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NORTH DAKOTA STUDENTS SPEAK OUT ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
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Tribal College Climate Challenge at Power Shift
Washington D.C.-November 2-5, 2007 marked the beginning of a movement in America that has not been seen since the 1960’s. Over 5,000 high school and college students from across the country converged on our Nations Capital to speak out for environmental justice and a change in legislation on Global Warming policies. Powershift 2007, held in College Park, Maryland this past weekend, has been touted as the first-ever national youth climate summit. The summit was organized by the Energy Action Coalition-a coalition of over 40 organizations united in their fight for a Clean Energy future.
Through the Indigenous Environmental Network, six students from the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, ND were able to take part in the monumental occasion. Amber Felix, Anthony Felix, Arita Chasing Hawk, Alyssa Howling Wolf, Terrance Trottier and Holly Hosie had the unique opportunity to be at the forefront of real change by taking part in the biggest lobby day on global warming ever held.
On Monday morning students spoke in a congressional hearing before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming followed by a rally on the U.S. Capitals West lawn. In addition, students met with their Senators and Representatives from their respective states to ask for Green Jobs Now; to cut Carbon 80% by 2050 and start reducing emissions at least 30% by 2020; and to put a call out for No New Coal.
Unfortunately, the United Tribes Technical college students were not able to meet with ND representative Earl Pomeroy or Senator Byron Dorgan. Although they briefly met with Senator Kent Conrad they were not able to sit down and speak with him due to some bad timing, the Farm Bill was being introduced on the very same day. However, the students did meet with Erin Fitzgerald, Senator Conrad’s Legislative Assistant and shared their concerns with her about global warming.
Kandi Mossett, Tribal Campus Climate Challenge Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network has said, “This is only one small step in the beginning of this movement. We will continue to work hard to make our voices heard and to say that we are tired of being victims of environmental injustices and we are ready to fight for a change. We know that the Climate Security Act of 2007 is not strong enough and should allocate much more of the auction proceeds to American Indian, Alaska Natives and Hawaiian Natives and other disproportionately affected communities. Until all communities are given equal rights and Global Climate Change is taken seriously we will continue to fight.” For more information visit PowerShift 2007 or contact Kandi Mossett at iencampusclimate@igc.org.
Read More About Power Shift at NativeTimes.com
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PUBLIC FORUM - Local Indigenous Environmental and Sacred Sites Issues
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Saturday, November 17
1-3:30 pm
University of Arizona College of Law
Room 140
The Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras (Indigenous Alliance Without Borders) invites the UA community and general public to a free public forum on local indigenous environmental and sacred sites issues to be held at the University of Arizona College of Law on November 17. Invited speakers include representatives of the Chiracahua Apache Alliance and Western Mining Action Network addressing mining issues in the San Carlos Apache community, the Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment (GRACE), the Baboquivari Defense Project, and the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Questions and open discussion will follow presentations by panelists. Refreshments will be served. Please contact the Alianza Indígena Sin Fronteras (alianza@indigenasinfronteras.org) or Christina Leza (leza@email.arizona.edu) for additional information.
For more information on participating organizations, please visit Indigenous Environmental Network View the Agenda
Blackfire to perform at Summit!
The Border Summit welcomes Blackfire, the Navajo family band whose voices have proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' rights around the world.
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Western Mining Action Network and Indigenous Environmental Network Indigenous Communities Mini-Grant Program
This is a program between the Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) and the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) that will run from October 2007-September 2008. The goal of the mini-grants program is to support and enhance the capacity building efforts of mining-impacted indigenous communities to assure that mining projects do not adversely affect human, cultural, and ecological health within their traditional territories.
The applicant must be, rather than simply advocating for, an indigenous
community or grassroots organization working within the U.S. or Canada on issues impacting indigenous peoples and communities within the U.S. or Canada. Projects or initiatives that focus outside the U.S. or Canada are not eligible.
Applications must be submitted by October 1, 2007, February 1, 2008, and June 1, 2008. Applicants will be notified of the funding decision by the 20th of October, February and June. There will be an “emergency” fund for extremely time-sensitive projects that fall between grant cycles (i.e., needs that could not have been anticipated at the time of the last cycle and cannot wait to be addressed until the next cycle). These grants will be very limited and awarded on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Mini-Grant Review Committee. Get Application Here
"2007 North American Indigenous Peoples Mining Summit slide presentations now available. View Presentation
Navajo Leads Uranium Roundtable on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON, D.C.
11/14/2007
Three members of Congress joined the Navajo Nation last week in a discussion on the ban of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation.
“Over a half century ago the United States government faced by the threats of the Cold War began a massive effort to mine and process uranium ore for use in the country’s nuclear weapons programs,” said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, as he gave his opening statement at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill. “Much of that uranium was mine on, or near, Navajo lands and much of it extracted and processed with Navajo hands.”
The Uranium Roundtable, held jointly by the Navajo Nation and Congress, was an open discussion for Navajo leadership and community members affected by uranium mining to come together with Congress and federal agencies.
Federal government agencies represented at the Roundtable included the Indian Health Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Energy.
“Workers, families, and their neighbors suffer increased incidences of cancers and other medical disorders caused by their exposure to uranium,” said President Shirley. “Fathers and sons who went to work in the mins and the processing facilities brought the remnants of uranium in to their homes at the end of the day infecting their families.”
Read The Article
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STATEMENT ON SENATE BILL 2191: CLIMATE SECURITY ACT OF 2007 (Lieberman-Warner Bill)
United States Senate Bill 2191, “Climate Security Act of 2007”, introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA), sets up a cap and trade approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. The comments below reflect the position of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN). In brief, our comments are:
1. The emissions reduction targets of the Climate Security Act of 2007 are not strong enough. The act should set aggressive targets that provide a strong signal to American corporations to take the leading edge in reshaping our economy. This country needs climate legislation that would set goals that would achieve at least 30 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 80 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2050.
2. The bill should not exacerbate the impacts of fossil fuel development on American Indian and Alaska Natives lands by allowing the biggest polluters of Indigenous lands to profit from the continued use of coal. 100 percent of the permits should be auctioned; none should be assigned freely unless they are donated to communities for retirement or future planning. Ensure that environmental justice, public health and economic justice concerns are adequately addressed in the trading measures that are allowed;
3. Because of their extremely high levels of uncertainty and impacts to communities in the Global South, both carbon sequestration projects and international trading mechanisms should be excluded from the Climate Security Act of 2007.
4. The Climate Security Act of 2007 should allocate much more of the auction proceeds to American Indian, Alaska Natives and Hawaiian Natives and other disproportionately affected communities.
Read the Complete Statement
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Contact Us
Indigenous Environmental Network Established in 1990, IEN is an alliance of Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, environmental protection of our lands, water and air, and maintaining the sacred Fire of our traditions.
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www.ienearth.org
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We Speak for OurselvesIndigenous Peoples Challenge the Fossil Fuel Regime in Albertaby Clayton Thomas-Muller
Read MORE at The Dominion
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Disappearance of Indigenous Baby Boys Tied to Industrial Pollution
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By Terri C. Hansen
Environment and Science Reporter
In indigenous communities, babies that should be born boys are being born girls. Research released this month of only girls being born in the villages of northern Greenland has brought to light earlier studies that found indigenous mothers living in the northern most reaches of the Arctic Circle are having girls – but not boys. The studies linked the skewed sex ratios with human exposures to PCBs and other persistent organic chemicals.
READ The Story at Mother Earth Journal
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For the past five years, CRPE has represented residents of the Inupiaq Eskimo community of Kivalina, Alaska in their fight against the world's largest zinc and lead mine. Our major arena of struggle has been the federal courts, where we represent the community in a Clean Water Act lawsuit. We have also had to fight the US EPA, which has consistently sided with the mine's operator, Teck Cominco Alaska, in weakening the mine's permit. In February of this year, EPA issued a new permit to the mine, significantly relaxing the permit conditions and allowing the mine to discharge additional toxins into the community's drinking water. CRPE filed an appeal of the permit on behalf of the Native Village of Kivalina IRA Council, the City of Kivalina, individual residents of Kivalina and three Alaska environmental groups. In a stunning victory, EPA recently rescinded the mine's new permit. Unfortunately, the mine continues to operate under its old permit, but Kivalina residents, with CRPE's help, will be weighing in soon to continue to protect their community.
The Center on Race Poverty and the Environment (CRPE) has been a friend and supporter of our Native communities in our fight for environmental justice. IEN is happy on to see a victory such as in the Inupiaq village of Kivalina, Alaska. Contact Luke Cole at CRPE if you would like more information. luke@igc.org
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Action Alert! - Help Protect Our Scared Waters!Oppose the Shasta Dam Raise!
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Left: Caleen Sisk-Franco and her daughter at a Coming of Age ceremony
The Shasta Dam Raise proposal is the latest in a long line of attacks on the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The proposal would raise the dam by adding nearly 19 feet of concrete on top of the current structure, thus enlarging the reservoir behind the dam. This would flood several of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe's sacred sites and commit cultural genocide in the name of unsustainable water management.
By flooding sites such as Puberty Rock, where young Winnemem women come of age, the Bureau of Reclamation would add onto the burden of environmental injustices the Tribe faces today. The Winnemem have already paid a hefty price for California's destructive use of dams. The Winnemem Wintu lost 90 percent of their ancestral land when the Shasta Dam was originally built. Promises made to to create a tribal cementary held in trust and to replace the lands lost were never fulfilled. Additionally, the Tribe's traditional food source, salmon, were decimated by the construction of the dam.
The public scoping process is the first phase of public participation under the NEPA guidelines. Tell the Bureau of Reclamation to fully address the immense cultural and biological genocide that this project means.
For sample letters and more information, visit Tribal Justice for the Winnemem Wintu
Send comments to:
Mr. Louis Moore
wmoore@mp.usbr.gov
Bureau of Reclamation
2800 Cottage Way
Sacramento, CA 95825
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