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No Justice for Amazon Massacre in Peru Five years ago yesterday the Devil’s Curve earned its name. This wild stretch of highway outside the Peruvian town of Bagua was transformed from a peaceful protest site into a national tragedy now known as the Baguazo. Though the multi-week roadblock was due to disband that same day, militarized riot police entered by force in the early dawn and a deadly melee ensued. When the teargas and gunsmoke cleared, 34 people were dead and hundreds more wounded, including protesters and police officers. Today, 54 protesters and ostensible instigators are on trial for the infamous Baguazo. Government prosecutors have accused high-profile indigenous leaders of inciting their people to violence. Several indigenous representatives like Alberto Pizango, president of the Amazon-wide indigenous organization AIDESEP, face sentences of 35 years to life. |
Tag Archives: Congress
JPMorgan Chase dropping mountain destruction
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| Tell the Banks to Stop Financing Mountain Destruction |
This could be the tipping point for the horrific practice of Mountaintop Removal coal mining.
Just this week, JPMorgan Chase updated its environmental policy, revealing that it will be ending financial relationships with Mountaintop Removal coal mining companies.
Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas/Bank of the West have recently taken similar steps. If the other major banks commit to stop financing mountaintop removal, fossil fuel companies will have no choice but to end the obliteration of mountains and poisoning of communities for coal.
tell Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to stop financing Mountaintop Removal coal mining!
Mountaintop Removal (MTR) is a mining practice that uses explosives to literally blow the tops off mountains for the coal inside. The rubble is then pushed into streams and poisons the water supply for thousands of people. This is morally unacceptable and why many, many local communities in Appalachia, along with activists around the world, are taking a stand against MTR.
For more than five years, Rainforest Action Network members like you have demanded JPMorgan Chase and other banks drop MTR financing. And while we’ll have to remain vigilant to ensure JPMorgan Chase stays on the path away from MTR, the bank’s new policy demonstrates that your activism is working.
JPMorgan Chase will no longer be doing business with companies like Alpha Natural Resources—the worst of the worst when it comes to MTR. Last month, the EPA issued Alpha the largest water pollution discharge penalty in the history of the Clean Water Act. The company also faces ten lawsuits over water pollution at its MTR mines.;
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, shows that the smart money is leaving companies like Alpha Natural Resources. Other major banks do not want to be singled out for continuing to support environmental destruction and poisoning communities.
Tell the banks to drop Alpha Natural Resources and adopt a policy to phase out MTR financing.
Our movement is truly turning the tide against MTR. Companies like Alpha Natural Resources need financing from big banks to continue the destruction. If we make sure the banks can’t hide their responsibility for keeping MTR alive, we can force them to act to protect their image.
JPMorgan Chase is acting to protect its image right now by moving out of MTR financing. Let’s use that momentum. Send the banks a message today and help end Mountaintop Removal coal mining once and for all.
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For healthy communities and a healthy ecosystem, |
Photo Credit: Kent Kessinger/Appalachian Voices
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Blair Mountain …
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Blair Mountain used to be an idyllic place in southwestern West Virginia where the hills rolled for miles. Blair is also a historical treasure—the mountain is the site of arguably the most important post-Civil War battlefield in the US. Now, Arch Coal is planning to decimate this historical treasure for the tiny seams of coal that lie beneath the mountain. This is mountaintop removal coal mining at its worst. These devastating coal mining practices could not happen without nine big banks (Bank of Montreal, BBVA, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, Royal Bank of Scotland, Union Bank, and Bank of America as a lead lender) pumping $250 million dollars into keeping Arch coal afloat last November. Protect Blair Mountain and tell these 9 big bank CEOs to STOP funding Arch Coal. Blair used to be a thriving community of 700 people—and now has merely 50 residents because of the extreme dangers posed by existing mountaintop removal mines near the town. And the people who stayed behind live with constant dynamite blasts behind their town, carcinogenic dust rolling off the mine sites, and heavy metal contamination. Enough is enough. When bank financing enables Arch Coal to displace an entire community and wreack havoc on mother nature we cannot remain silent. If we want to protect the future of these communities and our climate we need to cut funding for coal.
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CONGRESS: Pass Restoring Veterans’ Trust Act
Like many veterans, when I returned home from Iraq, I sought care at a VA facility near my home.
So you can imagine why the politicization of the disclosures at the VA facility in Phoenix has gotten me down. The truth is, we’ve all known for some time that the veterans’ health system needs real reform.
And while President Obama and Secretary Shinseki have done admirable work to reduce the backlog, we’ve long needed solutions that get to the root of the problems.
This week, the U.S. Senate has a chance to take meaningful action to improve veterans’ health care, and I hope they take it this time.
Here’s what the bill does:
1. Authorizes the VA to hire new doctors and nurses, closing the gap between a growing number of veterans returning home to seek care and the number of health care professionals able to deliver it.
2. Allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase the number of locations delivering care by leasing twenty-seven new health facilities in eighteen states.
3. To address long-term needs, the legislation awards scholarships and forgives student debt for health care professionals willing to accept positions at the VA.
These are important steps Congress should take right now in order to improve short and long-term care for our nation’s veterans.
Tell the Senate to support the Restoring Veterans’ Trust Act of 2014.
http://action.votevets.org/va-reform
In late February, right-wing Senators led a filibuster against similar legislation that would have struck at the root of problems within the VA system.
It’s time to end the talk and take some action.
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets.org
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I’m a mother of six Marines ~~ Loraine Tackett, VoteVets.org
My name is Loraine Tackett from Billings, Montana. I’m a mother to nine children … six of whom are United States Marines.
It can be difficult at times, as you can imagine, but I am grateful that U.S. Senator, and Iraq War veteran, John Walsh is on our side. He recognizes that the cost of war doesn’t end after the troops come home, and is committed to making sure all veterans, including those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, receive the care they deserve.
Representative Steve Daines is running for Walsh’s Senate seat, but he’s consistently aligned himself with the Tea Party Caucus and voted against improving care at the VA and increasing the pensions of disabled vets.
As veterans, military family members, and VoteVets supporters, you know that Tea Party Representatives like Steve Daines have politicized the VA crisis while consistently voting against legislation that would get to the root of the problem and improve care.
VoteVets has pledged to share that story across the country, in many states.
I’m happy to help them in Montana.
Loraine Tackett
Mother to six U.S. Marines
Be a Seed for Change 
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