Mining The Earth & Fracking The World: That Dirty F-Word

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Every week, Kate Lanier assembles the most important global energy and climate news. This week includes:

England: No shale gas fracking for two-fifths of England? Seems likely.

Bolivia: President Evo Morales “renationalized Bolivia’s oil and gas industries” and invested in the public sector. Poverty is down by 25% (extreme poverty by 43%), and the rich-poor gap “has been hugely narrowed.” Morales’ third inauguration was held in Tiwanaku, a pre-colonial city, with full participation by indigenous people. Don’t miss the portrait of 18th century rebel Bartolina Sisa, made from “local potatoes, carrots, corn and other vegetables” — and don’t miss the story of Bartolina Sisa.

Oklahoma: Daily earthquakes have people so rattled they’re discussing public protection vs private profit. Scientists point to “the deep wastewater disposal wells … [but] officials have been reluctant to crack down on an industry that accounts for a third of the economy and one in five jobs.” A case pending before the OK Supreme Court could have potential big impact.

Mining The Earth & Fracking The World: A Long Walk For The Climate

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Every week, Kate Lanier assembles the most important global energy and climate news. This week includes:

New Mexicio: Diné youth are so concerned about corporate exploitation of underground resources, including oil and uranium, that they have embarked on a prayer walk of 200 miles. This first walk honors “The Long Walk of the Diné People to Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.” Other walks will follow this year.

Colombia: The underground Ocensa pipeline, carrying 650,000 barrels of crude/day between the huge Cusiana-Cupiagua oilfield to the Caribbean coast, built only about 15 years ago, has eroded campesinos’ farmland and led to severe loss of income. Campesinos sued BP in the UK seven years ago. The court case is nearing conclusion.

India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will invest $100 billion in solar power and put solar plants “atop canals: efficient and cheap land use, and reduce water evaporation from the channels underneath.” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is quite impressed.

Mining The Earth & Fracking The World: Spooning Up The Waste

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Kate’s collects the top mining, fracking and environmental news from around the world including:

Bangladesh: Villagers “using spoons, sponges and shovels” are trying to mop up 77,000 gallons of oil unleashed in an area that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A Padma Oil Co. tanker collided with a cargo ship. Oil has spread “across 50 miles of rivers and canals.” Padma is paying the locals for whatever oil they can collect. Vegetation and animals are reportedly dying. And the impact on the human spirit?

Arizona: 40 Years of Resistance on Black Mesa! Major government-corporate cluster-you-know-what over at the Black Mesa mines results in grievous harm to Navajo and Hopi peoples. And now, Peabody coal wants a “lifetime mining permit” there. Sierra Club has joined Native Americans in a federal suit over this mess.

Nicaragua: Some 7,000 Nicaraguans have been “scheduled for removal to clear a path for Central America’s second interoceanic canal [with the] Nicaraguan Army … already providing security for Chinese canal firm HKND.” A villager in Obrajuelo said, “They want to run us off our properties—to scatter us like birds without a nest. … we would rather die here fighting than get forced off our [ancestral] land.” Apparently, the whole thing is shrouded in mystery—to be followed by misery.

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