Cargill’s New Palm Oil Deal for Unilever: Can It Be Called Sustainable?
Companies around the world with their hands in the palm oil pot are feeling the heat. Not only because our planet is warming up from rampant deforestation in Indonesia, but…
Two Very Different Acts of God in Appalachia
A few weeks ago, Massey Energy went on a PR offensive to promote the concept that the worst US mine disaster in 40 years – at Massey’s Upper Big Branch…
Tar Sands, Enbridge and Indigenous Resistance
In mid-July I attended the 1st Annual ‘Unist’ot’en Environmental Action Camp in Unist’ot’en territory in Northern BC as a facilitator and participant. Members of the Wetsuweten nation, joined by First…
King Coal Ready to Ante-Up for Elections
Earlier this year, the supreme court ruled in the “Citizens United” case that corporations can spend unlimited funds on candidate elections. The coal industry is getting set to take advantage….
The Power of Film: Indonesian Deforestation Exposed
Between major environmental campaigns, international policy negotiations, and increasingly critical threats to biodiversity and local communities, the issue of Indonesian rainforest destruction is gaining much needed recognition as a critical…
Environmentalists Say: Stop ALL of Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Laws
Reposted from It’s Getting Hot in Here by Josh Kahn Russell Today, Arizona’s “show me your papers” anti-immigrant law SB1070 goes into effect. Across the country, July 29th has been…
Massey Energy Files Civil Lawsuit against Environmental Activists
Massey’s working pretty hard to silence critics of their MTR policy. The “Dragline 14” to dramatic action last year to stop destruction in Twilight, WV. Please contribute to their legal…
RAN and Cargill: Turning Point for Indonesia’s Rainforests?
Since the release of our report on Cargill’s problems with palm oil in Borneo, Cargill has been scrambling to clean up their palm oil supply chain. Cargill has been engaging…
Army Corps Issues Permit to Blow Up Pine Creek
News just in from the EPA: Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a final Clean Water Act (CWA) permit to Coal-Mac Inc. for the Pine Creek Surface…
PNC and UBS: Financing the Destruction of America’s Mountains
Over the past couple of years, several of the biggest banks in the world have released policies and statements regarding investments in the mountaintop removal coal mining industry. According to…
Can U.S. law reduce illegal logging in Indonesia?
Illegal logging is an extensive, systematic problem in Indonesia. A 2007 United Nations Environment Program report estimated that 73 to 88 percent of timber logged in Indonesia is illegally sourced….
Time Is Running Out Fast for the Orangutan
On July 15th and 16th at an upscale resort off the coast of Bali, executives from some of the companies that represent the two main threats to the survival of…
RAN Activists Send Message to Massey CEO Don Blankenship
RAN activists just disrupted Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s talk at the National Press Club sending him a strong message:“Your coal is not Clean, Safe or Forever.” They were eventually escorted…
The Dirty Business of “Clean Coal”
Nearly 50% of energy in the U.S. comes from coal, and now many industry propagandists are touting the benefits of a “cleaner” way of using this controversial fossil fuel. Check…
Massey CEO Don Blankenship Leaving US Chamber of Commerce Board
I have a theory that the powers that be are throwing Massey CEO and homicidal maniac Don Blankenship under the proverbial bus and not even looking for skid marks. Here’s…
Activists Stop Strip Mining Machine on Coal River Mountain
“It was usually around July you could go up there and sit and it was like the annual bear gathering up there… The whole area was full of laurels. The…
Questions Raised on Billion Dollar Indonesia-Norway Deal
Last week, Norman Jiwan of Sawit Watch, an Indonesian NGO ally concerned with the ongoing adverse social and environmental impacts of palm oil plantations, wrote an op-ed in the Jakarta…
RBC Tables an Offer on Tar Sands
A light at the end of the tunnel?Photo: . SantiMB . via Flickr The tar sands tide may finally be turning at Canada’s biggest bank. RBC is among the largest…
The Earth Book – A Playful Take on Kids Environmental Activism
Getting on The New York Times Best Sellers list is an achievement that can quickly bring an author or topic into widespread awareness. Luckily for environmental stewardship, The Earth Book…
Activists Sit Down so EPA Will Stand up to King Coal
Right now activists with the Rainforest Action Network have staged a super creative and gutsy sit-in at the EPA headquarters to demand stronger protection for Appalachia’s drinking water and an…
Syncrude Convicted, Yet More Crude Sin to Come
On Friday morning I attended the long awaited verdict of the Syncrude duck trial with high hopes and low expectations. After a two-and-a-half-month trial, Syncrude was found guilty of the…
G8 Madness
I spent the week of the G8/G20 in Edmonton following Twitter feeds, text messages, and Facebook updates as many of the people I have worked with over the years were…
Climate Activist Faces 3 Years in Prison for….. Dropping a Banner?
Longtime RAN friend and ally, Ted Glick, the policy director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, is facing up to three years in jail for dropping a banner in the…
The True Cost of Coal
My friend and mentor David Solnit often talks about “a movement of movements.” He describes them as a convergence space where we experiment with and test our resistance to power….
Reverend Billy Visits UBS
Earlier this afternoon, Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping paid a visit to the Manhattan office of UBS. Over the past two years, some of the biggest…