Archive - Sep 9, 2009

• Supreme Court could allow more corporate money to enter US politics
• President Obama attempts to sway Congress on healthcare reform
• New York City regulates military recruitment at its schools
• Environmental activists arrested after mountain top removal protest
• FSRN previews CRUDE;  A new film oil giant Chevron may not want you to see

• Aeromexico flight hijacked, 104 passengers released safely
• Floods in Turkey leave nearly 30 dead
• Israel takes concrete steps towards construction of new West Bank settlements
• Massive farmers’ protest in India against energy privatization
• Argentina’s subway workers gear up for strike
• Australia opens probe into East Timor journalist murders

The Supreme Court came out of its recess to hear a case that could loosen limitations on corporations ability to spend money on political campaigns.  As FSRN’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports, the Supreme Court is on the verge of allowing a flood of corporate money to influence elections.

President Obama will give a speech to Congress Wednesday night, laying out his vision for health care reform. The President will try to swing Congressional votes and public opinion his way during the speech, which some experts see as a critical moment in his first year in office.  FSRN’s Matt Pearson reports.

Students returned to school in New York City today and this year, they may be seeing less of military recruiters.  New regulations went into effect today that restrict the military´s access to students´ personal information and require schools to monitor recruiter activity.  But some say the new policies don´t go far enough.  Jaisal Noor with the Community News Production Institute has more.

Environmental activists in West Virginia continue their protest of Massey Energy and the company's use of mountain top removal mining. At 5 AM Eastern time, four activists locked themselves together between a guard rail and a tree to prevent people from entering the company's regional offices in Madison, West Virginia.  Eighty-one year old Roland Micklem came from Savannah, New York to join the campaign.

"We are at the driveway of Massey regional headquarters  and making our stand here. We´re here to stop the egregious mining practice of mountain-top removal. It is by far the worst environmental crime of the century.  An area the landmass of Delaware throughout the Appalachians has been devastated by mountaintop removal and as far as I´m concerned it is destroying God´s creation, which I think is a sin."

Police arrested Micklem and three other activists. An independent journalist at the scene was also arrested. Climate Ground Zero organized today's protest as well as a recent week-long tree-sit. Spokesperson Andrew Munn says this is the group´s 14th non-violent action to protest mountain top removal mining.

"With every action we've gained more allies on local level and more allies on the national level.  At the end of the tree-sit we had two security guards who were hired by a security company contracted by Massey energy came and voiced both their support of the tree-sit and their opposition to mountain-top removal and Massey energy.  This is a campaign of civil disobedience so its more confrontational than a lot of the tactics used by other environmental groups, but it´s very clear that public opinion is on our side. So we believe that this is an issue that needs to be made more of and that´s what we´re doing.”

The activists arrested Wednesday were charged with trespass, conspiracy destruction of property, disobeying lawful order and resisting arrest.  The journalist, Gianni Lapis, was charged with trespass, failure to obey a lawful command and conspiracy according to Climate Ground Zero. The organization says these are trumped up charges, as the activists all pledged not to engage in property destruction.

During mountain top removing mining, mining companies use explosives to blow off the tops of mountains to get to coal reserves. Environmentalists oppose the damage to mountains, saying it transforms diverse ecosystems into "barren moonscapes." The practice also has other impacts, including the dumping of millions of tons of debris from the blown off mountain-tops to valleys and streams below. According to the regional group, Mountain Justice, coal companies have buried more than 1200 miles of Appalachian headwaters streams through mountain top removal mining.

A new documentary by award-winning film maker Joe Berlinger opened in New York Wednesday. Here´s the trailer.

Indigenous groups are suing Chevron for the damage caused over more than 20 years of oil drilling. They claim Texaco spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the rainforest soil and released more than 18 billion gallons of waste water into rivers and streams. The indigenous people of the area suffer from high cancer rates and birth defects as a result and they´re suing for compensation in an Ecuadorean court. Damages could be worth up to 27 billion dollars.

One of the organizations appearing in this film is Amazon Watch, an advocacy group that exposes corporate abuse in rainforests in several countries. FSRN spoke with Mitch Anderson, the lead campaigner for Amazon Watch´s Ecuador project.