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#sacrificezones — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #sacrificezones, aggregated by home.social.

  1. So, this is a timely topic! From the latest issue of #InTheseTimes! The connection between Amazon Deforestation and CEO land grabs in the Western United States -- bought with blood money!

    Fortress Yellowstone

    The #UltraRich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact #ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological #SacrificeZones around the world

    by Joseph Bullington, April 6, 2026

    Excerpt: "Some of these ultra-rich ranch owners celebrate the natural beauty of their land and are ardent conservationists when it comes to the Yellowstone ecosystem. In digging into their business dealings, however, I found that most of these landowners accumulated their wealth through industries that help drive the destruction of nature elsewhere. Their ranks include private equity investors, oil and gas billionaires and real estate developers. "

    [...]

    "Now, instead of forests full of fruits and animals and mandioca clearings, industrial soy plantations press in on #Açaizal like a closing fist. There is no escape from the onslaught of #monoculture. Manoel shows me where rows of broken cornstalks run right up against the edge of the community’s soccer field, which the soy farmers also want to plow. The soybeans and corn, like those in the United States, are genetically engineered to withstand the #herbicides and #pesticides the farmers dump on them to beat back weeds and pests, but the chemicals drift, says Manoel, making it impossible to grow fruits and vegetables and #mandioca nearby. The streams run low and full of poison."

    Read more:
    inthesetimes.com/article/yello

    #Billionaires #UberRich #CEOs #AmazonDeforestation #BigAg #SoybeanProduction #IndustralSoybeans #PoisoningTheAmazon #GMOs #Monoculture #Deforestation #Cargill #HomeDepot #SoyPlantations #SaveTheForest #SaveTheRainforest #Earth4All #DSA #DemocraticSocialism #ReadItBeforeItsBanned #TaxTheRich #NoTaxHavens #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #BigCorporations

  2. So, this is a timely topic! From the latest issue of #InTheseTimes! The connection between Amazon Deforestation and CEO land grabs in the Western United States -- bought with blood money!

    Fortress Yellowstone

    The #UltraRich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact #ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological #SacrificeZones around the world

    by Joseph Bullington, April 6, 2026

    Excerpt: "Some of these ultra-rich ranch owners celebrate the natural beauty of their land and are ardent conservationists when it comes to the Yellowstone ecosystem. In digging into their business dealings, however, I found that most of these landowners accumulated their wealth through industries that help drive the destruction of nature elsewhere. Their ranks include private equity investors, oil and gas billionaires and real estate developers. "

    [...]

    "Now, instead of forests full of fruits and animals and mandioca clearings, industrial soy plantations press in on #Açaizal like a closing fist. There is no escape from the onslaught of #monoculture. Manoel shows me where rows of broken cornstalks run right up against the edge of the community’s soccer field, which the soy farmers also want to plow. The soybeans and corn, like those in the United States, are genetically engineered to withstand the #herbicides and #pesticides the farmers dump on them to beat back weeds and pests, but the chemicals drift, says Manoel, making it impossible to grow fruits and vegetables and #mandioca nearby. The streams run low and full of poison."

    Read more:
    inthesetimes.com/article/yello

    #Billionaires #UberRich #CEOs #AmazonDeforestation #BigAg #SoybeanProduction #IndustralSoybeans #PoisoningTheAmazon #GMOs #Monoculture #Deforestation #Cargill #HomeDepot #SoyPlantations #SaveTheForest #SaveTheRainforest #Earth4All #DSA #DemocraticSocialism #ReadItBeforeItsBanned #TaxTheRich #NoTaxHavens #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #BigCorporations

  3. So, this is a timely topic! From the latest issue of #InTheseTimes! The connection between Amazon Deforestation and CEO land grabs in the Western United States -- bought with blood money!

    Fortress Yellowstone

    The #UltraRich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact #ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological #SacrificeZones around the world

    by Joseph Bullington, April 6, 2026

    Excerpt: "Some of these ultra-rich ranch owners celebrate the natural beauty of their land and are ardent conservationists when it comes to the Yellowstone ecosystem. In digging into their business dealings, however, I found that most of these landowners accumulated their wealth through industries that help drive the destruction of nature elsewhere. Their ranks include private equity investors, oil and gas billionaires and real estate developers. "

    [...]

    "Now, instead of forests full of fruits and animals and mandioca clearings, industrial soy plantations press in on #Açaizal like a closing fist. There is no escape from the onslaught of #monoculture. Manoel shows me where rows of broken cornstalks run right up against the edge of the community’s soccer field, which the soy farmers also want to plow. The soybeans and corn, like those in the United States, are genetically engineered to withstand the #herbicides and #pesticides the farmers dump on them to beat back weeds and pests, but the chemicals drift, says Manoel, making it impossible to grow fruits and vegetables and #mandioca nearby. The streams run low and full of poison."

    Read more:
    inthesetimes.com/article/yello

    #Billionaires #UberRich #CEOs #AmazonDeforestation #BigAg #SoybeanProduction #IndustralSoybeans #PoisoningTheAmazon #GMOs #Monoculture #Deforestation #Cargill #HomeDepot #SoyPlantations #SaveTheForest #SaveTheRainforest #Earth4All #DSA #DemocraticSocialism #ReadItBeforeItsBanned #TaxTheRich #NoTaxHavens #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #BigCorporations

  4. So, this is a timely topic! From the latest issue of #InTheseTimes! The connection between Amazon Deforestation and CEO land grabs in the Western United States -- bought with blood money!

    Fortress Yellowstone

    The #UltraRich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact #ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological #SacrificeZones around the world

    by Joseph Bullington, April 6, 2026

    Excerpt: "Some of these ultra-rich ranch owners celebrate the natural beauty of their land and are ardent conservationists when it comes to the Yellowstone ecosystem. In digging into their business dealings, however, I found that most of these landowners accumulated their wealth through industries that help drive the destruction of nature elsewhere. Their ranks include private equity investors, oil and gas billionaires and real estate developers. "

    [...]

    "Now, instead of forests full of fruits and animals and mandioca clearings, industrial soy plantations press in on #Açaizal like a closing fist. There is no escape from the onslaught of #monoculture. Manoel shows me where rows of broken cornstalks run right up against the edge of the community’s soccer field, which the soy farmers also want to plow. The soybeans and corn, like those in the United States, are genetically engineered to withstand the #herbicides and #pesticides the farmers dump on them to beat back weeds and pests, but the chemicals drift, says Manoel, making it impossible to grow fruits and vegetables and #mandioca nearby. The streams run low and full of poison."

    Read more:
    inthesetimes.com/article/yello

    #Billionaires #UberRich #CEOs #AmazonDeforestation #BigAg #SoybeanProduction #IndustralSoybeans #PoisoningTheAmazon #GMOs #Monoculture #Deforestation #Cargill #HomeDepot #SoyPlantations #SaveTheForest #SaveTheRainforest #Earth4All #DSA #DemocraticSocialism #ReadItBeforeItsBanned #TaxTheRich #NoTaxHavens #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #BigCorporations

  5. So, this is a timely topic! From the latest issue of #InTheseTimes! The connection between Amazon Deforestation and CEO land grabs in the Western United States -- bought with blood money!

    Fortress Yellowstone

    The #UltraRich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact #ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological #SacrificeZones around the world

    by Joseph Bullington, April 6, 2026

    Excerpt: "Some of these ultra-rich ranch owners celebrate the natural beauty of their land and are ardent conservationists when it comes to the Yellowstone ecosystem. In digging into their business dealings, however, I found that most of these landowners accumulated their wealth through industries that help drive the destruction of nature elsewhere. Their ranks include private equity investors, oil and gas billionaires and real estate developers. "

    [...]

    "Now, instead of forests full of fruits and animals and mandioca clearings, industrial soy plantations press in on #Açaizal like a closing fist. There is no escape from the onslaught of #monoculture. Manoel shows me where rows of broken cornstalks run right up against the edge of the community’s soccer field, which the soy farmers also want to plow. The soybeans and corn, like those in the United States, are genetically engineered to withstand the #herbicides and #pesticides the farmers dump on them to beat back weeds and pests, but the chemicals drift, says Manoel, making it impossible to grow fruits and vegetables and #mandioca nearby. The streams run low and full of poison."

    Read more:
    inthesetimes.com/article/yello

    #Billionaires #UberRich #CEOs #AmazonDeforestation #BigAg #SoybeanProduction #IndustralSoybeans #PoisoningTheAmazon #GMOs #Monoculture #Deforestation #Cargill #HomeDepot #SoyPlantations #SaveTheForest #SaveTheRainforest #Earth4All #DSA #DemocraticSocialism #ReadItBeforeItsBanned #TaxTheRich #NoTaxHavens #EatTheRich #YeetTheRich #BigCorporations

  6. And lastly, #PointNemo (which I did NOT know about... WTF!)

    #Wikipedia - #SpaceIndustry

    "Point Nemo is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility” for being the point in any ocean farthest from land. It serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.

    The human-environment interactions that lie at the heart of environmental justice, including sacrifice zones, have been proposed to also include the environmental sacrifice of regions beyond Earth.[36] Klinger states that "the environmental geopolitics of Earth and outer space are inextricably linked by the spatial politics of privilege and sacrifice – among people, places and institutions".[36] Dunnett has called outer space the 'ultimate sacrifice zone' that exemplifies a colonially framed pursuit of infinite opportunities for accumulation, exploitation, and pollution. This manifests in both terrestrial and space-based sacrifice zones related to launch infrastructure, waste, and orbital debris.[37]

    Point Nemo is an oceanic point of inaccessibility located inside the South Pacific Gyre. It is selected as the most remote location in the world and serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.[38] Since 1971, 273 spacecraft and satellites have been directed to Point Nemo; this number includes the Mir Space Station (142 tonnes) and will include the International Space Station (240 tonnes). "

    Related article: Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
    Bob Grant
    Tue, November 4, 2025

    yahoo.com/news/articles/trashi

    #SpaceIndustry #Satellites #DarkSkies #Starlink #SacrificeZones #SpaceJunk #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #InALonelyPlace #TheMoonAndAnarctica

  7. And lastly, #PointNemo (which I did NOT know about... WTF!)

    #Wikipedia - #SpaceIndustry

    "Point Nemo is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility” for being the point in any ocean farthest from land. It serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.

    The human-environment interactions that lie at the heart of environmental justice, including sacrifice zones, have been proposed to also include the environmental sacrifice of regions beyond Earth.[36] Klinger states that "the environmental geopolitics of Earth and outer space are inextricably linked by the spatial politics of privilege and sacrifice – among people, places and institutions".[36] Dunnett has called outer space the 'ultimate sacrifice zone' that exemplifies a colonially framed pursuit of infinite opportunities for accumulation, exploitation, and pollution. This manifests in both terrestrial and space-based sacrifice zones related to launch infrastructure, waste, and orbital debris.[37]

    Point Nemo is an oceanic point of inaccessibility located inside the South Pacific Gyre. It is selected as the most remote location in the world and serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.[38] Since 1971, 273 spacecraft and satellites have been directed to Point Nemo; this number includes the Mir Space Station (142 tonnes) and will include the International Space Station (240 tonnes). "

    Related article: Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
    Bob Grant
    Tue, November 4, 2025

    yahoo.com/news/articles/trashi

    #SpaceIndustry #Satellites #DarkSkies #Starlink #SacrificeZones #SpaceJunk #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #InALonelyPlace #TheMoonAndAnarctica

  8. And lastly, #PointNemo (which I did NOT know about... WTF!)

    #Wikipedia - #SpaceIndustry

    "Point Nemo is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility” for being the point in any ocean farthest from land. It serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.

    The human-environment interactions that lie at the heart of environmental justice, including sacrifice zones, have been proposed to also include the environmental sacrifice of regions beyond Earth.[36] Klinger states that "the environmental geopolitics of Earth and outer space are inextricably linked by the spatial politics of privilege and sacrifice – among people, places and institutions".[36] Dunnett has called outer space the 'ultimate sacrifice zone' that exemplifies a colonially framed pursuit of infinite opportunities for accumulation, exploitation, and pollution. This manifests in both terrestrial and space-based sacrifice zones related to launch infrastructure, waste, and orbital debris.[37]

    Point Nemo is an oceanic point of inaccessibility located inside the South Pacific Gyre. It is selected as the most remote location in the world and serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.[38] Since 1971, 273 spacecraft and satellites have been directed to Point Nemo; this number includes the Mir Space Station (142 tonnes) and will include the International Space Station (240 tonnes). "

    Related article: Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
    Bob Grant
    Tue, November 4, 2025

    yahoo.com/news/articles/trashi

    #SpaceIndustry #Satellites #DarkSkies #Starlink #SacrificeZones #SpaceJunk #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #InALonelyPlace #TheMoonAndAnarctica

  9. And lastly, #PointNemo (which I did NOT know about... WTF!)

    #Wikipedia - #SpaceIndustry

    "Point Nemo is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility” for being the point in any ocean farthest from land. It serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.

    The human-environment interactions that lie at the heart of environmental justice, including sacrifice zones, have been proposed to also include the environmental sacrifice of regions beyond Earth.[36] Klinger states that "the environmental geopolitics of Earth and outer space are inextricably linked by the spatial politics of privilege and sacrifice – among people, places and institutions".[36] Dunnett has called outer space the 'ultimate sacrifice zone' that exemplifies a colonially framed pursuit of infinite opportunities for accumulation, exploitation, and pollution. This manifests in both terrestrial and space-based sacrifice zones related to launch infrastructure, waste, and orbital debris.[37]

    Point Nemo is an oceanic point of inaccessibility located inside the South Pacific Gyre. It is selected as the most remote location in the world and serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.[38] Since 1971, 273 spacecraft and satellites have been directed to Point Nemo; this number includes the Mir Space Station (142 tonnes) and will include the International Space Station (240 tonnes). "

    Related article: Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
    Bob Grant
    Tue, November 4, 2025

    yahoo.com/news/articles/trashi

    #SpaceIndustry #Satellites #DarkSkies #Starlink #SacrificeZones #SpaceJunk #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #InALonelyPlace #TheMoonAndAnarctica

  10. And lastly, #PointNemo (which I did NOT know about... WTF!)

    #Wikipedia - #SpaceIndustry

    "Point Nemo is also known as “the oceanic pole of inaccessibility” for being the point in any ocean farthest from land. It serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.

    The human-environment interactions that lie at the heart of environmental justice, including sacrifice zones, have been proposed to also include the environmental sacrifice of regions beyond Earth.[36] Klinger states that "the environmental geopolitics of Earth and outer space are inextricably linked by the spatial politics of privilege and sacrifice – among people, places and institutions".[36] Dunnett has called outer space the 'ultimate sacrifice zone' that exemplifies a colonially framed pursuit of infinite opportunities for accumulation, exploitation, and pollution. This manifests in both terrestrial and space-based sacrifice zones related to launch infrastructure, waste, and orbital debris.[37]

    Point Nemo is an oceanic point of inaccessibility located inside the South Pacific Gyre. It is selected as the most remote location in the world and serves as a "spacecraft cemetery" for space infrastructure and vessels.[38] Since 1971, 273 spacecraft and satellites have been directed to Point Nemo; this number includes the Mir Space Station (142 tonnes) and will include the International Space Station (240 tonnes). "

    Related article: Are We Trashing Earth’s Loneliest Spot?
    Bob Grant
    Tue, November 4, 2025

    yahoo.com/news/articles/trashi

    #SpaceIndustry #Satellites #DarkSkies #Starlink #SacrificeZones #SpaceJunk #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #InALonelyPlace #TheMoonAndAnarctica

  11. #Wikipedia - #Venezuela
    #Pollution at #MaracaiboLake

    "#LakeMaracaibo in the state of #Zulia is one of the most important bodies of water in the western region of Venezuela. This lake was also the site of one of the worst environmental catastrophes in Venezuela's history: the #BarrosoII blowout in 1922; an oil well that began spewing huge quantities of oil for 9 days, spilling around 900,000 barrels in the area. This oil disaster, paradoxically, became a milestone for the abundance of the oil industry in the country.

    "Erick Camargo indicates that oil spills generated by the lack of maintenance of the complex network of oil infrastructure continue to be a constant and are the main cause of contamination in the lake. However, he also indicates that the use of #agrochemicals on nearby crops and the discharge of #sewage worsen the situation.

    "A 2022 scientific paper reveals the presence of multiple #toxic elements in surface sediments in different parts of the lake. This constitutes a high risk for the flora and fauna of the region, as well as for the health of the human communities living in the areas where the samples were taken. Another study in 2007 revealed the presence of #ToxicMetals in part of the subway aquifers connected to the lake basin; the samples taken had values well above the limits allowed for #DrinkingWater according to national and international regulations."

    Related article:
    apnews.com/article/lake-maraca

    #Venezuela #BigOil #BigOilAndGas #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  12. #Wikipedia - #UnitedStates
    See also: #Superfund

    "Perhaps the best-known sacrifice zone in the United States is '#CancerAlley' in #Louisiana, an 85-mile stretch of land along the #MississippiRiver containing over 200 #petrochemical plants. Serious air and water quality violations have been documented since the 1970s, and elevated #cancer risk has been found. The region's population is disproportionately #Black and #LowIncome.

    "Commentators including Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco, Robert Bullard and Stephen Lerner have argued that #corporate business practices contribute to producing #SacrificeZones and that these zones most commonly exist in low-income and minority, usually #AfricanAmerican communities. Sacrifice zones are a central topic for the graphic novel #DaysOfDestructionDaysOfRevolt, written by Hedges and illustrated by Sacco.

    "In 2012, Hedges stated that examples of sacrifice zones included #PineRidge, South Dakota and #CamdenNJ. In 2017 a #WestCalumet public housing project in East Chicago, Indiana built at the former site of a lead smelter needed to be demolished and soil replaced to bring the area up to residential standards, displacing 1000 residents. In 2014, Naomi Klein wrote that 'running an economy on energy sources that release poisons as an unavoidable part of their extraction and refining has always required sacrifice zones."

    Related link:
    The Spread of Sacrifice Zones
    By David Swanson, June, 2012
    cdn.countercurrents.org/swanso

    #BigOil #BigOilAndGas #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  13. #Wikipedia - #Mexico

    "The #EndhóDam, often referred to as the 'largest septic tank in Latin America' is a heavily polluted body of water that was built in the 1950s to supply irrigation water to the #MezquitalValley region of the State of Hidalgo and today receives about 70% of #MexicoCity's sewage effluent. The river that feeds the dam is also a major repository for industrial waste from an oil refinery, two large cement factories, and several industrial parks in the region. These sources of pollution have spread to nearby springs affecting people, animals and crops. Journalist Carlos Carabaña indicates that since 2007, the National Water Commission has issued reports to municipal and state authorities repeatedly informing them of the presence of high levels of heavy metals in the nearby wells, urging the authorities to take action because of the potential health risks posed by the dam. Other effects related to contamination from the dam include damage to crops in the communities neighboring the dam, poisoning of livestock, and stigmatization of agricultural products from the Mezquital Valley region."

    Related article - The sewage water from Mexico City, one of the biggest cities in the world, is directly discharged to surface water bodies and conducted several kilometers through an area known as the Mezquital Valley. The socioeconomic context has been rigged by the sewage water, providing benefits for some and affecting others.

    storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  14. #Wikipedia - #Chile

    "The Chilean port of #Quintero and adjacent #Puchuncaví have been pointed out as a #SacrificeZone. The zone hosts the #coal-fired #Ventanas Power Plant, an #OilRefinery, a #cement storage, #FundiciónVentanas, a #CopperSmelter and refinery, a lubricant factory and a chemical terminal. In total 15 polluting companies operate in the area. In 2011, #EscuelaLaGreda located in #Puchuncaví, was engulfed in a #ChemicalCloud from the #VentanasIndustrialComplex. The #SulfurCloud poisoned an estimated 33 children and 9 teachers, resulting in the relocation of the school. The old location of the school is now abandoned. In August and September 2018 there was a public health crisis in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where over 300 people experienced illness from toxic substances in the air, coming from the polluting industries."

    Related article from 2023: Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades

    apnews.com/article/ventanas-co

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  15. #Wikipedia - #Chile

    "The Chilean port of #Quintero and adjacent #Puchuncaví have been pointed out as a #SacrificeZone. The zone hosts the #coal-fired #Ventanas Power Plant, an #OilRefinery, a #cement storage, #FundiciónVentanas, a #CopperSmelter and refinery, a lubricant factory and a chemical terminal. In total 15 polluting companies operate in the area. In 2011, #EscuelaLaGreda located in #Puchuncaví, was engulfed in a #ChemicalCloud from the #VentanasIndustrialComplex. The #SulfurCloud poisoned an estimated 33 children and 9 teachers, resulting in the relocation of the school. The old location of the school is now abandoned. In August and September 2018 there was a public health crisis in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where over 300 people experienced illness from toxic substances in the air, coming from the polluting industries."

    Related article from 2023: Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades

    apnews.com/article/ventanas-co

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  16. #Wikipedia - #Chile

    "The Chilean port of #Quintero and adjacent #Puchuncaví have been pointed out as a #SacrificeZone. The zone hosts the #coal-fired #Ventanas Power Plant, an #OilRefinery, a #cement storage, #FundiciónVentanas, a #CopperSmelter and refinery, a lubricant factory and a chemical terminal. In total 15 polluting companies operate in the area. In 2011, #EscuelaLaGreda located in #Puchuncaví, was engulfed in a #ChemicalCloud from the #VentanasIndustrialComplex. The #SulfurCloud poisoned an estimated 33 children and 9 teachers, resulting in the relocation of the school. The old location of the school is now abandoned. In August and September 2018 there was a public health crisis in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where over 300 people experienced illness from toxic substances in the air, coming from the polluting industries."

    Related article from 2023: Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades

    apnews.com/article/ventanas-co

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  17. #Wikipedia - #Chile

    "The Chilean port of #Quintero and adjacent #Puchuncaví have been pointed out as a #SacrificeZone. The zone hosts the #coal-fired #Ventanas Power Plant, an #OilRefinery, a #cement storage, #FundiciónVentanas, a #CopperSmelter and refinery, a lubricant factory and a chemical terminal. In total 15 polluting companies operate in the area. In 2011, #EscuelaLaGreda located in #Puchuncaví, was engulfed in a #ChemicalCloud from the #VentanasIndustrialComplex. The #SulfurCloud poisoned an estimated 33 children and 9 teachers, resulting in the relocation of the school. The old location of the school is now abandoned. In August and September 2018 there was a public health crisis in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where over 300 people experienced illness from toxic substances in the air, coming from the polluting industries."

    Related article from 2023: Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades

    apnews.com/article/ventanas-co

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  18. #Wikipedia - #Chile

    "The Chilean port of #Quintero and adjacent #Puchuncaví have been pointed out as a #SacrificeZone. The zone hosts the #coal-fired #Ventanas Power Plant, an #OilRefinery, a #cement storage, #FundiciónVentanas, a #CopperSmelter and refinery, a lubricant factory and a chemical terminal. In total 15 polluting companies operate in the area. In 2011, #EscuelaLaGreda located in #Puchuncaví, was engulfed in a #ChemicalCloud from the #VentanasIndustrialComplex. The #SulfurCloud poisoned an estimated 33 children and 9 teachers, resulting in the relocation of the school. The old location of the school is now abandoned. In August and September 2018 there was a public health crisis in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where over 300 people experienced illness from toxic substances in the air, coming from the polluting industries."

    Related article from 2023: Chile closes state copper smelter that polluted bay for decades

    apnews.com/article/ventanas-co

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  19. #Wikipedia - Case Study - #Argentina

    "#VillaInflamable neighborhood is located in the city of #DockSud and is part of the Greater #BuenosAires Metropolitan Area. The community is situated at the center of a #petrochemical development area, where 44 hydrocarbon companies are currently operating. These same companies are mainly responsible for turning the #RiachueloMatanza basin into one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world.

    "Reports from Argentinian and foreign public agencies have confirmed the presence of lead, chromium, benzene and other hazardous chemicals in the water supplies of the neighborhood, in amounts far in excess of what is allowed by international regulations. Journalistic and academic research has collected multiple testimonies of serious health diagnoses commonly associated with the presence of these contaminants. Likewise the book Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown explores the effects of toxicity in the daily lives of the residents of the Inflammable neighborhood, referring to multiple diagnoses of lead poisoning among the inhabitants of Inflammable, especially among children."

    Follow-up... #Argentina Abandons #ToxicRiver, Leaving Residents to Face the Fallout

    With cleanup halted and drains unfinished, Villa Inflamable residents face rising water and rising illness. Many have nowhere else to go.

    globalpressjournal.com/america

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificZones #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #Industries #IndustrialUse #Mining #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  20. #EPA Rule Would Drastically Curb Protections for #Wetlands

    The proposal could strip federal protections from most U.S. wetlands, some of which feed drinking water systems.

    Maxine Joselow
    By Maxine Joselow
    Reporting from the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters in Washington
    Nov. 17, 2025

    "The Trump administration proposed on Monday to significantly limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to limit pollution in wetlands, rivers and other bodies of water across the country.

    "The proposed rule could strip federal protections from millions of acres of wetlands and streams, potentially threatening sources of clean drinking water for millions of Americans. It was a victory for a range of business interests that have lobbied to scale back the #CleanWaterAct of 1972, including farmers, home builders, #RealEstateDevelopers, oil drillers and #petrochemical manufacturers."

    Read more:
    nytimes.com/2025/11/17/climate

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/KEbdk

    #WaterIsLife #USPol #SacrificeZone #SacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #EPAFail #Industries #IndustrialUse
    #Mining #PollutionSacrificeZones #GreedKills #CapitalismKills #CapitalismMustDie

  21. Definition: "A #SacrificeZone or sacrifice area is a geographic area that has been permanently impaired by environmental damage or economic disinvestment.

    Another definition states that sacrifice zones are places damaged through locally unwanted land use causing "chemical pollution where residents live immediately adjacent to heavily polluted industries or military bases."

    For Ryan Juskus, sacrifice zones are "geographical areas that bore a disproportionate amount of #IndustrialPollution, toxic chemical exposure, or other #Environmental harms associated with industry or national security" (p. 11). Another important aspect of this definition is that the existence of Sacrifice Zones involves the presence of Abundance Zones. In other words, the disproportionate environmental damage that some communities receive is directly related to maintaining privileges and lifestyles in other geographies. Another important aspect of sacrifice zones is that they are often located in #LowIncome communities with a large presence of ethnic or religious minorities which benefits majority groups."

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrific

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalRacism #EconomicSacrificeZones #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #Industries
    #IndustrialUse #Mining #PollutionSacrificeZones
    #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism

  22. [Thread] #Wikipedia: #SacrificeZones

    "A sacrifice zone or sacrifice area (often termed a national sacrifice zone or national sacrifice area) is a geographic area that has been permanently changed by heavy environmental alterations (usually to a negative degree) or economic disinvestment, often through locally unwanted land use (#LULU). Commentators including Chris Hedges, Joe Sacco, and Steve Lerner have argued that corporate business practices contribute to producing sacrifice zones. A 2022 report by the United Nations highlighted that millions of people globally are in pollution sacrifice zones, particularly in zones used for heavy industry and mining."

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrific

    #Industries #IndustrialUse #Mining #PollutionSacrificeZones #GlobalSacrificeZones #CorporateColonialism #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #AirIsLife #SacrificeZones

  23. Changing Population Exposure to Pollution in #China's #SpecialEconomicZones

    Leslie A. Martin, Katie Zhang, May 2021

    Abstract:
    "Martin and Zhang (2020) show that the increase in manufacturing output in China's special economic zones significantly increased air pollution. In this complementary paper, we document that widespread migration into these industrial clusters between 2000 and 2010 did little to change overall population exposure to pollution. We show using satellite air pollution data that there is much heterogeneity across zones and that most population growth occurred in relatively cleaner zones, supporting recent literature that documents local willingness to make location decisions based on environmental quality (Chen et al. 2019, Khanna et al. 2020)."

    Article link [paywall]:
    ftp.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.

    #SacrificeZones #SEZs #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation
    #EconomicSacrificZones
    #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife

  24. How communities in #SacrificeZones suffer environmental injustices in #Mexico, #Chile, #Nigeria and #Indonesia (analysis)

    Daniela Sepulveda and Angélica Arellano, 9 Apr 2025

    "Across continents, 'sacrifice zones' resemble wounds carved deep into the fabric of our planet. These are regions where ecosystems and livelihoods have been ravaged by fossil fuel and other industries that promise progress but leave devastation in their wake. These are places where big business and transnational corporations are contaminating the rivers, darkening the skies, and making the soil barren; where the toll of development is paid in human suffering and ecological destruction.

    "What unites these 'sacrifice zones' is the shared story of areas where prosperity for the few is built on the suffering of many, and where communities fight to mend the fractures inflicted upon their land, health and dignity.

    "Here are four case studies highlighting the experiences of communities and civil society organizations collaborating with us in the Coalition for Human Rights in Development’s Community Resource Exchange.

    #Tula, #Mexico

    "In the #TulaTepejiApaxco region, where the #Toltec plains once supported rich #biodiversity and #CulturalHeritage, the water and air are now saturated with pollution. This devastated landscape was declared both in 1975 and again in 2005 by the U.N. as one of the most polluted places on Earth, marking it as an #EnvironmentalDisaster zone. Since the early 20th century, the arrival of #CementPlants, #refineries, #ChemicalFactories, a #coal-fired power plant and #LimeKilns has transformed the region. Backed by all levels of government, these industries have destroyed the area’s ecological balance and ruined the health of its people, poisoning the water, air and soil with #ToxicWaste.

    "Prominent among these polluters are cement giants like #Holcim, #CEMEX, #CementosFortaleza and #Clarimex, whose operations release harmful gases that exacerbate the region’s environmental and public health crises. One of the epicenters of this environmental catastrophe is the #TulaRiver, which receives 150,000 liters (nearly 40,000 gallons) of untreated wastewater every second from Mexico City and the Valley of Mexico. These 'black waters' are teeming with industrial and hospital waste plus sewage, overwhelming the river and its tributaries.

    "The #EndhóDam, originally built to support local #agriculture, has become a toxic dumping ground, poisoning thousands of people who rely on wells for drinking water. Despite decades of warnings, local and national governments have allowed this contamination to persist. The poisoned waters have killed fish, flooded the land with toxic sludge, and led to a surge in cancer, leukemia, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases among the 15,000 inhabitants living along its banks. In 2021, a devastating flood related to the overflowing Tula River left 17 dead and displaced thousands, a stark reminder of the ongoing risks of government inaction.

    "The region now faces a massive public health crisis, and the recent declaration by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to designate the area as an ecological restoration zone is a necessary but overdue step. This declaration covers municipalities such as #Atitalaquia,TepejiDelRío, #Tepetitlán and Tlahuelilpan, where 498 businesses have been identified as generators of hazardous waste, including 14 that produce hydrocarbons. The study, based on a water, air and soil analysis, could mark the beginning of recovery if it is implemented with urgency and seriousness.

    "Over the years, organizations like #RedDeConcienciaAmbiental '#QueremosVivir' have resisted, bringing visibility to the devastation and fighting to halt deforestation and continued pollution. In the words of one of the leaders of Queremos Vivir ('We want to live'), 'There needs to be a legal solution, because it’s that urgent. We believe there is still a way to reverse it, and we have time to show the newly elected president #ClaudiaSheinbaum the dire situation we’re in.'

    "Their demands include a reduction in the water flow of the Tula River through holistic water management solutions, and government accountability for decades of environmental neglect, calling for reparations for both industrial pollution and the catastrophic 2021 floods.

    "While they welcome Sheinbaum’s promises to clean the river and launch a circular economy project, they emphasize that meaningful environmental justice must not be delayed any longer. After stating the communities’ demands through tears, the Queremos Vivir leader said, 'Are we really just going to be destined to be a sacrifice zone? The damage is so severe, the degradation we are in, that if we don’t protect it, don’t defend it, then what are we going to do?' "

    Read more:
    news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-

    #SEZs #Antofagasta #Nigeria #Indonesia #HumanRights #HumanRightsFreeZone #CorporateColonialism
    #Exploitation #RaceToTheBottom
    #HumanRightsViolations
    #Pollution #EnvironmentalDegradation
    #EconomicSacrificZones
    #ForcedRelocation #ForcedDisplacement #TraditionalLifestyles #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalRacism #Exploitation

  25. Oh great: "Inside Elon Musk’s plan to rain SpaceX’s rocket debris over Hawaii’s pristine waters"

    Really hate the brown polygon labeled "debris area" for miles and miles around the island where I live 😤

    theguardian.com/technology/202

    #hawaii #elon #tech #SacrificeZones #trash #garbage

  26. Chris Hedges Report: Climate & Mortality
    consortiumnews.com/2025/05/26/
    Eiren Caffall discusses her novel, All the Water in the World and her memoir, The Mourners Bestiary. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but…
    #Politics #Books #ClimateChange #Commentary #Gaza #Palestine #Uncategorized #ClimateDenial #CormacMccarthy #Denialism #Disease #EirenCaffall #EmanuelRingelblum #HannaKrall #HermanMelville #Illness #MarekEdelman #NathanielPhilbrick #SacrificeZones #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThorntonWilder

  27. Chris Hedges Report: Climate & Mortality
    consortiumnews.com/2025/05/26/
    Eiren Caffall discusses her novel, All the Water in the World and her memoir, The Mourners Bestiary. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but…
    #Politics #Books #ClimateChange #Commentary #Gaza #Palestine #Uncategorized #ClimateDenial #CormacMccarthy #Denialism #Disease #EirenCaffall #EmanuelRingelblum #HannaKrall #HermanMelville #Illness #MarekEdelman #NathanielPhilbrick #SacrificeZones #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThorntonWilder

  28. Chris Hedges Report: Climate & Mortality
    consortiumnews.com/2025/05/26/
    Eiren Caffall discusses her novel, All the Water in the World and her memoir, The Mourners Bestiary. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but…
    #Politics #Books #ClimateChange #Commentary #Gaza #Palestine #Uncategorized #ClimateDenial #CormacMccarthy #Denialism #Disease #EirenCaffall #EmanuelRingelblum #HannaKrall #HermanMelville #Illness #MarekEdelman #NathanielPhilbrick #SacrificeZones #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThorntonWilder

  29. Chris Hedges Report: Climate & Mortality
    consortiumnews.com/2025/05/26/
    Eiren Caffall discusses her novel, All the Water in the World and her memoir, The Mourners Bestiary. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but…
    #Politics #Books #ClimateChange #Commentary #Gaza #Palestine #Uncategorized #ClimateDenial #CormacMccarthy #Denialism #Disease #EirenCaffall #EmanuelRingelblum #HannaKrall #HermanMelville #Illness #MarekEdelman #NathanielPhilbrick #SacrificeZones #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThorntonWilder

  30. Chris Hedges Report: Climate & Mortality
    consortiumnews.com/2025/05/26/
    Eiren Caffall discusses her novel, All the Water in the World and her memoir, The Mourners Bestiary. By Chris Hedges ScheerPost This interview is also available on podcast platforms and Rumble. In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but…
    #Politics #Books #ClimateChange #Commentary #Gaza #Palestine #Uncategorized #ClimateDenial #CormacMccarthy #Denialism #Disease #EirenCaffall #EmanuelRingelblum #HannaKrall #HermanMelville #Illness #MarekEdelman #NathanielPhilbrick #SacrificeZones #TheChrisHedgesReport #ThorntonWilder

  31. Murders, #megaprojects and a ‘new Panama Canal’ in Mexico

    #Activists suspect murders of 15 #Indigenous community members are linked to their opposition to a proposed megaproject.

    By Eoin Wilson
    Published On 13 Jul 2020

    Mexico City, Mexico – "The murders bore all the hallmarks of drug cartel executions. Fifteen victims – all members of the Ikoots Indigenous community – had been beaten, shot, and their bodies burned in a field just outside Huazantlan del Rio, a village in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in late June. An as-yet-unknown number of people were also 'disappeared'.

    "At first the local government, headed by Mayor Bernardino Ponce Hinojosa, blamed the killings on a shadowy figure and an unnamed organised-crime group. Officials also acknowledged intra-community grievances and political infighting, caused by dissatisfaction with municipal elections and tension over last October’s mayoral election, which Ponce Hinojosa won.

    "San Mateo used to be governed by an Indigenous 'popular assembly', which made decisions by consensus and served on a one-year rotation. But in 2017, this changed to a ballot-based electoral approach, leading to tensions that increased after the mayor’s disputed 2019 win.

    "The Ikoots, most of whom consider the popular assembly to be the legitimate source of authority in the region, allege that the vote was fraudulent. They also accuse the mayor and a local businessman of being complicit in the wave of violence, sources told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    "Meanwhile, a collective of 15 civil society and teachers’ organisations, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), has accused the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of Mexico’s most violent and territorially-ambitious cartels – of committing the murders.

    "The allegations came in the same week that the CJNG was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico City’s chief of police in an ambush with heavy weapons in which three people were killed.

    "Although CNTE gave no evidence to support its accusation, many in San Mateo believe the claims because the cartel had already been active in their Istmo region, which boasts a wealth of mineral resources and a strategic location.

    "The Istmo (or Isthmus in English) spans the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz at the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is the site of the controversial 'Interoceanic' or 'Transistmico' corridor project, initiated by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and opposed by many Indigenous communities."

    aljazeera.com/features/2020/7/

    #Ikoots #IndigenousActivists #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Oaxaca #Veracruz #IndigenousCulture #ExtractiveIndustries #InteroceanicCorridor #TransistmicoCorridor #Istmo #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #Tehuntepec

  32. Murders, #megaprojects and a ‘new Panama Canal’ in Mexico

    #Activists suspect murders of 15 #Indigenous community members are linked to their opposition to a proposed megaproject.

    By Eoin Wilson
    Published On 13 Jul 2020

    Mexico City, Mexico – "The murders bore all the hallmarks of drug cartel executions. Fifteen victims – all members of the Ikoots Indigenous community – had been beaten, shot, and their bodies burned in a field just outside Huazantlan del Rio, a village in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in late June. An as-yet-unknown number of people were also 'disappeared'.

    "At first the local government, headed by Mayor Bernardino Ponce Hinojosa, blamed the killings on a shadowy figure and an unnamed organised-crime group. Officials also acknowledged intra-community grievances and political infighting, caused by dissatisfaction with municipal elections and tension over last October’s mayoral election, which Ponce Hinojosa won.

    "San Mateo used to be governed by an Indigenous 'popular assembly', which made decisions by consensus and served on a one-year rotation. But in 2017, this changed to a ballot-based electoral approach, leading to tensions that increased after the mayor’s disputed 2019 win.

    "The Ikoots, most of whom consider the popular assembly to be the legitimate source of authority in the region, allege that the vote was fraudulent. They also accuse the mayor and a local businessman of being complicit in the wave of violence, sources told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    "Meanwhile, a collective of 15 civil society and teachers’ organisations, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), has accused the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of Mexico’s most violent and territorially-ambitious cartels – of committing the murders.

    "The allegations came in the same week that the CJNG was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico City’s chief of police in an ambush with heavy weapons in which three people were killed.

    "Although CNTE gave no evidence to support its accusation, many in San Mateo believe the claims because the cartel had already been active in their Istmo region, which boasts a wealth of mineral resources and a strategic location.

    "The Istmo (or Isthmus in English) spans the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz at the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is the site of the controversial 'Interoceanic' or 'Transistmico' corridor project, initiated by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and opposed by many Indigenous communities."

    aljazeera.com/features/2020/7/

    #Ikoots #IndigenousActivists #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Oaxaca #Veracruz #IndigenousCulture #ExtractiveIndustries #InteroceanicCorridor #TransistmicoCorridor #Istmo #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #Tehuntepec

  33. Murders, #megaprojects and a ‘new Panama Canal’ in Mexico

    #Activists suspect murders of 15 #Indigenous community members are linked to their opposition to a proposed megaproject.

    By Eoin Wilson
    Published On 13 Jul 2020

    Mexico City, Mexico – "The murders bore all the hallmarks of drug cartel executions. Fifteen victims – all members of the Ikoots Indigenous community – had been beaten, shot, and their bodies burned in a field just outside Huazantlan del Rio, a village in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in late June. An as-yet-unknown number of people were also 'disappeared'.

    "At first the local government, headed by Mayor Bernardino Ponce Hinojosa, blamed the killings on a shadowy figure and an unnamed organised-crime group. Officials also acknowledged intra-community grievances and political infighting, caused by dissatisfaction with municipal elections and tension over last October’s mayoral election, which Ponce Hinojosa won.

    "San Mateo used to be governed by an Indigenous 'popular assembly', which made decisions by consensus and served on a one-year rotation. But in 2017, this changed to a ballot-based electoral approach, leading to tensions that increased after the mayor’s disputed 2019 win.

    "The Ikoots, most of whom consider the popular assembly to be the legitimate source of authority in the region, allege that the vote was fraudulent. They also accuse the mayor and a local businessman of being complicit in the wave of violence, sources told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    "Meanwhile, a collective of 15 civil society and teachers’ organisations, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), has accused the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of Mexico’s most violent and territorially-ambitious cartels – of committing the murders.

    "The allegations came in the same week that the CJNG was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico City’s chief of police in an ambush with heavy weapons in which three people were killed.

    "Although CNTE gave no evidence to support its accusation, many in San Mateo believe the claims because the cartel had already been active in their Istmo region, which boasts a wealth of mineral resources and a strategic location.

    "The Istmo (or Isthmus in English) spans the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz at the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is the site of the controversial 'Interoceanic' or 'Transistmico' corridor project, initiated by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and opposed by many Indigenous communities."

    aljazeera.com/features/2020/7/

    #Ikoots #IndigenousActivists #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Oaxaca #Veracruz #IndigenousCulture #ExtractiveIndustries #InteroceanicCorridor #TransistmicoCorridor #Istmo #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #Tehuntepec

  34. Murders, #megaprojects and a ‘new Panama Canal’ in Mexico

    #Activists suspect murders of 15 #Indigenous community members are linked to their opposition to a proposed megaproject.

    By Eoin Wilson
    Published On 13 Jul 2020

    Mexico City, Mexico – "The murders bore all the hallmarks of drug cartel executions. Fifteen victims – all members of the Ikoots Indigenous community – had been beaten, shot, and their bodies burned in a field just outside Huazantlan del Rio, a village in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in late June. An as-yet-unknown number of people were also 'disappeared'.

    "At first the local government, headed by Mayor Bernardino Ponce Hinojosa, blamed the killings on a shadowy figure and an unnamed organised-crime group. Officials also acknowledged intra-community grievances and political infighting, caused by dissatisfaction with municipal elections and tension over last October’s mayoral election, which Ponce Hinojosa won.

    "San Mateo used to be governed by an Indigenous 'popular assembly', which made decisions by consensus and served on a one-year rotation. But in 2017, this changed to a ballot-based electoral approach, leading to tensions that increased after the mayor’s disputed 2019 win.

    "The Ikoots, most of whom consider the popular assembly to be the legitimate source of authority in the region, allege that the vote was fraudulent. They also accuse the mayor and a local businessman of being complicit in the wave of violence, sources told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    "Meanwhile, a collective of 15 civil society and teachers’ organisations, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), has accused the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of Mexico’s most violent and territorially-ambitious cartels – of committing the murders.

    "The allegations came in the same week that the CJNG was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico City’s chief of police in an ambush with heavy weapons in which three people were killed.

    "Although CNTE gave no evidence to support its accusation, many in San Mateo believe the claims because the cartel had already been active in their Istmo region, which boasts a wealth of mineral resources and a strategic location.

    "The Istmo (or Isthmus in English) spans the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz at the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is the site of the controversial 'Interoceanic' or 'Transistmico' corridor project, initiated by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and opposed by many Indigenous communities."

    aljazeera.com/features/2020/7/

    #Ikoots #IndigenousActivists #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Oaxaca #Veracruz #IndigenousCulture #ExtractiveIndustries #InteroceanicCorridor #TransistmicoCorridor #Istmo #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #Tehuntepec

  35. Murders, #megaprojects and a ‘new Panama Canal’ in Mexico

    #Activists suspect murders of 15 #Indigenous community members are linked to their opposition to a proposed megaproject.

    By Eoin Wilson
    Published On 13 Jul 2020

    Mexico City, Mexico – "The murders bore all the hallmarks of drug cartel executions. Fifteen victims – all members of the Ikoots Indigenous community – had been beaten, shot, and their bodies burned in a field just outside Huazantlan del Rio, a village in the municipality of San Mateo del Mar in Oaxaca, southern Mexico, in late June. An as-yet-unknown number of people were also 'disappeared'.

    "At first the local government, headed by Mayor Bernardino Ponce Hinojosa, blamed the killings on a shadowy figure and an unnamed organised-crime group. Officials also acknowledged intra-community grievances and political infighting, caused by dissatisfaction with municipal elections and tension over last October’s mayoral election, which Ponce Hinojosa won.

    "San Mateo used to be governed by an Indigenous 'popular assembly', which made decisions by consensus and served on a one-year rotation. But in 2017, this changed to a ballot-based electoral approach, leading to tensions that increased after the mayor’s disputed 2019 win.

    "The Ikoots, most of whom consider the popular assembly to be the legitimate source of authority in the region, allege that the vote was fraudulent. They also accuse the mayor and a local businessman of being complicit in the wave of violence, sources told Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

    "Meanwhile, a collective of 15 civil society and teachers’ organisations, the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE), has accused the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) – one of Mexico’s most violent and territorially-ambitious cartels – of committing the murders.

    "The allegations came in the same week that the CJNG was accused of the attempted assassination of Mexico City’s chief of police in an ambush with heavy weapons in which three people were killed.

    "Although CNTE gave no evidence to support its accusation, many in San Mateo believe the claims because the cartel had already been active in their Istmo region, which boasts a wealth of mineral resources and a strategic location.

    "The Istmo (or Isthmus in English) spans the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz at the narrowest point between the Pacific and the Atlantic. It is the site of the controversial 'Interoceanic' or 'Transistmico' corridor project, initiated by the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and opposed by many Indigenous communities."

    aljazeera.com/features/2020/7/

    #Ikoots #IndigenousActivists #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #Oaxaca #Veracruz #IndigenousCulture #ExtractiveIndustries #InteroceanicCorridor #TransistmicoCorridor #Istmo #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #Tehuntepec

  36. From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects

    "The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    "This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."

    Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

    Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024

    "This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
    of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
    projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
    as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
    Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
    developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
    Afrodescendant life projects.

    [...]

    "An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
    geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc.

    "Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
    been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
    Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."

    Original paper:
    journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1

    PDF version:
    eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHo

    #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture

  37. From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects

    "The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    "This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."

    Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

    Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024

    "This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
    of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
    projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
    as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
    Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
    developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
    Afrodescendant life projects.

    [...]

    "An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
    geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc.

    "Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
    been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
    Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."

    Original paper:
    journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1

    PDF version:
    eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHo

    #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture

  38. From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects

    "The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    "This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."

    Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

    Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024

    "This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
    of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
    projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
    as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
    Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
    developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
    Afrodescendant life projects.

    [...]

    "An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
    geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc.

    "Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
    been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
    Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."

    Original paper:
    journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1

    PDF version:
    eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHo

    #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture

  39. From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects

    "The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    "This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."

    Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

    Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024

    "This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
    of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
    projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
    as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
    Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
    developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
    Afrodescendant life projects.

    [...]

    "An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
    geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc.

    "Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
    been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
    Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."

    Original paper:
    journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1

    PDF version:
    eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHo

    #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture

  40. From the Bretton Woods Project: Focus on #MegaProjects

    "The [#WorldBank] ’s shift towards leveraging private sector finance for development (see Governance above), which has gained momentum since 2015, includes a particular emphasis on promoting ‘infrastructure as an asset class’, in order to crowd in institutional #investors. This policy initiative is highly dependent on mega-infrastructure projects – and, as noted by a letter sent by concerned economists in October 2018, currently lacks a framework for aligning such mega-projects with the Paris Climate Agreement or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    "This is of major concern, given that many planned ‘mega-corridors’ in developing regions are predicated on building a new generation of carbon-intensive infrastructure. In many cases, the Bank continues to support such projects that, while not ‘fossil fuel investments’ per se, are part of such carbon-intensive mega-corridors (see Observer Autumn 2018)."

    Paper: Infrastructure Megaprojects as World Erasers: Cultural Survival in the Context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

    Author: Susanne Hofmann, November 8, 2024

    "This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the Corredor Interoceánico del Istmo de Tehuantepec (CIIT) infrastructure project for the cultural survival
    of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice. The CIIT is being promoted as a multimodal road and rail transport corridor that will link the Gulf of Mexico with the Pacific Ocean, speed up global trade and benefit local residents. Based on interviews with affected residents in the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz, this research found that there is a strong desire for the continuity of existing, collective life
    projects, Indigenous languages, cultural identities, beliefs, spirituality, established political and legal systems, and solidarity economy. De facto, the CIIT infrastructure project functions
    as a technology of erasure of other lifeworlds, imposing integration into the One-World World (Escobar, 2016) and assimilation of Indigenous peoples and Afrodescendant communities.
    Contemporary legal frameworks are not sufficient to guarantee alterlivability (Hamraie, 2020). Therefore, infrastructural megaprojects based on modern/colonial-extractivist-
    developmentalist premises continue to threaten the futurity of Indigenous and
    Afrodescendant life projects.

    [...]

    "An increasing number of infrastructure corridors, such as the Corredor Interoceánico, are currently being built across the globe (e.g. the Belt and Road Initiative/China, Corredor Bioceánico/Paraguay; Corredor Interoceánico/Chile-Bolivia-Brazil; The Northern Transport Corridor in East Africa/Kenya-Ethiopia-South Sudan – just to name a few). These projects are directed at reducing ‘economic distance’ –i.e. speeding up the transport of goods across
    geographical distance whilst lowering the cost (Hildyard, 2016: 20). In the process, infrastructure megacorridors restructure whole regions into purpose-specific zones for export, logistics, transit, housing development, resource extraction, manufacturing etc.

    "Thereby, they fragment geographic space, generating a distinctive reterritorialisation of the space to develop sites of capitalist growth. Megacorridors connect what Lerner (2010) called 'sacrifice zones' – geographic areas where processes of natural resource extraction cause permanent environmental damage – to global circuits of capital. Across Latin America the social and environmental impacts of extractive megaprojects and resistance against them has
    been widely documented (Aguilar Rivero & Echavarría Cango, 2019; Domínguez, 2015, 2017;
    Domínguez & Corona, 2016; Ibarra García & Talledos Sánchez, 2016; Pérez Negrete, 2017; Rodríguez Wallenius, 2015). This article explores the meaning of infrastructural changes resulting from the CIIT project for the cultural survival of Indigenous peoples resident in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region through the lens of ontological justice."

    Original paper:
    journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/1

    PDF version:
    eprints.lse.ac.uk/120254/1/SHo

    #MegaInfrastructureProjects #CarbonIntensive #MegaCorridors #SDGs #CIIT #GulfOfMexico #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #DeGrowth #IMFLoanSharks #SacrificeZones #CulturalGenocide #CulturalErasism #EnvironmentalDegradation #EnvironmentalDamage #Capitalism #CorporateColonialism #IndigenousPeoples #CulturalSurvival #IsthmusOfTehuantepec #OntologicalJustice #Tehuantepec #ExtractiveIndustries #Oaxaca #Veracruz #CorredorInteroceánico #BeltAndRoadInitiative #CorredorBioceánico #NorthernTransportCorridor #China, #Paraguay; Corredor #Chile #Bolivia #Brazil #EastAfrica #Kenya #Ethiopia #SouthSudan #IndigenousCulture #AfrodescendantCulture

  41. New Study: #FossilFuels Disproportionately Impact #Black, #Brown, #Indigenous, and #Poor Communities Throughout The Supply Chain

    #CarbonOffsets, #CapAndTrade, #CCS and Other “#CarbonCentric” Policies Fail to Mitigate Air and Water #Pollution

    by Tyler Kruse
    June 5, 2023

    "The study concludes that policies solely focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions without reducing fossil fuel usage could fail to reduce local air and water pollution, fail to alleviate public health harms, and end up perpetuating the racially inequitable impacts of the fossil fuel economy.

    WASHINGTON DC (June 5, 2023)–"A new peer-reviewed study details the risks of President Biden’s support for expanded fossil fuel production and exports. Despite campaign promises to take on fossil fuels, Biden has approved massive extraction projects and allowed a surge of crude and LNG exports. Against the backdrop of attacks on environmental justice in Congress – including the recent rollbacks to NEPA in the Fiscal Responsibility Act – and the Supreme Court’s undercutting of the Clean Water Act, the study titled 'Fossil fuel racism in the United States: How phasing out coal, oil, and gas can protect communities' finds that fossil fuels impose unfair and unjust health harms on Black, Brown, Indigenous and poor communities.

    "The study identifies the public health harms as well as the disproportionate impacts on communities at each stage of the #coal, #oil, and #gas lifecycles – #extraction, processing, transport, and combustion. It was authored by experts from Greenpeace USA, Salem State University, and Taproot Earth and published in Energy Research & Social Science.

    "The publication draws from 200+ academic studies which reveal a consistent pattern: fossil fuel pollution is associated with #asthma, birth complications, #cancer, #respiratory disease, heart conditions, and premature mortality. Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities bear a disproportionate burden of these harms. These same communities are hit hardest by the impacts of the climate crisis.

    "Additionally, the study concludes that policies solely focused on reducing #GreenhouseGas emissions without reducing fossil fuel usage could fail to reduce local air and water pollution, fail to alleviate public health harms, and end up perpetuating the racially inequitable impacts of the fossil fuel economy. Black, Asian, Hispanic or Latino, and low-income populations already have an elevated burden of exposure to air pollutants that can harm the respiratory system known as PM2.5, a pattern that is consistent across nearly all emission source types. Poorly designed climate policies could concentrate this pollution in community 'hotspots' even as overall carbon emissions decline.

    "Dr. Tim Donaghy, research manager at Greenpeace USA and a co-author of the report, said: 'Fossil fuels harm both the climate and our health and must be phased out as fast as possible. But if our climate policies only focus on reducing carbon, we are missing an opportunity to greatly improve health in impacted communities. Carbon-centric policies being pushed by the oil and gas industry won’t alleviate fossil fuel racism and could worsen it for communities who already bear the brunt of the industry’s pollution. A better approach is to shift the focus to the root cause of both carbon and pollution, which are fossil fuels themselves. Policymakers should explicitly mitigate air and water pollution, advance #EnvironmentalJustice, and meaningfully include historically targeted communities in climate policy-making and implementation.”

    "Noel Healy, professor of Geography and Sustainability at Salem State University and co-author of the report, said: 'Alarmingly, Biden is approving new #drilling at a faster rate than the Trump administration. This includes approving '#CarbonBombs' at the #AlaskaWillow and the #LNGAlaskaProject, and recently breaking a major G7 climate promise by financing an #Indonesian #OilRefinery. Continued approval of harmful and #Extractive fossil fuel licenses is a catastrophic climate and public health failure.'

    "The study argues that #SystemicRacism enables the fossil fuel industry to avoid paying the true cost of its pollution by passing it on to communities of color. It identifies fossil fuel racism as a subset of environmental racism characterized by the disproportionate and racialized effects of climate change, fossil fuel extraction, transportation, processing, and consumption on Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor populations.

    "The fossil fuel industry is fueling a public health crisis that disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income communities. Healy said: 'We can tackle the #ClimateCrisis, improve public health, and confront systemic racism by phasing out fossil fuels and enacting a #GreenNewDeal.'

    "The study makes the following recommendations:

    - The U.S. should implement a managed phase out of fossil fuel production to drive absolute pollution reductions in ‘#SacrificeZones’ and to align our policy with 1.5°C pathways.
    - Enact a Green New Deal to halt climate change and build a more just and regenerative economy.
    - Protect and expand democratic spaces."

    Source:
    greenpeace.org/usa/news/new-st

    #EnvironmentalRacism #BigOilAndGas #WaterIsLife #CorporateColonialism

  42. > “#FossilFuels have always required those #SacrificeZones,” .. risks.. often borne by certain groups of people.. the most vulnerable people in society.”.. indigenous and the poorest people.. had their lands mined and dealt with the health impacts.
    > “Nuclear carries those same risks and that same logic ...I don’t think that’s the solution,” .. renewables could power.. the world’s economies. “We can do it without huge risks and costs..[of] #nuclear ..”
    news.com.au/technology/environ
    #NaomiKlein

  43. CW: racism

    I don't know if people want to pretend being suprised #ElonMusk
    is jumping on the whole "open borders" train, but for someone who already associated with people full of #biologicalRacism science aside - he fully participates in the #sacrificezones economy. His international extractivism can't work if people follow their stolen worth to the exploiting countries. He needs closed borders so the people that flee climate catastrophes and economic exploitation can't get their worth back.

  44. Seventeen (!) #LNG terminals being built along the #Louisiana coast, supposedly to supply Europe. But Europe is fast turning to clean energy and energy efficiency. They won't need this fossil #gas.

    This is par for the course for the #FossilFuel industry:
    Greed.
    Boom and bust cycles.
    Disregard for "#externalities" like polluted waters, the health of nearby residents, the health of the planet.
    The use of "#SacrificeZones" (and sacrifice people).

    #colonialism
    theguardian.com/environment/20