Activism : Activists

Tensions are so high over a proposed dam in the Brazilian Amazon that violence broke out at a May meeting in the city of Altamira to discuss the project. A thousand indigenous people from 26 ethnic tribes crowded into a high school gymnasium. Members of the the Kayapó, Juruna, Arara, Xipaia, Kuruaia, and other tribes that live along the mighty river’s second longest tributary, the Xingu, don’t get together in Altamira very often. But the $6.6 billion dam, called the Belo Monte, that Brazil’s electric utility, Electronorte, plans to build along the 1,200-mile Xingu River will affect them all. It would be the world’s third largest dam, with a potential installed capacity of 11,181 MW—and its reservoir would flood 100,000 acres, putting many tribal lands underwater.

Read more on the Amazonian Dam here 

Eleventh-hour demands from Exxon-Mobil and the toy industry are threatening our top-priority product safety reform law. In 2007, more than 45 million toys and children’s products were recalled because of dangerous magnets, unsafe levels of toxic lead and choking hazards. In response, both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation to reform and strengthen the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Now, special interest demands to remove or weaken key reform provisions are preventing the bill from reaching the president.

Click here to read more about the CPSC Reform Bill.

Please click here to sign a letter to our congressional leadership telling them to stand up to ExxonMobil and deliver a toy safety bill that will truly protect our kids!

In the latest edition, only two companies score more than five out of 10, as opposed to the previous version, when 12 of the 18 ranked companies had more than six or seven points. Overall, companies earned higher points on their chemicals policies and few points on energy and greenhouse gas practices.

Read more about green electronics scores here. 

The Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA's) crackdown on misleading green ads claimed another victim today after easyJet was ordered to change an advert claiming it emits 22 per cent less carbon dioxide than traditional rivals.

 Click here to read more on EasyJet

The "Space Race" of the 1960's grew out of Cold War tensions between the USA and "Soviet Union". In the several decades following the first Sputnik launch, each new rocket-propelled venture to follow symbolized the technological might of "Superpowered" enemies. Rockets, being smoking, roaring engines of war, as well as of moon landing, unfailingly got public attention.

Dr. James E. Hansen is, today, schedule to lob the 'ticking climate time bomb' metaphor into the hearing range of the US Congress. He his testimony will step beyond the science and venture into Federal policy making for climate action.

Read more about Dr. James E. Hansen's speech to congress.

Warriors from the Amazon basin tribe painted their bodies red and fired arrows to ward off the plane carrying José Carlos Meirelles, who says that he released the picture in order to highlight the plight of indigenous people in the jungle.

 Click here to read more.

The Burma Campaign UK produced a list of 154 companies that it accuses of helping to finance Burma's military dictatorship through a presence in the country, which includes 50 companies that are new to the campaigns 'dirty list'.

The new companies, including Toyota, Tata, BBC Worldwide and Kuoni, were accused as having commitments to corporate social responsibility that were "a hollow sham."

A number of the companies protested the severity of the charge. BBC Worldwide found itself on the list because it has taken a stake in the Lonely Planet guidebooks. Lonely Planet said that the act of producing a guidebook about the country was not the same as supporting the regime there. Toyota said that it sold around 40 vehicles in Burma, mostly to embassies.

The strike -- the longest major auto industry walkout since the GM strike of 1970 -- was considered by many UAW activists to be a watershed moment in the fight to maintain union standards in the auto parts industry. Members' reactions to the settlement varied.

To read on click here. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) will join representatives of the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Burger King Corporation at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol to announce that the corporation has agreed to work with CIW to improve wages and working conditions for the farm workers who harvest tomatoes for Burger King.

After Hurricane Katrina, billions of dollars came into the Gulf Coast region to rebuild. Signal International used these funds to hoarding much of the money and utilizing the exploitive “guest worker” visas to hire workers from india.

Learn more here