legislation that regulates the use of forest coverage on private properties in Brazil, and whose draft was approved in Congress on Wednesday (23), has sent shockwaves through the sustainability community in the country and abroad.

An incensed debate has gripped the country over the last year, which culminated in yesterday’s vote. The new draft, which is designed to meet the requirements of the rural business, has been rushed through the House and the Senate and did not take into account expert opinion from scientists, who object to the new version of the law vehemently.

“The report continues to pardon those who deforested illegally and will promote more deforestation. What used to be an environmental crime now has become fantastic business”, said Mrcio Astrini, Greenpeace’s head of Amazon campaign.

Scientists have warned the new law will open way for the clearance of more than 175 million acres, or roughly the size of Germany, Italy and Austria combined, which would be come mostly pasture for livestock and soy monocultures to feed cattle, mostly.

This volume of deforestation would release more than 25 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, or four times the goal for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol during 2008-12.
WWF, which has been campaigning against the revised legislation from the beginning of the debate, said the proposed changes severely contradict Brazil’s efforts to become an environmental and sustainability leader on the global stage.

“Brazil will be cutting itself off from a growing global market for responsibly sourced goods, in addition to forgoing the countless benefits provided by a healthy Amazon, such as clean air and water, stable weather patterns and various other environmental services”, it said.

“We are watching, just before Brazil hosts Rio + 20, a clear attempt to dismantle Brazil’s environmental legislation,” stated WWF-Brazil’s CEO Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito. “This is something unprecedented in our history.”

The bill will go back to the House before being sent to President Dilma Rousseff, who can still veto it. “In the next phase, she will have to keep her word to veto or break her campaign promises”, said Mr. Gasparini in reference to Ms. Rousseff’s promise to not pardon those who have deforested.

The current Forest Code was written in 1965 and requires landowners to keep a certain percentage of their land as untouched forest, from 20 percent in certain areas to 80 per cent in the Amazon. The new laws would give amnesty from heavy fines to landowners who cleared forest illegally between 1965 and July 2008.

Rules related to the clearing of hills would be relaxed and forest areas near rivers would have to be between 100 and 330 feet from the river bank, which conservationists say will are not enough.

A recent report compiled by Imazon and Proforest found that Brazil lags behind other BRIC countries in terms of legislation that protects forest coverage. Compared with China, Russia and India, Brazil loses the race towards sustainability by deforesting more than it reforests.

MORE INFO SEE HERE 

Belo Monte site OCCUPIED. Work still stopped..

Altamira, Brazil – Hundreds of indigenous leaders, fishermen and riverine people from the Xingu River basin have gathered to occupy the Belo Monte Dam construction site in a peaceful protest to stop its construction in Altamira, located in the state of Pará in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. They Poor barrio of Altimira to […]

On sat 20th Aug a massive demo took place against the ongoing Amazon destruction for the Belo Monte dam. Also against the new Forest Law, now in the Senate, which ‘relaxes’ the already unenforced deforestation  code. Brazil had been a constructive leader in Climate talks, which came to nothing due to the greedy demands of […]

The greedy corrupt Brazilian politicians are voting to give free rein to their fascist landlord colleagues  and the McDonalds backed Ranching industry to  destroy the Amazon Rainforest. The politicians appeal to nationalist sentiment.. saying we have already destroyed our forests and they have every right. But 79% of Brazilians are AGAINST the new laws going […]

BRAZIL Politicians Out of Sync with Public Sentiment on the Environment By Mario Osava* Trans-Amazonian Highway outside Altamira in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. Credit:Mario Osava/IPS with thanks BRASILIA, Jun 29, 2011 (Tierramérica) – The environmental movement continues to gain credibility and support as scientific findings confirm its warnings and natural disasters become increasingly […]

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon from August 2009-May 2011.The analysis by Imazon suggests that the Forest Code debate may be a factor in rising deforestation. It found a 363 percent increase in forest degradation — logging and burning of forest that typically precedes deforestation — over the past 10 months, reaching 6,081 sq km. Most […]

”The surprise passing of the new Forest Law in the lower house of the Brazilian congress is due to a campaign by multinational  agribusiness and the big landlords who still own most of the country. The proposed amnesty for forest crimes has caused a 6 fold increase in deforestation already. The huge majority in favour […]

Dark Day for Brazil’s Amazon Jungle By Fabiana Frayssinet

foto. José and Maria. ‘They gunned them down and cut off their ears” An Amazon environmental activist and his wife were killed late on Monday and the crime is being investigated as a possible assassination to silence the outspoken forest defender, according to police. José Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, also known by his nickname of […]

URGENT AMAZON FOREST ALERT [UPDATE 20 May 2011: The Guardian UK reports, “Brazil forms ‘crisis cabinet’ following unexpected deforestation surge”.] Events are moving quickly in Brazil’s epic battle over a new national Forest Code. The struggle has has reached a critical stage full of both danger and opportunity. Please take action. EMERGENCY — BRAZIL’S NATIONAL […]

By Clarinha Glock* A solitary cow in a slash-and-burn clearing where there was once Amazon rainforest. C PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 16, 2011 (Tierramérica) – The adoption of a new Forest Code in Brazil could threaten efforts to curb Amazon deforestation, which was reduced 70 percent between 2004 and 2010. The proposal to amend the […]

Sat 26 Nov. Buy Nothing Day.//.Dia Sin Comprar NADA

in the US they celebrate it on'black Friday'. here on Sat 26th Nov

On its twentieth anniversary, Ad Busters plan to take it up a gear, marrying Buy Nothing Day with Occupy in order to #OCCUPYXMAS

En su 20 aniversario Ad Busters intentan casar el DIA SIN COMPRAR con el movimiento OCCUPY..para OCUPAR NAVIDAD

This year Ad Busters effectively merged Occupy and Buy Nothing Day to create Occupy Christmas, or for shoppers and shop keepers, a general nuisance. The havoc has already begun State-side as hundreds of people occupy store fronts and shopping malls with sit-ins and flash mobs. It will certainly be interesting to see how this translates across the pond and if the momentum will carry through to December 25th.

For those who want to take part in one of the most exciting anti-capitalist movements of recent times or just refrain from spending money for a day, there is a point to be made and pennies to be saved. Either way take solace in nothing and appreciate that you have something.

When: Friday 25th November (US only, but feel free to take part, or not) Saturday 26th November
Where: Everywhere and nowhere
Cost: nothing

Further information:

Occupy Xmas

AdBusters