It’s Getting Hot In Here

 Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to witness a massive street protest against corrupt government policies in the city of Iquitos, Peru.  Hundreds of people moved in a wave that held up traffic as they marched down the streets.  It appeared to be a general protest against corrupt government practices in Peru, and the policies of President Alan Garcia in particular.  There were marchers focused on workers´ rights, education reform, and the pillaging of the Amazon.  A large contingent of indigenous activists called out the Peruvian government on last month´s massacre of indigenous people in the city of Bagua.  Toward the back of the parade, another group waved flags supporting Ollanta Humala – one of the major left-wing candidates for president running in Peru´s 2011 elections. 

All-in-all, the event was an inspiring glimpse of a wave of progressive activism which appears to be sweeping across Peru.  Unfortunately, I won´t be able to post any of the photos or video footage I took until I return to the US at the end of this month – but look for them on this blog around August 1st!

I was naturally drawn to the contingent of indigenous protesters as I followed the parade.  These activists held signs denouncing the government´s behavior in Bagua and the seizure of indigenous lands for industrial exploitation, and calling on the Peruvian government to respect the rights of indigenous peoples.  I also could not help but notice the large block of students and faculty from the nearby university – our activist peers in this country.  Though the parade was flanked by police on all sides, the atmosphere was less than tense.  Some of the police were smiling, and they didn´t seem concerned at the sight of a couple of US college students running after the parade taking pictures.  However atrociously the Peruvian police behaved in Bagua, in Iquitos there seemed to be little issue with the police, for the moment at least.  A few parents were pushing baby carriages in the parade, and people of all ages joined in.  On the sidewalks, people came out of the shops to watch. 

I´ve written more about the fight against fossil fuels in Peru, and how it connects to policy in the US, here.  I am not an expert on current politics in Peru, and I don´t know enough about any specific candidate for the 2011 elections to know whether he or she would represent a major improvement over Alan Garcia.  However, dissatisfaction with the current pro-industry president is at an all-time high in Peru, and a wave of progressive activism seems to be gaining strength in this country.  The horror of the Bagua Massacre appears simply to have strengthened peoples´ resolve to end government corruption, and fueled the anger of activists.  It´s just possible that Peru could be the next country where we see a power shift in favor of a socially just environmentally sustainable future for all.

I´m currently sitting in a hot and humid Internet cafe in the city of Iquitos, located in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon.  I´m here partly to investigate the many fossil fuel-related environmental and human rights issues in this part of the world.  But what´s struck me again and again, while here, is how closely the future of the Peru´s Amazon is tied to another battle raging in my own home: the Pacific Northwest, USA.  In this post, I want to try to convey some of the urgency of confronting fossil fuel development in Oregon and Washington for the people and ecosystems of Peru.

Over the last few months, Peru has become a front line in the fight against the globally expanding fossil fuel empire.  Peru is also a shining example of how corporate globalization and ¨free trade¨ contributes inevitably to the strengthening of that empire.  As regular readers of this blog will already know, last month saw the massacre of an unknown number of indigenous activists protesting oil, gas, and timber development, and the seizure of indigenous lands in the Amazon.  Most of the killing occurred in the Bagua area of Peru, and the Peruvian government has attempted to cover up the actual number of activists killed (the highest number I heard in the US was about 80 deaths, but the actual number seems to have been much higher).  The protests were brought on in response to several decrees passed by the Peruvian government to facilitate a ¨free trade¨ agreement with the US.  From the beginning, it´s been clear: the environmental and human rights abuses which triggered the protests and the massacre in Bagua came about as a direct result of this trade agreement, and pressure from the US for Peru to open up its oil and gas reserves for exploration.

But the international implications of the massacre go even deeper, and center on several communities in Oregon and Washington currently working to keep infrastructure for a new and dirty fossil fuel out of the Northwest.  Here, energy companies are attempting to build at least three import terminals for natural gas extracted in distant parts of the world, and shipped to the US after a supercooling process to convert the gas to a more easily transported liquid: thus the name Liquefied Natural Gas, or LNG.  The Northwest is a focal point for an industry attempt to make LNG a much more important fuel in the United States.  And where would this imported gas come from?  Well, it could be the Middle East, or it could be Russia.  Or it could be the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.

If the energy giants get their way, importation terminals in my home region will grant LNG an open door to the US market.  Suddenly, the Peruvian government will have an even greater incentive than it does now to explore for gas in the Amazon.  I recently spoke with a local concerned citizen in Iquitos, whose name I will protect, who explained to me what increased oil and gas development will mean for the people of the Amazon.  My Spanish is not the greatest, but in a conversation consisting of mixed English, Spanish, and hand gestures, my friend conveyed this central message: the Peruvian government and President Alan Garcia are not particularly concerned with the well being of Peru´s indigenous people, and will not hesitate to use force to obtain land for fossil fuel exploration.  The Bagua massacre could be only the beginning, and importing LNG in the Northwest will only exacerbate the pressure on indigenous communities. 

In Iquitos – a town that grew up around rubber extraction and where the extractive industries continue to be important – graffiti art criticizing Garcia and the exploitation of the Amazon is a common sight.  This is the opposite of the old, misguided stereotype that rainforests are being destroyed because the local people don´t know how to take care of their own resources.  In Peru, there can be no doubt as to the real force behind deforestation.  Over half of Peru´s forest is already under concession to oil and gas developers, and the disillusioned local people I have spoken with are well aware of the health and environmental effects of fossil fuel development.  To save Peru´s carbon-sequestering Amazon and the people who live there, we must reverse or substantially alter the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.  We must get US corporations out of the Amazon.  And we must stop LNG from becoming an important source of fuel in the US.

Peru´s Bagua massacre may be the worst case of violence in Latin America that can be traced directly to a trade agreement with the US.  The horror of the police crackdown and subsequent cover-up here is not something I can even attempt to convey.  But there are some signs of hope on the horizon.  The two most controversial government decrees have been, at least for the moment, suspended in response to the Bagua crisis.  In Oregon, the legislative session just ended with the defeat of a bill that would have smoothed the way for LNG companies attempting to begin work on projects there.  This fight that extends from the heart of the Amazon to rural areas in Oregon and Washington will be a long one, but it´s one I believe we can win.

My friend from Iquitos and I agreed that both our country´s governments have ignored the effects of fossil fuel extraction for far too long.  I tried to convey that we are making some progress in the US, though my optimism was far from unqualified.  ¨Your president,¨ said my friend, ¨he has an honest face.¨ I replied cautiously that I believe Obama truly wants to make change, but there are many other individuals in our government who will make it difficult for him.  My eyes lingered on the No LNG button pinned to the backpack of my travelling companion from the US.  She, like me, has gone to protests against LNG back home, and worked to raise awareness of the issue at our school.

I have never felt the international implications of the struggle against LNG more tangibly than now.  It´s time to shut the door to new fossil fuels in the Northwest once and for all, and score a victory for a battle that extends to indigenous communities in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.

Perplexed by the inter-related problems India faces as it develops at the cost of 2/3 rd of its population living outside the economy, two young activists from Switch ON, rode their cycles 1800 kilometers across India through the coal belt – to question India’s growth based on fossil fuel, and to seek and highlight alternatives for a sustainable and equitable development.

Why New Coal gives a new perspective to Coal in India – addressing India’s growing energy needs, problems of energy security and Climate Change Vulnerabilities – by interviewing experts across the nation, while also documenting Vinay and Hoob’s epic journey across the nation.

Continue reading ‘Why New Coal?’

'The struggle of the Amazonians is for all Peruvians'

On June 5, 2009 I was vacationing in Cuzco, Peru awaiting the start of my 5 day hike to Machu Picchu, when I stumbled upon a protest in a small square.  It was an impromptu gathering of people allied with indigenous people in the Amazon region who are resisting the privatization of the rainforest for oil and gas development.  The effects of rainforest destruction and the use of oil on our climate are well documented.  Instead, I’d like to look at why the rainforest is being sold to private companies and its effect on the indigenous people who have lived there for generations.

Why is the rainforest being sold off by the Peruvian government?  It all comes back to the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement, which requires the government to allow oil and gas development by multi-national corporations.  The protesters I met were demanding that the law granting oil and gas concessions on the indigenous people’s communally held be land permanently repealed.

The small protest is Cuzco wasn’t the only thing going in on Peru.  In Lima thousands of people took to the streets demanding the law be repealed.  Indigenous people have been blockading the roads that the oil company uses for the past two and half months.  As a result, the Amazon region has experienced a shortage of cooking gas and food prices are on the rise.  On June 5^th the Peruvian President Garcia decided he had enough and moved to clear roads.  The communities were armed with sticks and lances; the police with guns, helicopters, shields, and gases. Police attacked the blockaders, killing hundreds of indigenous protesters (according to witnesses, the government reports put it at only 30) and in the process about a dozen police were captured or killed.

In the following days a curfew was imposed and witnesses reported seeing the police dump bodies into the river in the middle of the night.  I’m sure when you read this you’ll think, like I did, that these are the kind of things that happened in the 70s and 80s, but not today.  It crazy, but it’s true, even in 2009 there are governments that, in the name of defending free trade, are throwing protesters’ bodies into the river.  Violence is continuously perpetrated in the name of Free Trade, here in Peru against the indigenous in the Amazon, in Guatemala against banana workers, or in Colombia against union members. Continue reading ‘Free Trade, Violence & the Destruction of the Amazon’

On June 23rd Dr. James Hansen, a leading climate scientists and environmental hero, will join community members in Coal

River Valley, West Virginia to launch a year of activism to end mountaintop removal coal mining.  Blowing the tops off of mountain ranges to harvest dirty coal harms the people and places of Appalachia, destroys the economic potential of the Appalachian Mountains for clean energy opportunities and furthers the burning of climate killing coal.

Dr. Hansen and the people of West Virginia need you and as many friends as you can muster to come to West Virginia on June 23rd to help build the wave of activism needed to stop mountaintop removal this year.

This is the year we must stop the most ecologically and culturally destructive form of strip mining on earth.

Continue reading ‘Get Arrested with James Hansen to stop MTR!’

This April, the roots of leadership were laid in the Climate movement.  From Powershift to the FTN Town Hall Campaign, young people across the country moved into positions of leadership, and engaged their community and policy makers on our vital clean energy future.  A sea change in the quality and quantity of leadership occurred, and on the eve of the first ever US climate legislation it continues to breed success and momentum.

Since April, certain needs have arisen that must be addressed. First, we must continue pressure on policy makers and institutions to accelerate our transition to clean energy sources, and to strengthen ACES and our local legislation. At the same time, we must fulfill the less noticed need of developing and empowering our new climate leaders.

Continue reading ‘From Coal to Copenhagen: An Opportunity for Leadership’

This Monday, people throghout the world came together at Peru’s consulates and embassies demanding an end to the systematic genocide of Peru’s indigenous populations.  This tragedy was brought about by the disastrous “Peru Trade Promotion Agreement” which stripped land rights from indigenous communities and opened them up for foreign investment resulting in widespread oil and gas drilling and logging.

Iternational trade treaties should be targets of groups working on international climate mitigation. As we have seen when Mexico signed on to NAFTA, free trade agreements export our unsustainable lifestyle, drive (mostly indigenous) coummunities into poverty, and deepen the destruction of previously protected ecosystems. All of these problems contribute to the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and destroy precious cultural know-how that has the potential to guide us to implement more sustainable versions of development.

Many groups and journalists showed up at the Washington D.C. protest (organized by Amazon Watch) including the Energy Action Coalition, Campus Progress, Friends of the Earth and the Quixote Center.

Check out this video about the protest in Washington D.C. and make sure to leave comments with links to media from protests you attended!

Tommaso Boggia is the Climate Advocacy Associate at Campus Progress. Check out his other blog posts about the American Clean Energy And Security Act on FundingourFuture.campusprogress.org

Micah Melnyk and Doug Forsythe of the Canadian Delegation in the main Plenary session.

Canada’s lead negotiator for the UN climate talks answers your questions again. You can ask Michael Martin your question by commenting here.

1. What is the length of commitment period that Canada is looking at for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol?
2. What research initiatives do you think Canada should be focusing on in light of these negotiations?
3. And beyond Copenhagen, how are we going to kick-start the technology revolution that we are going to need?
4. Is Canada looking at the gender perspective in climate adaptation discussions and policies?
5. I heard a rumor that you joined Twitter in the last 24 hours… is this true?

Read his answers here.

Update from previous posts 1, 2, and 3.

17 activists in southern West Virginia have committed civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal, believing that it is bad for people, the economy, and the environment, and must be stopped. As of early this afternoon, all 17 are out of jail (but still need help – donate to the legal defense fund!).

Legally speaking, I agree with them. The Necessity Defense is a little known and rarely used approach to ‘crimes’ one was forced to commit. The required elements for a successful Necessity Defense are:

1. A defendant was faced with a choice of evils and chose the lesser evil.
2. A defendant reasonably anticipated a cause-and-effect relationship between his conduct and the harm avoided.
3. A defendant acted to prevent imminent harm.
4. There were no legal alternatives to violating the law.

Any legal experts or enthusiasts out there think there might be a case? Coming from Columbus, Ohio, I wonder what OSU President Gordon Gee would think, as he sits on the Board of the corporation responsible for much of this, Massey Energy.

Continued from my previous post.

A 25-person crew has been working hard to support 17 line crossers, lockdowners, and sludge canoers. We still need to bail out 4 people at $2,000 each, and have got over 40 mouths to feed. Shameless plea for money :0)

Be part of ending mountaintop removal: ban its combustion in your community, volunteer in Appalachia, and donate to Coal River 17’s legal fund.

Full updates at MountainJustice.org