Here are some sketchnotes I took during the early part of Lierre Keith’s Public Interest Environmental Law Conference talk on the current state of environmental activism: Watch her full talk here (start at 2:02:00), and be sure to check out sketchnotes from the other PIELC keynote addresses. Originally published by Doug Neill, The Graphic Reporter ...
Susan Hyatt and Michael Carter, DGR Southwest Coalition In 2004 the World Health Organization ranked Major Depressive Disorder as the leading cause of disability in the US among people aged fifteen to forty-four. MDD afflicts about 14.8 million adults, 6.7 percent of the U.S. population aged eighteen and older in a given year. [1] The US National Institute for Mental Health estimates that one in four US adults “suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder.” [2] Many see only one way out: nine in ten suicides—33,000 total in one year in the US alone—had one of these disorders. [3] How can we explain this? If the life of privilege and material wealth in the US and other consumer nations is so desirable that every living thing must pay the price for it, why kill yourself to escape it? What if statistics like these were taken seriously, as a sign of preventable social malaise, not human frailty? Suppose someone cared enough about all this misery to uncover a cause, and take steps to alleviate some of this pain. Might that look like the same effort to end poverty, global warming, and the extinction crisis? ...
Screenshot of Amanda Todd’s YouTube video, My story: Struggling, bullying, suicide, self harm posted before her suicide in October 2012. by Susan Hyatt and Michael Carter, DGR Southwest Coalition The environmental crisis consists of the deterioration and outright destruction of micro and macro ecosystems worldwide, entailing the elimination of countless numbers of wild creatures from the air, land, and sea, with many species being pushed to the brink of extinction, and into extinction. People who passively allow this to happen, not to mention those who actively promote it for economic or other reasons, are already a good distance down the road to insanity. Most people do not see, understand, or care very much about this catastrophe of the planet because they are overwhelmingly preoccupied with grave psychological problems. The environmental crisis is rooted in the psychological crisis of the modern individual. This makes the search for an eco-psychology crucial; we must understand better what terrible thing is happening to the modern human mind, why it is happening, and what can be done about it. ...
Image from Northern Jaguar Project Original post by Tony Davis, Arizona Daily Star It’s been known for well over a year now that a jaguar has been photographed in the Santa Rita Mountains, near the proposed Rosemont Mine site. But only a little more than a week ago, volunteers for the Tucson conservation group Sky Island Alliance found and photographed the first jaguar tracks to have been spotted in that mountain range in recent times. The tracks were seen on Jan. 4, by two volunteers. ...
Richard Schultz points to land-clearing work across the border from Rancho de la Osa Guest Ranch, which he co-owns. Original article by Joe Ferguson, Arizona Daily Star Sasabe residents in the Altar Valley are nervously watching as construction crews bulldoze land just across the Mexican border. They believe, or more accurately fear, the corridor the size of a football field being carved into the Mexican desert is evidence that approval of a proposed 59-mile Kinder-Morgan pipeline through their area is little more than a formality. With a decision from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the actual route of the pipeline not expected until next year, Altar Valley residents are left to wonder how the 36-inch natural-gas-pipeline extension expected to cut through a path through their ranches and sensitive wildlife corridors will affect their lives. ...
Original post by Danielle Lerner, News 4 Tucson TUCSON- The controversy surrounding the proposed Sierrita Gas Pipeline continues as local ranchers, county and state organizations share their concerns about the project. The $204 million international pipeline would stretch about 60 miles, starting west of the Tucson Mountains and connecting with lines across the border to deliver natural gas to Mexico. The comment period for the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement, or DEIS, just closed on Monday. Kinder Morgan Incorporated owns the project and says it will create jobs, boost tax revenue and local business. However if you look at some of the comments submitted, it is obvious not everyone sees it that way. ...
Site of Rosemont copper mine (Photo credit: Arizona Mining Reform Coalition) Original article by Tony Davis, Arizona Daily Star Close to 300,000 trees, mostly junipers and oaks, would likely be cleared on public land in the Santa Rita Mountains if the proposed Rosemont Mine is built. Clearing those trees will be controversial, but at this moment, it’s not known what will happen to them afterward. The U.S. Forest Service will charge Rosemont Copper for any cut trees removed from the site, and those proceeds will go to the federal Treasury. The trees, which are common, aren’t legally protected. ...
The proposed mine site in the Santa Rita Mountains is part of an important wildlife corridor that connects southern Arizona’s sky island mountain ranges — isolated mountains that rise up from surrounding lowlands — that are home to unique plant and animal species." caption=" Photo by Nate Merill The proposed mine site in the Santa Rita Mountains is part of an important wildlife corridor that connects southern Arizona’s sky island mountain ranges — isolated mountains that rise up from surrounding lowlands — that are home to unique plant and animal species." >}} ...
This photo of a rendering at the Rosemont copper visitor center, shows what the proposed mine would look like at full production. Photo Credit: Inside Tucson Business Original article by Tony Davis, Arizona Daily Star. Opponents of the proposed Rosemont Mine have filed suit, seeking to overturn a state decision awarding a groundwater protection permit to mine owners Rosemont Copper Co. ...
Site of Rosemont copper mine (Photo credit: Arizona Mining Reform Coalition) Original post by Frances Causey, The Huffington Post The refrain is all too common these days. The democratic and regulatory process circumvented in favor of big business interests at the expense of practically everything else. Think “Too Big To Fail Banks” – the big banks produced record profits last quarter and yet our banking system, regulated with a weak Dodds-Frank bill, has never been at greater risk of collapsing in a heap – with taxpayers picking up the tab if these behemoths fail. ...