disaster capitalism

Winter Newsletter - By Staff, Alliance for Appalachia, February 17, 2016
Why 2016 will be the best year yet for climate justice - By Kari Malkki, Reuters, February 15, 2016

Bread and Roses:

Climate Justice and Palestine: the New Intersectionality - By Alice Rothchild, CounterPunch, February 19, 2016
Land and Ocean Grabs Not the Solution to Climate Change - By Salena Tramel, The World Post, February 19, 2016
Monsant o's pride, Monsanto's fall: playing God with the Indian farmer - By Colin Todhunter, The Ecologist, February 19, 2016
Familias Unidas takes Boycott to Washington, DC - By admin, Boycott Sakuma Berries, February 18, 2016
Familias Unidas Attends PCC Board of Trustees Meeting in Seattle - By admin, Boycott Sakuma Berries, February 17, 2016
US Farmers Allege Deception by Agrochemical Giant: The Case Against Syngenta - By Clara Herzberg, Truthout, February 17, 2016
FAO should support seed selection by peasants and small scale farmers - By Guy Kastler, La Via Campesina, February 16, 2016
Arms, agribusiness, finance and fossil fuels: the four horsemen of the neoliberal Apocalypse - By Colin Todhunter, The Ecologist, February 15, 2016
Corporate vision of the future of food promoted at the UN - By Guy Kastler, et.al., La Via Campesina, February 15, 2016
European dairy farmers facing an untenable situation since 2014 - By Jose–Miguel Pacheco and Genevieve Savigny, La Via Campesina, February 15, 2016
FAO Symposium on Biotechnology: The biotechnology industry runs the show - By Various, La Via Campesina, February 15, 2016
Opinion: Women farmers in Europe - By Hanny van Geel, Agricultures, December 2015
Peasant women power in Mozambique - By Boaventura Monjane, Agricultures, December 2015

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Battle Lines Are Drawn as Congress Reforms the 40-Year-Old Toxic Substances Control Act - By Reynard Loki, Alternet, February 18, 2016
CP Rail acted in bad faith when firing this conductor after Banff derailment: arbitrator - By Reid Southwick, Calgary Herald, February 18, 2016
So, is Don Blankenship ‘hardly a criminal’? - By Ken Ward Jr, Charleston Gazette, February 18, 2016
USW, Mexican Miners’ Union Accuse Asarco, Parent Firm of Rights Violations - By Ben Davis, United Steelworkers, February 18, 2016
Global Union Coalition Expresses Solidarity, Support for Local 235A - By Staff, United Steelworkers, February 17, 2016
Plant Shutdown Threatens Pennsylvania Town's Water Supply - By Arthur Delaney, Huffington Post, February 17, 2016
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Local 241, Executive Board Member and Union Steward Fired by CTA for Enforcing Union Contract - By ATU Local 241, Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, February 16, 2016
NUMSA message on the Lily mine disaster - By Irvin Jim, NUMSA, February 16, 2016
Dozens of Australian building sites contaminated by illegal Chinese asbestos imports, authorities say - By Angelique Donnellan, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 15, 2016

Greenwashers:

Groups Say Secretary Moniz Won't Protect Porter Ranch - By Dan Bacher, Daily Kos, February 17, 2016
Carbonballs: How Carbon Neutral Investments made Newcastle United “carbon positive” - By Chris Lang, REDD-Monitor, February 16, 2016

Whistleblowers:

New federal artificial turf study will lead to more questions - By Kirsten Stade, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, February 16, 2016

Disaster Capitalism:

"Thirsty for Democracy: The Poisoning of an American City": Complete Democracy Now! Special on Flint - By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, February 17, 2016; [related] As They Drank Contaminated Water, Flint Residents Were Charged The Highest Water Rates In The Country - By Bryce Covert, Think Progress, February 17, 2016

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labor and environment

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The Poisoning of Flint: Capitalism and Environmental Sabotage

Submitted by x344543 on Sun, 02/21/2016 - 09:49

By Mike Kolhoff - Ideas and Action, February 18, 2016

Cruel disregard of human life have been part of the capitalist package from the very beginning. To the ruling class our lives are important only to the degree that we produce profit they can exploit. In its latest neo-liberal incarnation, capitalism seems to have embraced its murderous impulses on a grand scale. The frustrations of extracting profits from an exhausted planet and its people have compelled the “job creators” to commit ever more shocking crimes. The poisoning of Flint stands as grim testimony to the complete contempt such people feel for the rest of us. To them, we are not quite human.

The tragedy initially received regional media attention 2014, shortly after the Republican-imposed Emergency Financial Manager switched Flint’s water supply from the Detroit supply system to a local system using the nearby Flint River. EPA and state reports indicating the poisonous content of the Flint River, a river thoroughly polluted by General Motors and others [i], were willfully ignored.

The excuse given at the time was that it was a money-saving measure in a city teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Recent revelations have shown that even this poor excuse was an outright lie. [ii]. The question then is why did the Republican-appointed Emergency Manager make a decision that was so obviously sure to poison thousands of people?

One allegation is that it was a move to direct money away from Detroit, which at the time was in bankruptcy and being vigorously looted by every sort of shady speculator, including the selling of huge amounts of city real estate at what amounted to garage sale prices. The Detroit Water and Sewage Department made efforts to keep Flint from switching to the filthy water of the Flint River. They even offered their water at a reduced rate, one which negated any savings the City of Flint would make by switching. Flint would have actually SAVED money by staying with Detroit Water and Sewage. This was at a time when the Emergency Manager in Detroit was ordering that their own residents face water cut-offs if they couldn’t pay their bills.[iii]But the rightwing program of ethnic cleansing called for the complete destruction of Detroit, so the people of Flint were poisoned instead.

The cause of the mass-poisoning of the residents of Flint can also be laid at the feet of that innovation in capitalist extraction that has emerged in the last 25 years: Disaster Capitalism. It had nothing to do with saving 15 cents on the dollar, and it wasn’t mainly about diverting income from Detroit, it was about putting MILLIONS of dollars in public funds into the hands of private, rightwing capitalists. These are the people who financed the political campaigns that put the current gang of liars and murderers in power, and they were just looking for their payback – At least $12 million dollars worth of payback in fact. That’s what it was estimated it would cost to switch back to the Detroit water supply in October of 2015.[iv]

Who took that money? Contractors, the biggest an engineering firm from Texas ($4 million), with the help of the rightwing politicians who greased the way for them; many of whom can be seen in this photo of the all-white group surrounding the governor as he approves the aid package for Flint. [v]

Snyder has tried to blame the Flint City Council for the poisoning, but the facts tell a different story. In 2013 the Council voted to help build a new pipeline that would allow them to terminate their contract with the Detroit Water and Sewage Department, but the decision to stop taking Detroit water and start using the Flint River was made much later and by the Emergency Manager, at a time when the Council had no say in city decision-making.

“Snyder said that Detroit, after being informed of the Flint council vote, sent a “letter of termination” of water service. Detroit sent a letter giving Flint one year on its existing contract, but that didn’t mean Flint couldn’t get water from Detroit after that date. In fact, there was a flurry of negotiations between Detroit and Flint to sign a new contract that would carry Flint through until it could connect to the under-construction pipeline.”[vi]

The Flint water crisis is an illustration of the essential criminality of capitalism, with “disaster capitalism” taking the next step into open criminality. Those involved conspired to create a disaster, then reaped huge profits from its implementation, and are now reaping even greater profits from fixing the mess they made.

The greed-based, anti-human social and economic system we live in caused the poisoning of the people of Flint. This does not in any way absolve the individual politicians and capitalists who facilitated the disaster (they should all hang), but only places them in perspective. The system didn’t fail in Flint; it failed to protect the people of Flint, but that’s not what it was designed for. The system functioned exactly as it was supposed to: the ruling class was able to stuff it’s pockets with money, the politicians were able to pay-off their debts to them, and things are comfortably rolling on to the next election cycle.[vii]

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EcoUnionist News #91

Submitted by x344543 on Sun, 02/14/2016 - 11:32

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, February 15, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists:

Lead Stories:

What the media hides about China’s economic slowdown: Greed has corporate elites turning blind eye to nation’s environmental destruction - By Bob Hennelly, Salon, February 10, 2016
How Industry and Regulators Kept Public in the Dark After 2014 LNG Explosion in Washington - By Tarika Powell, Sightline Daily, February 8, 2016
Organic Agriculture, Capitalism and the Parallel World of the Pro-GMO Evangelist - By Colin Todhunter, CounterPunch, February 8, 2016
Newsletter: Global Solidarity Is Rising - By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance, February 7, 2016
Why the oil industry could be a stain on economic recovery in US - By Jana Kasperkevic, The Guardian, February 7, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

Appalachia Resist: Regional Action Camp for Social & Environmental Justice - March 18-21
Break Free 2016 - May 2016 |
Convergence In Support of Eco-Prisoners & Against Toxic Prisons - June 11 – 13, 2016
Cove Point Spring Break - March 6-14
Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
2016 Labor Notes Conference - April 1-4, 2016
Railcon15 - Next Conference TBA | #Railcon15

The Thin Green Line:

Coal Money Divides Oakland's Churches - By Darwin BondGraham, East Bay Express, February 10, 2016
Hundreds urge Planning Commission to deny Phillips 66′s dangerous oil train proposal - By Elly Benson, Sierra Club Yodeler, February 8, 2016
Broad Coalition in San Luis Obispo Blasts Tar Sands Invasion - By Paul W. Rea, Sunflower Alliance, February 7, 2016
Here are all the Northwest cities, governments and organizations that oppose oil trains - By Nick Abraham, Oil Check, January 28, 2016

Just Transition:

Solar Net Metering Challenge In Maine - By Glenn Meyers, Clean Technica, February 12, 2016
Good Policy Gone Bad: How Nevada Killed Jobs And Clean Energy Competition - By Jim Marston, Environmental Defense Fund, February 11, 2016
75,000 Solar Jobs In California, Says New Report - By Jake Richardson, Clean Technica, February 11, 2016
California And Massachusetts Lead U.S. Solar Boom - By Alejandro Davila Fragoso, Think Progress, February 10, 2016
States See Robust Solar Job Growth, But Are Those Jobs Secure? - By Julia Pyper, Green Tech Media, February 10, 2016
Farmers, community and enviro groups rally at Vic Parliament: Call for gasfield ban & renewables ambition - By Leigh Ewbank, Yes2Renewables, February 9, 2016
Residents fight for economic and environmental justice in one Illinois town - By Raven Rakia, Grist, February 9, 2016
Social partners and the collaborative approach are key to the green transition of the Ruhr region - By Béla Galgóczi, European Trade Union Institute, February 9, 2016
Switching on to energy democracy - By Claire Fauset, New Internationalist, February 9, 2016
Brooklyn Youth Create Jobs (and Community Roots) Through Local Compost Program - By Rebecca Nathanson, Yes! Magazine, February 5, 2016

Bread and Roses:

MST: We are entering a new period of class struggle - By MST National Coordination, La Via Campesina, February 12, 2016
California Farmers Irrigate Crops With Chevron’s Oil Wastewater in Drought-Stricken Central Valley - By Cole Mellino, EcoWatch, February 10, 2016
Jail term for villagers opposing Bolloré/Socfin’s palm oil plantations in Sierra Leone as trial of French journalists starts in Paris - By Joseph Rahall, et. al., World Rainforest Movement, February 10, 2016
Coffee Farmers Sue Monsanto for Hiding Cancer-Causing Impact of Glyphosate - By Lorraine Chow, EcoWatch, February 9, 2016
A real system change has to come from below, says Paula Gioia, the European Youth ICC member of La Via Campesina - By Den Haag, La Via Campesina, February 9, 2016
Breaking the system designed to keep tea workers poor - By Sabita Banerji, New Internationalist, February 8, 2016
Farm defenders halt construction at the Gill Tract a second time - By Occupy the Farm, IndyBay, February 8, 2016
Hot off the press!… - By Staff, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, February 8, 2016
Local Farmworkers Disrupt Costco Shareholders Meeting - By Káráni, Káráni, February 8, 2016
Weekend of Farmworker Solidarity in California and Washington - By Staff, Boycott Sakuma Berries, February 8, 2016
Environmental racism in the “leftmost city” - By esewra, Santa Cruz Ecological Justice, January 27, 2016

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EcoUnionist News #90

Submitted by x344543 on Sun, 02/07/2016 - 15:04

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, February 9, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists:

Lead Stories:

Naomi Klein: Climate Change "Not Just About Things Getting Hotter" - By Michael Winship, Truthout, February 4, 2016
Trying to exploit rural anger - Jessica Campbell interviewed by Wael Elasady, Socialist Worker, February 3, 2016
Five Stories To Watch in the Arch Coal Bankruptcy: Big executive bonuses; shafting workers and the environment; and more - By Clark Williams-Derry, Sightline Daily, February 2, 2016
300 Union Plumbers Spent The Weekend Installing Water Filters For Flint Residents For Free - By Judd Legum, Think Progress, February 1, 2016
GM, union workers take 56,700 water bottles to Flint - By Megan Little, WANE TV, January 29, 2016
To Charles Koch, Universities Are Propaganda Machines - By Connor Gibson, Huffington Post, January 27, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

Break Free 2016 - May 2016 |
Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
Railcon15 - Next Conference TBA | #Railcon15

The Thin Green Line:

The struggle for responsible investment continues: UBC committee votes against divestment - By Jen Halsall, Rabble.Ca, February 4, 2016
Stand with the #Heathrow 13 - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, February 3, 2016
In Washington, the 'necessity defense' on trial alongside activists - By Cally Carswell, High Country News, February 2, 2016

Just Transition:

Democratic Energy and Climate Change - By Yavor Tarinski, Resilience, February 4, 2016
New Bill Would Clean Up Abandoned Coal Mines And Jump Start The Appalachian Economy - By Katie Valentine, Think Progress, February 4, 2016
Solar Decision Will Burn Low-Income Californians - By Tom Dalzell, Beyond Chron, February 4, 2016
Hal Rogers files bill to release $1 billion in AML funds for economic development in coal communities - By Ivy Brashear, Renew Appalachia, February 3, 2016
Unions Part of London Campaign to Bring ‘Energy for People, Not for Profit’ - By Archie Davies, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, February 3, 2016
UK Government Bails Out North Sea; Gives “Nothing to Solar” - By Andy Rowell, Oil Change International, February 1, 2016

Bread and Roses:

Bold Nebraska Delivers Petition Urging Legislature to Stand With Family Farmers, Vote NO on Corporate Pig Bill LB 176 - By Mark Hefflinger, Bold Nebraska, February 4, 2016
Dairy Crisis: Enough evaluations, it’s high time for the Commission to act - By Staff, La Via Campesina, February 3, 2016
La Via Campesina, Building an International Movement for Food and Seed Sovereignty - By Simone Adler, La Via Campesina, February 3, 2016
National Farmers Union to be part of climate change solutions in Manitoba - By Staff, La Via Campesina, February 2, 2016
Monsanto’s Roundup Kills and Damages More than Weeds - By Shepherd Bliss, CounterPunch, February 1, 2016
Worst Trade Union of the Year Award: a Small Farm Future Special - By Chris Smaje, Small Farm Future, January 30, 2016

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Canada must act now to save its steel-making industry - By Paul Weinberg, Rabble.Ca, February 5, 2016
How the Bundy Gang Won - By George Wuerthner, CounterPunch, February 5, 2016
Three missing after South African gold mine collapses, trapping 87 - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, February 5, 2016
CP Rail propane cars collide near Edmonton in 3rd 'remote control' accident - By Dave Seglins, CBC, February 4, 2016
Hazelwood owner charged over 45-day coal mine fire - By Sophie Vorrath, REnew Economy, February 4, 2016
Heather White and the Human Costs of Electronics - By Cecilia Jamasmie, CounterPunch, February 4, 2016
Glazer: Rework BART union contracts before $3 billion bond vote - By Sam Richards, Contra Costa Times, February 3, 2016
Saeed Baloch, Advocator for Fishermen’s Rights, Arrested in Pakistan - By Real World Radio, La Via Campesina, February 3, 2016
What’s Happened With The Oregon Occupation Since You Stopped Paying Attention - By Laurel Raymond, Think Progress, February 3, 2016
Report: Even After 2013 Texas Fertilizer Explosion, Hundreds of Communities Still at Risk - By Elizabeth Grossman, In These Times, February 2, 2016
Global Sweatshops, Solidarity and the Bangladesh Breakthrough - By Eric Dirnbach, Public Seminar, January 28, 2016
People Of Color & Poor More Likely To Live Near Chemical Hazard - By Amanda Starbuck, Center for Effective Government,
January 21, 2016

Greenwashers:

How safeguards fail poor farmers in the Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena REDD project in Madagascar - By Chris Lang, REDD Monitor, February 5, 2016
REDD is dead. What’s next? - By Chris Lang, REDD Monitor, February 4, 2016
Behind the fake ban, SNP is fracking bosses’ good friend - By Raymie Kiernan, Socialist Worker (UK), February 2, 2016
The Inside Story of How a University Professor Quietly Collaborated With Monsanto - By Carey Gillam, AlterNet, January 30, 2016

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agricultural workers and peasants

Flint

Porter Ranch

labor and environment

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EcoUnionist News #89

Submitted by x344543 on Sun, 01/31/2016 - 22:21

Compiled by x344543 - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, February 2, 2016

The following news items feature issues, discussions, campaigns, or information potentially relevant to green unionists:

Lead Stories:

US Building Boom Fuels Spike in Construction Worker Injury and Death - By Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout, January 30, 2016
New report shows mistreatment of garment workers by familiar brands - By Katie Herzog, Grist, January 29, 2016
A successful climate summit, but no progress for climate justice? - By Staff, Global Justice Ecology Project, January 28, 2016
System Change Grounded in Food Sovereignty at the 2015 Climate Talks in Paris - By Terran Giacomini, La Via Campesina, January 27, 2016
The Wreck of Amtrak 188 - By Matthew Shaer, New York Times Magazine, January 26, 2016
Fossil Fuel Spill Tracker 2015: A Map of Environmental Disasters - By Staff, onEarth, Truthout, January 25, 2016

Ongoing Mobilizations:

Break Free 2016 - May 2016 |
Flush the TPP - Spring 2016 | #FlushtheTPP
Railcon15 - Next Conference TBA | #Railcon15

The Thin Green Line:

Opponents of Crude-by-Rail Project Score a Key Victory - By Jean Tepperman, East Bay Express, January 28, 2016
Crude-By- Rail Projects Face Key Votes - By Jean Tepperman, East Bay Express, January 27, 2016
SLO County Staff Tells County to DENY Phillips 66 Oil Train Terminal - By Ethan Buckner, Forest Ethics, January 27, 2016
County Admits Tarsands Plan: Proposes Rejecting San Luis Obispo Oil Trains Project - By Greg Karras and Andrés Soto, Communities for a Better Environment, January 26, 2016
Troutdale Energy Center project abandoned - By Katy Sword, Portland Tribune, January 26, 2016
WIRT Comments on Tesoro Savage Vancouver Energy Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement - By Helen Yost, Wild Idaho Rising Tide, January 22, 2016
How to Stop an Oil Train: The Climate Defense That Won Over a Courtroom - By Valerie Schloredt, Yes Magazine, January 21, 2016

Bread and Roses:

Monsanto to Cut 3,600 Jobs as Public Protests Continue to Stymie Profits - By News Desk, Mint Press News, January 29, 2016
Sakuma Bros. CEO Refuses NFWM Supporters’ Postcards - By Gabriela Raquel Ríos, National Farm Worker Ministry, January 29, 2016
Farm defenders lock down to halt farmland destruction in the East Bay - By Ground, Occupy the Farm, January 28, 2016
Migrant farmworkers call on Trudeau for permanent residency - By Alyse Kotyk, Rabble.Ca, January 28, 2016
WATCH: Profits Over People? Oppose ‘Right–to-Spray’ Bill in Hawaii - By Staff, Global Justice Ecology Project, January 27, 2016
An invisible war is being waged on the working class: Devanur Mahadeva - By Kumar Buradikatti, The Hindu, January 25, 2016
Malheur occupation could set conservation efforts back years - By Ben Goldfarb, High Country News, January 25, 2016
No to evictions in Notre-Dame-des-Landes! - By Michele Roux, Laurent Pinatel, Elina Bouchet, La Via Campesina, January 25, 2016
Solidarity with the courageous activists opposing airport expansion in France and the UK - By Jamie Henn, 350.org, January 25, 2016

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Chinese miners rescued after 36 days trapped underground - By Cecilia Jamasmie, Mining.Com, January 28, 2016
Ramu mine workers want executive out and better safety standards - By The National aka The Loggers Times, Papua New Guinea Mine Watch, January 28, 2016
Coalition of Oystermen, Injured Workers and Waterkeepers Wins Hearing on Formosa Plastics’ Discharge into Lavaca Bay, Texas - By Diane Wilson, Bridge the Gulf, January 27, 2016
Dispute Over Cattle Grazing Disrupts Patrols Of Federal Land - By Kirk Siegler, NPR, January 27, 2016
‘Google Bus’ future still uncertain - By Joshua Sabatini, San Francisco Examiner, January 27, 2016
Ramu mine workers stage sit-in protest since Friday - By Post Courier, Papua New Guinea Mine Watch, January 27, 2016
Simultaneous Melbourne and Sydney Rallies in Support of Sacked Crew - By Ashleigh Telford, Maritime Union of Australia, January 27, 2016
Slaughter of Up to 900 Wild Bison at Yellowstone Park Sparks Federal Lawsuit to Protect First Amendment Rights - By Animal Legal Defense Fund, EcoWatch, January 27, 2016
Detroit Public School’s Restraining Order To Stop Protests Over School Conditions Has Been Rejected - By Casey Quinlan, Think Progress, January 26, 2016
Shareholder resolution filed against Exxon - By Finnegan Schick, Yale News, January 26, 2016
Detroit Public School’s Restraining Order To Stop Protests Over School Conditions Has Been Rejected - By Aura Bogado, Grist, January 26, 2016
PBS’s ‘The Mine Wars’ Shows West Virginia’s Militant, Radical Labor History - By David Moberg, In These Times, January 25, 2016
Water Isn't the Only Source of Lead Contamination in Flint - By Pat Elder, WarIsACrime.org, January 25, 2016
GE workers facing Fort Edward job loss push PCB health studies - By Brian Nearing, Times-Union, January 22, 2016
Kennecott worker sustains ‘traumatic injuries’ in industrial accident - By Bob Mims, Salt Lake Tribune, January 22, 2016
Today's Slaves Often Work For Enterprises That Destroy The Environment - By Fresh Air, NPR, January 21, 2016
The Canadian Union of Public Employees and Blue Planet Project join call to end water privatization in Nagpur, India - By Staff, The Blue Planet Project, January 15, 2016

Whistleblowers:

Grand Canyon park’s 15-year failure on sexual harassment - By Lyndsey Gilpin, High Country News, January 28, 2016

Greenwashers:

Pro-Tunnels Group Bars Journalist from Media Teleconference - By Dan Bacher, Daily Kos, January 29, 2016

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agricultural workers and peasants

Flint

Porter Ranch

labor and environment

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Well, If You Ask Me: Flint

Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 01/23/2016 - 17:18

By Dano T. Bob - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, January 23, 2016

Wow, the current situation in Flint, Michigan is fucked up. In a situation brought on by a so called “Emergency Manager,” who was appointed to run the city by Governor Rick Scott, Flint has been getting its drinking water since April 2014 from the Flint River, via pipes that have caused massive lead contamination, poisoning and sickening city residents.

Wow, the sheer incompetence and idiocy of the state government in Michigan is astounding and the fact that it is destroying the health of citizens is appalling. So, what are the how and why of this water crisis, how can it be fixed and how can we finally stop things like this from happening? As someone who was living in West Virginia during the chemical spill and water crisis of 2014, I am all too familiar with the blindness and greed of politicians and industry. We must move to get these things fixed ourselves and demand our own citizens driven solutions, because we can’t rely on paid off hacks for our protection, that’s for sure.

Let’s start with the “Emergency Manager” position, created and implemented by Governor Rick Scott. It is an austerity measure at heart, a way to usurp municipal control from cities in Michigan and install top down bureaucratic leadership beholden to the state government, and meant to slash city budgets, services and labor. The reason that this “Emergency Manager” switched Flint’s water supply from the Detroit municipal system to the Flint River was to “save money”. This was not a democratically made decision, there were no studies of the health and infrastructure impacts. It was rushed into and now people are paying the price, with water that has been polluted with lead for well over a year.

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Viewpoint: The Flint Water Crisis from the Ground Up

Submitted by x344543 on Sat, 01/23/2016 - 16:56

By Sean Crawford - Labor Notes, January 22, 2016

Photo: Over a thousand people joined a protest at Gov. Snyder's State of the State address, calling for the arrest of those responsible for this debacle. UAW Local 598

What has come to light in Flint, Michigan, over the last few months is scarcely believable. My entire city has been poisoned with lead by the criminal negligence of its very own government!

As if in some sort of dystopian novel, I leave my house to see the Red Cross providing disaster relief on my street. Down the block, a half-dozen National Guard Troops hand out rations of that oh-so-important, scarce commodity: clean drinking water.

My hometown of Flint has been known for many things through its history. First as the birthplace of General Motors, and subsequently as the battleground of the Flint Sit-Down Strike that formed the United Auto Workers.

That gave rise to a wave of union organizing across the country, and to the middle class. The quality of life that Flint residents struggled for and enjoyed was once the envy of the world.

More recently, Flint became famous as ground zero for the disastrous consequences of corporate globalization―chronic unemployment and underemployment, increasing wealth inequality, and the violence and destabilization that can happen in a community when companies are allowed to destroy people’s livelihoods.

These problems aren’t unique to Flint. But our city is a prime example of how the poor and working class are treated as disposable commodities―setting the stage for the current water crisis.

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Well, if You Ask Me: California! Stop with the massive gas leak already!

Submitted by x344543 on Tue, 01/05/2016 - 20:15

By Dano T Bob - IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus, January 7, 2016

So, if you’ve been in a cave the last week, or on holidays time, or only follow corporate media (Washington Post did cover this), there is a massive gas leak going on in southern California right now that no one seems to know how to stop, especially the company responsible. Pretty bad, right? Yeah, really bad. Here’s the basic details:

Methane gas, a HUGE contributor to climate change as a Greenhouse Gas, is currently leaking from from a facility at Aliso Canyon(Orange County, below Los Angeles) at rate of 110,000 pounds per hour, all day everyday. Somewhere around 2,000 some odd homes have been evacuated thus far, and building moratorium has been proposed for the area near the leak. Residents are also gearing up to sue the hell out of the owners of the facility, the Southern California Gas Company(feel free to contact them).

I first learned of this leak (and I currently live in California!) on the day after Christmas via this super informative article from VICE, “Why Engineers Can’t Stop Los Angeles’ Enormous Methane Leak.” Cheery title and timing, eh?

This article does on to discuss how the EDF, Environmental Defense Fund, found out about the leak a week or so earlier via an infrared heat camera, calling it “one of the biggest leaks we’ve ever seen reported” and “absolutely uncontained.”

The leak originally sprung in mid-October (!) and currently “accounts for a quarter of the state’s entire methane emissions.” Another juicy tid bit from this read:

“Methane, the main component of natural gas, is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to climate change impact. About one-fourth of the anthropogenic global warming we’re experiencing today is due to methane emissions, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. Leaks like the current one in California, it turns out, are a major contributor. In Pasadena, for instance, just 35 miles from the leak in Aliso, investigators found one leak for every four miles.”

It goes on to say,”So far, over 150 million pounds of methane have been released by the leak, which connects to an enormous underground containment system. Silva says that the cause of the leak is still unknown, but research by EDF has also revealed that more than 38 percent of the pipes in Southern California Gas Company’s territory are more than 50 years old, and 16 percent are made from corrosion- and leak-prone materials.”

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Just Transition:

Bread and Roses:

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Greenwashers:

Whistleblowers:

Disaster Capitalism:

Lead Stories:

Ongoing Mobilizations:

The Thin Green Line:

Just Transition:

Bread and Roses:

Lead Stories:

Ongoing Mobilizations:

The Thin Green Line:

Just Transition:

Bread and Roses:

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Greenwashers:

Lead Stories:

Ongoing Mobilizations:

The Thin Green Line:

Bread and Roses:

An Injury to One is an Injury to All:

Whistleblowers:

Greenwashers:

Pages

The Fine Print I:

The Fine Print II:

Official IWW Notice: