#airislife — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #airislife, aggregated by home.social.
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#Maine - New testing identifies elevated #benzene emissions near #SouthPortland tank farms
“You might have been able to do this in the past, but we’re not going to let you do this in the future.”
by Norah Hogan, 4/14/2026
Excerpt: "Long-term exposure to benzene has been linked to dizziness, headaches, blood disorders and cancer.
"Reiner, who has lived near three of the sites for years, was diagnosed with bladder cancer last Thanksgiving. He underwent surgery in December and is now receiving treatment.
" 'The big question is, was it this exposure? You can’t say. But this exposure may have contributed,' he said. 'The more toxins and environmental hazards you encounter in your life, it all adds up. It’s the cumulative effect.'
"Concerns about emissions have persisted for years. Previously, oil companies were allowed to self-monitor their emissions and were subject to stricter regulations only if they reported elevated toxin levels.
"In 2019, #GlobalCompanies LLC entered into a legal settlement that required the installation of new technology to reduce emissions. The company’s benzene levels are now well below state thresholds.
" 'They don’t want to be forced to do something that would be the right thing for everybody,' Reiner said. 'Everybody in America could benefit if oil companies started cleaning their emissions before they leave the tank farms and facilities.' "
Read more:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/elevated-benzene-near-south-portland-tank-farms/71016200#MainePol #MaineNews #BenzeneEmissions #AirIsLife #BigOilAndGas #AirPollution #Carcinogenic
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🚨 We all knew this would be coming... Don't like polluters? TOUGH SHIT! You're under arrest!!!
#FBI #Counterterrorism Agents Spent Weeks Seeking a #ClimateActivist — Then Showed Up at His Door
The visit suggests a possible FBI probe into #ExtinctionRebellionNYC as the Trump administration increases surveillance of #activist groups.
Jacqueline Sweet, February 12 2026
Excerpt: "Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, at least one of whom works on counterterrorism, went to the home of a former member of a #ClimateActivism group for questioning last week, potentially signaling a new escalation in the Trump administration’s promise to criminalize #nonprofits and #ActivistGroups as #DomesticTerrorists.
"Two FBI agents, one from New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, told a former member of Extinction Rebellion NYC they wanted to ask him about the group at his home upstate on Friday, an attorney for the group told The Intercept. The visit followed a prior attempt to reach him at his old address.
"The FBI’s apparent probe of Extinction Rebellion NYC comes as the Justice Department ramps up its surveillance of activists protesting immigration enforcement and the Trump administration creates secret lists of domestic enemies under Trump’s National Security Presidential #Memorandum7, or #NSPM7." 'I believe this to be a significant escalation of the criminal legal system against #XR and find it very troubling,' said Ron Kuby, the Extinction Rebellion attorney. 'This is usually the way we find out an actual investigation is underway and is often followed by other visits and other actions.'
"The former Extinction Rebellion member, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety, said that the visit came after a phone call in January from a special agent that he assumed was a scam.
" 'I was skeptical the phone call was really from the FBI, but after I declined to speak with the agent, she said that she was standing outside my door,' he said. She was actually at the activist’s former address, which he said made him additionally dubious. But last week, when the agents showed up at his current address, he said he saw the agent’s business card through his door."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/02/12/fbi-counterterror-extinction-rebellion/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/4Nq3X#USPol #ExtinctionRebellion #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #EPAFail #Polluters #Corporatocracy #CorporateColonialism #Oligarchy #EnvironmentalActivists #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ResistFascism #Authoritarianism #Fascism #Orwellian #ThoughtCrime #BigBrother #NineteenEightyFour #SilencingDissent #SilencingFreeSpeech #CorporationsAreTheRealTerrorists
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#PenobscotNation citizens rally in opposition to proposed expansion of #JuniperRidgeLandfill
Jul. 18, 2025
OLD TOWN/ALTON, #Maine (WABI) - "Penobscot Nation citizens rallied across the Penobscot County court Friday afternoon in opposition to a proposed expansion to Maine’s largest #landfill.
"The rally was in response to the #ConservationLawFoundation and the Penobscot Nation appealing an expansion to #JuniperRidgeLandfill, which will allow #CasellaWasteSystems to expand Juniper Ridge by 11.9 million cubic yards.
"According to members of the #WabanakiAlliance, the expansion would pose a threat to surrounding #TribalLands due to concerns of air and #WaterPollution surrounding the #PenobscotRiver from the landfill.
"Speakers at the rally represented citizens of the Penobscot Nation, the Wabanaki Alliance, as well as the environmental groups #Slingshot and #DontWasteME.
" 'It is incredibly powerful to see the number of people out here in opposition to this expansion and support of this appeal. We know the time for #EnvironmentalJustice is now. We need to turn the tide towards #ZeroWaste,' said #DanaColihan, Co-Executive Director of environmental group Slingshot.
" 'I just hope that the state can get serious about actual environmental justice, and Casella can implement some practices that it make it so that they don’t have to bring out of state waste to stabilize our sludge, and really find solutions instead of creating more problems with us,' stated #MaulianBryant, Executive Director of the Wabanaki Alliance."
Read more:
https://www.wabi.tv/2025/07/18/penobscot-nation-citizens-rally-opposition-proposed-expansion-juniper-ridge-landfill/
#AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #MaineResists #PFAS #PenobscotRiver #Casella #ProtectTheSacred #Wabanaki #Wabanakik #NativeAmericanNews #MaineNews -
International Survey Shows 81% Back Forcing #BigOil to Pay for #Climate Destruction
"People are no longer buying the lies. They see the fingerprints of #FossilFuel giants all over the #storms, #floods, #droughts, and #wildfires devastating their lives, and they want accountability," said the head of one green group.
by Eloise Goldsmith, Jun 19, 2025
"Large majorities of people around the world support both taxing #oil, #gas, and #coal companies for the #EnvironmentalDamage made worse by fossil fuels and using higher taxes on #polluters to support communities most impacted by the #ClimateCrisis, according to the results of an international survey released Thursday.
"The study, which was jointly commissioned by #Greenpeace International and #Oxfam International, surveyed roughly 1,200 people in each of these 13 countries: #Brazil, #Canada, #France, #Germany, #India, #Italy, #Kenya, #Mexico, #Philippines, #SouthAfrica, #Spain, #UnitedKingdom, and the #UnitedStates. The research was conducted by the data company Dynata, and field work was done between May 9-28, 2025. Greenpeace noted that, taken together, the countries represent close to 50% of the globe's population.
"The results of the survey showed a whopping 81% of those surveyed would support taxes fossil fuel companies to pay for damages wrought by 'fossil-fuel driven climate disasters.'
"These survey results send a clear message: people are no longer buying the lies. They see the fingerprints of fossil fuel giants all over the storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires devastating their lives, and they want accountability," said #MadsChristensen, the executive director of #GreenpeaceInternational.
" 'It's only fair that those who caused the crisis should pay for the damage, not those suffering from it,' he added.
Read more / listen:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/international-survey-shows-81-back-forcing-big-oil-to-pay-for-climate-destruction#BigOilAndGas #BigCoal #BigOilLied #BigOilKnew #Sunoco #BP #Chevron #Capitalism #Oiligarchy #Oligarchy #AmericanPetroleumInstitute #ShellOil #ExxonLied #ExtremeWeather #BPLied #ClimateCrisis #TaxThePolluters #CorporateColonialism #OilCompanies #ChevronDoctrine #MakePollutersPay #Pollution #WateIsLife #AirIsLife
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What’s in Trump’s big bill? Trillions in tax cuts, changes to Medicaid and more
By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO
Updated 8:21 PM EDT, May 13, 2025WASHINGTON (AP) — "#Republicans in Congress are moving with rapid speed to advance President Donald Trump’s big bill of #TaxBreaks, #SpendingCuts and beefed-up border security funding as leaders work to enact many of his campaign promises.
"House committees have been laboring for months to draft the legislation, which Republicans have labeled 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,' a nod to Trump himself. Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to approve the package and send it to the Senate by Memorial Day.
"Democrats say they will fight what House party leader #HakeemJeffries calls 'this extreme and toxic bill.' "
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-17cbde167f3b434e925a199c3253b8e1#BigUglyBill #Environment #Ethics #StudentLoans #Medicaid #TaxBreaksForTheRich
#CorporatePolluters #AirIsLife
#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife
#MAGADeathCult #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor
#AntiLife #Greenpeace
#Indivisible #FreePalestine
#CREW #PeaceAndJustice
#Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #HR9495 #StopHR9495
#TaxPackage #Authoritarianism
#AuthoritarianRule
#FightForTheFuture
#Section112209 -
House Republicans look to help Trump strip tax-exempt status of nonprofits he says support terrorism
By ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY
Updated 1:37 PM EDT, May 13, 2025WASHINGTON (AP) — "A proposal by Republicans in Congress would allow President Donald Trump’s administration to remove the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that it says support #terrorism, creating what some #nonprofits say is an arbitrary standard to financially punish #charities that advocate for issues that don’t align with his agenda.
"Unusual language added Monday to a reconciliation bill from the House Ways and Means Committee — the tax-writing committee — would allow for terminating the tax-exempt status of groups the administration deems 'terrorist supporting organizations.' The language mirrors a bill from the last Congress that passed in the House but did not pass the Senate.
"The definition and criteria for determining whether or how an organization supports terrorism are unclear. The bill also targets nonprofits in other ways, echoing complaints by Trump, who has called the tax-exempt status a 'privilege' that has been 'abused.' Trump has threatened to revoke tax-exempt status for groups that don’t abide by his directives or agree with his views."
[...]
"Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, which represents hundreds of former scientists and regulators, said last month 'we all pay the price' when charitable organizations are silenced based on politics.
"For example, the move to revoke #TaxExempt status could choke off funding for groups that urge greater action to promote clean air, water and land, work to help communities most affected by industrial pollution and advocate for projects and policies to combat #ClimateChange — among other issues.
" 'It threatens the rights, health, and future of every community,' Roos said in a statement.
Last month, Trump said he could target environmental groups and the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington."
#Environment #Ethics #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #MAGADeathCult #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment #TrumpHatesThePoor #AntiLife #Greenpeace #Indivisible #FreePalestine #CREW #PeaceAndJustice #CorporatePolluters #Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism #SilencingDissent #USPol #HR9495 #TaxPackage #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #StopHR9495 #FightForTheFuture #Section112209
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Blog: Voices of #Decolonization
#FirstNations chiefs shouldn’t be duped by the ‘#nuclear-is-green' deception
by William Eric Altvater, February 6, 2025
"Some First Nation Chiefs are victims of shenanigans, not unlike the swindle behind the purchase of Manhattan. The federal government needs the support of #Indigenous peoples to expand nuclear power generation capacity in #Canada.
"For millennia, the cornerstones of the Indigenous people that inhabit Turtle Island, now known as North America, held all that is essential to life, in reverence. Every decision considered the next 7 generations. These cornerstones are crumbling.
"Newcomers, armed with the #Colonizing tool, 'The #DoctrineOfDiscovery' and their mentality of superiority, invaded the land of those they called 'Savages,' almost totally exterminating #Skicinuwok, People of The Earth.
"Determined to bestow Christianity and civility to this wild untamed population, old growth forests were cut, rivers and streams were dammed to power sawmills, roads and railroads were built, bridges erected. All to create an infrastructure for #capitalism, a system to make a #profit, that morphed into #greed, a word of foreign root. This unbridled desire for progress has ruined what was once called Paradise.
"Now most water is not fit to drink, clean air is scarce, #deforestation is rampant, #biodiversity loss out of control, plants genetically modified, food manufactured with unpronounceable chemicals, caged fish starved of oxygen while being fed chicken feathers and pig parts, cancer cases in the millions, the list goes on.
"As the population increased over this continent the available sources for power generation have not been able to satisfy the insatiable desires of the 'bigger, better, faster, more is never enough' mentality. Some have finally acknowledged the fact that #FossilFuels are not the golden egg they were once deemed to be.
"So-called '#GreenEnergy' is required to slow the blind drive to extinction of man; man, who is considered by some to be the most intelligent creature to ever roam Earth. Unfortunately, the lure of riches and the corruption of self-serving purposes have led man to stray from practices that nurture everything required to sustain life on this tiny blue marble floating through the universe.
"#NuclearPower is now being touted as being 'Green.' It is not. Big money corporations are lobbying legislators to convince them and the public that it is. They are also lobbying to convince the public that they should foot the bill in the form of taxes and rate hikes, for a process that pollutes from the day it starts. Water is life. As soon as #uranium is mined from the earth it begins to contaminate the water in surrounding aquifers.
"When the uranium is processed sufficiently, it is used as fuel for reactors where it generates heat while delivering electricity, not just for essential needs, but also for many things once considered luxuries. This fission generated heat is then dumped into nearby waters where it kills thousands, if not millions of small beings that form the basis of life itself.
"After this radioactive fuel is depleted, it is stored in various containers where it will stay radioactive for eons. Indigenous #Grandmothers have labelled it 'Forever Dangerous.'
"The power generated during the fission process benefits only those who exist today as the process occurs, not those born tomorrow or next week or next month. All the #RadioactiveWaste and the inherent danger it creates is left to future generations, kicking the can down the road.
"What better place to dump this waste than in an area with a population that has witnessed Newcomers enrich themselves for hundreds of years? Yes, what better place than a population that has been targeted for assimilation, suffered theft of lands, witnessed the taking of naturally bestowed rights? A population that has been subjected to racial Indian Act legislation essentially stripping away all that sustained this population for thousands of years.
"Yes, let us give the Indians some more shiny beads and trinkets so that they willingly agree to care for our radioactive garbage. How do we do this? Let’s talk to the Chief and Council. Let’s wine and dine them. Let’s give them some money, take them to dinner, buy some drinks and make them feel all festive and most of all make them think we are looking out for their best interests. Some Chiefs have taken the bait.
"Egregious as it may be, this is exactly what is happening in some Indigenous communities contrary to the will of the majority. Elected Chiefs are continuing the deception as they are blinded and professing the 'Nuclear is Green' mantra. They have lost connection with the Spirit of Ancestors and traditional values. They need to have a serious introspection and realize that looking forward, we need only look back at what has sustained us to this point in time. We need not do any more than that."
Eric lives in #PeskotomuhkatiNation territory in Maine and stands shoulder to shoulder with his Peskotomuhkati relations in #NewBrunswick in the struggle to achieve Canadian Government recognition.
https://www.wabanakireach.org/first_nations_chiefs_shouldn_t_be_duped_by_the_nuclear_is_green_deception_by_william_altvater
#NoNukes #NoNewNukes #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #UraniumMining #UraniumMilling #LeaveItInTheGround #Greenwashing #NuclearIsNotCarbonFree #NuclearIsNotGreen #CanadaPol #NuclearWaste #NuclearIndustry #TEPCOLies #HoltecLies #NuclearColonialism -
The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 22, 2024"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
"The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.
"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.
"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.
"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific."George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.
"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.
"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.
"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.
"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'
"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred #AirIsLife
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The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 22, 2024"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
"The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.
"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.
"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.
"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific."George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.
"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.
"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.
"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.
"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'
"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred #AirIsLife
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The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 22, 2024"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
"The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.
"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.
"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.
"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific."George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.
"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.
"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.
"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.
"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'
"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred #AirIsLife
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The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 22, 2024"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
"The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.
"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.
"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.
"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific."George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.
"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.
"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.
"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.
"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'
"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred #AirIsLife
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The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews
November 22, 2024"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
"The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.
"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.
"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.
"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific."George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.
"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.
"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.
"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.
"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'
"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred #AirIsLife
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Advocates demand halt to #uranium #mine near the #GrandCanyon
#EnergyFuels says #nuclear power is necessary to fight #ClimateChange, but #Indigenous tribes fear losing their homes
By Matthew Rozsa
January 31, 2024"The Grand Canyon truly lives up to its name, being the largest canyon on Earth and one of the most popular national parks in America. But due to #UraniumMining in the area, some advocates are warning it could become the site of a future #EnvironmentalDisaster, which threatens to make one Indigenous village 'extinct.'
"More than 80 groups signed onto a statement on Monday — representing Indigenous communities, scientists and environmental nonprofits such as the #SierraClub and the #CenterForBiologicalDiversity — directed at President #JoeBiden and #Arizona Gov. #KatieHobbs, demanding they close the #PinyonPlain uranium mine, which is located near the Grand Canyon.
"'We have a choice in front of us. Allowing the Pinyon Plain mine to proceed is subjecting this landscape and its interconnected waters to a legacy of devastation and disregarding the rights of the #IndigenousPeoples on the land,' Sanober Mirza, Arizona program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said in the statement. 'Or we can choose a different path — one that holds a promise of protecting the Grand Canyon’s cultural sanctity, its people and natural resources.'
"To understand why the mine's opponents feel so strongly, one can turn to #AmberReimondo, who work as energy director at a conservationist non-profit called the #GrandCanyonTrust. Reimondo explained to Salon by email that, on the one hand, #Biden permanently banned mining operations on nearly 1 million acres of federal managed lands by creating the #BaajNwaavjo I'tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in August 2023. Yet the Pinyon Plain mine was #exempt from this prohibition, and Reimondo argues that the impact on the region has been 'several fold.'
"'What they've created here is a long-term, slow motion #EnvironmentalDisaster."
"'The Grand Canyon region as a whole and especially the location of the mine, is deeply significant to Indigenous cultures and is a place where tribal members have conducted #ceremonies, collected medicine, hunted, and more, for centuries,' Reimondo said. 'The mine also overlies critical and complex [and] not well understood groundwater systems. One #aquifer in particular — the #RedWallMuavAquifer — is the sole source of water for the remote #HavasupaiVillage of #Supai inside the Grand Canyon. The mine poses a #contamination threat to these #groundwater resources not just today, but importantly, after the mine's mere 28-month operational lifespan has concluded and the mining operator 'cleans up' and moves on.'
"Supai is so remote, it's only accessible only by helicopter or an 8-mile mule ride or hike, Reimondo explained, noting that if the newly-oxygenated groundwater comes into contact with nearby rocks, minerals like #arsenic and #uranium will be dissolved by the groundwater and enter aquifers used by the local community and essential to local ecology, including #HavasuFalls. Taylor McKinnon, Southwest Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, expressed similar concerns.
"'Ultimately, this mine is going to require political leadership,' McKinnon told Salon in an interview, referring to both the Biden and #Hobbs administrations. 'Those administration's agencies have the authority to fix this problem if they so choose, and that's what they should do.'
"We have detailed strenuously for years that neither regulators nor industry can ensure against the permanent and irretrievable damage to Grand Canyon's aquifers and springs," McKinnon added. "This mine was approved originally in 1986, under a record of decision from the US Forest Service under a presumption that it was highly unlikely that the mine would encounter groundwater, and further unlikely that if it did, it had the potential to contaminate deeper aquifers in the springs that they feed. Subsequent state permitting from the #ArizonaDepartment OfEnvironmentalQuality has basically parroted those same assumptions.'
"Yet McKinnon alleges that in 2016 the mine punctured a perched aquifer, causing roughly 10 million gallons of water per year to drain into the mine workings. From there he asserts that a surface pond formed with water that has concentrations of uranium and arsenic far in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency (#EPA)'s water quality standards. Not only does this threaten the local endangered and endemic species, but it also impacts the nearby Havasupai tribe.
"Havasupai means 'people of the blue-green water,' McKinnon said. "It's their longstanding cultural identity, and it is the water they drink, they farm with and that provides for all of their tourism economy because it is this just a beautiful series of massive verdant waterfalls that flow through the village and down into a series of waterfalls and pools where people camp and they derive tourism dollars.'
"In a 2022 letter of opposition, the Havasupai Tribal Council, laid out what is at stake in the uranium mining controversy.
"'Our identity as a people is intrinsically intertwined with the health of #HavasuCreek and the environment to which it gives life,' the tribe’s letter explained. 'We use this water for drinking, #gardening and irrigating, municipal uses, and #cultural and #religious uses. If the water source becomes contaminated like we have seen in other areas of Arizona due to uranium mining, we will no longer be able to live in our homes and Supai Village will become extinct.'
"These fears are based on precedent. The nearby #NavajoNation is scattered with old uranium mines — over 500, in fact — awaiting cleanup, exposing locals to risk of '#LungCancer from inhalation of #radioactive particles, as well as #BoneCancer and impaired kidney function from exposure to #radionuclides in drinking water,' according to the EPA. Likewise, members of the #UteMountain #Ute tribe in #WhiteMesa, Utah have protested against uranium mines they say have contaminated local groundwater, air and even wildlife."
https://www.salon.com/2024/01/31/advocates-demand-halt-to-uranium-mine-near-the-grand-canyon/
#NoNukes #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #NoMining #UraniumMining #NuclearPowerNoThanks #IndigenousActivism