60 Second Activism Free Leonard Peltier!

Today American Native Leonard Peltier and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) will face the parole board that will decide his fate. Don't know who this guy is? Well here's what Wikipedia had to say about the man:

"Leonard Peltier is an American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who was convicted and sentenced in 1977 to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who were killed during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There is considerable debate over Peltier’s guilt and the fairness of his trial. Some supporters and organizations consider him to be a political prisoner. Amnesty International has stated that "Although he has not been adopted as a prisoner of conscience, there is concern about the fairness of the proceedings leading to his conviction and it is believed that political factors may have influenced the way the case was prosecuted."[1] Numerous lawsuits have been filed on his behalf but none have succeeded. Peltier was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg in Pennsylvania until January, 2009, when he was moved to Canaan Federal Penitentiary in Waymart, Pennsylvania. He was sent back to Lewisburg after he was severely beaten by other inmates in Canaan...."

Back in the day, The AIM movement was seen as being just as much of a threat as the Black Panthers by the Federal Government. Much like the Black Panthers, Counter Intelligence from the FBI placed undercover agents and paid informants to break up their movement to bring justice to Native people.

Want to help make sure Peltier is free? Call the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1112 until you get through. Be persistent this man's life is at stake!

For more information visit http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/index1.htm

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Don't Let The US Tar Canada's Reputation too.

This just in from our friends up north in Canada. The United States is getting involved in a huge venture to destroy Canada and First Nation People of Turtle Island (North America) The Tar Sands, aka oil sands are extra heavy oil that creates a very dirty form of petroleaum made from sand and clay. The United States is partnering with Alberta, Canada to extract the oil and use it for energy usage in the United States. However there is something we can do today to stop them from building more pipelines of toxic sludge.

Another major pipeline from Alberta Canada to the United States is up for a vote by the US State Department. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton has the power to stop this project. Click here for the Rainforest Action Network's petition page to stop this pipeline from destroying ancient forest, indigenous land, people and species.

For a breakdown of what the Tar Sands are all about check out this article on how tribes in Minnesota are connecting with Canadian tribes to stop the growth of Tar Sands pipelines through native lands http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_12712281?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Plus watch this video courtesy of ecosanity.org . This dude at the end of the video starts WILDING out over the BS the Premier of Alberta is saying.


Tribes in the United States and Canada are calling for action to fight against Tar Sands. What the heck are tar sands you ask?
http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_12712281?source=rss&nclick_check=1

Shouts out to Kandi Mossett of Indigenous Environmental Network for sending this story our way.

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Over 30 Environmental Justice Activists Murdered while Protesting in the Amazon Rainforest!

Protests turned for the worst this past Friday in the Amazons of Peru. Al Jazeera reports that over thirty indigenous Amazonians were killed during clashes with Peruvian government over planned oil and gas exploration on ancestral land.
Last Friday, thousands of indigenous people gathered in Bagua, Peru and created a human road blockade keeping government and corporate officials out of the rainforests they call home. Police attempted to break up the blockade of people which led to a violent clash between the protesters and police. When on the ground troops could not contain the protesters, witnesses reported that police officers shot fire and dropped teargas from helicopters.

The video below is footage from the protests. Although it is in Spanish, you can here the victims screaming out for help and water for the wounded.

Indigenous rights activist, Ben Powless of Ontario, Canada was in Peru during this tragic event while attending the Indigenous People's Summit held in Puno, Peru. Powless reported back that this tragedy is government retaliation for 50 days of ongoing protests. Along with the road blockade protesters have shut down parts of the Amazon and the Andes. On May 8th the Peruvian government announced a 60-day state of emergency in areas of the Amazon, suspending constitutional guarantees in an attempt to suppress the protests, which have targeted airports, bridges and river traffic. Alberto Pizango, elected representative of the Amazonian Peoples and supporter of the recent protests now has a warrant out for his arrest because of his high profile and alleged organizing support with the ongoing protests.

International human rights and Environmental Justice advocates are standing in support of Pizango and the thousands of other indigenous Peruvians who have lost their constitutional rights due to the protests to save their land and traditions.

Powless and the Indigenous people of Peru have offered some suggestions on how people like you (yes you reading this) can support this fight:

Please go here to send a letter to the President of Peru, and show him that the international community is watching and is outraged: http://www.amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php

You may also donate to the cause with the following bank information: account number is 395-11-35-338057 (in nuevos soles, Peruvian currency) of the "Banco de Crédito del Peru" The contact information is Nicanor Alvarado Carrasco, coordinator of the "Vicaría del Medio Ambiente de Jaén". Phone: +511 076 433948.

with the suspension of constitutional rights it is even more important to scream and shout because there is a good chance that Pizango and other protestors will be tortured or executed once apprehended.

Continue to checktheweather.net for more info! Correspondents will also live tweet and blog from the protests planned for today Monday June 8th at 12:30 at the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, DC. Follow us on twitter or come join us if you are in the DC area!

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EPA Pulls Plug on Desert Rock Coal Fired Power Plant

April 28, 2009- The New Mexico Independent has reported that our new good friends at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew the air quality permit it issued last summer for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, which is slated to be built on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region just southwest of Farmington, New Mexico.

That is a major victory for indigenous communities in the area who have been fighting against dirty coal for HELLA long.

Unfortunately the President of the Navajo Nation, Joe Shirley was quoted as saying this was a major blow for the nation. “I have people dying every day because of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gangs, and the U.S. Government is not there to adequately fund the direct service programs that cater to these needs,” he said.

Kandi Mossett Campus Campaign Coordinator for the Indigenous Environmental Network says that the President of the Navajo Nation does not hold the opinion of the majority of the Navajo nation. "Yeah we need jobs but at what cost?.... Joe Shirley and his cronies are out for getting money by any means necessary. One third of the residents of the Navajo nation don't even have running water."

The Proposed Power Plant would not be used to energize the Navajo Nation or New Mexico but to power Phoenix and Las Vegas. Although the plant may have created some new jobs for the area it would not add up to the environmental degradation that the plant would cause to the surrounding area. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary, Ron Curry, recently stated, “Air emissions from Desert Rock would have single-handedly undone our state’s climate change initiatives,”

This story is to be continued but for now this is another major victory for Environmental Justice and Indigenous Rights movements.

Big shout outs and congratulations go to Black Mesa Water Coalition and the Indigenous Environmental Network for all their hard work advocating for the closure of dirty energy projects like the Desert Rock Power Plant. For more information check out ienearth.org and blackmesawatercoalition.org

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