Censored News Mailbox: News and Events April 20, 2015

Photo above by Supai Waters, Havasupai: Tribal event to halt drug abuse and child abuse April 2015

Gwich'in Sarah James on air with AIM West Tony Gonzales

Photo above: "In the studio at KPFA in Berkeley on radio show Across Indian Land with special guest in the studio is Ms. Sarah James, from Arctic Village, 100 miles north of Arctic Circle, in Alaska. Sarah spoke about need for permanent protection to the ANWR in northern Alaska, and recognize the peoples of that region, too!" -- Tony Gonzales, AIM West.

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Upcoming Events

Albuquerque April 25, 2015 Lakotas 'Crying Earth Rise Up' Film

NAU, Flagstaff, Ariz. April 21, 2015

Dr. Julian Kunnie's book just released 'The Cost of Globalization'

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Relatives and Friends:

Greetings of Peace, Wholeness, and Justice.

I received copies of The Cost of Globalization: Dangers to the Earth and Its People from McFarland a few days ago. The book is now available from the publisher. See attached flyer. Please circulate widely. I will do my best to circulate copies gratis wherever needed, including to struggling community and college libraries. Kindly send me addresses in such instances. Thank you. In Honor of and in Dedication to Mother Earth, our Original Mother,

Julian

Environmental Advocates in El Paso

to Speak-Out Against  Fracking, April 21, 2015

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El Paso, TX, April 20, 2015- Local environmental advocates, El Paso Naturally, The West Texas Water Protection Fund & El Paso Equal Voice Network are calling attention to House Bill 40 & 539, which passed in the house on Friday, and Senate Bill 1165, which will ban fracking bans and fine municipalities that attempt to limit fracking within their city limits. 

Hydraulic Fracking is a technique, which involves injecting a cocktail of chemicals deep underground to break up the rocks around oil and gas deposits, has raised health and safety concerns because of contamination surrounding water supplies and wildlife risks.

The public is invited to participate in Earth Day Actions next week at:

•       Monday, April 20^th @ 9:30am, El Paso County Commissioners@ Court House
500 East San Antonio Room 303 on Sign-Up & Speak-Up @ Public Comment.

•       Tuesday, April 21^st @ 8:00am, El Paso City Council, 300 North Campbell; Sign-Up & Speak-Up @ Public Comment. Sign up here: http://legacy.elpasotexas.gov/muni_clerk/signup_form.asp

•       Wednesday, April 22^nd @ 12:30pm , ‘GASLAND’ film screening & discussion in UTEP Liberal Arts Building, Room 108; free & open to the public; UTEP, 500 W. University Ave.

TorchLight Energy Co. has recently began drilling test wells on land which the UT System has leased to the company just a few miles outside El Paso for the sole purpose of fracking. More than 2,000 people have signed a petition circulating on change.org addressing The University of Texas System demanding they Stop Fracking Next to El Paso. It states, “Fracking endangers the health, safety and welfare of people, pollutes the air and ground and utterly destroys ecosystems and permanently contaminates underground aquifers with toxic compounds and consumers billions of gallons of water.” El Paso residents are concerned about the threat of well contamination as well as health and environmental damage to our community if Hydraulic Fracturing is permitted in areas near our water supply.  Local environmental activist, Judy Ackerman states, “Water is our most vital resource. We cannot live without water. All the people should have a say in how our water is used, not only those with money and power.”

The advocacy group, to include El Paso Naturally, The West Texas Water Protection Fund and El Paso Equal Voice Network presented the petition to City Council seeking to pass a Resolution, which was sent to legal review and denied by the mayor’s office. City Council Representatives have not responded to the request for a resolution. When advocates asked for an Earth Day Proclamation, it was denied, as well.  City Council candidate, Josh Dagda stated, “It’s a short term boost for a longterm problem.  We have to always look at the long-term.”

On March 20^, 2015, President Obama set new federal rules on fracking companies, finally requiring them to reveal which hazardous chemicals they use to frack; yet these new rules only apply to federal lands, not state lands. “Obama administration officials hope that the federal rules will serve as a de facto standard for state legislatures grappling with their own regulations.[1]

House Bill 40, which, revokes the  “authority of a municipality or other political subdivision to regulate an oil and gas operation;” passed last week in the House and will be voted on in the Senate, SB 1165.  These bills give unlimited legal authority for oil exploration, despite City Councils attempts to limit and/or ban oil companies.  These bills were written in reaction to Denton’s recent ban on fracking. “The people of Denton exercised their democratic right to keep a risky industrial process out of their community—and now big oil and their friends in high places are trying to take it away,” said Daniel Raichel, attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The interests of a powerful industry should never take priority over the health and safety of American families. Texans should be able to keep dangerous activities and chemicals away from their homes, schools, and hospitals—just as hundreds of other communities across the country have already done.”[2] 

UTEP student organizations will participate in an Earth Day Action at UTEP on Wed, April 22^nd to raise awareness to the dangers of fracking and demand that UT System divest from oil companies.

For Immediate Release:

Students host Earth Day Press Conference and Film

@ UTEP to Oppose Fracking in El Paso

El Paso, TX, April 21, 2015- UTEP students and environmenal advocates are hosting a Press Conference & Film Screening at The University of Texas at El Paso, to call attention to the recent lease of land, just a few miles east of El Paso, to Torchlight Energy Company, for the sole purpose of Hydraulic Fracturin, known as fracking. 

Hydraulic Fracking is a technique, which involves injecting a cocktail of chemicals deep underground to break up the rocks around oil and gas deposits, has raised health and safety concerns because of contamination surrounding water supplies and wildlife risks.

The public is invited to participate in the following Earth Day Actions:

•       Wednesday, April 20^th @ 11:30am, PRESS CONFERENCE- hosted by UTEP student organizations with local environmental advocates  calling on The University of Texas System to Divest from Oil & Gas Companies and Invest in Renwable Clean Energy.

•       Wednesday, April 22^nd @ 12:30pm , ‘GASLAND’ film screening & discussion in UTEP Liberal Arts Building, Room 108; free & open to the public; UTEP, 500 W. University Ave.

As many as 22 universities n the United States have taken a stand to protect the environment and have divested from fossil fuel, oil & gas companies, to include: Stanford University, CA; Naropa University, CO; Prescott College, AZ; Hampshire College, MA; & Humboldt State University, CA, to name a few.[1]

TorchLight Energy Co. has recently began drilling test wells on land which the UT System has leased to the company just a few miles outside El Paso for the sole purpose of fracking. More than 2,000 people have signed a petition circulating on change.org addressing The University of Texas System demanding they Stop Fracking Next to El Paso. It states, “Fracking endangers the health, safety and welfare of people, pollutes the air and ground and utterly destroys ecosystems and permanently contaminates underground aquifers with toxic compounds and consumers billions of gallons of water.” El Paso residents are concerned about the threat of well contamination as well as health and environmental damage to our community if Hydraulic Fracturing is permitted in areas near our water supply.  Local environmental activist, Judy Ackerman states, “Water is our most vital resource. We cannot live without water. All the people should have a say in how our water is used, not only those with money and power.”

On March 20^, 2015, President Obama set new federal rules on fracking companies, finally requiring them to reveal which hazardous chemicals they use to frack; yet these new rules only apply to federal lands, not state lands. “Obama administration officials hope that the federal rules will serve as a de facto standard for state legislatures grappling with their own regulations.[2]

Students & local environmental advocates, El Paso Naturally, The West Texas Water Protection Fund & El Paso Equal Voice Network are calling attention to House Bill 40 & 539, which passed in the house last week, and Senate Bill 1165, which will ban fracking bans and fine municipalities that attempt to limit fracking within their city limits. Senator Jose Rodriguez gave a statement regarding the detrimental effects of SB1165:

"SB 1165 is a bill that seeks to impose the state's authority on a city's basic function of passing rules and regulations that keep its residents secure. It flies in the face of notions of local control expressed by members of the Legislature about the right of communities to make decisions that are in the best interest of residents.

There is ample evidence of the harmful effects of fracking activities, especially those that take place adjacent to residential communities, and there is no good reason for the state to keep municipalities from passing reasonable ordinances that protect private property and health. 

Further, the state's Legislative Budget Board notes that prohibiting cities from keeping oil and gas projects away from homes would diminish property values, and thus property taxes collected. So not only is the state infringing upon a city's ability to protect its residents' health, it's also potentially willing to do so at a cost to the city's budget.

Essentially, the Legislature seeks to assert its authority to protect the profits of oil and gas companies, from which the state government itself profits through royalties. This is the epitome of big government and big business trampling the rights of Texas homeowners while harming Texas communities' ability to protect Texans' health, safety and welfare." -Senator Jose Rodriguez

UTEP student organizations will participate in an Earth Day Action at UTEP on Wed, April 22^nd to raise awareness to the dangers of fracking, current legislation and to demand that UT System divest from oil companies.

The film screening will be held at the UTEP Liberal Arts Building, Room 108 @ 12:30pm. Gasland is a 2010 American documentary written and directed by Josh Fox. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2011, the film focuses on communities in the United States affected by natural gas drilling and, specifically, a method of horizontal drilling into shale formations known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.