Breaking Green

Send us a textThe Mapuche people of Chile are fighting to reclaim ancestral lands taken over by vast industrial eucalyptus and pine plantations established during the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s. Their struggle goes beyond land ownership—it's about reclaiming culture, spirituality, language, and food sovereignty while facing criminalization under Chile's new "usurpation law."• Mapuche territory (Wallmapu) was initially protected by treaty but later seized through what the Chilean government called "pacification of the Araucanía" • Industrial tree plantations have destroyed native ecosystems, depleted water resources, and created conditions for devastating "megafires" and "gigafires"• Chilean authorities use "preventative prison" to hold Mapuche activists for up to two years without formal charges or trials• Militarization of Mapuche territories has led to surveillance, intimidation, and targeting of young activists• The controversial "usurpation law" criminalizes land reclamation efforts, violating international indigenous rights agreements Chile has ratified• The struggle connects to broader patterns of indigenous land theft for industrial tree plantations under dictatorships globally• Land reclamation is essential for Mapuche cultural revival and addressing extreme poverty On this episode of Breaking Green, we spoke with Anne Petermann.  Petermann co- founded Global Justice Ecology Project in 2003. She is the international coordinator of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees, which she also co founded. Petermann is a founding board member of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series. She has been involved in movements for forest protection and indigenous rights since 1991, and the international and national climate justice movements since 2004. She participated in the founding of the Durban group for climate justice in 2004, in Durban, South Africa, and Climate Justice Now in 2007 at the Bali Indonesia UN climate conference. She was adopted as an honorary member of the St. Francis- Sokoki band of the Abenaki in 1992 for her work in support of their struggle for state recognition. In 2000, she received the wild nature award for activist of the year.Photo by Orin Langelle.For more information visit: https://globaljusticeecology.org/brazil-2023/This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Support the show

Send us a textWe explore the myths and realities of space colonization and assess whether humans can survive long-term deep space travel. In this episode, author Dennis Meredith explains why we might need to rethink our ambitions and focus on protecting our planet instead.• Dissecting the notion of humanity becoming a multi-planet species • Highlighting the physical impacts of space travel on human health • Exploring toxic lunar and Martian dust hazards • Discussing the economic feasibility of Mars colonization • Urging prioritization of environmental efforts on Earth over space exploration • Advocating for a deeper understanding of Earth's ecosystems Earthbound is scheduled to be released March 31st. Learn more about Dennis Meredith's book at earthboundthebook.com. Dennis Meredith has worked as a science communicator at leading research universities, including MIT, Caltech, Cornell, Duke and the Universityof Wisconsin. He is author of the nonfiction books Explaining Research:How to Reach Key Audiences to Advance Your Work; The Climate Pandemic:How Climate Disruption Threatens Human Survival; and Earthbound: TheObstacles to Human Space Exploration and the Promise of ArtificialIntelligence. He also writes science thrillers, and his latestenvironmentally themed novels are the award-winning Mythicals and Attackof the Food Zombies.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Support the show

Send us a textWhat happens when justice collides with government secrecy? We invite you to join our conversation with attorney Michael Kuzma as we untangle the complex case of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist imprisoned for nearly five decades. Despite clear evidence of trial irregularities, withheld FBI documents, and a ballistics report proving Peltier's innocence, he was denied a retrial. Kuzma shares his insights into the disparities between Peltier's conviction and the acquittals of his co-defendants, highlighting the self-defense arguments that led to their freedom. As Peltier's release date approaches, we reflect on the long-standing battle for clemency and the challenges that could still hinder justice.Dive into the murky waters of government secrecy as we reveal the shocking discrepancies in FBI records related to Peltier's case. Learn about the arduous journey to uncover over 142,000 pages of government records—a stark contrast to the measly 3,500 pages initially shared. We discuss the broader implications of COINTELPRO activities and the enduring quest for justice that Peltier's case exemplifies. Finally, we celebrate President Biden's commutation decision, a momentous victory for Peltier's advocates, marked by elation and gratitude, yet overshadowed by the wish that justice had not been so long delayed.As we reflect on the systemic injustices faced by Indigenous peoples, Leonard Peltier's story cannot be separated from the broader historical context: the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women represented by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement, and the tragic killing of Annie Mae Aquash, whose death remains a stark reminder of the lengths to which systems of oppression have gone to silence Indigenous voices. These injustices are not isolated; they are part of a broader tapestry of historical and ongoing colonial violence.his podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Support the show

What is artificial intelligence and how are some corporate interests seeking to hand over the development of genetically engineered organisms to it?Join us as we unpack this question with Jim Thomas, an activist and researcher who challenges the common misconceptions about artificial intelligence. We delve into the historical context of the Luddites and connect their resistance to harmful industrialization with the emerging technological challenges we face today. Our discussion takes a critical angle on how AI intersects with indigenous rights, spotlighting the recent establishment of the CALI Fund at COP16 in Colombia, which aims to ensure fair compensation for the genetic information used by big tech companies.The world of synthetic biology and genetic engineering is rapidly evolving, with technologies like CRISPR and DNA printing poised to reshape agriculture and ecosystems. But what ethical and ecological concerns arise from this transformation? We explore the commodification of biodiversity and the implications of merging these advancements with AI, leading to new bioeconomies. The financialization of nature, through initiatives like biodiversity credits, raises significant questions about sustainability, colonialism and the commercialization of genomic data. As we navigate these complex issues, we emphasize the urgent need for societal oversight to safeguard the common good.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Note: This episode's image was created with openart.ai. We found the result interesting, but do we want to use it to create new organisms and hand over our collective future to artificial intelligence?

What if conservation efforts meant to protect our planet were actually causing significant harm to the very people who have safeguarded these lands for generations? Join us on Breaking Green as we uncover the startling truth with Anuradha Mittal, founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute. Through the lens of their report, "From Abuse to Power," we expose the severe human rights abuses reportedly inflicted upon indigenous communities by "EcoGuards" — funded by prominent NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund. We'll explore the deeply rooted colonial and racist undertones of the conservation industry, particularly in Africa. Discover how powerful international institutions and donor countries perpetuate a model that expels indigenous people from their ancestral lands. The conversation contrasts Western views that see humanity as a threat to nature with indigenous perspectives that emphasize harmony with the environment. On this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute, Anyarada Mitall. Anyarada is an internationally renowned expert on issues of human rights, agriculture, development and conservation policies. Under Anyarada's leadership, the Oakland Institute has unveiled land investment deals in the developing world to expose a disturbing pattern of lack of transparency, fairness and accountability. Anyarada has authored and edited numerous books and reports. Her articles and opinion pieces have been published in widely circulated newspapers and she is frequently interviewed on CNN, BBC World, CBC, ABC, Al Jazeera and National Public Radio.Find Oakland Institute's report "From Abuse to Power" here. This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Can converting petroleum refineries into renewable diesel production truly serve as a green alternative, or is it merely greenwashing? Join us this week on Breaking Green as we tackle this controversial issue with Gary Hughes from Biofuelwatch. Gary reveals the significant risks and threats posed by industrial bioenergy projects, including their impacts on land, forests, ecosystems, food sovereignty, and human rights. We also explore Biofuelwatch's mission and their recent victories, like opposing a geoengineering project and advocating for indigenous communities in Chile.Is greenwashing misleading the public about what's truly sustainable? Gary Hughes of Biofuelwatch and I uncover how fossil fuel giants exploit biofuels and renewable diesel to maintain their environmentally damaging practices. These companies gain carbon credits while the global south suffers deforestation and heavy pesticide use in soy cultivation. We discuss the insidious nature of climate colonialism and the influence of neoliberal economic expansion on climate policy, especially in California.In the final segment, we question the ethics and practicality of solar geoengineering as a climate solution. With Gary's insights into the billionaire class's fascination with technological fixes over real emission reductions, we critique the normalization of geoengineering and its potential catastrophic impacts. We also highlight the environmental crises in Chile, from wildfires to severe flooding, and the ongoing efforts of Global Justice Ecology Project to advocate for environmental justice. Tune in for a engaging conversation on the socio-environmental challenges we face and the urgent need for genuine solutions.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

On January 18th of last year, a land defender protesting the razing of an urban forest to build a police training mega complex known as COP City was killed by a hail of bullets fired by police in Atlanta Georgia. Authorities claim the had fired a weapon at police, but there is strong forensic evidence that the protester was seated with hands up and had not fired a weapon.Many other peaceful protesters as well as those providing mutual aid and bond support have been charged in a far-reaching prosecution that has labelled many as Domestic Terrorists.On April 5th, two organizations, including Robert F Kennedy Human Rights and Southern Center for Human Rights together with the University of Dayton Human Rights Center filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights calling for an investigation into the killing of Manuel Pize Teran, also known as Tortuguita.On this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Anthony Enriqez of Robert F Kennedy Human Rights.  Anthony Enriqez is an attorney working to reduce mass incarceration in the United States by exposing and stopping human rights abuses in the criminal legal and immigration systems. As the Vice President of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, he leads a team of advocates fighting for accountability for state-sponsored racial discrimination, torture, and extrajudicial killings. He has over a decade of expertise in child refugee protection, immigrants' rights, and anti-detention advocacy and litigation. Anthony graduated from New York University School of Law in 2013 and clerked for a federal district court judge in the Southern District of New York. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Christopher Nolan's movie Oppenheimer captured the imagination of the nation as it dramatized the super-secret Manhattan Project that was responsible for creating the first atomic bomb. But what about the legacy of radioactive waste that the US weapons Development Program left across the United States? According to victims whose diseases were caused by exposure to US weapons development programs, the movie's oversight of the project's toxic legacy was an insult. Now a bill in Congress may help address some illnesses caused by nuclear weapons development. It may also recognize victims exposed to radiation who have long been overlooked, but it is, according to many, not enough and only a start when it comes to addressing devastating illnesses. On this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Justin Ahasteen, the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, about the history of radiation contamination on the Navajo Nation from uranium mining, the US government's lack of transparency, its failure to remediate radiation hotspots, as well as hopes for some relief when it comes to the reauthorization of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Justin Ahasteen is executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office. He has been awarded the Presidential Volunteer Service Award with Silver Distinction. Justin was appointed as Executive Director by President Boo Nygren in 2023. Ahasteen has significantly impacted federal Indian policy and indigenous advocacy, focusing on infrastructure, veteran affairs, social services, health and public safety for the Navajo Nation. His academic credentials include an associate's in applied science and public administration, a bachelor's of arts in justice studies with a public administration minor, and he is nearing completion of a master of legal studies in indigenous law. Thank you for having me. People's sovereignty and rights.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

When the salmon numbers in the Klamath River dwindled, it wasn't just a loss of wildlife, it was a piece of Brooke Thompson's heritage slipping away. Our latest episode of Breaking Green features Brooke, a Yurok and Karuk Native American, water resource engineer, and PhD student, who unravels the deep ties between her tribe's culture and the river's salmon. Discover how she leverages her academic prowess and indigenous insight to fight against the environmental crises that threaten both her community's traditions and the planet's health.Join us as we traverse the complex landscape of salmon conservation, where Brooke illuminates the delicate balance of water flow management, the harrowing impact of the 2002 salmon kill, and the vital role of habitat restoration. Her story is one of resilience and purpose, driving home the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge with modern science. From the halls of academia to the United Nations climate conferences, Brooke's voice brings a fresh perspective to the urgent dialogue on conservation and the empowerment of indigenous leaders.As we wrap up the conversation, Brooke doesn't shy away from the pressing issues of our times—microplastics in fish, renewable energy projects on indigenous lands, and the need for authentic representation in environmental policy-making. Her call to action is clear: to heal our planet, we must honor the wisdom of those who have cherished it for millennia. By supporting indigenous voices and practices, we're not just upholding justice; we're investing in a legacy of stewardship that could save us all.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Terrible forest fires that are the result of eucalyptus plantations are becoming an increasing threat. Known as green deserts, these monoculture eucalyptus tree plantations are becoming more numerous as they are built to feed ever larger pulp and paper mills. They sapwater from the environment and destroy biodiversity. But there are those who are fighting the spread of this invasive species. On this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Joam Evans Pim. Pim is a commoner at the Froxan Community, located in Galicia, Spain, where he lives with his family. He is an activist in political, environmental, cultural and human rights issues, particularly focused on reinvigorating rural direct assembly democracy, defending and restoring common lands and confronting destructive mining and other environmentally degrading projects. He serves as director of the Montescola Foundation and is adjunct professor of peace and conflict research at Abo Akademi University, Finland, where he seasonally lectures on civil disobedience and non-violent action at the master's program on peace, mediation and conflict research. This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

The American Chestnut Foundation has long supported a controversial plan to release genetically engineered chestnut trees into the wild. The Tree was being developed by the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). But now poor performance in field trials and the revelation that researchers had even been field testing the wrong tree prompted The American Chestnut Foundation to pull its support for the GE Tree. The American Chestnut Foundation has also called for SUNY-ESF to pull its application before the United States Department of Agriculture for deregulation of the tree.On this episode of Breaking Green, we spoke with Anne Petermann.  Petermann co- founded Global Justice Ecology Project in 2003. She is the international coordinator of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees, which she also co founded. Petermann is a founding board member of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series.  She has been involved in movements for forest protection and indigenous rights since 1991, and the international and national climate justice movements since 2004.  She participated in the founding of the Durban group for climate justice in 2004, in Durban, South Africa, and Climate Justice Now in 2007 at the Bali Indonesia UN climate conference.  Anne Petermann was adopted as an honorary member of the St. Francis- Sokoki band of the Abenaki in 1992 for her work in support of their struggle for state recognition. In 2000, she received the wild nature award for activist of the year. We will also  talk with Dr. Donald Davis, author of the American Chestnut: an environmental history. His exhaustive book explores how the American Chestnut Tree has shaped history as well as the cultural and environmental significance of the once ubiquitous tree. He also calls the story of the American Chestnut, a cautionary tale of unintended consequences, and criticizes plans to conduct a massive and irreversible experiment by releasing genetically engineered American chestnuts into the wild. Davis is an independent scholar, author and former Fulbright fellow. He has authored or edited seven books. His book, Where There are Mountains: an environmental history of the southern Appalachians, won the prestigious Philip D. Reed environmental writing award. Davis was also the founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, serving as its president from 2005 to 2006. He is currently employed by the Harvard forest as a research scholar and lives in Washington DC. Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

On February 3rd 2023, a Norfolk Southern train carrying thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals derailed. It was later set on fire in part to clear the tracks.Residents have reported illnesses that they believe are the result of exposure to the chemicals. Now complaints are growing that the government's and EPA's response has failed them.An independent testing expert who has been helping residents of East Palestine, Ohio better understand what they have been exposed to is being subpoenaed by Norfolk Southern in what has been described as an attempt to intimidate him.Also the Government Accountability Project, a storied whistleblower organization, has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to shed light on what it believes could be censorship of citizen groups and residents attempting to share information on the East Palestine disaster.In this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Scott Smith, an independent testing expert and CEO of US BioSolutions LLC.  He frequently works on the ground in contamination events to help affected communities by investigating and bringing people together to diagnose and solve water contamination events. Smith has been to more than 60 oil and chemical disasters in the US and abroad. He is a graduate of Baylor and Harvard business school. He was recently subpoenaed by Norfolk Southern regarding his work in East Palestine. We will also talk with Lesley Pacey, who is an environmental investigator with the Government Accountability Project. Her daughter Sarah was diagnosed with leukemia at age 4 in 2004. She is a cancer survivor, now 23 years old. While living on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, Lesley noticed several other children who had Leukemia.  Lesley demanded a study by the Alabama Department of Health that eventually identified a cancer cluster. Recently she has focused on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, helping chemically exposed workers, residents and tourists with chronic health issues seek justice in the mass tort related to the disaster.She works with the Government Accountability Project to educate lawmakers and propose measures that will protect coastal communities from toxic chemical dispersants.Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Marilyn Leistner, who is mentioned in this episode was the last mayor of Times Beach Missouri, a town wiped off the map by dioxin contamination.FOR BACKGROUND ON TIMES BEACH VISIT:  TimesBeachMissouri.Com

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), was held from November 30 to December 12 2023 in Dubai.  Described by some as the "Blood Carbon COP", COP 28 paved the way for a massive expansion of carbon credits.The carbon credit market is disastrous for Indigenous Peoples and represents a major new way for governments, corporations and conservation NGOs to profit from the theft of Indigenous lands.On this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Fiore Longo of Survival International- an organization formed in 1969 to promote the rights of Indigenous Peoples as contemporary societies with a right to self-determination. Fiore Longo is a campaigner at Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples and is the director of Survival International France and Spain. She also coordinates Survival's conservation campaign, and has visited many communities in Africa and Asia that face human rights abuses in the name of conservation.Survival International's Blood Carbon ReportOrin Langelle's Portraits of StruggleDon't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Soon the attention of many environmentalists will be focused on the most recent UN Climate Conference in Dubai. But this in the 28th such conference and the climate crisis continues to worsen. What if Climate Collapse is inevitable?In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with long-time global and climate justice activist Dr. Tadzio Mueller. Dr. Mueller is a political scientist and activist who runs the blog Peaceful Sabotage.He believes that there is no longer the possiblitly to avoid significant global warming benchmarks and that the physical and political realities necessitate a collapse of social systems in our not so distant future.Dr. Mueller claims we cannot abandon this unfortunate future to the fascist powers that will rise as world systems degrade.He has come under fire from fellow activists who claim his focus on prepping for a future of climate catastrophe is depressing and defeatist. But he argues that there can be hope and meaning as we find a way to advance our own values and bring light, hope and love into the darkening landscape. He has recently traveled to Sweden to study the Prepping Together movement which he says can be a model for how we chose to respond.Dr. Mueller's blog is friedlicheSabotage.netDon't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

The Pruitt Igoe housing complex in St. Louis that was built in the 1950s and infamously demolished in the 1970s has been touted by many as a cautionary tale against public housing projects. But its history is complex. In 2012 it was reported that Pruitt Igoe was in a region targeted by the Military for secret tests that were part of a radiological weapons development program. According to government documents obtained by sociologist and researcher Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor, the Army referred to the test area a “Densely Populated Slum District.”Now Pruitt Igoe is back in national headlines. Ben Phillips and Chester Deans, both former residents of the Pruitt Igoe housing complex, are spearheading efforts to have the government recognize its wrong doing, release more information about the its covert actions, and compensate residents of Pruitt-Igoe and surrounding areas. They hope to have residents of the area added to a bill working its way through congress that seeks to compensate residents that were exposed to radiation during cold war era production of nuclear weapons in St. louis.In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor, the sociologist and researcher who examined the St. Louis open-air experiments for her doctoral dissertation at the University of Missouri Columbia, and after more than a decade of research wrote a book called Behind the Fog: How the US Cold War Radiological Weapons Program Exposed Innocent Americans. We will also talk with Ben Phillips who prior to spearheading the recent push for justice for former residents of Pruitt Igoe, received a degree in sociology from the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Phillips had a distinguished career in public service as well as St. Louis and Missouri politics. Ben Phillip's accomplishments include  a gubernatorial appointee to the St. Louis City board of elections commission,  a Mayoral appointment to the City of St. Louis Employees Retirement Board and serving as Presiding of the Missouri State President of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ).Link to Post-Dispatch story on documentary base on Pruitt Igoe experiments.Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 

New Zealand is a "GE Free zone" meaning that all produce grown in New Zealand can be guaranteed free of genetic engineering (GE) and GMO traits.Companies are allowed to do research with genetically modified organisms but according to current New Zealand law such organisms must be proven safe before they are allowed for use for farming. Yet as New Zealand heads into its 2023 election, several national political parties are threatening New Zealand's GE free status by suggesting the revocation of its precautionary legislation. In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Claire Bleakley, president of GE Free New Zealand about this push for the dropping of this long cherished GE  free status and what and who is behind it.Claire Bleakley is the president of GE Free New Zealand. GE Free NZ has been active in raising awareness around the dangers of genetic engineering and gene editing over the last 20 years. Claire and her husband live on a small organic farm in New Zealand. She became actively involved in the GE Free movement when genetically engineered animals and crops, designed to withstand a cocktail of herbicides and insecticidal toxins, were developed. Claire and GE Free NZ have successfully challenged in court the safety of GE animals and crops. Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Marginalized communities are frequently targeted for the placement of toxic projects. Protest and community organizing has been an indispensable strategy in seeking environmental justice and fighting for those living in minority, poor and indigenous communities.But now, so-called critical infrastructure laws are springing up around the United States in what appears to be a coordinated effort by corporate interests to muzzle protest. These laws seek to criminalize dissent and characterize peaceful protest as acts of terrorism.On this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Basav Sen and Gabrielle Colchete who together authored a July article in In These Times titled, "Cop City and the Escalating War on Environmental Defenders." The story was based on a report they coauthored for the Institute for Policy Studies on the increased criminalization of protest activities.Basav Sen joined the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), as the Climatic Justice Project Director in February 2017. Prior to joining IPS, Basav worked for about 11 years as a strategic corporate campaign researcher fo the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). He also had experience as a campaigner against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.Gabrielle Colchete is a Next Leaders Alum from the Institute for Policy Studies 2020 Fellowship Cohort, where she researched frontline community resistance against fossil fuel projects and the role of corporate interests in increasing state criminalization of protest activities.Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187Photo of Tortuguita Memorial by Don Kimball

Deforestation of Brazil's Amazon rainforest is a well-known threat to the world's environment, but the loss of natural biodiversity to so-called "green deserts" resulting from expanding non-native eucalyptus plantations for pulp and paper production, is a lesser known ecological and social disaster that is likely to worsen if genetically engineered trees are used. Spearheaded by Global Justice Ecology Project, the Campaign to STOP GE Trees brought together members from the United States, New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada in Brazil to document the impacts and meet with communities on the front lines.The group also met to develop plans for the international campaign to stop the commercial development of genetically engineered trees and to support and highlight opposition to pulp company Suzano's rapid expansion of industrial eucalyptus plantations, and potential use of genetically engineered (GE) eucalyptus trees modified to tolerate toxic herbicides. GJEP and the Campaign met with Brazilian NGOs, indigenous and Quilombola communities and  Landless Worker Movement members in order to document and amplify the voices and concerns of rural communities on the frontlines of resisting the devastating social and ecological impacts of industrial eucalyptus plantations. On this episode of Breaking Green, we spoke with Anne Petermann.  Petermann co- founded Global Justice Ecology Project in 2003. She is the international coordinator of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees, which she also co founded. Petermann is a founding board member of the Will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series. She has been involved in movements for forest protection and indigenous rights since 1991, and the international and national climate justice movements since 2004. She participated in the founding of the Durban group for climate justice in 2004, in Durban, South Africa, and Climate Justice Now in 2007 at the Bali Indonesia UN climate conference. She was adopted as an honorary member of the St. Francis- Sokoki band of the Abenaki in 1992 for her work in support of their struggle for state recognition. In 2000, she received the wild nature award for activist of the year.Photo by Orin Langelle.For more information visit: https://globaljusticeecology.org/brazil-2023/ This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

On February 23, 2023 a train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing an environmental disaster of historic proportions. It was a Norfolk Southern train, which was over a mile long and carrying hazardous materials, including over 100,000 gallons of vinyl chloride. Three days later, a so-called control to burn toxic materials from the crash released an unknown chemical soup into the atmosphere, which continues to affect communities for miles around. Since the derailment, many in East Palestine and neighboring communities have been struggling with the toxic impacts of the chemical contamination as well as a lack of transparency from federal and state agencies.Background Information on Amanda KigerAmanda Kiger is the director of River Valley Organizing a citizens based community organization that works for a safer, cleaner and more community oriented environment in the Appalachian river valley, a region long challenged by environmental degradation. Amanda Kiger has been featured prominently in the media as her organization and members of the East Palestine community seek a meaningful response from state and federal agencies that seem more concerned with the financial well being of Norfolk Southern than the residents.Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

Ahead of a meeting of African Union Heads of States in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, numerous civil society organizations called on the African Union not to Geoengineer the African Continent. The organizations noted that geoengineering is a false techno-fix that can only provide an excuse for the Global North to continue relying on fossil-fuel based energy generation in light of the ongoing climate emergency. The organizations stated that  advancing geoengineering technologies distracts countries from their commitments to large emission cuts, responsible consumption and delivering over-due climate finance. On this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Dr. Mfoniso Antia of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation. Dr. Antia is an environmental scientist, researcher and climate justice advocate – She holds a Master of Science Degree in Aquatic Pollution and Toxicology, and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology from the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence in Public Health and Toxicological Research hosted by University of Port Harcourt. She works with Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) as a Program Manager and the Project Lead, overseeing Health of Mother Earth Foundation's learning spaces. Dr. Antia is also the Anglophone coordinator of Africa Technology Assessment Platform, a network to which Health of Mother Earth Foundation is a founding member. She is also co-leading the Hands Off Mother Earth Africa Working Group on Geoengineering. Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Donate securely online hereOr simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187

It is 90 seconds to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. In large part due to developments in the war in Ukraine, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists  moved the hands of the infamous timepiece forward.Just weeks earlier the Department of Energy announced the first reported controlled fusion reaction that was touted as a breakthrough for national defense and the future of clean energy.Given the history of that lab, there is reason for skepticism.In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Dr. Helen Caldicott.Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1938, Dr Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School in 1961. She founded the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1975 and subsequently was an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and on the staff of the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, Mass., until 1980 when she resigned to work full time on the prevention of nuclear war.In 1971, Dr Caldicott played a major role in Australia's opposition to French atmospheric nuclear testing in the Pacific; in 1975 she worked with the Australian trade unions to educate their members about the medical dangers of the nuclear fuel cycle, with particular reference to uranium mining.While living in the United States from 1977 to 1986, she played a major role in re-invigorating as President,    Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. On trips abroad she helped start similar medical organizations in many other countries. The international umbrella group (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. Dr Caldicott has received many prizes and awards for her work, including the Lannan Foundation's 2003 Prize for Cultural Freedom and twenty one  honorary doctoral degrees. She was personally nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Linus Pauling – himself a Nobel Laureate. The Smithsonian has named Dr Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th Century. Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.

In December 2022, at the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, 188 countries adopted a new Global Biodiversity Framework to supposedly create strategies to halt biodiversity loss.The framework has been touted as a sweeping agreement to protect biodiversity by turning 30 percent of the planet's land and oceans into protected areas by 2030.While the agreement mentions partnerships with indigenous peoples, however, numerous environmental and human rights groups have criticized it for placing the greatest burden on indigenous peoples, least responsible for biodiversity loss, instead of addressing the real cause of the crisis. Pointing to research that shows that 80 percent of biodiversity is found on indigenous lands, Survival International criticized the agreement arguing that the best way to protect biodiversity is to protect the land rights of indigenous peoples instead of removing these communities from these new protected areas and banning those who have historically lived in harmony with the land from their ancestral homes and livelihoods. On this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Fiore Longo of Survival International- an organization formed in 1969 to promote the rights of indigenous peoples as contemporary societies with a right to self-determination. Fiore Longo is a campaigner at Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples and is the director of Survival International France and Spain. She also coordinates Survival's conservation campaign, and has visited many communities in Africa and Asia that face human rights abuses in the name of conservation. Don't miss an episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.

Founded in 2003, Global Justice Ecology Project believes in the fundamental equality of all peoples and the intrinsic value of the natural world. Global Justice ecology project's mission is to identify, expose and address the intertwined root causes of social injustice, ecological destruction, and economic domination.In this episode of Breaking green, we will talk with Anne Petermann, co founder of  Global Justice Ecology Project about the organization's unique mission. We will also discuss current threats to forest and indigenous people with attempts to genetically engineer trees for use in plantations and release into the wild. Anne Peterman co-founded global justice ecology project in 2003. She is the international coordinator of the campaign to stop GE trees, which she also co founded. Petermann is a founding board member of the will Miller Social Justice Lecture Series. She has been involved in movements for forest protection and indigenous rights since 1991, and the international and national climate justice movements since 2004. She participated in the founding of the Durban group for climate justice in 2004, in Durban, South Africa, and Climate Justice Now! in 2007, at the Bali Indonesia UN climate conference. She is the author of several reports and numerous articles detailing the dangers of genetically engineered trees, and is a contributor to Truthout, Z Magazine Counterpunch, and numerous others. She was adopted as an honorary member of the St. Francis-Sokoki band of the Abenaki in 1992 for her work in support of their struggle for state recognition. In 2000, she received the Wild Nature Award for Activist of the Year.Link to public comment on GE American chestnut Link to GJEP Press Conference and UN Conference on BiodiversityThe Global Status of Genetically Engineered Tree Development: A Growing ThreatCBAN  information on FSCStop GE Tree Petition to FSCStop GE Tree American Chestnut petitionDon't miss this episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.

For decades, the Forest Stewardship Council also known as the FSC has had a core policy of prohibiting the commercial use of genetically engineered or genetically modified trees in its certification program. But that ban is currently under threat as commercial interests push for a plan that would have the FSC overseeing test plots of GE trees in what has euphemistically been called a learning project.Currently the US government is also considering allowing the release of genetically engineered American chestnut trees into US forests.  Along with opponents in North America, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (also known as CBAN) has noted that this dangerous experiment threatens a spread of GE trees into Canadian forests as well.CBAN has recently released a report The Global Status of Genetically Engineered Tree Development: A Growing Threat, which sheds light on the current status of efforts to genetically engineer trees for release into the wild and use on plantations.In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Lucy Sharratt of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network.Lucy Sharratt works in Halifax as the Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, also known as CBAN. CBAN brings together 16 groups to research, monitor and raise awareness about issues relating to genetic engineering in food and farming. CBAN members include farmer associations, environmental and social justice organizations, and regional coalitions of grassroots groups. Lucy previously worked as a campaigner and researcher on this issue at the Sierra Club of Canada and the Polaris Institute in Ottawa. Lucy also coordinated the International Ban Terminator Campaign which secured a strengthened global moratorium on genetically engineered sterile seed technology.Lucy has a Master's degree from the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University and has authored numerous articles in various books on the subject of genetic engineering.Don't miss this episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project. Report The Global Status of Genetically Engineered Tree Development: A Growing ThreatCBAN information on FSCStop GE Tree Petition to FSCStop GE Tree American Chestnut petitionBreaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.

As oil dependent nations seek to shore up their supply while the war between Russia and Ukraine rages, some African Nations seem eager to provide more access to fossil fuels. This was evidenced during the September minister's meeting in Egypt, when representatives from various African nations called on world leaders to “avoid approaches that encourage abrupt disinvestments from fossil fuels.”But many in Africa have been fighting for justice in the face of abuses by companies that damage the environment and make the continent second only to Russia when it comes to the hazardous practice of gas flaring. In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with renowned Nigerian architect , author and activist Nnimmo Bassey, about what it really means for the health of Africans and the planet when it comes to the exploitation of the so-called resource rich continent. We will also discuss the history of colonialism's impact on Africa and how the 27th Conference of Parties, will held this November in Egypt, is likely to promote false solutions to climate change and refuse to deal in a meaningful way with the climate debt owed to the global south in general, and Africa in particular.Nnimmo Bassey is a Nigerian architect, environmental activist, author and poet, who chaired Friends of the Earth International from 2008 through 2012 and was executive director of Environmental Rights Action for two decades. His is director of the ecological think-tank, Health of Mother Earth as well as a board member of Global Justice Ecology Project. Nnimmo Bassey was a co-recipient of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” In 2012 he received the Rafto Human Rights Award. He was also one of Time magazine's Heroes of the Environment in 2009.Don't miss this episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Listen to previous Breaking Green episodes critiquing false solutions to climate change promoted by the UN Climate COP and various corporate actors:• False Solutions to Climate Change • Carbon Colonialism and REDDBreaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.Photo of Nnimmo Bassey by Anne Petermann/GJEP

In an upcoming interview on Breaking Green, renowned Nigerian author, scholar and activist Nnimmo Bassey winner of the 2010 Right Livelihood Award, denounces the  upcoming UN Climate Summit: COP 27 in Egypt for being a "rigged process that operates in a colonial manner."Don't miss this episode and subscribe to Breaking Green wherever you get your podcasts.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project. Listen to previous Breaking Green episodes critiquing false solutions to climate change promoted by the UN Climate COP and various corporate actors:• False Solutions to Climate Change  • Carbon Colonialism and REDDBreaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 716-257-4187.Artwork photo of  African Delegation protesting at the Conference of Parties in Copenhagen 2009 by Orin Langelle.

During the cold war, the united states military conducted covert weapons development testing in what the Army identified as a "densely populated slum district". The spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide along with what evidence suggests was a radiative substance centered on a region that included the Pruitt Igoe housing complex. The film Target St. Louis, which has won the Urban World Best Documentary award in New York was directed by actor and film maker Damien D. Smith. On this episode of Breaking Green we will talk to Damien, about the film, the research it is based on and the importance of film in shinning a light on such a difficult subject. Damien was born in St. Louis and now lives as an actor, screen writer and prodcer in Los Angeles. Smith's stage and television credits include the NAACP Theater Award-winning production of “12×9,” and most recently the television series “Snowfall” on Fx Networks  and “The Purge”on USA networks.  His directorial debut short narrative film entitled ABOUT THAT…, a powerful look at love through the eyes of a mentally disturbed young man won the Arts with Impact film Award. Smith's last short film Daddy's Big Girl won the Gentleman Jack Daniel's Reel to Real Filmmaker of the Year Award. This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Target St. Louis Vol 1 TrailerDamien Smith IMDbIPA press release on St. Louis weapons testBehind the Fog book by Dr. Lisa Martino-TaylorSt. Louis Post-DispatchBreaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.Disclosure:  Steve Taylor is married to the author of Behind the Fog. 

Carbon capture and storage is often thought of as a new technology to help fight climate change. But it has been around for fifty years and was first developed by gas companies and used to enhance oil recovery from depleted fields.  Today, tax credits are being offered to subsidize the technology as a response to global warming. A September 1st story in The Guardian  highlighted a report by the Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis on Carbon Capture technology. The report details how carbon capture and storage schemes, which are key in many governments' plans to address climate change, are not a true solution to the climate crises and may even increase carbon emissions in the long run. In this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Bruce Robertson, one of the authors of the report. Bruce Robertson is an energy finance analyst of the GAS/LNG sector for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. He has been an investment analyst, fund manager and professional investor for over 36 years. He has worked with Perpetual Trustees, UBS, Nippon Life Insurance and BT. He has appeared as an expert witness before a number of government enquiries into energy issues.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.September 1st, 2022 article in The Guardian.IEEFA reportBreaking Green is made possible by donations from people like you.  click here to send a donation today.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.  

The inflation Reduction Act is being heralded by many environmental groups as a major victory in the fight against global warming. But the bill has provoked criticism that it funds harmful false solutions and that environmental justice organizations, communities that they represent, and their concerns were ignored as the $360 billion deal was made. In this episode of Breaking green, we will talk with Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright. Anthony publicly resigned from the board of Evergreen Action, a group whose stated mission is to build an all out national mobilization to defeat the climate crisis. In his notice of resignation, Anthony noted Evergreen Action's failure to properly involve or communicate with environmental justice communities during critical phases of creating and passing the Inflation Reduction Act. He says that those left out of the process by the bigger, largely white driven environmental groups are those that will be most directly impacted by the fossil fuel false solutions increased mining and other extractive provisions contained in the bill. Anthony serves as the Director of Environmental Justice for the group New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. He also served as the policy coordinator and Green New Deal policy lead at the Climate Justice Alliance. Anthony also led the effort to make the former Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative, the first health insurance provider in the state's history to remove transgender exclusions in 2012. He worked as a policy advisor for Senator Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign in 2020, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders presidential campaigns of 2016 and 2020. He also serves on the board of directors of France, the Earth, the Backbone Campaign, and the Center for Sustainable Economy. This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.Breaking Green is made possible by donations from people like you.  click here to send a donation today.Indigenous Environmental Network statement on IRA Climate Justice Alliance Statement on IRAAnthony  Kerefa Rogers-Wright's recent article in Black Agenda ReportAntony Kerefa Rogers-Wright's original notice of resignation.1990 Southwest Organizing Project LetterEquitable & Just National Climate PlatformBreaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

With the catastrophic failures at Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power has been the cause of some the worst environmental disasters in history.But, the realities of global warming have created an opportunity for this flagging industry to attempt a comeback by rebranding as a green alternative to fossil fuels.This rebranding concerns those who have worked to reign in the troubled nuclear industry for decades as they now face one of the most ambitious examples of disaster capitalism that threatens to resuscitate nuclear power and its unique set of environmental hazards as a false solution to climate change.In this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk with Susan Shapiro.Susan Shapiro is a New York State environmental attorney..As co-counsel she brought ground-breaking litigation against Indian Point's violation of the Clean Water Act for thermal and radiation pollution of the Hudson River. She also was the lead attorney on an Article 78 action against the New York's Public Service Commission for diverting $7.6 billion dollars of ratepayers money to keep aging upstate nuclear reactors open instead of funding renewables.Shapiro  is a member of Leadership Council of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition),  a board member of Radiation and Public Health Project and GRIP (Gender and Radiation Impact Project.She is also in the process of writing a book about why nuclear energy is not "zero emissions” and why it is not a solution to climate change.Shapiro is also an award winning filmmaker and artist. Her paintings can be viewed at susanhillary.com.Radiation and Public Heath Project can be found at The Radiation Public Health Project.To learn more about Cold War era nuclear contamination in St. Louis you can listen to this previous episode of Breaking Green, St. Louis Radiation Fire with Dawn Chapman.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

Shawnee Showdown, a film by Cade Bursell, was screened at the Yale Environmental film festival earlier this year. It documents the colorful and successful protests to prevent logging in the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The protests along with legal efforts were successful in winning a 17 year moratorium on logging. Now, activists are working to make the Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois, the first climate preserve in the United States. The designation would prevent logging and other resource extraction from disturbing the forest in order to allow it to continue to act as a natural and highly effective carbon sink. Supporters argue that allowing natural forest and public lands to stand is an efficient and necessary tool in fighting climate change. In this episode of Breaking green, we will talk with John Wallace who is working to make the Shawnee National Forest, the nation's first climate Preserve.Wallace is a former public land and municipal water source manager, John also worked as an environmental educator from Southern Illinois University's Touch of Nature Environmental Center.  As a forest activist on the Shawnee National Forest and public land in and around the southern Illinois region for 33 years, he has taken on public awareness campaigns, tackled pro se litigation and participated in non-violent direct action in defense of the natural world.  John is a founding member of the Shawnee Forest Defense! and the 28 -year-old Shawnee Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society (IAS).   He is currently the Shawnee Audubon Chapter president and serves on the Land Acquisition and Sanctuary Committee of IAS, the oldest, non-governmental conservation organization in Illinois.   John has served as a volunteer land steward for IAS, has a BS in Plant and Soil Science from SIU and has been known to portray the writer, mountaineer and conservationist, John Muir, in living history performances.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.You can learn more about saving the Shawnee National Forest at shawneeforestdefense.org.See the trailer for Shawnee Showdown at trailer.See photos from the 1990s blockade in the Shawnee at Langelle Photography.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

In 1904, at the Bronx Zoological Park, chestnut trees were dying from a spore borne blight brought to the United States by Japanese chestnut trees that were imported by commercial nurseries. The American chestnut is now referred to as functionally extinct and forest where they were once the dominant species have long since transitioned from Oak chestnut to Oak hickory forests. In this episode of Breaking green, we will talk with Dr. Donald Davis, author of the American Chestnut: an environmental history. His exhaustive book explores how the American Chestnut Tree has shaped history as well as the cultural and environmental significance of the once ubiquitous tree. He also calls the story of the American Chestnut, a cautionary tale of unintended consequences, and criticizes plans to conduct a massive and irreversible experiment by releasing genetically engineered American chestnuts into the wild. Davis is an independent scholar, author and former Fulbright fellow. He has authored or edited seven books. His book, Where There are Mountains: an environmental history of the southern Appalachians, won the prestigious Philip D. Reed environmental writing award. Davis was also the founding member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, serving as its president from 2005 to 2006. He is currently employed by the Harvard forest as a research scholar and lives in Washington DC.You can learn more about GE trees at The Campaign to STOP GE Trees.You can find The American Chestnut: an environmental history on Amazon.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

On March 6th, Famed Civil Rights Lawyer, Dennis Cunningham died of cancer. He was 86. In his long and varied career Cunningham successfully represented Attica Prison Inmates, members of the Black Panthers. He also represented Earth First! organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney in a case they won against the FBI and Oakland police for violation of their civil rights when they were arrested after a car they were traveling in had a bomb detonate under the passenger seat nearly killing Bari. Despite having numerous death threats against them Bari and Cherney were named as suspects in their own bombing. They were never charged, and a jury awarded them 4.4 million dollars in a 2002 for the violation of their civil rights. On this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Karen Pickett. Pickett has been a grassroots activist for over 40 years. She has focused on forest and habitat preservation as well as environmental justice, protecting the civil rights of activists, and alliance building with Indigenous campaigns and the labor movement. She is a founder and Director of the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters, Biocentric Media Inc, as well as earlier organizations, including the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment. She is a Board member of the Global Justice Ecology Project and has a decades-long affiliation with Earth First!. Pickett worked closely with Mr. Cunningham on the trial against the FBI and Oakland police and was a close personal friend of Judi Bari.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

Radioactive waste from the building of the first atomic bomb sits in a landfill with a below ground fire. Dawn Chapman who was featured in HBO's Atomic Homefront  tells Breaking Green how the EPA is again delaying removal seven years after agreeing to a new cleanup plan pressured by the community.Dawn and other activists from the region promise more pressure as they plan a trip to EPA headquarters as time runs out for a community they say is besieged with illness and childhood cancers.This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187.

In this episode of Breaking Green we talk with long-time activist Alejandra Parra about her experiences during the People's Uprising in Chile and the hopes of recognizing environmental, social and economic reforms in the new Chilean constitution.In 2019, Chile experienced intense nationwide protests against neoliberalism with calls for sweeping reform. In response the United Nations moved the UN Climate Change Conference COP 25 from Santiago, Chile to Madrid, Spain.In 2020 the people of Chile voted in favor of a constitutional convention in order to replace its current constitution that was created under the Pinochet dictatorship. The convention, which grew out of the People's Uprising, is currently underway with work expected to finished by March. The convention is being attended not only by representatives of political parties, but elected representatives of Indigenous Peoples, independent citizen groups, environmentalists, social justice activists, and is designed for gender parity.In 2021, Gabriel Boric, a young leftist candidate soundly defeated ultra-far right candidate Jose' Kast for President. Boric is expected to be seated on March 11, 2022This podcast is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green click here.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187 

 The UN Conference of Parties in Glasgow is now behind us. Despite all the hype leading up to the meeting, did the Glasgow Pact provide results or did the nations of the world miss yet another opportunity for real change and hope for averting planet wide environmental disaster?Is Climate Change even a problem that can be addressed by the Nations of the world or are certain interests too entrenched within those systems to allow meaningful action by these political entities?In this episode of Breaking Green we will talk with Professor Shannon Gibson who studies the United Nation's process to address climate change at USC. Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187

As many nations promise net-zero emissions to fight climate change, corporate interests continue to promote offsets as opposed to the actual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at the source. So-called nature-based solutions promote a green economy that commodifies nature and reduces ecosystems to a balance sheet of commodities to be traded for license to destroy and pollute elsewhere. Now there is a proposal for Whale offsets. Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187

Climate change threatens more catastrophic flooding, fires and even food insecurity. In response, agricultural companies are promoting what they call climate safe agriculture. But are huge agriculture companies concerned for our collective food future, or are they leveraging the very real threat of climate change to promote more industrial monocultures, genetically engineered crops and the capture of markets from smaller, independent and often indigenous farmers?  In this episode of Breaking Green, we will talk to Kartini Samone, a GRAIN activist based in Jakarta.  Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187 

In this episode of Breaking Green, we talk with  eminent environmental scientist, Dr. Michael Dorsey, about the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and current UN effort to address our collective future.The IPCC has issued a code red on climate change. The report states that there is an imminent risk of hitting the internationally agreed upon limit of 1.5 degrees in just decades and that immediate action is needed to avoid global warming's most dire consequences. But is there the political will to act? What solutions are being proposed? Are they likely to work or just technofixes designed to prop up business as usual?Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187

Breaking Green talks with biologist Dr. Rachel Smolker about false solutions to climate change.  The ravages of Global Climate Change are becoming more apparent every day, and people and nations are becoming more desperate for solutions. But there is increasing concern that agreements within the United Nations annual climate conferences are being driven by corporate interests that seek to monetize nature itself and secure corporate profits instead of addressing the root causes of climate change. Green capitalism with proposals such as payments for environmental services and carbon trading, allow corporations to continue business as usual under a green veneer. Some proposals even suggest global techno fixes that would alter weather patterns on a planetary scale.Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.The compendium of false solution to climate change is Hoodwinked in the Hothouse.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187

Breaking Green interviews Orin Langelle, photojournalist and Co-founder of Global Justice Ecology Project, about carbon colonialism and the UN's program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).REDD allows trading of the carbon stored in forests, mainly in the Global South, to offset emissions from polluters mainly in the Global North. It shifts the burden of these emissions from the polluters to Indigenous and rural communities that lose access to their forests due to REDD deals, and to the communities where the polluter is based who must endure unending pollution.Langelle talks about his 2011 trip to Amador Hernandez, an Indigenous village in the Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas, Mexico. He traveled to the community to document resistance to a threatened forced relocation of the community due to a REDD deal between California and Chiapas, and to explore the deeper social and ecological impacts of unjust false solution schemes like REDD.His reporting was central to the film, A Darker Shade of Green,  REDD Alert and the Future of Forests.Breaking Green is produced by Global Justice Ecology Project.To become a sponsor of Breaking Green, CLICK HERE.Breaking Green is made possible by tax deductible donations from people like you. Please help us lift up the voices of those working to protect forests, defend human rights and expose false solutions.  Simply text GIVE to 1 716 257 4187