Tag Archives: indigenous environmental network

Statement on Doha Outcomes by Tom Goldtooth of Indigenous Environmental Network

Note: Indigenous Environmental Network is a close partner of Global Justice Ecology Project and one of the leading Indigenous groups organizing against both REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and the Tar Sands gigaproject in Alberta, Canada.

December 07, 2012

Doha, Qatar – Hurricane Sandy; Typhoon Bopha; the continued melting of the ice in the Arctic directly impacting the livelihood of its Arctic Indigenous peoples and; to drought conditions throughout the world. Mother Earth is speaking. Nature is speaking, but the governmental parties here at COP 18 are not listening.

Indigenous Peoples here in Doha are speaking for the rights of Mother Earth and the collective rights of indigenous peoples who continue to be vulnerable to the accelerating downward spiral of climate change. The indigenous voice has remained firm calling upon the governmental parties to reach agreement on commitments for a stringent global emission reduction regime that would stabilize greenhouse-gas emissions beyond 2013. A weak agreement here in Doha is a death warrant for Indigenous peoples throughout the world.

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Filed under Climate Change, Climate Justice, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Land Grabs, REDD, Rights, Resilience, and Restoration, UNFCCC

Poster: REDD + Indigenous Peoples = Genocide

Note: The photos in the upper right and lower left of this poster were taken in the indigenous village Amador Hernandez on the border of the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve by Global Justice Ecology Project Board Chair Orin Langelle during an investigative trip to Chiapas, Mexico with GJEP’s then-Communications Director Jeff Conant.  The trip was organized in March 2011 to identify and expose the impacts on the indigenous communities in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas, Mexico that would be caused by the California-Chiapas-Acre (Brazil) REDD agreement, which was announced at the Cancun climate talks in December 2010.  The series of events this week in California against REDD (also see previous blog post)  feature Orin’s photography as well as GJEP’s film “A Darker Shade of Green: REDD Alert and the Future of Forests.”  For more, go to no-redd.com

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Events, False Solutions to Climate Change, Forests, Green Economy, Greenwashing, Indigenous Peoples, Land Grabs, Photo Essays by Orin Langelle, REDD

¡Will Miller Presente! May Day 1971 DC Mobilization: This is What Revolution Will Look Like

By Anne Petermann, Executive Director, Global Justice Ecology Project

As I sat at home in northern Vermont yesterday, with the remnants of Hurricane Irene swirling outside, the rain beating in waves rhythmically on the roof, I thought about climate chaos—the intensifying effect the warming globe is having on the world’s weather; and I thought about the so-called leaders of this and other countries who stick their heads in the sand to ignore it, while corporations continue business as usual and the planet’s life-support systems steadily erode.

In the local paper on Saturday there was a front page article about the mobilization in Washington, DC against the tar sands: the world’s dirtiest source of oil and a major contributor to climate chaos. One barrel of tar sands oil results in three times the emissions of convetional oil.  The oil is mined and extracted using a highly destructive and toxic process that poisons Indigenous communities and flattens boreal forests in the region of Northern Canada where the tar sands are found.  Wildlife in the area is being devastated.  Indigenous Environmental Network and other organizations have been campaigning to raise awareness about this horrific “gigaproject” for years now.  And so far, several hundred people have willingly been arrested in Washington, DC to send politicians a message that they must stop all support for the tar sands project.  IEN is calling for an Indigenous Day of Action this Friday.

Today, August 29th, is the birthday of our good friend and compañero, Will Miller.  He would have been 71.  He passed away in 2005.  He was also one of Global Justice Ecology Project’s founding Board members.  Will’s birthday and the tar sands civil disobedience campaign have made me think of another mass-mobilization in Washington, DC—this one happened 40 years ago on May Day 1971.  It was called to stop another US government-backed horror—the Vietnam War.  That mobilization was designed to shut down Washington, DC.  To stop all business in the city.  To let the politicians in Washington know in no uncertain terms that there would be no more business as usual until the war was ended.

I was not there, but my husband, Orin, was.  As was Will. Though they did not know each other then.  The May Day action plan was for affinity groups—tightly knit groups willing to take direct action together and risk arrest—to take over key locations across DC and shut them down.  In Orin’s case, it was one of DC’s circle intersections.  In the case of Will, it was the 14th street bridge.  This collective  direct action to shut down the city showed the country’s “leaders” that the anti-war movement was escalating its tactics in response to the growing body counts in Vietnam of both U.S. Soldiers and Vietnamese people. An estimated three million Vietnamese people were killed in that war, as were 60,000 U.S. soldiers.  An additional 100,000+ U.S. soldiers who were in Vietnam committed suicide since returning from combat.

Will Miller (far left) at the 1971 May Day action in Washington DC.

The May Day mobilization was widely publicized and the authorities stood at the ready. Will (a veteran) and his affinity group had successfully taken over the 14th street bridge.  The National Guard—a group of young soldiers recently returned from Vietnam—was called in to remove them from the bridge.  The officer in charge ordered the soldiers to fix bayonettes and force the protesters off the bridge.  These young draftees looked at the mix of veterans and activists on the bridge, then back at their commanding officer.  Then they laid down their weapons and joined the protesters in blocking the bridge.

 This, Will said, was what revolution would look like.

 ¡Will Miller, Presente!  

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Tar Sands, Victory!

Photo Essay: First 2 Protests at Cancún UN Climate Convention

Two Photo essays by Orin Langelle/GJEP-GFC:

Wastepickers protest outside of UN Negotiations, 1 Dec

Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and Global Alliance of Wastepickers and Allies (GAWA) stage protest in front of the entrance to the Exposition Center where the UN climate negotiations are taking place.  All photos by Orin Langelle/ GJEP-GFC

GAIA’s Ananda Tan negotiates with security to allow the protest to continue

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Indigenous Peoples Protest Canada’s Tarsands Gigaproject on 2 December

The Indigenous Environmental Network and allies protest the Tar Sands gigaproject scheme in front of the Moon Palace where UN climate negotiations are taking place.  All photos by Orin Langelle/ GJEP-GFC

Canada’s massive tarsands gigaproject draws protest from Indigenous Peoples who come from the communities it is and will impact

Maude Barlow, of the Council of Canadians, speaks out against Canada’s toxic tarsands gigaproject

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Filed under Actions / Protest, Climate Change, Energy, Indigenous Peoples, Photo Essays by Orin Langelle, Tar Sands, UNFCCC