· May, 2013

Stories about Environment from May, 2013

VIDEO: Brazil's Police Intimidate Indigenous

  30 May 2013

Video [Audio and subtitles in Portuguese] recorded by the native Paygomuyatpu Mundurukku shows soldiers of the National Force verbally intimidating his tribe on the area of Belo Monte dam.

Activists Protest Monsanto Offices in Tokyo

  26 May 2013

Activists in Tokyo demonstrated against agricultural giant Monsanto in front of their local offices, joining 279,723 protesters in 57 other countries around the world for March Against Monsanto day on May 25, 2013. Project 99% [ja], an anti-nuclear power and anti-Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement [so called TPP] coalition of activists and groups in Japan...

After Probing Chemical Lake, Eco-Blogger Attacked in Russia

Environmental protection has become a dangerous area of public activism in Russia—at least where industrial pollution is concerned. This is because eco-activists often directly oppose regional business interests, who sometimes react with force. A case in point: unknown assailants attacked and severely beat an eco-blogger from Pervouralsk, in retaliation for the publicity he is creating over a local chrome manufacturer dumping waste into the Chusovaya River.

Indian Ruling on Vedanta Mining Plans Favours Tribal Rights

  25 May 2013

India's Supreme Court recently ruled that village councils should make the final decision as to whether controversial British company Vedanta Resources can mine for bauxite in the eastern state of Odisha. Vedanta wants to mine on land that the local Dongria Kondh people hold sacred.

Cadmium-Laced Rice Found in China

  22 May 2013

Rice contaminated with high levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium, dubbed "cadmium rice," is the latest food scandal in China to trigger public panic and anger among the country's consumers.

Indonesia: Petition to Save the Forest of Aceh

  19 May 2013

Rudi Putra initiated an online petition asking the Indonesian government to block the expansion of mining and palm oil activities in Aceh and to protect the country's remaining rainforest. More than one million people around the world have already signed the petition: I live and work in the last place...

Chinese Officials Attempt to Stem Protests

  15 May 2013

After Kunming's Anti-PX protest on May 4, 2013, local government has tried to stop further protests by sending text messages, “visiting” protest organizers, and censoring information online. East by Southeast has more details.

Save Lhasa, Tibet from Destruction

  13 May 2013

High Peaks Pure Earth has published Elliot Sperling's translation of prominent Tibetan writer, Woser's recent blogpost urging the world to save Lhasa from being turned into another tourist shopping mall.

China Censors Chemical Plant Protest

  6 May 2013

Residents of China’s southwestern Kunming city took to the streets on May 4, 2013 to protest against the potential production of a toxic chemical at a nearby factory. China's state media kept the news of the protest quiet, and online censors aggressively deleted information and photos about the demonstration on social media.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Environmental Entrepreneur

  3 May 2013

In an era where youth…are seen as being dissolute it is truly heart warming to recognise the drive and talent of this young man. Abeni salutes Kamara Jerome, a 20-year-old Vincentian entrepreneur, who won the Best Environmental Award in the Caribbean Innovation Challenge.

Bermuda: Bag Tax or Bad Tax?

  2 May 2013

Local charities are lobbying the Bermudian Government to institute a bag tax to encourage people to shop with reusable bags and reduce waste – but Vexed Bermoothes insists that “it’s nice to think that you can tax people into living or acting better; it rarely works out that way.”