Indigenous Protesters in Brazil, Burma, Nigeria and other poor countries lead the way protecting the environment!

Indigenous Protesters in Brazil, Burma, Nigeria and other poor countries lead the way protecting the environment; while the U.S. supports the oil companies!!

If you're relying on the traditional media for your information, you might not know it, but some of the people that previously may have had the least amount amount of political power are now having a significant degree of success standing up to powerful energy companies or loggers.

If on the other hand you already check out other alternative news outlets like Earth First Newswire or some of the other good reporting outlets that are ignored by the political establishment, you might already know this.

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They know they're already in danger of being the victims of environmental genocide.

Those that rely on the traditional commercial media might think that this sounds alarmists; however others might not have that option. 
 

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The following are a few of the stories they're reported on that have indicated some degree of success but much more is necessary.

Loggers Face Removal from Land of Earth’s Most Threatened Tribe

Brazil has taken the first steps towards the removal of thousands of illegal loggers and settlers from the land of the Awá, Earth’s most threatened tribe, by notifying them that they will be removed if they do not leave now. Survival has received reports that FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department, is advising settlers who have illegally cleared rainforest for farming not to plant new crops, as they will have to leave before the next harvest. The Awá are one of Brazil’s last nomadic tribes. They have been driven to the brink of extinction as waves of illegal loggers, settlers and ranchers have flooded their land since the 1970s. The invaders have destroyed vast swathes of the tribe’s forest and massacred entire Awá families. Complete article

Nigeria: Coordinated Mass Protests Shut Down ExxonMobil by Okon Bassey / ThisDay

The people of Eket federal constituency in Akwa Ibom State yesterday embarked on a mass protest shutting down the operations of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil in Ibeno and Eket, in the state.

The mass protest was staged simultaneously around Mobil facilities, the Airstrip in Eket, Mobil Terminal in Ibeno and Mobil Housing Estate in Eket.

THISDAY checks revealed that the protest was in respect of the sum of N26.5 billion oil spill fund reportedly released by ExxonMobil through the state government to the four oil producing local government areas.

The protesters who chanted slogans with placards and trumpets, barricaded the oil company’s access gates, while a coffin with the inscription ‘RIP Mark Ward’ was kept at the gates of Mobil Terminal in Ibeno, amidst other banners and placards. Complete article

Burma: Village Protests Shut Down Coal Mine

The Karen National Union (KNU) in Southern Burma has suspended a coalmine from operating in the Pawklo area, east of Dawei.

The KNU stopped the mine after listening to the demands local villagers made to the political organisations district leaders.

The KNU Mergui-Tavoy District 16th Congress that finished on the 19 October decided that the coal mine in Tha Nay Kler village area should stop operating after KNU township representatives pushed for its closure.

P’doh Saw Beeler, chairman of KNU Mergui-Tavoy District told Karen News.

“We consider the villagers demands requesting the suspension of coal mining in the Paw Klo area. We will time to investigate the issue and talk and listen to local people about their concerns.”

The KNU permit granted to a Thai company East Star has been suspended, but sources claim the company still has a grant issued by the Myanmar government. Complete article

In many cases these are the people that have been considered the least political active and the media has virtually ignored them. And, at least in the case of Burma, it is taking place in a country that is supposed to be much more oppressive than the U.S.

Not only that but the media is also ignoring the vast majority of environmental destruction that continues to escalate. When they do report some of these stories they report very limited details and then they quickly forget it; while the propaganda from the oil companies is repeated over and over again.

As I reported in a previous post about, Trade Secrecy laws provide license to commit negligent mass murder, trade secrecy laws often enable corporations to avoid reporting on many environmental disasters; and when they are reported there is little or no effort to compile the full cumulative amount of damage that is taking place. The list of environmental disasters that have been getting little or no attention from the commercial media has continued to expand since then; but in order to keep up with even a relatively small fraction of it people need to watch an enormous amount of news for the rare isolated story in the traditional media or search for more reliable information from other sources.

Fortunately, to some degree, the potential for some real reform is also happening even though it is not being reported by the media.

A large percentage of the public in the developed world might be somewhat ignorant of all the damage that is being done but those that live near where the worst of it is happening have no choice but to acknowledge it.

Do we have to wait until the amount of environmental damage escalates again in the back yards of many more Americans?

Of course this is already happening for many people even in the U.S.; but they tend to be the ones with the least amount of political power as well and in many places they have been speaking out as well but the media doesn't give them more than a token amount of attention either.

The commercial media often attempts to present the environmentalists like Earth first as extremists or in many cases they even portray them as terrorists; but a closer look clearly indicates that the energy companies are much more likely to resort to violence, or in many cases those that tehy associate with resort to violence but somehow the media doesn't report on this as terrorism. Instead, if they address it at all, they attempt to portray it as activities of rogue criminal organizations with no connection to the energy companies although they decline to consider who would benefit by these activities.

The following are a sample of some of the stories i thought might be worth more attention, including more reports of environmental damage that hasn't been reported nearly as much as it should have, examples where environmentalists have been oppressed and additional comments from Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky about why we need to do more and the fact that indigenous people already are.

Romania Rejects Giant Rosia Montana Gold Mine

Worlds Apart: Indigenous Leaders Abandon Faith in UN to Find Climate Solution.

Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Statement on Fukushima

Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights; Censored News

Noam Chomsky: Indigenous People Are In The Lead

Kicked Out of UN Climate Talks for Showing Solidarity with the Phillipines

Colombia: Mine Opponents Assassinated

Burma: Village Protests Shut Down Coal Mine

Loggers Face Removal from Land of Earth’s Most Threatened Tribe

Koch Pipeline Spills 400 Barrels Of Crude Oil In Texas

These Are The Keystone XL Protesters That Interrupted Obama During His Boston Health Care Speech

Report: Pipeline Regulators Spent More Time With Industry Than On Oil Spills

B.C. home of most pipeline safety incidents since 2000

CN Fuel Cars Derail, Explode West of Edmonton

ND Spills Went Unreported; State Testing Website (AP)

14 Incredible Photos of Brazilian Activists Liberating Beagles from Cruel Lab

FBI Investigated PETA for Anthrax Plot Based on Rumors

Naomi Klein: How Science is Telling Us All to Revolt

Fracking Victim Sued for Defamation After Proving Drinking Water Flammable

Unist’ot’en Camp Site of Late Night Bombing

Mi’kmaq Warrior Society Members Beaten in Jail