[posted by Fanny Malinen and Steve Rushton on Equaltimes, November 15, 2017] A serious man dressed in gákti, a traditional Sami (also Sámi or Saami) costume, speaks on a video on Facebook. “This is a call for help,” he starts. “The governments of Finland and Norway are trying to make salmon fishing illegal for the Sami and give new fishing rights to rich people who have built cabins on our homeland. This is theft in...

[posted by Timothy Gardner on Reuters, November 30, 2017] Eni US could begin work on oil exploration in federal waters off Alaska as soon as next month after the Trump administration on Tuesday approved permits for leases the company has held for a decade, the Interior Department said. The department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, issued Eni US, a unit of Italy’s Eni, a permit to explore for oil from an artificial...

[posted by Brigham A. McCown on Forbes, November 21, 2017] The long delayed Keystone XL Pipeline project came a step closer to becoming a reality this week after the Nebraska Public Service Commission voted to approve the line, albeit with a strange twist. The commission failed to adopt the proposed corridor, leaving many to question the commission’s real motives. Keystone XL’s “preferred route” had been the subject of several federal...

[posted by Marked Leon Goldberg on UN Dispatch, October 27, 2017] Pollution is not just a nuisance. It can kill people–and by the millions. It also keeps countries worst affected by it poorer and unequal. A new study from The Lancet describes the severe, planetary-scale, harm caused by pollution. Some nine million people around the world die each year from pollution related causes. This is three times more deaths than AIDS,...

[posted on DW.com, November 13, 2017] Climate change activists on Monday hailed a German court’s decision to proceed with a Peruvian farmer’s case against German energy company RWE. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court in the German town of Hamm found that Saul Luciano Lliuya’s allegations that RWE’s contributions to global warming were threatening his hometown of Huaraz had merit. Luciano argues...

[From 350.org, for dissemination] Today, 350.org’s most ambitious plan yet will be laid out. We’re launching a new Fossil Free campaign in early 2018 and we’ll be broadcasting live from directly within the COP23 UN climate talks in Germany to give you a sneak preview. 350.org have been on the ground all week alongside the Pacific Climate Warriors and thousands of people demanding an end to the age of fossil fuels and real commitments...