Category Archives: Water

‘Shocking’ Share of Freshwater Fish Species at Risk of Extinction

“Ensuring freshwater ecosystems are well managed, remain free-flowing with sufficient water, and good water quality is essential to stop species declines… in a climate-resilient world,” one scientist said.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 12=11-2023 by Common Dreams

*The IUCN has changed the conservation status of Atlantic salmon from “least concern” to “near threatened.” (Photo: USFWS Endangered Species’ photostream/Flickr)*

More than 20% of the world’s freshwater fish species are in danger of extinction, according to the first-ever assessment of the category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The assessment was released Monday as part of an update to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species published to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). It found that 3,086 out of 14,898 listed freshwater fish species are at risk of disappearing, and at least 17% of threatened fish species are impacted by the climate crisis.

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‘Disastrous’: Michigan Regulators Approve Enbridge Line 5 Expansion

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“Today’s decision is another notch in a long history of ignoring the rights of tribal nations,” said one Indigenous leader.

By Julia Conley. Published 12-1-2023 by Common Dreams

*Activists in Michigan gather around a sign reading, “Line 5: people or pipeline? Which side are you on?” (Photo Ben Jealous/X)*

Days after climate advocates applauded Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signing of a package of clean energy bills that one campaigner said would “translate into better air, water, and health for everyone,” state regulators took several steps back from a sustainable future as they approved a key permit for Enbridge’s Line 5 expansion project beneath the Great Lakes.

In a 2-0 vote with one member abstaining, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved siting for the project, granting Canadian oil firm Enbridge permission to build a concrete tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac—which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron—to house a four-mile section of its 645-mile petroleum pipeline.

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‘Huge Win for the Planet’ as Panama Court Shuts Down Massive Mine

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“The people have spoken and expressed that they don’t want more mines, that they want sustainable economic development, and have no intention of destroying the country for profit,” said one campaigner.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 11-29-2023 by Common Dreams

Indigenous and environmental campaigners this week hailed a landmark win for the Rights of Nature movement, the Panamanian Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling that the contract for the Cobré mineral mine—one of the world’s largest—is unconstitutional and must be shut down.

The November 24 ruling against Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals, followed weeks of nationwide protests against the open-pit mine, which began operations in 2019 and where mainly copper, but also gold, silver, and molybdenum, are extracted. Opponents say the mine threatens area water supplies. A gunman shot and killed two people at a protest against the mine earlier this month.

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Gulf Oil Spill Shows ‘Danger of Banks Owning Energy Companies’

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“The Federal Reserve must enforce the Bank Holding Company Act and disallow Wall Street banks from controlling energy infrastructure, as it poses systemic risks,” said a Public Citizen campaigner.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 11-23-2023 by Common Dreams

*An aircrew detected oil in the Gulf of Mexico on November 16, 2023. (Photo: USCG Heartland/X)*

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase has financial ties to a company that owns the pipeline suspected of leaking up to 1.1 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico—a situation that watchdogs say demonstrates the danger of such business relationships.

“JPMorgan’s control over a company involved in a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico clearly illustrates the danger of banks owning energy companies,” Tyson Slocum, director of consumer watchdog Public Citizen’s Energy Program, declared Wednesday.

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Climate Group Warns World Must Not Fall for Hydrogen ‘Hype’

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“Rather than betting on unproven and inefficient hydrogen technologies, we need rich countries to put their money towards a just energy transition,” said a Friends of the Earth campaigner.

By Jessica Corbett Published 11-21-2023 by Common Dreams

*Photo: Raymond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0)*

Amid preparations for COP28, the United Nations climate summit kicking off next week, a leading green group warned Tuesday that “hydrogen is big polluters’ latest trick, and we can’t afford to fall for it.”

“Hydrogen is being promoted as a ‘clean’ alternative to the fossil fuels used for domestic heating, transport, and heavy industry,” explains the new Friend of the Earth International (FOEI) paper, Don’t Fall for the Hydrogen Hype, put out ahead of the global clilmate talks. “But it’s expensive to produce, inefficient, and far from a low-carbon solution. In fact, the majority of the global hydrogen supply is made from fossil fuels.”

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Day After Texas Fire, Report Reveals US Hazardous Chemical Incidents Occur Almost Daily

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“Hazardous facilities must be required to do more to protect workers and communities,” said Coming Clean’s federal policy director.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 11-9-2023 by Common Dreams

*The Sound Resource Solutions facility made solvents for glue and paint remover.. Photo: @JamaalBowmanNY/X*

A shelter-in-place order has been lifted in two Texas counties after a chemical plant fire on Wednesday, which came on the eve of a report showing just how frequent such incidents are across the United States, particularly at sites tied to the fossil fuel industry.

There have been at least 287 hazardous chemical incidents—including explosions, fires, and toxic releases—this year alone, and over 825 since the beginning of 2021, according to the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters’ online database.

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60% of US Oil and Gas Infrastructure Now Protected by Anti-Protest Laws: Greenpeace

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Fossil fuel companies have contributed millions of dollars to legislators who sponsored such laws, according to a new report.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 10-25-2023 by Common Dreams

*Photo: Joe Brusky/Overpass Light Brigade/flickr/cc*

In the seven years since the massive protests against the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, the fossil fuel industry and their allies in politics and law enforcement have been hard at work to prevent a repeat: Around 60% of oil and gas infrastructure in the U.S. is now shielded by anti-protest laws that make direct action much riskier for activists and frontline communities who want to protect their local and global home from dangerous pollution, a new Greenpeace report has found.

The report, Dollars vs. Democracy 2023: Inside the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Playbook to Suppress Protest and Dissent in the United States, reveals that fossil fuel companies made up nine of the 10 most determined lobbyists for anti-protest measures since 2017 and that 25 oil, gas, coal, and energy companies contributed more than $5 million to legislators who sponsored these laws.

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Study Warns Even With Emissions Cuts, West Antarctic Ice Sheet Melt ‘Unavoidable’

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“It looks like we’ve lost control of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” said one author. “The bright side is that by recognizing this situation in advance, the world will have more time to adapt to the sea-level rise that’s coming.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-23-2023 by Common Dreams

*A view from the ship of the edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf, the world’s second largest ice shelf located in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica. Photo: Ricarda Winkelmann/CC*

Even if humanity dramatically reduces planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet faces an “unavoidable” increase in melting for the rest of this century, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is the continent’s largest contributor to rising seas and contains enough ice to increase the global mean sea level by over 17 feet, the study explains. Enhanced melting of ice shelves, “the floating extensions of the ice sheet, has reduced their buttressing and caused upstream glaciers to accelerate their flow” toward the Southern Ocean. Ice shelf melting could “cause irreversible retreat” of the glaciers.

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If this is Israel’s 9/11, we should remember what happened next

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The US achieved nothing in the Middle East, but millions of civilians paid the price – the same will be true now

By Paul Rogers. Published 10-9-2023 by openDemocracy

After the devastating failure of the Israeli intelligence to foresee the sudden Hamas assault at the weekend, many Israelis are describing the huge loss of lives as ‘Israel’s 9/11’.

Although the two events cannot be fairly compared, given the attack on Israel came from a country it has occupied and inflicted a deadly and brutal regime of apartheid on for many decades, the assault by Hamas has had a similarly visceral impact.

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Nearly Half of Flowering Plant Species Face Threat of Extinction

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“Effectively managing the plants and fungi that form the building blocks of our habitable planet is key to halting wider biodiversity loss and restoring Earth’s ecosystems to full function,” says a scientific report.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-11-2023 by Common Dreams

*Global scientists warn that 45% of known flowering plant species could be threatened with extinction. Photo: Diana Robinson/flickr/CC*

Global scientists warned Tuesday that 45% of known flowering plant species could be at risk of disappearing, underscoring the need for urgent international action to tackle the planet’s sixth mass extinction—the first driven by human activity.

That figure is among the key findings from State of the World’s Plants and Fungi, the fifth annual report from the U.K.’s Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew about such species amid the intertwined biodiversity crisis and climate emergency.

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Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Category Archives: Water

‘Shocking’ Share of Freshwater Fish Species at Risk of Extinction

“Ensuring freshwater ecosystems are well managed, remain free-flowing with sufficient water, and good water quality is essential to stop species declines… in a climate-resilient world,” one scientist said.

Gulf Oil Spill Shows ‘Danger of Banks Owning Energy Companies’

“The Federal Reserve must enforce the Bank Holding Company Act and disallow Wall Street banks from controlling energy infrastructure, as it poses systemic risks,” said a Public Citizen campaigner.

Climate Group Warns World Must Not Fall for Hydrogen ‘Hype’

“Rather than betting on unproven and inefficient hydrogen technologies, we need rich countries to put their money towards a just energy transition,” said a Friends of the Earth campaigner.

Study Warns Even With Emissions Cuts, West Antarctic Ice Sheet Melt ‘Unavoidable’

“It looks like we’ve lost control of melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” said one author. “The bright side is that by recognizing this situation in advance, the world will have more time to adapt to the sea-level rise that’s coming.”

Nearly Half of Flowering Plant Species Face Threat of Extinction

“Effectively managing the plants and fungi that form the building blocks of our habitable planet is key to halting wider biodiversity loss and restoring Earth’s ecosystems to full function,” says a scientific report.