Environment Topics

Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to Environment

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    Sea Shepherd Founder Paul Watson Fights Extradition to Costa Rica for 2002 Shark Defense

    Captain Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has been released on bail in Germany following his arrest for possible extradition to Costa Rica on decade-old charges stemming from a confrontation between a Sea Shepherd vessel with shark fin poachers off the coast of Guatemala. Sea Shepherd is known for using nonviolent direct action to enforce international fishing and conservation laws and has been highly recognized for...
    May 22, 2012 | Story
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    Failed Pledges, Weak Draft Lower Hopes for Rio+20 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil

    Leaders from more than 100 countries are meeting today in Brazil for the start of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the largest United Nations conference ever. The conference comes 20 years after the U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro pledged to protect the planet by endorsing treaties on biodiversity and climate change. Little has been done in the intervening years to reach development goals in areas like food security, water, global warming and energy....
    Jun 20, 2012 | Story
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    "Are You Here to Save Face -- or Save Us?": Brittany Trilford, 17, Addresses World Leaders at Rio+20

    On Wednesday, 17-year-old environmental activist Brittany Trilford of Wellington, New Zealand, addressed more than a hundred heads of state at the opening plenary of the Rio+20 U.N. Earth Summit, the largest United Nations gathering ever. "We are all aware that time is ticking, and we are quickly running out," Trilford said. "You have 72 hours to decide the fate of your children, my children, my children’s children. And I...
    Jun 21, 2012 | Story
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    Nigerian Activist Nnimmo Bassey: Rio+20 Summit Will Not Get Us Out of Environmental Crisis

    We’re joined from the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio by Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, chair of Friends of the Earth International. "The leaders came to Rio with, clearly, very low ambitions, and probably with the desire to block agreements on any issue that would not be of particular benefit to them or their countries," Bassey says. "They’ve come out with a draft agreement which...
    Jun 21, 2012 | Story
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    At Rio+20, Severn Cullis-Suzuki Revisits Historic '92 Speech, Fights for Next Generation's Survival

    In 1992, 12-year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki became known as "the girl who silenced the world for six minutes" after she addressed delegates in Rio de Janeiro during the summit’s plenary session. We air Cullis-Suzuki’s historic address and speak to her from the Rio+20 summit, which she comes back to now as a veteran international environmental campaigner and mother of two. "Twenty years later, the world is still talking...
    Jun 21, 2012 | Story
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    David Suzuki on Rio+20, "Green Economy" & Why Planet's Survival Requires Undoing Its Economic Model

    As the Rio+20 Earth Summit — the largest U.N. conference ever — ends in disappointment, we’re joined by the leading Canadian scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster, David Suzuki. As host of the long-running CBC program, "The Nature of Things," seen in more than 40 countries, Suzuki has helped educate millions about the rich biodiversity of the planet and the threats it faces from human-driven global warming. In...
    Jun 25, 2012 | Story
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    Rio+20 Earth Summit

    More than 100 heads of states and tens of thousands of people are gathered in Brazil for the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the largest United Nations conference ever. The gathering comes 20 years after the 1992 U.N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, when leaders pledged to protect the planet by endorsing treaties on biodiversity and climate change. Since then, few of the development goals have been reached in areas like food security, water, global warming...
    Jun 25, 2012 | DN! In Depth
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    Bill McKibben of 350.org on Colorado Wildfires, Debby, Keystone XL and the Failure of Rio+20

    With extreme weather fueling wildfires in Colorado and record rainfall in Florida, the Obama administration has moved closer to approving construction of the southern section of the Keystone XL pipeline. We’re joined by environmentalist, educator and author Bill McKibben, founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org. "Today is one of those days when you understand what the early parts of the global warming era are going to look...
    Jun 27, 2012 | Story
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    "This Is Just the Beginning": Forest Fires, Deadly Storms, Record Heat Reveal a Changed Climate

    The past two weeks have witnessed the worst forest fires in Colorado history, a deadly Mid-Atlantic storm that left 23 dead and four million without power, and a record shattering heat wave across the East Coast and Midwest that has not seen since the Dust Bowl. More than 2,000 heat records have been broken in the past week. As the words "extreme weather" flash across TV screens, where are the other two words: "global warming"?...
    Jul 03, 2012 | Story
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    Climate Disasters' Toll Worsened by Sustained Attacks on Public Sector, Science and Regulation

    As we discuss the spate of extreme weather in the United States, the author and professor Christian Parenti argues that the Republican-led assault on the public sector will leave states more vulnerable to global warming’s effects. "Another thing that’s missing from these discussions is not just the words 'climate change,' but the words 'public sector,'" Parenti says. "I mean, who’s out there fighting...
    Jul 03, 2012 | Story