Environmentalists and other social advocates are campaigning in Ecuador for the reopening of a green group that was shut down this month by the government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Amazon Watch and other allies of the organization, called Pachamama Foundation, have signed a letter of solidarity with Pachamama, and on Dec. 10, International Human Rights Day, they called on the Correa government to reverse course. Pachamama, for its part, has said it will push to have the matter heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights if the Ecuadorian judicial system does not void the executive action. Ecuador’s Environment Ministry accused Pachamama of failing to comply with a government decree issued in June that requires all social-advocacy...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
After resisting development of its Darién rainforest for decades, the government of Panama has passed a new oil and gas law and appears ready to open up bidding for oil exploration in the fragile area near the border with Colombia. Panama spent nearly US$2.3 billion on imported oil in 2012, four times the figure for 2000. It hopes to benefit from having its own sources of fuel. Economists say the discovery in August 2011 of 900 million barrels of oil reserves in the Darién by the Venezuelan firm Overseas Technical Service International (OTS) could transform the country’s energy picture. Environmentalists warn that energy firms operating in the jungle could foul water supplies and coastal areas and cause deforestation, undermining biodiversity and carbon-storage capacity...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
Opponents of a proposed Texas coal mine near the U.S.-Mexican border are appealing a permit for the project that the Texas Railroad Commission issued to the Dos Republicas Coal Partnership. A court challenge by local governments, the indigenous Paquache Clan of Texas and the Maverick County Environmental and Public Health Association is scheduled for a Feb. 2014 state court hearing. Heriberto Morales, attorney for the City of Eagle Pass, Texas, said dust pollution from mining is a “big issue” with his clients. Slated for a site seven miles from Eagle Pass, coal mining could eventually encompass 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares), according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “This would be six or seven times the size of Eagle Pass,” says George Baxter, vice...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
The uncertainty surrounding what would be the world’s biggest and highest-altitude open-pit gold mine—Pascua Lama, located in the Andes on the Chilean-Argentine border—has intensified following the announcement of significant layoffs this month. Barrick Gold, the Canadian mining company, announced that in January it would cut back activities and lay off 1,500 of its 5,000 employees on the Argentine side of the project site. On the Chilean side, groundwork on the mine has been suspended since April on account of litigation over the project’s environmental impacts. The gold deposit, located in an area ranging from 3,800 to 5,200 meters above sea level, contains an estimated 18 million ounces of proven gold reserves and was expected to require an investment of US...
[ Log in to read more | Subscribe ]
