Saving Iceland

This article and BBC News feature details the opposition of the Dongria Kondh people in Orissa, Northeast India, to bauxite mining by mining giant Vedanta, which is having a severe impact on the ecosystems of this area. The mined bauxite or refined alumina are sold to aluminium corporations.

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The struggle by the riverine fishworkers affected by the Upper Wardha dam in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra has reached a peak once again with five representatives of the fish workers having begun their indefinite fast since July 1st, to assert their rights to the reservoir, while five more have joined them since yesterday, July 3rd, in front of the SDO Office, at Tehsil Morshi Amaravati Dist.

The reservoir of Upper Wardha dam (known as the Nal Damayanti Sagar) in Amravati district has affected about three thousand families of farmers and fish workers. However, no rehabilitation, except meager cash compensation came their way, even in 1980’s. While the farmers have had to continue to seek their entitlements till date, through a torturous process, it is also striking that the waters of the reservoir are diverted to industrial complexes and cities, instead of public purpose and irrigation, planned and promised.

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Begins on 11th July 2008 in Chimalkhedi, Nandurbar District, Maharashtra.

No doubt every monsoon brings along with it a new lease of life and a green glitter. But, however, it also brings in a threat and a challenge for people in the Narmada valley as in the other river valleys, where the rivers are dammed and damned and the people and the natural environs are doomed and drowned. Even after 24 years of struggle, the adivasis in the Satpudas and Vindhyas and the
farmers, fish workers and others in the Nimad region of Madhya Pradesh have had to continue to struggle for their rights. Their battle is also for the rightful share for dalits adivasis, farmers, fish workers and all those who toil with nature and their own labour, harnessing and developing the natural resources in the human society. Read More

Distinguished Indian environmental scientist Dr G. D. Agrawal today began his commitment to fast until death unless the country’s government heeds protests and warnings against the construction of several hydroelectric power dams on the River Ganges.
On the festival of Ganga Dusshera marking the birth of the river Ganges, crowds gathered on the banks of one of its tributaries, the sacred Bhagirathi river, to begin a day-long collective fast in the north Indian town of Uttarkashi, a gesture repeated by thousands throughout the country to show support for eminent scientist Dr G. D. Agrawal in his protest against proposed and ongoing hydroelectric construction schemes in the area a protest which will see him fast until death unless all such development work is stopped. Read More

At least 70 actions took place in over 30 countries to celebrate the importance of protecting our rivers. Many groups opted to demonstrate and protest. In Brazil, MAB organized more than nine events. MAB’s occupation of the worksite at Estreito Dam on the Tocantins River lasted nine days until demonstrators at the Estreito Dam were finally offered an agreement which maintains that organs under the Brazilian presidency will convene meetings to discuss the ongoing social and environmental concerns that the dam project presents. A rail line in Minas Gerais was blocked by the women of Via Campesina (of which MAB is part), in support of families seeking compensation from the company for their being displaced for Aimor’s Dam. Read More

A talk which opened a panel discussion at the ‘Reykjavikur Akademia’ with the topic ‘What are the Fundamental Values of Society’ 20 November 2007. Panelists included Reykjavik Chief of Police Stefán Eiríksson, historian and Left Green MP Guðfríður Lilja Grétarsdóttir and philosopher Viðar Thorsteinsson.

For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Miriam Rose, and I am an activist and environmental scientist from the UK. I have been asked to speak today on my experience of the basic values of Icelandic society, based on an interview I did on Kastljos in October, after I was threatened with deportation from Iceland for my part in actions against the heavy industry policy of your government. The letter of requested deportation which I received explained that I may be expelled from Iceland for a minimum of three years as my behavior constitutes a ‘threat to the fundamental values of society’.
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Mimi Sheller is a visiting associate professor in the sociology and anthropology department at Swarthmore College. She attended the Saving Iceland conference in 2007.

I grew up in an aluminum-sided suburban house. I carried a colorful aluminum lunchbox to school, with a sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil. Like everyone I know, I drink from aluminum cans, travel in cars, planes, and bikes full of aluminum parts, and cook in aluminum pots and pans. This versatile, ubiquitous material is all around us, all the time, but seems almost invisible because it has become, literally, part of the furniture (even the kitchen sink). The surprising story of this mercurial metallic fabric of everyday life – in our homes, skyscrapers, cars, airplanes, utensils, fasteners, cosmetics, space ships, and bombs – encapsulates the making of global modernity, the creation of multinational corporations, the rise of the U.S. as a world power, the modernization of warfare, and the invention of suburbia, science-fiction futurism, and the American Dream.
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Iceland Review
11/27/2007

Minister of the Environment Thórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir says that every nation needs to be responsible after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and that special needs will not be relevant.

According to her, Iceland should not apply for further exemptions.

Post-Kyoto negotiations will take place at the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and 14.

When the Kyoto Protocol was agreed upon, Iceland was given a special exemption to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by ten percent while most other nations were obligated to reduce their average emissions by 5.2 percent, Morgunbladid reports. Read More

7/11/2007

Prime minister Geir H. Harde has revealed his opinion that Iceland should negotiate for another special deal on carbon emmissions in the upcoming 2012 Kyoto agreement renewal. Read More

To all those struggling against heavy industry in India, we at Saving Iceland wish you are solidarity and strength. To have 30,000 persons on a blockade must be an incredible feeling, and a product of incredible organisation and will.

Resisting Liberalisation, Privitisation & Globalisation

Biggest civil disobedience movement since Independence
7th Novemeber, Sambalpur

History was made yesterday when more than 30,000 (some say there were almost 50,000) people representing the farming community of western orissa descended upon Burla and marched on to Hirakud dam protesting against the sale of water to companies like Bhusan [Steel], Vedanta [Aluminium] and [Aditya Aluminum]. These farmers had come from villages in the districts of Bargarh, Sambalpur, Nuapada, Bolangir, Sonepur & Jharsuguda. They came in trains, trucks, and jeeps despite all attempts by the police to detain them en route to Burla on the pretext of violation of motor vehicles regulations, etc. The protestors sang songs, shouted slogans, laughed, danced and celeberated all along making it one of the most peaceful and unique protests ever. The police shuddered at the sight of this mammoth rally and every blockade they had put up vanished into thin air. Read More