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Saturday, June 20, 2009

Update on Peru Protests: Amazonians Hail Victory

Last week, Checktheweather covered a story on the deadly protests going on in Peru. Indigenous groups in the Amazon were protesting over recent laws passed by the government that made it easier for foreign governments to extract natural resources like wood and minerals from the Amazon Rainforest. Yesterdaythe BBC reported that the Peruvian Government has now backed down and has overturned the laws that would have given free-trade to the United States and allowed them to extract minerals and mine in the Amazon. The Indigenous people of Peru argued that they were never consulted by the Peruvian government and the law would have taken away their human rights. Check out this video update from the BBC!
While this is one victory for Environmental Justice we must never forget the 34 people who died in the protests and the millions of people who are still living in environmentally toxic areas and losing their homeland everyday.

Who are the Climate Refugees

Today is International World Refugee Day. the United Nations Human Rights Council uses this day to honor the estimated 42 million people who are refugees. This number is sure to grow with the increase in climate refugees. Climate Refugees are people who are forced to relocate due to the impact of climate change on their homelands.

Check out this video from Al Jazeera that highlights, a community in Bangaladesh. Al Jazeera claims that these are some of the first of what will be many Climate Refugees around the world.




For more on United States Climate Refugees visit our Gritty City Series

How to Ask for Green Jobs for your Hood



Need a Job? In this economy, you just might.The question is will legislation support low-income communities and communities of color in getting one? Some groups say No, unless we act right now. Green For All, a national, policy based group that advocates for Green Jobs, sent out an e-mail asking everyone to call and email their senators and ask them to support Green Jobs for low-income workers and communities. They are asking people to write their Congresspeople and tell them to support Green Jobs for all as part of the recent discussions on climate legislation. Here are the main points they are making:

1. Invest in a green-collar workforce and pathways out of poverty: Allocate funds to the Green Jobs Act.

2. Improve access to good jobs: Include targeted hiring provisions to ensure that clean energy jobs go to local workers and workers from low-income communities.

To read more and to send a letter to your congressional rep in less than 1 minute click here if having trouble this is the address http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5379/t/2457/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1586

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Happy Birthday to One of the Dopest Youth Environmental Justice Leaders in the Land!



The Weather Report would like to give a big huge shout out and Happy Belated Birthday to Marisol Becerra (her birthday was technically yesterday 6/15/09) Marisol is a youth environmental justice activist from the Little Village Community of Chicago. Little Village is located on the southwest side of Chicago and faces a variety of environmental hazards including a coal-fired power plant. Nevertheless the community is full of vibrant culture, people and emerging leaders like Marisol.

Marisol worked with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO)to engage youth in her community by drawing awareness to environmental and social justice issues. Through her work with LVEJO, Marisol created a virtual toxic tour using google maps. You can check out the tour and learn more about the work of the LVEJO youth group by visiting. www.elcilantro.org. to view the map click on "our map of environmental justice". The site also shows how you can create your own virtual toxic tour of your hood.

But the accolades don't stop there. Marisol recently received the highly prestigious Brower Youth Award from the New Leaders Initiative of the Earth Island Institute and is currently interning at the White House! Marisol is also a student at DePaul University in Chicago and plays both the piano and the violin (I'm saying some of ya'll may need to step your game up to hang out with this lady). Check out her Brower Youth Award profile video below.



The world might just be watching the first Latina president blossom! stay tuned to checktheweather.net for the latest and greatest on Marisol and other rising leaders of color in the green movement.



Marisol and Checktheweather.net co-founder, Kari Fulton at Brower Youth Awards Ceremony.