Wednesday, April 14, 2010
President Obama Challenges Americans to Take Action to Improve the Environment in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 13, 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today challenged Americans to take action in their homes, communities, schools, or businesses to improve the environment in honor of the upcoming 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010. In conjunction with the video message of President Obama, the White House unveiled WhiteHouse.gov/EarthDay as a resource guide for all those interested in learning how they can help make a difference in their community.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Louisiana environmental racism case gets hearing from Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
For the first time in history, an international human rights body has agreed to review a case involving allegations of environmental racism in the United States.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hear a complaint filed by the New Orleans-based Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR) on behalf of the people of Mossville, La. An autonomous body of the Organization of American States, the IACHR along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights comprise the inter-American system for promoting and protecting human rights.
Scheduled to take place some time in the next three months, the review will consider whether the U.S. government has violated the predominantly African-American community's residents' human rights to life, health, equality, freedom from racial discrimination, and "privacy as it relates to the inviolability of the home" by allowing numerous industrial facilities to locate there and emit millions of pounds of highly toxic chemicals every year.
"I am grateful that the Commission decided to take our human rights case," said petitioner Dorothy Felix, who serves as the volunteer vice president of Mossville Environmental Action Now. "We believe that environmental protection should not be based on the color of our skin."
Located near Lake Charles in southwestern Louisiana's Calcasieu Parish, the unincorporated rural community of Mossville is surrounded by 14 industrial facilities that each year spew more than 4 million pounds of highly toxic chemicals to the environment. The pollution includes known carcinogens including dioxin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, solvents like xylene and toluene, and heavy metals such as lead and mercury.
Friday, March 26, 2010
ALPHA PHI ALPHA TEAMS UP WITH DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO ADOPT HIGHWAY IN NORTHEAST WICHITA
The Eta Beta Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated announces its adoption of a Kansas highway. The chapter was inspired by the fraternity’s Alpha Phi Alpha Goes Green Initiative.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Planet Harmony Internship
The interns of "Planet Harmony” will be responsible for contributing content for a multi-media site produced by and for communities of color.
This internship is unlike other broadcast internships- no part of this project will have you transcribing endless tape or untangling XLR cables. Instead you will be working directly and remotely with the pH Editors to develop your own story ideas, hone your reporting skills and deepen your understanding of environmental issues impacting your own community. Some of the stories you make for the pH podcast will be featured on our nationally syndicated sister show, PRI’s Living on Earth. This is a unique opportunity to learn about environmental reporting, help shape a brand new program while getting paid (a stipend).
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Front Line of Climate Justice
Last December in Copenhagen, corporate heads of state failed to make the necessary agreements to save us from ourselves by agreeing to cap greenhouse gas emissions. If we learned anything from the recent national health care reform debate, it's that we can't count on the U.S. Congress either given the tens of millions of dollars and the army of high powered lobbyists hammering away at would-be climate change legislation.