For decades, states have relied on gas taxes to provide much of the money to maintain roads and bridges. But as cars become more fuel efficient, and some Americans switch to electric vehicles, state leaders say the gas tax won’t pay the bills for much longer. By Alex Brown Stateline At the same time, many […]
The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), together with its grassroots organizations, is present at the 27th UN Conference on Climate Change to reaffirm what needs to be done to tackle the global climate crisis: RECOGNIZE AND GUARANTEE LAND TENURE RIGHTS OF OUR INDIGENOUS LANDS! By Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (The […]
Built in the 1980s, the Balbina Dam is one of dozens of large dams across rivers in the Amazon Basin. Such dams might leave behind seemingly green patches of forest, but our new research has shown these disconnected patches of forest are no longer able to support thriving ecosystems. Ana Filipa Palmeirim, Universidade do Porto; […]
Imagine that several state legislators decide that Yellowstone National Park is too big. Also imagine that, working with federal politicians, they change the law to downsize the park by a million acres, which they sell in a private auction. Outrageous? Yes. Unheard of? No. It happens routinely and with increasing frequency in the Brazilian Amazon. […]
When the Brazilian city of São Paulo abruptly went dark at midday on Aug. 19, there was talk of the Apocalypse – not all of it in jest. In fact, meteorologists explained, unusual wind patterns had carried smoke hundreds of miles from the burning Amazon rainforest. The smoky fog blanketing São Paulo in darkness forced 21 […]
Joênia Wapichana helped to win land titles for five indigenous groups in Brazil’s far north, but President Bolsonaro is threatening to re-open the area to white farmers and miners. By Fabiano Maisonnave in Raposa/Serra do Sol Indigenous Land Climate Home News When indigenous leader Joênia Wapichana first came across Jair Bolsonaro, she was appalled. The […]
Global non-governmental environmental organization Greenpeace and internet giant Amazon are trading blows over a report published earlier this week by Greenpeace, which claims that Amazon Web Services is only meeting 12% of its renewable energy commitment in Virginia’s “data center alley.” By Joshua S Hill Cleantechnica Greenpeace published a report on Wednesday entitled Clicking Clean Virginia – The Dirty […]
Over the past 25 years that I have been conducting environmental research in the Amazon, I have witnessed the the ongoing destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest. Twenty percent of it has been deforested by now – an area larger than Texas. I therefore grew hopeful when environmental policies began to take effect at the turn […]
Brazil has demoted climate diplomacy as part of a foreign ministry shake-up, in Jair Bolsonaro’s first two weeks as president. The world “climate” has been erased from the organisational chart. The role of deputy secretary for environmental matters has been axed and its portfolio subsumed by the secretariat for “national sovereignty and citizenship affairs”. By Megan Darby Climate Home News Staff […]
From high atop a wind turbine, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos launched the company’s largest wind farm yet, the 253 MW Amazon Wind Farm Texas project, which will provide more than 1 million MWh of clean energy annually. By Joshua S Hill The Texas project consists of 100 wind turbines and is one of 18 wind and solar […]
Chevron may have lost in court, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to give up its 18-year battle to refuse to pay to clean up the mess it made in Ecuador.
Clearly, the oil giant is terrified that if it has to take responsibility for its actions in Ecuador, it may be forced to clean up the toxic legacy of its slovenly business practices all around the world, from Indonesia to Nigeria.
Judge Juan Nunez has recused himself in the case which focuses around claims that Chevron has been environmentally irresponsible in Ecuador’s Amazonian rainforest. He is the fifth judge to leave the case.
Subsistence farmers in Bolivia have been given help to change their technology – moving away from pipe and sprinkle irrigation systems to an aeons-old technique of hand-built raised clay platforms that are surrounded by canals.
The environment and interior ministries in Peru have announced plans to set up a special task force to safeguard forests and monitor the rivers in the Amazon basin. The special force will be made up of around 3,000 officers to be known as the Environment Police.
Unlike the debate occurring over exploration in the ANWR, the Western Amazon is located in a remote part of the South American continent, rather than in one of America’s states. As a result, while there is immense pressure on local leaders to open the region up for drilling, as these can be important sources of government revenue for nations that are part of the global South, there rarely is the same level of pressure to avoid actions with potentially huge environmental costs as there is in the U.S.