'Victory': Supreme Court Rejects Exxon's Appeal, Time to Fork Over Climate Docs
Activists representing more than 350 environmental, civic, and college student organizations in Downtown Manhattan in February 2017.
Pacific Press / Contributor / LightRocket / Getty Images
Massachusetts' Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey declared "victory" on Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected ExxonMobil's attempt to derail her office's probe into whether the fossil fuel giant misled investors and the public about its knowledge of climate change.
The justices declined to hear Exxon's appeal of an April ruling by Massachusetts' highest court, Reuters reported.
The decision effectively affirmed Healy's authority to investigate Exxon and to order the company to hand over decades of internal records related to the company's understanding of global warming.
This victory "clears the way for our office to investigate Exxon's conduct toward consumers and investors," Healey tweeted after the ruling.
"The public deserves answers from this company about what it knew about the impacts of burning fossil fuels, and when," she added.
Today’s #SCOTUS victory clears the way for our office to investigate Exxon’s conduct toward consumers and investors… https://t.co/XMCd8EFLt9— Maura Healey (@Maura Healey)1546877645.0
Healey first issued a civil investigative demand on Exxon in April 2016 in order to seek "information regarding whether Exxon may have misled consumers and/or investors with respect to the impact of fossil fuels on climate change, and climate change-driven risks to Exxon's business."
The oil company repeatedly tried to block the AG's investigation in lower courts but never prevailed. Today's rejection from the nation's top court likely means that Exxon must comply with Healy's demands.
Environmentalists, including 350.org U.S. communications manager Thanu Yakupitiyage, celebrated the news.
"This latest decision brings great momentum in the fight to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for causing the climate crisis," Yakupitiyage said in an issued statement. "We thank Attorney General Healey for her vigilant leadership in standing up for people over polluters."
In October, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood officially filed a lawsuit against Exxon alleging the company defrauded shareholders and downplayed the risk of climate change to its business.
Underwood's office said in a press release that a years-long investigation uncovered an alleged fraudulent scheme to systematically and repeatedly deceive investors about the significant impact that future climate change regulations could have on the company's assets and value. The alleged fraud reached the highest levels of the company, including former chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson.
The probes from the Massachusetts and New York attorneys general were launched after groundbreaking investigations by InsideClimate News and The Los Angeles Times in 2015, which reported that Exxon scientists and executives understood for decades that its products drive global warming.
"Today's decision is yet another defeat for Exxon in their fight to hide the fact that they have known for 50 years that their products cause climate change," Richard Wiles, executive director of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in an issued statement. "Deception and delay are Exxon's core climate strategies. Today the court dealt the company yet another defeat in their fight to hide the fact that they have known for 50 years that their products cause climate change."
Exxon has dismissed these allegations as "meritless," Reuters reported.
#BREAKING: New York Sues #Exxon For Climate Deception @newyorkstateag @sierraclub @billmckibben @desmogblog… https://t.co/WTJZ2o6aGY— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)1540410862.0
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Refrigerated trucks function as temporary morgues at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal on May 06, 2020 in New York City. As of July, the states where COVID-19 cases are rising are mostly in the West and South. Justin Heiman / Getty Images
The official number of people in the U.S. who have lost their lives to the new coronavirus has now passed 130,000, according to tallies from The New York Times, Reuters and Johns Hopkins University.
<p>The grim news comes amidst a surge in U.S. cases. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-cases-us-2646324392.html" target="_self">More than 50,000</a> new cases a day were reported several times over the past week, The New York Times pointed out. And the country still has the world's worst outbreak with nearly three million cases, double the world's second-highest caseload in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/brazil" target="_self">Brazil</a>, Reuters reported.</p><p>In an interview streamed Monday with National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Francis Collins, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. had never successfully exited the first wave of the pandemic.</p><p>"I would say this would not be considered a wave," Dr. Fauci said, as The New York Times reported. "It was a surge, or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline that really never got down to where we wanted to go."</p>
<div id="12c0d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a04ea6b6f3c7247987a538fb52521a0d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280207832512466945" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/MjUNsLdMXN</div> — NIH (@NIH)<a href="https://twitter.com/NIH/statuses/1280207832512466945">1594060307.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In the interview, Fauci said the surge could perhaps be attributed to cities and states reopening too soon.</p><p>"The European Union as an entity, it went up and then came down to baseline," Fauci said, <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/06/anthony-fauci-us-coronavirus-surge-really-not-good/5388472002/" target="_blank">according to USA TODAY</a>. "Now they're having little blips, as you might expect, as they try to reopen. We went up, never came down to baseline, and now it's surging back up. So it's a serious situation that we have to address immediately."</p><p>At least 32 states are reporting higher rates of new cases this week compared to last, according to Johns Hopkins data reported by USA TODAY.</p><p>The states where cases are rising are mostly in the West and South, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-trends-graphic-idUSKBN2472PZ?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1NBZZ_Vv5bv5ozfxVZzZrw47Ma_U3AOJfBjCa0CRJ9e0taYOiovQqKXeM" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, while cases continue to fall in the Northeast.</p>
<p>Arizona surpassed 100,000 cases Monday, according to New York Times data, and cases there have doubled in the past two and a half weeks. Both Idaho and Texas broke records for the most new cases reported in a single day Monday, at more than 400 and more than 8,800 new cases respectively.</p><p>"The situation is that we are experiencing rampant community spread," chief Dallas County elected official Clay Jenkins tweeted.</p>
<div id="83d55" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eeaabe613386ceea4e2ed191f16b77d5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1279885904623079425" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@DCHHS reports 1,062 cases. Today we are fortunate to report no new deaths; however, we do have over 1,000 new cas… https://t.co/FMefsIWFx6</div> — Clay Jenkins (@Clay Jenkins)<a href="https://twitter.com/JudgeClayJ/statuses/1279885904623079425">1593983553.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Despite Monday's grim milestone of 130,000 deaths, the rate of increase of deaths in the country has continued to decline, Reuters reported. However, a surge in deaths can come weeks or even months after a surge in cases, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts said. And at least five states have seen their death rates rise, including Arizona, which reported 449 deaths in the last two weeks of June compared to 259 in the first two weeks. As of July 3, intensive care units in the state were at 91 percent capacity, an all-time high, <a href="https://apnews.com/46a23bcf72b624dc25d7703dc269c727" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that the U.S. death toll will climb to between 140,000 and 160,000 by July 25, according to Reuters. It further projects that deaths will rise in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.</p>
<p>The surge in cases has drawn critical attention to President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>'s handling of the crisis. Throughout the pandemic, he has made misleading statements about the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-infections-trump-2645393552.html" target="_self">risks</a> of the new disease and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-medicine-science-2645823308.html" target="_self">effectiveness of various treatments</a>. During a speech on the Fourth of July, he said that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases were "totally harmless," as USA TODAY reported.</p><p>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the president out for the statement on Monday.</p><p>"He is facilitating the virus," Cuomo said, as <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/506019-cuomo-trump-enabling-the-virus" target="_blank">The Hill reported</a>. "He is enabling the virus by statements like that. And you're seeing the infection rate go up, and you're seeing the economy suffer, and he is part of that current debacle that we are in."</p>
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<p>To fight the surge in cases, Fauci urged Americans to keep up the social distancing, since new outbreaks had been linked to large indoor gatherings.</p><p>"Avoid crowds," he said, as The New York Times reported. "If you're going to have a social function, maybe a single couple or two — do it outside if you're going to do it. Those are fundamental, and everybody can do that right now."</p>
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A man walks on pink snow at the Presena glacier near Pellizzano, Italy on July 4, 2020. MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP via Getty Images
In a troubling sign for the future of the Italian Alps, the snow and ice in a glacier is turning pink due to the growth of snow-melting algae, according to scientists studying the pink ice phenomenon, as CNN reported.
<p>The algae will make the snow melt faster. The salmon-hue that has tinged the snow is from algae that carry carotenoid pigment, which reflects the distinctive color. While most algae thrive in warm freshwaters, these are known as cryophilic, meaning they thrive in colder temperatures, where they create the "watermelon snow" effect, according to <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/07/06/bizarre-pink-snow-in-the-alps-is-actually-a-bad-omen-for-earth/" target="_blank">Salon</a>.</p><p>The concern is that the algal bloom on the snow will accelerate the effects of the climate crisis. As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/06/algae-turns-italian-alps-pink-prompting-concerns-over-melting" target="_blank">Agence France-Presse</a> (AFP) reported the plant, known as <em>Ancylonema nordenskioeldii</em>, is often found in Greenland's so-called Dark Zone, where the ice is also melting.</p><p>Normally ice reflects more than 80 percent of the sun's radiation back into the atmosphere, but as algae appear, they darken the ice so that it absorbs the heat and melts more quickly, according to AFP.</p>
<p>"Everything that darkens the snow causes it to melt because it accelerates the absorption of radiation," said Biagio Di Mauro of Italy's National Research Council to AFP. "We are trying to quantify the effect of other phenomena besides the human one on the overheating of the Earth." He noted that the presence of tourists could also have an effect in weakening the snow.</p><p>Di Mauro told CNN that the spring and summer had very little snowfall high in the Alps, which has seen higher than average temperatures. "This creates the perfect environment for the algae to grow," he added.</p><p>Di Mauro emphasized that the algal bloom is particularly bad news for the glaciers, which may see a rapid melting. That would be in line with glaciers around the world that are starting to fade away as global heating continues to push up atmospheric temperatures.</p>
<p>"A classic reminder of how uncertainty is not our friend," said Dr. Michael E. Mann, a distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University, to Salon by email. "In this case, we're seeing an amplifying feedback wherein biological darkening (due to Algae growing on the surface of melting ice), leads to more solar absorption by the ice and even faster melting. We call this a 'positive feedback' but it is anything but positive. It reflects a process which is leading to faster melting of the glaciers than our simple models predict."</p><p>As CNN noted, Di Mauro has come across cold temperature algae before. He has previously studied the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland, where an algae called <em>Ancylonema nordenskioeldii</em> has turned the ice purple.</p>
<p>Ken Caldeira, an atmospheric scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, told Salon that "photosynthetic organisms are designed to absorb sunlight. Some small fraction of the energy in sunlight goes into making carbohydrates but most of it goes into heating the organism and its local environment. If that organism is living in snow, the snow is likely to melt."</p><p>This algae has also been found in southwestern Greenland as well in as the Andes and Himalayas. Globally, glaciers are melting. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/antarctic-glacier-sea-level-rise-2645574336.html" target="_self">March study</a> found an Antarctic glacier had retreated three miles and can cause five feet of sea level rise if it melts completely. A <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/himalayan-glacier-melt-doubled-2638927563.html" target="_self">2019 study</a> found that Himalayan glacier melt has doubled since 2000. Additionally, conservationists and scientists have held funerals for glaciers in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/iceland-glacier-funeral-2639890762.html" target="_self">Iceland</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/swiss-alps-pizol-glacier-funeral-2640547054.html" target="_self">Swiss Alps</a>.</p>
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Climate activist Greta Thunberg discusses EU plans to tackle the climate emergency with Parliament's environment committee on March 4, 2020. CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2020 – Source: EP
By Abdullahi Alim
The 2008 financial crisis spurred a number of youth movements including Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring. A decade later, this anger resurfaced in a new wave of global protests, from Hong Kong to Beirut to London, only this time driven by the children of the 2008 financial crisis.
<p>These movements enjoy mass popularity, but how effective are they? Greta Thunberg proclaimed that "<a href="https://time.com/5768561/greta-thunberg-davos-panel-time/" target="_blank">pretty much nothing [had] been done</a>" since staging school strikes to raise awareness of the climate crisis in 2018, while Micah White, co-creator of <a href="http://occupywallst.org/" target="_blank">Occupy Wall Street</a>, has said that social change as we know it is dead.</p><p>As the world now faces the <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2020/04/14/the-great-lockdown-worst-economic-downturn-since-the-great-depression/" target="_blank">deepest economic downturn</a> since the Great Depression, there will be greater social unrest and calls for a new set of solutions.</p><p>Youth movements will need to find a more mature form of activism to counter the popularized puritanism that has prevailed. More precisely, here are 4 considerations for young changemakers as they seek a more just and equitable world:</p>
1. Learn From the Past
<p>Young people tend to be comfortable with change. Their instant adoption of technology is an example.<a target="_blank"> However, they may lack an understanding of the more permanent realities – requiring patience and </a>stoicism.</p><p>This wisdom is typically in the hands of individuals who either work within systems or who have accumulated far more tenure. This was effectively echoed by 13-year old activist, Naomi Wadler who <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Aa6XLZe9A" target="_blank">said</a>, "We can educate our youth a lot better. We're not delving deeper into social justice movements from the past."</p><p>Youth movements that are informed by the success and pitfalls of prior efforts offer a more promising outcome. Take for example, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, co-founded by a 32-year old Alicia Garza.<span></span></p><p>Unlike the civil rights movement of the 1960's, BLM lacks central governance. This means that opponents can't attack its leadership as a means to discredit the whole movement. In the 1960's, this is exactly what happened to the civil rights movement, when critics went after Martin Luther King, stalling the collective efforts of the movement.</p><p>In fact, King spent his final year <a href="https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/04/04/martin-luther-king-jr-50-years-assassination-donald-trump-disapproval-column/482242002/" target="_blank">mired in public disapproval</a> with over 75% of Americans considering him "irrelevant" including 60% of African Americans.</p><p>By studying the legacy of previous efforts, BLM has managed to rally approximately <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/big-majorities-support-protests-over-floyd-killing-and-say-police-need-to-change-poll-finds/2020/06/08/6742d52c-a9b9-11ea-9063-e69bd6520940_story.html" target="_blank">75% of the American public</a>; a feat that will undeniably ensure the longevity of its cause.</p><p>For the youth climate movement, it too must reconcile the long record of activism that predates its tenure. It ought to model itself as an intergenerational movement by giving greater credence to the activists, environmental scientists and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/juan-manuel-santos-colombia-indigenous-peoples-coronavirus-pandemic-climate-change-environment-nature/" target="_blank">indigenous elders</a> that have fought for climate justice before its inception and ultimately signal the nuance and maturity that would activate allies within systems of power.</p>2. Become Part of Systems Change
<p>From the college campus to the coworking space, you would be hard pressed to avoid the sight of a social impact competition that invites young people to resolve some of the world's most intractable problems.<br></p><p>Unsurprisingly, this often leads to problematic and incomplete solutions. Take, for example, <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/tackling_heropreneurship" target="_blank">an app for African farmers</a> developed by students who have neither farmed nor been to Africa.<br></p><p>Fortunately, there is a growing shift towards empowering young people to better diagnose the systems that uphold inequality. For example, Oxford University hosts the annual <a href="http://www.oxfordglobalchallenge.com/" target="_blank">Map the System</a> competition to celebrate some of the most promising youth-led mappings and the World Economic Forum's <a href="https://www.globalshapers.org/story" target="_blank">Global Shapers Community</a> convenes more than 7,000 young people under the age of 30 to address local, regional and global challenges.</p><p>To achieve systemic change, young changemakers must first unpack systems into <a href="https://wtf.tw/ref/meadows.pdf" target="_blank">three components</a>; elements, interconnections and functions:</p><ul><li>Elements are essentially the key stakeholders in the system. This can include individuals, land or objects.</li><li>Interconnections are the laws and social norms that bind the elements together.</li><li>Functions are the end-goals.</li></ul><p>Take for example, the persistence of sexual harassment in the workplace as a systems issue. The elements in the system would include the victim, perpetrator and other intermediary bodies including line managers and human resource teams. The interconnections could include forced arbitration laws that prohibit employees from seeking public courts and a managerial culture that protects high performing perpetrators and pressures victims into silence. In which case, the ultimate functions (or rather dysfunctions) of the system discourage victims from pursuing action and enable perpetrators and enablers to enjoy the benefits of career progression without due trial.</p><p>Systemic change is about redesigning the interconnections (the cultural norms and laws). In the example above, it involves challenging the use of private arbitrary courts and uprooting a toxic work culture. Reclaiming this intuition opens a pandora's box that ultimately allows for any given system to operate more inclusively.<br></p><p>Today, young changemakers can rely on online resources like <a href="http://systems-ledleadership.com/" target="_blank">Systems-Led-Leadership</a> to analyze any given system of inequality and then direct their unique skills and knowledge towards the most effective intervention.</p>3. Avoid Heropreneurship
<p>Daniela Papi-Thornton first coined the term <a href="http://tacklingheropreneurship.com/" target="_blank">heropreneurship</a> to describe a growing trend that credits social change to the "founder" of an organization or movement exclusively.</p><p>This culture has inspired an entire generation of young change-makers who are swayed by the allure of the "heroic" founder and whose behaviors are validated through youth awards, grants and speaking circuits that glorify a role in the limelight. This pervasive culture undercuts the entire spectrum of actors that really creates social change.</p><p>Social change does not necessarily warrant the creation of a new organization or movement. Change-makers should consider the root causes that perpetuate and uphold inequalities and then map the existing players and solutions. This process might point to scaling up the work of an existing organization or helping a local candidate run for office.<br><br>For young people who wish to create social change, their efforts – while extremely important – may go unnoticed. This is an expectation that needs to be managed.<br></p>4. Know Your Place
<p>In 2016, a political action committee entitled <a href="http://canyounot.org/" target="_blank">Can You Not</a> emerged with the aim of discouraging white men from running for office in minority districts.</p><p>Despite the comical graphics, the campaign highlights an important question for young changemakers, particularly if they advocate for issues that they have not lived: in the quest for social change, can the actions of change-makers unwittingly perpetuate injustices, even as they seek to end them?<br></p><p>In the example above, could the notion of a white man effectively assuming the role of a translator between minority communities and government only reinforce their structural underrepresentation in political decision-making? Could the desire to assume office without lived experience also signal little faith in the leadership of the very communities being served?<br></p><p>A more effective approach to social change may be to encourage such actors to take stock of the unintended consequences of misrepresentation. In doing so, they may come to appreciate the importance of "stepping back" to allow others to "step forward." More concretely, this could result in building trusted relationships with the community and eventually empowering more local voices to consider public leadership.<br></p><p>For young changemakers, it is pivotal that they assess their own standing in a given system and avoid perpetuating the very inequalities they wish to tackle.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDM1MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTA1MjM3MX0.dmJ2XOyMic9ElhQYP9Xc7jj5fnmfwRRlR-smcGrsG_k/img.png?width=980" id="e696f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f0f1ac331784be079123990844df136b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Strategic Intelligence: Youth Perspectives. World Economic Forum
A More Targeted, Effective Kind of Activism
<p>Social media has played its critical part in providing young people with a vehicle to advocate for social reform.</p><p>Whether it's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/23/greta-thunberg-speech-un-2019-address" target="_blank">Greta Thunberg's speech</a> during the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 or <a href="https://variety.com/2018/politics/features/emma-gonzalez-parkland-interview-1202972485/" target="_blank">Emma Gonzalez</a> rallying crowds for more stringent gun control. younger voices are swaying public opinion and pressuring political systems to operate more inclusively.<br></p><p>The impact of these extraordinary young people is inspiring, but arguably they struggle to provide a course of action for the average young person who is motivated to pursue social change. The inconvenient truth is that social reform is difficult and even more so for a young person who wrestles with challenges related to experience and credibility.<br></p><p>To be more effective, young changemakers must forge greater bonds with late-stage activists as well as potential allies within systems of power. They must also understand the systems that uphold equality and pinpoint the intervention that would most likely inspire systemic change.<br></p><p>Finally, it is pivotal that they invest in a support system and seek to dissolve <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/this-is-how-wellbeing-drives-social-change-and-why-cultural-leaders-need-to-talk-about-it" target="_blank">personal anxieties</a> that may compromise their change-making potential.</p><p>It's time for youth activism to grow up.</p>From Your Site Articles
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A climate activist holds a victory sign in Washington, DC. after President Obama announced that he would reject the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal on November 6, 2015. Mark Wilson / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
The Supreme Court late Monday upheld a federal judge's rejection of a crucial permit for Keystone XL and blocked the Trump administration's attempt to greenlight construction of the 1,200-mile crude oil project, the third such blow to the fossil fuel industry in a day—coming just hours after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the court-ordered shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
<p>While the ruling was not a total victory for the climate—the high court <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/keystone-xl-supreme-court-pipeline/index.html" target="_blank">said</a> other pipeline projects can proceed as environmental reviews are conducted—green groups applauded the delay of Keystone XL construction as further confirmation of their view that the Canada-owned pipeline will never be built thanks to legal obstacles and fierce grassroots opposition.</p><p>"Three dangerous pipelines delayed within 24 hours should serve as a clear warning to any companies hoping to double down on dirty fossil fuel projects," <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/scotus-denies-trump-administration-further-delaying-keystone-xl-pipeline/" target="_blank">said</a> Greenpeace USA climate campaign director Janet Redman. "For more than a decade now, a powerful movement has been taking on reckless oil and gas pipelines and fighting to put Indigenous rights, a just economy, and our environment before oil company profits."</p><p>"It is past time to leave fossil fuels in the ground," Redman added, "and begin a just transition to a Green New Deal and 100 percent renewable energy."</p>
<div id="4dce6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d65802fa887eb38051c6d92edeab4500"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1280301750352633857" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">24 hours. 3 dirty pipelines delayed.
✅ #NoACP
✅ #NoDAPL
✅ #NoKXL
The movement to put people before profits and… https://t.co/51cuHSdp9w</div> — Greenpeace USA (@Greenpeace USA)<a href="https://twitter.com/greenpeaceusa/statuses/1280301750352633857">1594082698.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Supreme Court's decision upheld a Montana judge's April <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/16/tremendous-victory-indigenous-and-climate-campaigners-celebrate-federal-court-deals" target="_blank">ruling</a> that the Trump administration violated the Endangered Species Act by issuing a water-crossing permit for Keystone XL without fully assessing the damage the pipeline could inflict on wildlife along its planned route from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska.</p><p>As <em>Bloomberg</em> <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-06/keystone-pipeline-stays-blocked-in-u-s-supreme-court-order" target="_blank">reported</a>, the Supreme Court's ruling "means almost all Keystone XL construction is delayed until 2021."</p><p>Kendall Mackey, Keep It in the Ground campaigner with 350.org, <a href="https://350.org/press-release/us-supreme-court-kxl-permit-ruling-upheld/" target="_blank">celebrated</a> the high court's decision to stall construction of Keystone XL "despite the Trump administration's desperate pleas and corporate pandering."</p><p>"This pipeline continues to be an epic boondoggle for Big Oil," said Mackey. "Tribal nations, farmers and ranchers, and allies across the country in solidarity with resistance to Keystone XL are not going anywhere—we will continue fighting to protect our climate from fossil fuel corporations at every turn."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/07/24-hours-3-dirty-pipelines-delayed-supreme-court-rejects-trump-effort-greenlight" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p><a href="https://commons.commondreams.org/t/24-hours-3-dirty-pipelines-delayed-supreme-court-rejects-trump-effort-to-greenlight-keystone-xl-construction/79909" target="_blank"></a>From Your Site Articles
- Construction Begins on Keystone XL Pipeline in Montana - EcoWatch ›
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A forest fire in Yakutsk in eastern Siberia on June 2, 2020. Yevgeny Sofroneyev / TASS via Getty Images
Once thought too frozen to burn, Siberia is now on fire and spewing carbon after enduring its warmest June ever, according to CNN.
<p>The most immediate impacts of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> are in the nether-regions world of the world where temperatures are extreme and inhospitable. One of the most alarming examples is playing out in Siberia, which just saw temperatures reach triple digits as it endured its warmest month ever. That June heatwave in Siberia has led to some staggering numbers, according to scientists, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/weather/siberia-arctic-temperature-wildfires-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> in Siberia started much earlier in the spring than ever before, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/rapid-arctic-meltdown-in-siberia-alarms-scientists/2020/07/03/4c1bd6a6-bbaa-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>. Permafrost is thawing, infrastructure is crumbling, and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-ice" target="_self">sea ice</a> is dramatically vanishing.</p><p>"We always expected the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic">Arctic</a> to change faster than the rest of the globe," said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, to The Washington Post. "But I don't think anyone expected the changes to happen as fast as we are seeing them happen."</p>
<p>The wildfires released an estimated 59 megatonnes of carbon dioxide across Siberia in June, according to scientists at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). This spate of fires on landscapes that are typically too cold, wet, and icy to burn is raising alarms for ecologists and climate scientists, according to <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/heat-wave-thawed-siberia-now-on-fire/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a>. They fear the rash of blazes is another sign that the Arctic is undergoing rapid changes that could set off a series of consequences on a global scale.</p><p>The fires can be a double whammy for the Siberian ecosystem. If they become a regular occurrence, it could cause new species to colonize the area, which would set the stage for more fires. Also, the increased intensity and duration of the fires may accelerate the climate crisis by thawing the ground and releasing trapped carbon that has accumulated in frozen organic matter, as National Geographic reported.</p><p>"By how big they are and how hot they are, I would say there's no way they're not burning down," said Amber Soja, an associate research fellow with the National Institute of Aerospace and an expert on Siberian wildfires, to National Geographic.</p>
<p>Already, the area's carbon dioxide emissions for June were its highest in the 18 years of the CAMS dataset, surpassing the record of 53 megatonnes set just one year ago in June 2019.</p><p>"Higher temperatures and drier surface conditions are providing ideal conditions for these fires to burn and to persist for so long over such a large area," said CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington, as CNN reported.</p><p>"We have seen very similar patterns in the fire activity and soil moisture anomalies across the region in our fire monitoring activities over the last few years."</p><p>Siberia also had a warmer than average winter. CAMS said that the warm winter meant that "zombie" blazes were able to smolder through the winter and may have reignited this spring, according to <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-07-warmest-june-globally-siberia-sizzles.html" target="_blank">Phys.org</a>.</p>
<p>Globally, June 2020 was more than half a degree Celsius warmer than the 1981-2010 average for the same month, and on a par with June 2019 as the warmest ever registered. Siberia, which is larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined, was more than 5 degrees Celsius above normal for June, according to Copernicus Climate Change Services satellite data, as Phys.org reported.</p><p>Some parts of Siberia had an average temperature that was 10 degrees Celsius, or 18 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than average. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet through a process known as Arctic amplification, as CNN reported. Arctic ice melt has accelerated, which leads to seasonal snow cover that isn't as white and absorbs more sunlight, which leads to more warming, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</p><p>"To me what's really shocking is how warm it's been relative to average for so many weeks and months," said <a href="https://twitter.com/ZLabe" target="_blank">Zack Labe</a>, a climate scientist at Colorado State University, as National Geographic reported.</p>
From Your Site Articles
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The Colima fir tree's distribution has been reduced to the area surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. Agustín del Castillo
By Agustín del Castillo
For 20 years, the Colima fir tree (Abies colimensis) has been at the heart of many disputes to conserve the temperate forests of southern Jalisco, a state in central Mexico. Today, the future of this tree rests upon whether the area's avocado crops will advance further and whether neighboring communities will unite to protect it.
<p>The Colima fir tree's distribution has been reduced to the area surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. In November 2019, Mexican authorities included the tree on a list of endangered species.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDE4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTQ4NTkyNn0.KbdlAZi115V1gl5qsjO8lutvuL9qVTip6BckTlf6xJ0/img.jpg?width=980" id="28084" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e704ae81d931c8aa1c46fa12c4119796" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Nevado de Colima volcano stands 4,260 meters (13,976 feet) above sea level. Agustín del Castillo
<p>According to biologist José Villa Castillo, the director of Nevado de Colima National Park and Nevado de Colima Cloud Forest State Park, it is imperative to stop the commercialization of the tree's timber and to create policies that conserve the forests in which it lives. Villa Castillo also supported the inclusion of the tree on the endangered species list.</p><p>Villa Castillo acknowledged the enormous challenge of conserving this tree, and he said the pressure to exploit its timber without sustainable management is far from the only problem. The expansion of the nearby avocado industry also threatens its survival.</p><p>When allowed to grow, the Colima fir tree can become monumental: It can reach 60 meters (196 feet) in height and 2 m (6.5 ft) in diameter. To protect this giant, specialists and communities often promote ecotourism and conservation projects inside the national and state parks that surround the Nevado de Colima volcano.</p>Fires That Clear Land for Avocado Crops
<p>In 2012, a group of researchers from the University of Guadalajara proposed to the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) the recognition of the <em>A. colimensis</em> as a unique species to differentiate it from the sacred fir (<em>A. religiosa</em>), which is the dominant fir tree in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, a collection of volcanoes in central Mexico.</p><p>The Colima fir tree "has extremely low genetic diversity; it has the lowest known genetic diversity among all the species in the Abies genus in Mesoamerica and one of the lowest among all the species of trees on the planet," according to the authors of the proposal to recognize the tree as an endangered species. The area it occupies "is very limited": just 15,002 hectares (37,071 acres), or 0.007% of the territory of Mexico.</p><p>The Nevado de Colima volcano, which stands 4,260 meters (13,976 feet) above sea level, is one of only eight peaks that exceed 4,000 m (13,123 ft) in Mexico. It is only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Pacific Ocean and is considered an "evolutionary island" because the ecosystems in its high-altitude areas drive unique adaptations in species and are cut off from other ecosystems by hundreds of kilometers. The Colima fir tree is an example of the area's biological differentiation, according to Libertad Arredondo, a researcher and expert on the ecology of high mountains.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIwNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NDc3NzUzNn0.uuB3C_3SSGj_Z803tuicfTAJ-R8y32ZpXBZHDBpvIJ0/img.jpg?width=980" id="dd32b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8b7cab21f2d425be9b26bbfc8ba8d3c2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The fir forests are mainly located in the middle of slopes or in ravines. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Even though the tree has remained on that "evolutionary island," its situation has become increasingly complicated by the impact of deforestation, which was propelled by the issuance of permits for forest exploitation. Fires, started to convert the land to agriculture or other uses, also present a threat to the ecosystem, according to the experts who suggested the tree should be considered endangered.</p><p>The researchers said the tree's future prospects are further complicated by its slow growth rate, its high degree of genetic erosion, the effects of climate change, and the movement of clouds to higher altitudes. The position of clouds is crucial because they act as an essential source of moisture for fir trees.</p><p>Villa Castillo, an expert in pine genetics and reproduction, said the Colima fir tree has never been successfully reproduced in nurseries, which would likely make it impossible to conduct reforestation efforts to help repopulate the species.</p><p>The forests that contain the Colima fir tree are in cold, humid climates, with very little light reaching the understory, and they're mainly located in the middle of slopes or in ravines. The species thrives when surrounded by oak trees, coniferous trees and other types of vegetation common in mountainous cloud forests. The tree also requires a primary habitat with little disturbance from humans.</p><p>According to Villa Castillo, fire kills most Colima fir tree seedlings, as it kills seedlings of other species in the <em>Abies</em> genus. In recent years, more fires have been started in the forest to clear the way for avocado trees.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzk3MTEwOX0.64tgWzkAL5LncEph0-1zgn_VtRe2lPbY9FuoTMZhLAI/img.jpg?width=980" id="41a84" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63c0cc86433f2d39c6f9fe918f7f2d0e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A tree and other vegetation in the cloud forest surrounding the Nevado de Colima volcano. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Sonia Navarro Pérez, a researcher from the University of Guadalajara who has monitored and conducted biological inventories in the area, has seen firsthand how the growth of the avocado industry has led to the loss of important forested areas.</p><p>She described the case of the indigenous community of San José del Carmen, which is in the municipality of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, near one of the patches of forest.</p><p>"We were working with them to establish productive alternatives that are good for nature," Navarro Pérez said. "But when the avocado came, it overwhelmed us completely."</p><p>Since 2013, the coniferous forests around the Nevado de Colima volcano have lost nearly 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) due to illegal logging, livestock rearing and intentionally set fires, according to Mexico's deforestation risk index developed by the <a href="https://www.gob.mx/inecc" target="_blank">National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change</a>.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQzOTc5N30.6VB34nDy9awxDLN1ftu7_sO903Rr3nL4OTB3xI4LLRc/img.jpg?width=980" id="09ad2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8deae8560a4c134576d8d7db6c41ed68" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A section of cloud forest in San José del Carmen, inside the state park created in 2009. Community members have been protecting the forest voluntarily for over two decades. Agustín del Castillo
<p>"[What was once] an original area of 7,000 hectares [17,300 acres] of fir-specific forest is now cut in half," said Villa Castillo, the director of the Nevado de Colima national and state parks.</p><p>The expansion of the avocado crops is the most recent threat in a series of events that have negatively impacted the conservation of the forests in the area.</p><p>Between the 1940s and the 1990s, the Atenquique Industrial Company had exclusive rights to use the timber from these forests under a concession from the Mexican government. The result was "that the forests were skimmed — that is, they took the best parts," Villa Castillo said.</p><p>When the concession expired in 1995, the forests did not experience a transition to a sustainable timber extraction method. Those who, along with landowners who held small plots, had rights to the shared land were limited to selling the forested areas, at very low prices, to the new logging industries located in Ciudad Guzmán. "Then, there were many abuses against the communities. The money was given to the caciques" — families who have always controlled the shared land — "alms were left for the community, and our forests were very poorly managed," said Rafael González Merín, the former president of Huescalapa, a collective of communally owned farmland known as an <em>ejido</em>.</p><p>As a result, many residents of the community believe the solution is to conserve the forests with productive projects.</p>Communities Pitch in to Save Their Trees
<p>Unlike the communities that have been overtaken by the avocado industry, Huescalapa has largely managed to resist its arrival. The community of shared land, which spans more than 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres), is home to pine and fir trees within its shady temperate forests.</p><p>The residents of Huescalapa have also set aside the proposals they've received from the forestry industry, which has expressed interest in buying their trees.</p><p>According to Gerardo Bernabé Aguayo, logging activity in this area of Jalisco "has been very negative because the industry has managed delicate areas — with very limited species — poorly, so we are supporting and launching projects with the communities." Bernabé Aguayo is the president of the board of trustees of Nevado de Colima and Adjacent Basins, a civil association created about 20 years ago after being promoted by the government of the state of Jalisco. To support the conservation of the national and state parks, the board has financing from the regional private sector.</p><p>The board manages about 6 million pesos ($268,000) contributed by the federal government in 2020. With resources from the private sector, it has been able to access an additional 1.5 million pesos ($67,000).</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDIxNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMDc1NzAzNH0.IGnOfze7tn8ggoT5P8TX8NYcWyaXM7PMP7EVuNT6tck/img.jpg?width=980" id="4f30b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4664a45293f4fa01bad588872bd03388" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An area of fir trees that has been destroyed by logging. Agustín del Castillo
<p>Rodrigo Cantera Hernández, the president of the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center, said that in Huescalapa, the caciques removed timber from the fir forests, "but they did not report any money to the other community members, so we fought to eject them and were able to do so a couple of years ago."</p><p>In Huescalapa, three main conflicts over timber have taken place in the past 20 years. First, in 1999, a group of community members sold part of the forest to a forestry industry from Ciudad Guzmán. A movement led by citizens put an end to the logging five months later.</p><p>Next, in 2012, environmental authorities granted permission for forest exploitation in these areas, so fir trees continued to be cut down. An opinion by the <a href="https://www.ideaac.org.mx/" target="_blank">Institute of Environmental Law</a>, a civil society organization, cited scientific evidence that demonstrated the uniqueness of mountain fir trees and forced SEMARNAT to withdraw these permissions.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NzE0NDE5NH0.OpE-rKHn1WJuLaP0KGq7Wu6SpRdk6Lxm9bZAXtLcSm8/img.jpg?width=980" id="85844" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d7eaf947673709bdedf1c79bed771bd7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The citizens of Huescalapa formed a cooperative to launch the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center. El Alcázar Ecotourism Center
<p>Then, in 2015, a federal judge suspended a new authorization to exploit timber in the cloud forest.</p><p>For communities like Huescalapa to have economic options that do not involve the use of timber because of the detrimental effects that this may have on the remaining population of Colima fir trees, ecotourism and similar activities are promoted.</p><p>According to Bernabé Aguayo, the goal is for the natural forest to be conserved as "a key area for contemplation, enjoyment, the preservation of environmental services, and research."</p><p>In 2019, the cooperative in El Alcázar received 1 million pesos ($44,600), which allowed it to have the basic infrastructure for the ecotourism center. The cooperative may receive an additional 3 million pesos ($133,800) in 2020 to purchase more equipment and improve the roads, but support for this funding was blocked in a community assembly. "They have not understood that it is for the benefit of everyone, that it is not money for our pockets," said Cantera Hernández, the president of the cooperative.</p><p>In Huescalapa, one of the challenges that interferes with efforts to promote the ecotourism center is the division that exists between community members. Many seek to use the timber, but others are already convinced of the importance of conservation.</p><p>Villa Castillo, the director of the Nevado de Colima national and state parks, emphasized that projects similar to the El Alcázar Ecotourism Center are being promoted in San José del Carmen and Zapotitlán de Vadillo, which are very close to the border between the states of Jalisco and Colima.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMjYyNjIwNX0.hgqt0rg7HWUZzfKxnsi9Rdeuic2MNP4wvKC9tbYlV8c/img.jpg?width=980" id="704c2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d1df2e0214b93333f8f043c67328ece2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
María de la Luz Cortés Reyes, the leader of the Amixtlán cooperative, which was created in San José del Carmen. Agustín del Castillo
<p>The Amixtlán Ecotourism Center is located in the community of San José del Carmen. A cluster of cabins marks the entrance to the cloud forest, designated a state park since 2009.</p><p>"We decided to protect our forest long before they declared the state park, 20 years before then," said María de la Luz Cortés Reyes, a community leader in San José del Carmen. She recalled that when loggers came with offers to buy the forest, members of the community believed that they offered very little payment and that "the damage [that the loggers left] was too much." For that reason, they decided "not to touch the forest, because it produces water for the crops and for our houses."</p><p>Cortés Reyes said the community was able to construct the ecotourism center because it had resources managed by the Nevado de Colima Cloud Forest State Park and by the Board of Trustees of Nevado de Colima and Adjacent Basins. However, she said it is important that more promotion is given to the area and that urgent problems, such as those with the water supply system, are resolved.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDI2OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODM3MTMzMX0.VlaW4PcaYRS7RxRPby3MmUyUgrnjZ3iZkOp8Hyn3r5s/img.jpg?width=980" id="57891" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f5cdd396882f38e3de1b9cda55cd3852" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/how-mexican-communities-are-helping-to-save-a-fir-forest/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>A view of the Nevado de Colima volcano from the Amixtlán Ecotourism Center in San José del Carmen. Agustín del Castillo
<p>In the community of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, citizens also promoted the Puerta de la Hacienda Ecotourism Center, where administrators support the biocultural production of mezcal, an alcoholic beverage made from agave. The drink is made by two <em>mezcaleros</em>, or people who are experts in creating mezcal: Marcario Partida from Zapotitlán de Vadillo, and Rosario Pineda from Tetapán, a small community in Zapotitlán de Vadillo.</p><p>Other productive projects that are promoted in the communities include the organic production of eggs, such as by Efigenia Larios, a small producer from the community of El Tecuán. Additionally, the shared land communities of Zapotitlán de Vadillo, San José del Carmen and Huescalapa are provided with equipment for fire prevention and materials to help restore the forest soil.</p><p>Artists have painted murals that shine a spotlight on forest conservation in San José del Carmen and Zapotitlán de Vadillo.</p><p>The intention of these efforts is to allow those who own land or have rights on this fragile mountain to "understand that there are other options besides logging, and that they, too, can generate development," said Arredondo, the researcher who specializes in the ecology of high mountains.</p><p>Despite the strong pressure for land use changes brought by the avocado agroindustry and fostered by the high level of impunity that often prevails in rural areas, many of the area's landowners continue to search for a model in which their forests can remain standing.</p><p>"Many neighbors say that we are foolish for not wanting to sell this beautiful forest that we have, but that money only lasts for a short time," said José Avalo Lino, a farmer in San José del Carmen. "We are so certain of [the importance of] preventing logging that, long before the declaration of the natural protected area, our community assembly had already decided to save this forest. We will continue to be 'foolish' in this decision."</p>
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Independent environmental certifications offer a better indicator of a product's eco credentials, including labor conditions for workers involved in production. Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Jeanette Cwienk
This summer's high street fashions have more in common than styles and colors. From the pink puff-sleeved dream going for just €19.99 ($22.52) at H&M, to Zara's elegant €12.95 ($14.63) halter-neck dress, clothing stores are alive with cheap organic cotton.
"Sustainable" collections with aspirational own-brand names like C&A's "Wear the change," Zara's "join life" or H&M's "CONSCIOUS" are offering cheap fashion and a clean environmental conscience. Such, at least, is the message. But is it really that simple?
Going Green, or Just Greenwashing?
<p>"Fashion brands are capitalizing on the fact that consumers are interested in buying fairly and ecologically produced items," said Katrin Wenz, an expert in agriculture at Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND). "Organic cotton is certainly a step in the right direction, because neither <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/patents-on-plants-is-the-sellout-of-genes-a-threat-to-farmers-and-global-food-security/a-49906072" target="_blank">genetic modification</a> nor synthetic pesticides can be used in its production. But these own-brand sustainability labels rarely tell us anything about what happens later on in the production chain."</p><p>Viola Wohlgemuth, a textiles expert at Greenpeace, says companies create their sustainability labels and criteria themselves. "Sustainability is not a protected or specific term, which leaves the door wide open for so-called greenwashing," she told DW.</p>Independent Certifications Trustworthier
<p>Both experts emphasize that independent environmental certifications offer a better indicator of a product's eco credentials, including labor conditions for workers involved in production. Examples include the Global Organic Textile Standard label (GOTS) and the IVN Best certification, which is awarded by the International Association of Natural Textile Industry (IVN).</p><p>Heike Hess, head of IVN's Berlin branch, says using organic cotton alone "is not enough to make fashion really sustainable," and that producing clothes involves a more involved production chain. After being grown in the fields, cotton fibers have to be separated from their seeds, spun, dyed, printed and sewn to create finished items of clothing.</p><p>"Ecological and social standards are important at every stage of production," Hess said. "That includes minimizing the use of harmful chemicals, managing water usage and waste, limiting CO2 emissions and ensuring human rights, fair wages, protections for workers and much more. Only then can fashion really be called sustainable."</p><p>And that comes at a price. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/heres-why-your-next-t-shirt-should-be-made-of-organic-cotton/a-39083921" target="_blank">Organic cotton</a> summer dresses certified with the GOTS label usually cost somewhere between €60-100 (about $67-113). </p>Water Polluted and Wasted
<p>Textile production often uses harmful chemicals, especially during the wet processing stage when threads are formed, dyed and woven, says Wohlgemuth. According to the UN Environment Program, around 20% of global wastewater is generated during textile dyeing and processing. Communities and ecosystems in <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/bangladeshs-textile-industry-works-towards-becoming-more-eco-friendly/a-50983898" target="_blank">textile producing countries across Asia</a> are worst affected.</p><p>Since launching its <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/act/detox/" target="_blank">'Detox My Fashion'</a> campaign in 2011, Greenpeace has secured commitments from some 80 global companies in the fashion industry to eliminate hazardous chemicals by the end of this year.</p><p>But that alone doesn't imply sustainability. Growing cotton also requires a huge amount of water and vast areas of land, says Sabine Ferenschild from the Südwind Institute for Economics and Ecumenism in Bonn.</p><p>"Organic cotton is only sustainable when grown in rainy regions such as India, and planted in combination with food crops rather than in competition with them," she said. "But we have seen that cotton farming is increasingly being shifted to desert regions. That can never be sustainable."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzOTc5My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTkzNzg0Nn0.KaW4_AcAmJdzjFIt0VerpPoOw0NtaMifMtcZwK_7GVM/img.png?width=980" id="c42fe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="553e05212cf8d74f8cac5ddf553f490f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Eco Collections Remain a Market Niche
<p>Ferenschild is critical of major fashion brands' attempts to go green with their own criteria and labeling for certain products, while the majority of what they're selling is still produced conventionally.</p><p>Germany is pursuing a new approach to green certification with its government-backed <a href="https://www.bmz.de/en/issues/textilwirtschaft/gruener_knopf/index.html" target="_blank">'Green Button' label</a>. A company can only use the label if all its products comply with high environmental and labor standards. These standards are not as strict as those demanded by organic certifiers, but experts say the 'Green Button' label is a step in the right direction, as it prevents producers offloading responsibility to subcontractors in the production chain.</p>An 'Eco' Dress for €20 ($22.60): Too Good to Be True?
<p>According to the Bremen Cotton Exchange, organic cotton costs between 10 and 50% more than conventional cotton. Premium fibers boost prices the most; the raw material is not necessarily the most important factor in terms of cost.</p><p>Global fashion brands like H&M are able to keep their prices down, even for the products in their "sustainable" ranges, due to the huge volume of items they produce, textiles expert Ferenschild told DW.</p><p>H&M uses its own "CONSCIOUS" label for products which contain "at least 50 percent sustainable materials, such as organic cotton and recycled polyester." It is not clear to consumers what percentage of organic cotton is used in the items labeled as such. In response to DW's request for clarification, H&M wrote: "Across our entire range, H&M uses 16 percent organic cotton according to our most recent figures."</p><p>According to the Bremen Cotton Exchange, just 0.7 percent of the global cotton harvest in the 2017/18 season was organic.</p><p><strong>The Real Problem Is One of Quantity</strong></p><p>Even if the big fashion brands wanted to move further towards truly sustainable production, current consumption habits would make that almost impossible. The real problem is that far too many clothes are being produced. According to a 2015 Greenpeace study, there are more than five billion items of clothing in German wardrobes alone. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzOTgyNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzY4MTAyN30.n-IqRuKaICi3OFWUkslBlrAopVACB3iF9hqld-tb1nI/img.png?width=980" id="d1cf0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0033640d2372491e87857fc36ebda255" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>"A party top is worn on average just 1.7 times," said Viola Wohlgemuth. "Fast fashion is the SUV of the fashion industry. It will never be sustainable. The fashion industry needs to shift away from production and towards service provision."</p><p>There are already some examples of this: outdoor brands offering to repair products, jeans companies selling second-hand items alongside new, sustainably produced pairs. Even fast-fashion giant H&M's website now has tips on how to care for and repair for clothes.</p><p>But to be successful, this shift would need consumers to get on board. And that, says Katrin Wenz from Friends of the Earth Germany would mean "buying fewer and longer-lasting items, repairing damaged clothing, passing on clothes you no longer wear and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-to-open-secondhand-department-stores/a-51143033" target="_blank">choosing to buy second hand</a>."</p><p>Perhaps then, sustainability in fashion could be more than just another trend.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/environment-fashion-hm-zara-clothes-sustainable-organic-cotton/a-53916904?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646356550#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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