Sezai Temelli: The war economy is the reason for Turkey's economic collapse


Sezai Temelli, economist and HDP deputy, writes that the war economy is the reason for Turkey's economic collapse and argues that there is a need to build a future against capitalism and the Nation-State.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Tuesday, 12 Apr 2022,

In an article published by Kurdistan Report, Sezai Temelli, economist and HDP deputy writes that the war economy is the reason for Turkey's economic collapse and argues that there is a need to build a future against capitalism and the Nation-State.

The article is as follows:

If we look at Turkey's last forty years, we can see that the country's now chronic political and economic crises are in part linked to the state's war strategy against the Kurdish people. While the intensity of the war against the Kurdish people has fluctuated over the past decades, the fact that the Kurdish question today remains an issue of war and has not been resolved is related to the strategic partnership of the capitalist class and the political rulers in Turkey. These have come together because of their overlapping interests of accumulation and hegemony. In recent times, this is particularly visible in the example of the agreement between the AKP rulers and the war industry in the country.

Three trillion dollars for the military

Countless studies and researches by international institutions have found that Turkey is one of the countries where military spending has increased the most. Both scientific and technological researches in this field have been increased. This dramatic upward trend is undoubtedly the result of the hostility towards the Kurds and the war policy. In the last forty years of war, financial resources of almost three trillion dollars have been allocated to the military, condemning the country to this process of chronic crises.

The security policy and war funding in the region, built on violence and oppression, which leaves no room for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question, leads to a deepening of the economic crisis as public funds are excessively drained into these areas. This budget subsequently is missing in social areas such as education or the health sector. The related lack of funds for social security systems also leads to an increase in poverty and unemployment in the country. These diverse problems in the country have their roots in the Turkish state's war and security policy.

Exposing the economic interests of the state

If we look at the development of capitalism in Turkey over the last 40 years or take a look at the exploitation mechanisms and surplus value developments in the country, it becomes visible that the war has created a very comfortable climate for the regime. If we do not expose this linkage of war policy and economic interests of certain factions in the state, it will not be possible to pave the way for a peace policy.

The expulsion of the Kurdish population, the destruction of their homeland, the extreme exploitation of the labor of forcibly migrated Kurds, the impoverishment and disenfranchisement of the Kurdish people is part of the production of surplus value in Turkey. The struggle for the redistribution of this surplus value and the bases for an understanding about this distribution give us a clear picture of the structural composition of society in Turkey and of the ruling politics.

Imperialist Greed

The exorbitant centralization of capital accumulation in this area, especially in the last decade, has meant that Turkey's existing state borders are now too narrowly cut for the satisfaction of its interests. The rulers have made it clear that they can no longer tame their imperialist desires and that they are dreaming of solving the current regime crisis with the help of the aspiration for the state borders of Misak-i Milli1. The state leadership's ongoing war strategy is consequently aimed at annexing territories in North Syria.

Society opposes the war

For the current government, which denies the right of the peoples of Syria, above all the Kurds, to self-determination, the end of the road is apparent both at home and abroad. The AKP leadership has lost social support and has lost credibility in the global political arena. Its attempt to stop the implementation of the peoples' right to self-determination in Syria is futile. The state leadership may impose the war as much as it likes to bridge the militarist capital crisis, yet, society's opposition to the war is becoming clearer as the economic crisis worsens.

Society, which is witnessing every day the destructive results of the economic crisis, is gradually breaking its silence. Each and everyone now knows how much a bullet costs, and no one wants to pay that price anymore. We are looking at a leadership that, in the interest of capital, wants to create even more surplus value with even more war and, at the same time, is sliding into an ever deepening crisis that is now as great as the one that led to its assumption of power at the time.

If we succeed in making the struggle for peace a matter for society as a whole, the most important dynamic that will bring the current phase of the crisis to an end can emerge from this. It is inevitable that the whole society organizes together democratically against fascism and fights against war and for a dignified and lasting peace. Democratization inevitably goes hand in hand with the democratization of the economy. The democratic struggle must be carried out radically in every field in order to put an end to poverty, unemployment, ecological destruction and exploitation of labor and to find a democratic solution for the Kurdish question.

A radical struggle for democracy, moreover, is related to political and economic freedoms. We must carry the struggle for freedom for a democratic republic into every sphere of life and economy. Without detaching the sphere of the economy from the demand for freedom, we must build a future against capitalism and the nation-state that goes hand in hand with the democratization of the economy.

This article was first published in the March/April2022 edition of the Kurdistan Report.

1. Misak-i Milli is the name for the political manifesto of the Turkish independence movement during the First World War. The borders of a Turkish republic that had not yet been founded at the time, as outlined in this manifesto, included areas in what is now Rojava (North Syria) and South Kurdistan (North Iraq).

The Turkish war of aggression in Southern Kurdistan - The background (Part 1)

What is Turkey aiming at with its war of aggression in Kurdistan? Why is it attacking right now and what are its plans in case of military success? These questions are addressed in an analysis by Civaka Azad - Kurdish Center for Public Relations.


CIVAKA AZAD
BERLIN
Sunday, 24 Apr 2022

Turkey has launched a new war of aggression in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) and many now have question marks in their minds. What is Turkey aiming at with this offensive? Why is it attacking right now? And what are its plans in case of military success? Civaka Azad (Kurdish Center for Public Relations) addresses these questions in the first part of a two-part analysis:

Since the night of April 17-18, the Turkish state has been attacking the southern Kurdish regions of Zap and Avaşîn. These areas near the Turkish border are largely under the control of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Prior to the start of the offensive, Turkey bombed the target areas widely over a period of three days. Then, when Operation Claw Lock was launched, attack helicopters, warplanes and combat drones were used. In addition, the area is being shelled with rockets from Turkish border military stations. Turkish soldiers were airdropped from attack helicopters at several points at the beginning of the offensive. Since then, there have been heavy military clashes between the guerrilla units and the Turkish military. Both sides have already made initial announcements on casualties in their own and enemy ranks. The numbers naturally differ and cannot be independently confirmed. But neither side doubts that the fighting will continue for a long time.

What is Turkey aiming at with this war of aggression?

Turkey under the AKP regime is pursuing multiple goals with this war. Firstly, there is the deep-rooted hostility towards the Kurdish population. No matter where the Kurdish freedom movement acts and defends the interests of the Kurds, it becomes a target of the Turkish state. This is because the acts of war in Southern Kurdistan are embedded in a more comprehensive concept of attack against the Kurdish population. In Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), state repression increased significantly after the Kurdish New Year festival of Newroz. On March 21, millions of Kurds throughout Northern Kurdistan poured into the streets and not only celebrated Newroz, but also declared their support for the Kurdish freedom movement. The AKP could not and would not let this stand. Since then, hundreds of Kurdish activists have been arrested in several waves of arrests.

Then there is the theater of war in Rojava/Northern Syria. The Turkish state actually wanted to launch a new major offensive here at the end of last year. Kobanê was considered a possible target. At that time, however, Turkey did not get the green light from the international powers for a new war and the AKP regime was unable to realize its plans at that time. Instead, the Turkish government has since intensified its drone attacks in Rojava (30 drone attacks since the beginning of the year) and has been shelling the cities of northern Syria with missiles (most recently the city of Kobanê on April 22). Even ISIS has become active again in northern Syria. And here, too, Turkey is likely to have its fingers in the pie. For in the large-scale attack by ISIS cells in Hesekê in January of this year, numerous Islamists from the Turkish-occupied areas of northern Syria are said to have infiltrated the city. The acts of war in southern Kurdistan cannot and must not be viewed independently of events in other parts of Kurdistan, especially since the aggressor everywhere is the Turkish state.

In addition to fighting Kurdish gains, however, the AKP regime also pursues neo-Ottoman interests in the region. The occupation of Afrin and the strip between Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî in northern Syria by the Turkish army and Islamist mercenaries are well known. In addition, Turkey also maintains numerous military stations in southern Kurdistan. The areas Turkey invades will not be easily surrendered. It already has enormous political and economic influence on the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, and above all on the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) under the leadership of the Barzani clan. In the long term, Turkey wants to extend its influence to Baghdad, where it would like to play a role similar to that of Iran. And if you listen to the talk shows of the Turkish mainstream media, the oil-rich cities of Kirkuk and Mosul in northern Iraq belong to Turkey anyway.

Another factor in favor of the military offensive, and this has already been sufficiently voiced in the past, is Turkey's domestic political situation. The economic crisis weighs heavily. A new war comes just in time. Thus, the ranks in Turkish society can be closed again by strengthening the nationalistic "we" feeling (and the collective anti-Kurdish racism). It is therefore not surprising that the Turkish opposition leader of the CHP, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, dedicated his prayers to the "heroic" Turkish soldiers in action via Twitter.

Why is Turkey attacking right now?

We have already touched on the answer to this question above. But there is another reason for the timing: the Ukraine war!

Many connoisseurs of Erdoğan's politics have expected a renewed military campaign against the Kurds in the shadow of the Ukraine war. For in terms of foreign policy, this moment offers almost optimal conditions for a war of aggression by Ankara in violation of international law. Who now wants to criticize Turkey for this offensive? The West, which has just regained its old love for NATO and is therefore courting Ankara's partners? Or Putin, whose war in Ukraine is going anything but as planned and for whom the partnership with Ankara is therefore more important than ever? No, Turkey certainly does not have to reckon with foreign policy criticism. Erdoğan is in the position in which he feels most comfortable: he is needed and courted by the international powers. He knows how to exploit this position and will exploit it to the bitter end. Against the backdrop of this constellation, an expansion of military actions and war crimes by the Turkish army can also be expected. For he does not currently have to reckon with any headwind from international powers.

What will happen if Turkey achieves military success...?

Of course, the AKP regime has a clear plan. The current war in Southern Kurdistan marks one stage of that plan. The PKK guerrilla forces are to be brought to their knees. If this succeeds in Zap and Avaşîn, it will likely be the turn of the next areas controlled by the PKK in Southern Kurdistan. The Turkish state also knows that the guerrilla forces represent a security guarantee for the achievements of the Kurdish population. If military successes are achieved against the guerrillas, then it will consequently be the turn of the achievements. The self-government of the Yazidi town of Şengal and the Maxmur refugee camp are at the top of Turkey's list of attacks. The Iraqi military's recent provocations in Şengal are undoubtedly linked to the Turkish offensive. Time and again, Turkey has bombed these two places in the past. In August last year, even a hospital in Şengal was attacked by the Turkish air force. Eight people were killed as a result. Subsequently, Turkish drone attacks have continued to kill people in both Şengal and Maxmur. Turkey wants to raze the self-government of these two areas to the ground, there is no doubt about that. But now the guerrillas are to be eliminated first.

But Turkey will not leave it at that with a military success. Many currently assume that it could launch a new offensive in Rojava/Northern Syria after possible military successes against the PKK. Another possibility is that it will destabilize the region with the help of ISIS in order to subsequently legitimize its own military intervention. But it is unlikely to stop there either. We mentioned earlier that many political analysts in Turkey have long had their eyes on Kirkuk and Mosul. In any case, those who hope that the Turkish military will dutifully clear its military stations in southern Kurdistan and begin its retreat after a possible military success against the PKK are very optimistic. Under the AKP, Turkey is blatantly pursuing a neo-Ottoman expansionist policy. And in this conception, not only Rojava but also South Kurdistan belong to the Greater Turkish Empire.

In the second part of our analysis, we will address the following questions:

What successes have past Turkish offensives had in South Kurdistan?

What role do the political parties in South Kurdistan play in the current war?

What is the reaction in Baghdad to the Turkish war of aggression?

What about the international reactions?

And why does this war concern us at all?

IRAQI KURDISTAN
KCK calls on Baghdad to establish a dialogue with Yazidis in Shengal

The KCK Foreign Relations Committee called on Baghdad to establish a dialogue with the Yazidi people and said, "As the Freedom Movement, we would support any constructive democratic process that leads to a solution to the current situation."

ANF
BEHDINAN
Friday, 22 Apr 2022,

In a written statement regarding the Turkish state's invasion attacks and the tension in Shengal, the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Foreign Relations Committee called for the Iraqi state to remove weapons and violence from the dialogue process it will develop with the Yazidi people, stating that discussion should serve as the foundation.

The KCK Foreign Relations Committee statement released on Friday is as follows:

“On April 17, 2022, the fascist Turkish regime launched a new attack in its genocidal war against our people. Stuck in a corner with his past crimes, having his economy hit rock bottom since it was spent against the Kurds and dominated by theft, and society demonstrating its opposition to this fascist regime everywhere, fascist Erdogan attempted to alter the agenda. These efforts, though, were ineffective in extending his time and the fascist dictatorship. As a result, he is trying to expand his lands and destroy our people's achievements by utilizing collaborating groupings and families such as the KDP, trying to leave not a singular focus to oppose on behalf of Kurdistan.

While the fascist regime's attacks to this end continue, the courageous and innovative resistance of the Kurdistan freedom guerrilla frustrates many schemes. Calling the fascist Turkish regime's actions exclusively opposed to the PKK suggests that either nothing is understood from history or that there is a partnership in these schemes. The Turkish state has a long history of anti-Kurdish sentiment.

THEY WANT TO REALIZE THEIR NEO-OTTOMAN DREAMS

The Turkish state views any Kurd resisting in the name of the Kurdistan freedom struggle to be dangerous and will do all in its power to destroy it. Furthermore, the same fascist state is working hard to actualize their Neo-Ottomanist dreams. Designating Mosul and Kirkuk as Turkish territories, it organizes agents and carries out activities. Again, it sees no harm in interfering in Iraq's domestic affairs and engages in a variety of initiatives to make sure that political stability is not maintained. The Turkish state’s role is crucial in Iraq's inability to establish stability. The fascist Turkish state continues to carry out its plan to break up Iraq and occupy the area up to Mosul and Kirkuk with this strategy. The KDP is the plan's most important proponent. The KDP is the most supportive of the invaders against the Kurdistan freedom guerrillas' resistance against the Turkish army.

DIALOGUE WITH YAZIDI PEOPLE IS NECESSARY

The fascist Turkish dictatorship has recently increased its attacks on Shengal and our Yazidi people who have just recently experienced genocidal attacks by ISIS. Thousands of women and children were taken prisoner during the 73rd massacre, and their fate is still unknown. While rebuilding their lives following the defeat of ISIS, our Yazidi people also wanted to develop measures to prevent future genocides. For this goal, they established the autonomous administration model while keeping in mind federalism, which is also the spirit of the Iraqi constitution. This endeavor by the Yazidi people largely irritated the KDP, which had handed over Shengal to ISIS, as well as the Turkish state, which was in charge of ISIS. Once again, the Yazidis tried to develop this process in coordination and dialogue with Iraq.

The media has reported tensions between the Iraqi army and the Yazidi population in Shengal in recent days. When the ISIS attacks began, we as a movement intervened in the 73rd massacre. We defended our Yazidi brothers and sisters against these attacks. Following that, a substantial number of ISIS attacks were defeated in the Shengal region, particularly by the YBŞ-YJŞ and Asayiş which are the defensive forces of Yazidis, with the cooperation and assistance of the Iraqi state. Following this process, the Yazidi people in Shengal established their autonomous administration. This procedure was conducted in order to prevent any possible attacks on the Iraqi peoples via Shengal. As a result, the Yazidi defense force in Shengal is not a problem for Iraq, but rather a solution.

It is understood that a plan is in effect, to bring the Iraqi state and the Yazidis face to face at a time when the Turkish invasion attack on South Kurdistan and Iraq has intensified. The Yazidis are a folk that has been subjected to genocides. Iraq must treat the Yazidis and their political will with greater sensitivity and responsibility.

The forces pointing guns at the Yazidis were ISIS, KDP, and Turkey recently. The Iraqi state, on the other hand, should exclude guns and violence from the dialogue process it will develop with the Yazidi people. Agreements made against the will of the Yazidis, the construction of the Turkish wall, and disregard for the values of the people do not address the problems.

Advancing upon the Yazidi people and their children with military vehicles leads to conflict, not dialogue. Neither the Yazidis nor the Iraqi state should get to that point. Similarly, the Shengal autonomous administration should share its solution initiatives with the Iraqi government and administration, with the goal of resolving the conflict through negotiation. In this regard, we would like to stress that the Freedom Movement would support all forms of constructive democratic methods to solve the problem.

As a movement, we are engaged in a major fight against the colonial Turkish state. This is not simply the Kurds' freedom war, but also the resistance of the region's peoples for freedom and peace. The Turkish state's neo-Ottoman scheme will be confronted by the Kurdistan guerrilla's walls and broken into pieces. As a movement, we will continue to frustrate these schemes and resist for the sake of the region's peoples' freedom, peace, and stability. We call upon both the Iraqi state and society to see the dangers of the Turkish state's and its accomplices' invasion plans and to speak out more loudly against them.”

Iraqi army attacks YBŞ and YJŞ positions in Shengal
The Iraqi attacks on the self-governing Yazidi region of Shengal in South Kurdistan continue to escalate. After the Iraqi military tried to take control of check-points of the Êzidxan Asayiş 

ANF News

Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Self-Govern

 

By: Jessica Ashe, EdD, MBA - Foreign Affairs Premier for The Kingdom of Hawai’i

Sovereign nations have the right to self-rule. The rash of colonialism that involved rule of local places by far away governments is ending, as demonstrated recently by Barbados' new independence, not only condoned by its previous colonial head but celebrated in-person by Prince Charles. The Kingdom of Hawai'i is another example of an indigenous people who have thrown off imperialist hands. In 1993, US President Clinton issued what is commonly known now as 'The Apology Bill', which admitted that US Marines landing on the then sovereign territory of The Kingdom of Hawai'i was an act of war. Consequently, the subsequent annexation, initiated by a group of missionaries whose primary concern was the profits from sugar, was also deemed illegal and hence not valid.

The Kingdom of Hawai'i never actually ceased to exist. Queen Liliuokalani, the ruling monarch at the time, ceded under threat of death to her cabinet until such a time as the illegal overthrow would be rectified. In their local context, a precedent was set for the righteous return of rule to its rightful monarch when Admiral Thomas rescinded the illegal British overthrow of The Kingdom in what is known as The Paulette Affair. When that happened, King Kamehameha coined the phrase that would become that national slogan, Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono,

The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness. Today, The Kingdom of Hawai'i's government operates independently from and without the need for consent from the United States.

King Edmund Keli'i Paki-Silva Jr. was proclaimed by the Council of Regency, Na Kupuna Council O'Hawai'i Nei as Queen Liliuokalani's rightful heir in 2002. He has led a life of righteousness, which confirms this designation. He works to further the causes of his people, like rescuing Pololu Valley from becoming a parking lot. He created the standard in the Indigenous Knowledge curriculum, adopted by schools worldwide. The importance here is that local places should be ruled by local people. Indigenous knowledge is what helps a people and geography to prosper. India cannot be effectively led, or led with honor, by people in England. This has been proven. Each physical place on earth has a unique locale, language, and ways of knowing how to utilize resources efficiently towards the betterment of its people and sustainability of the land.

The point for Kurdistan is that only we Kurds have the local knowledge, "ways of knowing" to lead our people. Kurdistan is currently a 'semi-autonomous' region. However, only we, the Kurds, can appropriately govern our land, just like only a Hawaiian can govern that Kingdom. It could go without saying that it is a mandate to honor basic human rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We Kurds teach our children about other stateless nations and the postcolonial world. We cover their news in our media and cover the issues of the oppressed as our own. For us Kurds, it's part of our belief system to care for and stand with a Kashmiri and Native American, a Balouchi, and a Catalan as much as we stand for Kurdistan. Nations that have been divided, oppressed, massacred, culturally assimilated, othered, and denied statehood should stand together as one to establish an alliance of the wronged and start from there.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kurdistan 24.

Algae a winner in Elon Musk-funded greenhouse gas contest

By MEAD GRUVER

April 22, 2022

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, left, shakes hands with XPRIZE founder and Executive Chairman Peter Diamandis during an XPRIZE presentation event in Los Angeles, May 15, 2019. From algae farming to producing a sort of artificial limestone, ideas for reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere are getting a funding boost from famed entrepreneur Musk. The Tesla electric vehicle and SpaceX rocket company developer is bankrolling a $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition for the most promising ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by grabbing the gas right out of the air. 

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — From algae farming to producing a sort of artificial limestone, ideas for reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere are getting a funding boost from famed entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The Tesla electric vehicle and SpaceX rocket company developer is bankrolling a $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition for the most promising ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by grabbing the gas right out of the air.

The 15 early-phase “milestone round” winners were announced Friday and each will get $1 million, a welcome boost for the teams to carry on with and scale up their work.

“What we’ve said is you haven’t given us a million bucks; what you’ve done is catalyzed investment in this technology,” said Mike Kelland, CEO of Planetary Technologies, a milestone winner that seeks to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide by controlling the rising acidity of seawater.

The milestone winners aren’t necessarily ahead or favored for the $80 million in final prize money that will be awarded in three years. Until Dec. 1, 2023, anyone can still jump in the contest, which was announced a year ago, and potentially get a share of that money.

The final winning team or teams will need to show they can remove 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, show how much it would cost to remove up to 1.1 million tons (1 million metric tons) per year and show a path to removing billions of tons of carbon dioxide per year.

A third party — neither the participants nor XPRIZE — will independently validate the work submitted for the grand prize to be announced on April 20, 2025.

XPRIZE announced $5 million in carbon removal project awards to university student teams last fall. The milestone winners announced Friday propose a variety of ways to remove carbon dioxide through artificial means and by helping nature do much of the work herself.

Planetary Technologies isn’t looking up into the sky but down in the ocean to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada-based company proposes to use antacids produced from the leftovers of metal mining to make the ocean more able to absorb the greenhouse gas.

“If we kind of ignore the ocean — say we’re trying to do this on land, we’re trying to store it in the ground — we’re just not going to make it,” Kelland said. “That’s sort of the opinion of a lot of these scientists working in this field.”

Durham, North Carolina-based 8 Rivers Capital, sees ocean chemistry as a model to replicate. The winning company seeks to trap atmospheric carbon dioxide in calcium carbonate crystals, similar to how the gas dissolved in the ocean helps form seashells and limestone.

Company spokesperson Adam Goff described the process as “poetic” in a way.

“The calcium cycle is how the earth regulates its CO2 over millions of years. We’re sort of speeding up that natural cycle,” Goff said.

Global Algae, based in Santee, California, won with a plan to cultivate algae to help restore rain forests, which capture huge volumes of carbon dioxide. Algae can be a more efficient and more profitable alternative to the cattle ranching and soy and palm oil crops currently on cleared rain forest land, said Mark Hazlebeck, a principal of the family-owned company.

“We’re actually creating more oil and protein while we’re reforesting at the same time,” Hazlebeck said.

The prize announcement comes as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns in ever-starker terms of the threat of rising global temperatures, including worsening heat, fires, storms and droughts.

“We still need more — more and deeper emissions cuts, and more reliable, validated carbon removal solutions. That’s why we launched this prize,” said Marcius Extavour, chief scientist and vice president of climate and environment at XPRIZE.

XPRIZE is a technology promotion organization known in part for a contest that encouraged development of a privately funded, reusable spacecraft in 2004. Last year, two teams that showed they could profitably trap carbon dioxide from smokestacks in concrete split a $15 million XPRIZE award.

“Even if we stopped CO2 production, that’s probably still not enough,” XPRIZE founder and executive chairman Peter Diamandis said in a 2021 chat with Musk posted on the XPRIZE website. “We do need mechanisms for extraction of CO2 from the atmosphere and the oceans that don’t exist right now.”

The risk of climate disaster could become “dire” if the trend of higher greenhouse gas concentrations continues alongside human population growth and industrialization, Musk replied.

“It’s probably an unwise experiment to run,” Musk said. “Right now, we’ve only got one planet. Even if 0.1% chance of disaster, why run that risk? It’s crazy.”

___

Follow Mead Gruver on Twitter at https://twitter.com/meadgruver.

Pro-gun group grows into potent political force in Oklahoma


Don Spencer, left, the president of the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association, speaks to state Sen. Kevin Matthews after a meeting at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Oklahoma City. The pro-firearms association was little-known a decade ago but has grown into a formidable political player at the state Capitol. 

(AP Photo by Sean Murphy_File)


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Wayne Shaw seemed to have all the conservative credentials needed to win reelection to his state Senate seat in Oklahoma two years ago. The mild-mannered pastor with deep ties to the community had a solidly conservative voting record during his eight years in office.

But when Shaw, as chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, declined to hear a bill to allow people to carry guns into bars, he drew the ire of an unemployed truck driver who was passionate about gun rights.

The angry gun advocate, Don Spencer, belonged to a local pro-firearms group. In short order, he and his friends recruited a Republican challenger for Shaw, held a fundraiser in his district and helped defeat the incumbent in the primary.

“I’m not opposed to guns,” said Shaw, who was stunned by the development. “But that (guns in bars) is a good way of throwing gasoline on a fire.

Spencer’s feat is an example of a phenomenon in red states where the Republican Party is moving farther and farther to the right: The most potent political forces aren’t always the long-established organizations that have groomed candidates and advanced legislation for decades. In the current climate, little-known outsiders, even without pedigree or money, can become powerbrokers quickly if connected to incendiary issues like guns or abortion. And almost any officeholder can become vulnerable.

Few at the Oklahoma State Capitol had even heard of Spencer when he started advocating for pro-gun laws, but now he’s a formidable presence in the building. The 62-year-old from Meridian, a small town about 40 miles from Oklahoma City, is warmly welcomed by senior Republicans, and he often sets up camp in legislators’ offices and helps draft legislation.

At bill signing ceremonies, Spencer can often be seen flashing a smile among the lawmakers flanking the governor. Political hopefuls seek him out, and he gives them a seven-page questionnaire to fill out to determine whether they might receive an endorsement.

In the five years since Spencer took over the group, the Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association has grown from a handful of chapters to more than 50, set up its own political action committee and begun branching out into other right-wing causes, like stopping vaccine mandates and limiting discussions of race in schools.

Spencer sees the opportunities as boundless. “People in this state are concerned about their rights, and they realize now it’s more important what’s going on in their backyard than what those crazies are doing in Washington, D.C.,” Spencer said in an interview.




The push to expand gun rights comes amid a surge in gun violence in communities across the country, including several mass shootings in recent weeks. Between 2019 and 2020, the last year for which federal data is available, shooting deaths increased 35%. Yet calls for tougher firearms limits have been blocked by GOP opposition, with leaders instead citing an even greater need for citizens to protect themselves.

Fear that government will threaten conservative values is running strong in red states right now, said Michael Crespin, a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma who is familiar with the OK2A group.

“There’s this whole idea that Democrats are going to come and take their guns away,” Crespin said. “That’s not happening,” but “that fear is a good motivator for politics.”

OK2A racked up its broadest achievement in 2018 when lawmakers passed constitutional carry legislation which allows adults to openly carry firearms in public without a license or training. The bill had previously been vetoed by a Republican governor, Mary Fallin, but it was the first one signed into law by new Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.

This year the group is pushing to allow people to carry guns on college campuses, at sporting events and at county and state fairs, despite opposition from pro-business groups like chambers of commerce.

While Republican politics had been moving rightward already, the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the role of conservative interest groups, buoyed by resistance to health restrictions. Even meetings in thinly populated rural counties can draw more than 50 people, with hundreds more tuned into livestreams online.

Fundraising is rising sharply. OK2A raised nearly $40,000 in 2019, $83,000 in 2020 and more than $122,000 last year, according to state campaign finance data. Much of the money is spent on online ads and for booths at gun shows. Records show Spencer has started drawing a salary, about $30,000 each of the last two years.

“They do have influence out there, especially in Republican primaries,” said Gary Jones, former chair of the Oklahoma Republican Party. “Where they have their greatest success is low-turnout races where they can mobilize and turn out a bigger percentage of their supporters.”

Tensions sometimes flare between OK2A and the party’s established leaders. When the leader of the Senate expressed concerns last year over a bill designed to protect Oklahoma from “federal overreach,” Spencer called for him to step down and quickly summoned almost 1,000 people to the Capitol to protest.

Earlier this year, a Senate Republican, Lonnie Paxton, complained that Spencer went too far when he declared at a rally, “We win at the ballot box so we don’t have to go to the ammo box.”

Noting the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing was fueled by anti-government rhetoric, Paxton said the remark “crossed every conceivable line of decency.”

Spencer brushed off the complaint, saying it only helped his fundraising.

Republican candidates and officeholders regularly ask to speak to the group’s chapter meetings, with speeches typically including a healthy dose of fiery anti-government rhetoric.

At a recent meeting at an Oklahoma City firearms store, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Tulsa preacher Jackson Lahmeyer, derided Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, as a “mass murderer.” Another Republican candidate offered raffle entries starting at $25 for four custom-built AR-15s and a .50-caliber rifle.

At the Capitol, members ask Spencer about new bills to introduce.

“On a firearms issue, he’d be the first stop to go to,” said Rep. Eric Roberts, a Republican from Oklahoma City.

A leading Democrat, Rep. Emily Virgin, said she’s concerned the group’s power is becoming dangerous.

“This really has just turned into a far-right extremist organization, and the fact that so many Republicans in the House and Senate seem to take their cues from that organization is what is most concerning,” she said.

But Winona Heltzel, a group member from the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, said she joined because she thinks the group can help prevent gun confiscation.

“I know everybody talks about the government, but I’m worried about criminals,” Heltzel said.

___

Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy

Russia DM: 396 Crew Members Evacuated From Moskva Cruiser


At least 396 Crew Members Evacuated From the shipwreck of Moskva Cruiser. Apr. 22. 2022. 

| Photo: Twitter/@EuropeNews_b

Published 22 April 2022 (12 hours 51 minutes ago)

On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a total of 396 sailors were evacuated from the Moskva cruiser.

Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday that one crew member died from the lost Moskva cruiser, and there are 27 still missing in action. According to the announcement, at least 396 sailors were evacuated.

"On April 13, the Moskva missile cruiser sustained serious damage due to detonation of ammunition caused by a fire. Attempts to extinguish the fire were fruitless. During the damage control, one serviceman died, and 27 more went missing in actions," said the Ministry.

The Ministry offered its support to the relatives and close ones of the dead and missing crew members. It said that "the remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruiser to nearby Black Sea Fleet ships and delivered to Sevastopol." On Friday, after the funeral service to the ensign who died on the cruiser, which was celebrated in Sevastopol, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev posted on his Telegram channel that the ensign had died but was capable of saving hundreds of his fellow servicemen.

"Today, we paid our last respects to Ivan Leonidovich Vakhrushev. […] He died as a hero. He led his team; he evacuated the sailors after the fire started, then went back, shut down the boiler, but did not have enough time to save himself. He performed an act of valor and save the lives of hundreds of his fellow servicemen," said Governor Razvozhayev. The Ministry of Defense also said on the matter: "Russian Ministry of Defense is providing all necessary support and aid to the relatives and close ones of the dead and the missing in action."

The Russian MoD said that the crew members of the lost Moskva cruiser said of their disposition to continue serving on Russia's Black Sea Fleet ships. "Following a discussion between the Black Sea Fleet command with Moskva cruiser crew members, the absolute majority of officers, ensigns, and volunteer service sailors expressed their desire to continue service on Black Sea Fleet ships," said the Ministry.

"Conscript sailors will be dismissed in the reserve after their service term is over," the Ministry said, adding that some servicemen requested to be transferred to other garrisons; to continue serving on ships of different fleets.

As Ukraine War Disrupts Steel Imports, Will U.S. Pivot to Green Future & Break Free from Dirty Steel?

STORY  APRIL 22, 2022

GUESTS
Justin Mikulka
research fellow at New Consensus.
Zack Exleyz
co-founder of New Consensus, author and former senior adviser to Bernie Sanders.

LINKS
Zack Exley on Twitter
Justin Mikulka on Twitter

On Earth Day, we look at how the war in Ukraine gives the United States a new chance to break free of emissions-heavy steel production. Russia and Ukraine supplied over 60% of the pig iron the U.S. imported last year to make steel, some of it produced at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in Mariupol where thousands of civilians and soldiers are now blockaded. We speak to Justin Mikulka and Zack Exley, with New Consensus, a think tank working on detailed plans, such as the Green New Deal, for governments to transition to clean energy to address the climate crisis and renew their economy. They argue in a new report for The Intercept that the U.S. must transition to using green hydrogen to produce sponge iron to replace dirty pig iron. As corporate profits have gone up, “there isn’t any real incentive for the U.S. steel industry to change their business model, and that’s why we argue that we need government policies,” says Mikulka. “We’ve got a real opportunity here to start building clean industries that can make the stuff that we need without changing the composition of the atmosphere,” says Exley, one of the leaders of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and co-founder of Justice Democrats.

Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Today is Earth Day. Intense fighting in Ukraine’s Donbas region has led to urgent humanitarian concerns in the southeastern city of Mariupol. While Russia has claimed it’s seized control of the city, over a thousand Ukrainian troops and civilians remain trapped inside the sprawling Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant.

Several attempts to create humanitarian evacuation corridors have failed. The capture of Mariupol would give Russia a land corridor to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. The steel mill is Mariupol’s last line of defense, and among its defenders are members of the Azov Battalion, that includes far-right soldiers. It’s faced the heaviest shelling and is cut off from electricity, water and food. In a video message, Ukrainian marine commander Serhiy Volyna pleaded for help.

MAJ. SERHIY VOLYNA: [translated] We are only defending one object, the Azovstal plant, where, in addition to military personnel, there are also civilians who have fallen victim to this war. We appeal and plead to all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the procedure of ‘extraction’ and take us to the territory of a third-party state.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as Ukrainian officials say as many as 9,000 people may be buried in a mass grave in a village outside Mariupol.

On Thursday, President Biden met with the Ukrainian prime minister and was asked at a news conference about Putin’s claim Russian forces are now in control of the port city.


PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: One thing for sure we know about Mariupol: He should allow humanitarian corridors to let people on that steel mill and other places that are buried under rubble to get out. To get out. That’s what any — any — any head of state would do in such a circumstance.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we begin today’s Earth Day special with the authors of a new piece in The Intercept headlined “Russia-Ukraine War Is Another Reason to Break Free of Dirty Steel, but U.S. Companies Still Chase Profits Over Green Future,” unquote. The steel industry accounts for 8% of carbon dioxide emissions and uses about 15% of the world’s coal.

Today we’re joined by Justin Mikulka, research fellow at New Consensus, and Zack Exley, who’s the think tank’s founder and executive director. They work on detailed plans, such as the Green New Deal, for governments to transition to clean energy. Zack was a leader of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and is co-founder of Justice Democrats. Justin is a longtime energy reporter.

We welcome you both to Democracy Now!

ZACK EXLEY: Thanks for having us.

AMY GOODMAN: We’ve been reporting on the horror of what’s been taking place in Mariupol. It’s not clear how many people have died there. It’s believed somewhere over 10,000. Some are putting the numbers at over 20,000. But today on Earth Day, we’re going to look at the site of where 1,000 or 2,000 — several thousand people, both Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, are holed up: the steel plant. But we’re going to look at the actual — well, what is produced there. And, Justin Mikulka, we’re going to begin with you. Talk about the significance of this particular plant, one of the largest in Europe, and what it means overall, in the context of Earth Day, in the context of sustainability.

We’re just trying to hear Justin. Well, Justin, can you hear me? Justin?

JUSTIN MIKULKA: Can you hear me now?

AMY GOODMAN: OK. Why don’t we go — Justin, can you hear me now?

JUSTIN MIKULKA: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: OK, great.

JUSTIN MIKULKA: Sorry about that, Amy. Yeah, I believe this steel plant is a traditional one of the — you know, this is the type of facility that has made most of the steel that has built the world. And what we wrote about in our article also is that the U.S. has been relying on Ukraine and Russia for imports of the building block for the steel process, which is called pig iron. And we had already been looking at the pig iron issue because in our efforts to clean up the steel industry, the global steel industry, which we need to do — as you mentioned, it creates 8% of our emissions — pig iron, the production of pig iron, which is actually the process of taking iron ore and making it into a raw metal that is then the feedstock for making all finished steel products, that’s where the emissions — that’s where the majority of emissions are, and that’s because coal is used in that process. The majority of it is done with coal. And so, this plant is — and the Ukraine industry is one of the dirtiest, highest-emissions steel-producing industries in the country — or, in the world.

And so, when we think about reducing emissions, the U.S. industry actually is a leader in new types of production of steel that are lower in emissions. But those steel — that process, it’s called the electric-arc furnace, requires the pig iron. And we’ve been importing that dirty pig iron, the high-emissions stuff, from Russia and Ukraine. So, what we’ve been doing, while we can claim in the U.S. that, yes, we are actually producing fewer emissions than other steel producers, we’re basically outsourcing our emissions. And so, what we need to do, in a global effort but in the U.S., as well, is clean up the production of pig iron.

And we’ve been told, you know, steel has been one of the industries that’s been referred to as hard to abate. But that’s no longer true, because there now is technology using green hydrogen, which is hydrogen that’s made using renewable energy made from water. You can use that to replace the coal in the process and create something called sponge iron, which is essentially the equivalent of pig iron. So, we have the technology to do this, to clean up the steel industry, but what we’ve been doing here in the U.S. is relying on steel mills like the ones in Ukraine to produce our pig iron for us that we’ve been importing. So, the industry in itself needs to address emissions, but the U.S. industry has been sidestepping it and is not leading in any way on producing green steel with green hydrogen.

AMY GOODMAN: The CEO of a leading U.S. steel company, Cleveland-Cliffs, has said his company’s coal-fueled blast furnaces are, quote, “here to stay.” Lourenco Goncalves spoke to CNBC last month. This is what he said.


LOURENCO GONCALVES: My competition needs pig iron, but they don’t produce pig iron. They need to import pig iron. And a lot of this pig iron comes from, guess what: from Russia and from Ukraine. Ukraine, unfortunately, is being beaten down, and that’s a very sad situation. Russia is the perpetrator, should not be allowed to sell it in the United States. So, we are in a good shape, because we are self-sufficient, made in U.S.A.

AMY GOODMAN: Justin Mikulka, can you talk about the significance of what he’s saying? You write about this company in the article.

JUSTIN MIKULKA: Yeah. So, what he’s — you know, he’s making an argument that CEOs like to make, that they’re doing it the right way, and they want to point the finger elsewhere. But the fact is that that company is operating some of the remaining coal-fired blast furnaces which are required to make pig iron. So, his argument is that his pig iron, which is also — some of it is made with natural gas, as well, which is a whole different issue with methane emissions. But his argument is that some of his competitors in the U.S. have been buying Ukraine and Russian pig iron, which is true, but he’s also at the same time saying, “I’m not in any way going to stop using coal to produce pig iron here in the U.S.”

And that’s why, what we talk about in an article, other countries around the world — Germany, India, Canada — the governments are taking an active role in working with companies, like Cleveland-Cliffs in the U.S., for an example, and directly funding the replacement of these blast furnaces and directly funding projects to produce the renewable energy and green hydrogen to make green steel, to eliminate the majority of emissions from steel production.

So, what we’re seeing in the U.S. is, again, the industry itself is making exceptional profits right now. What’s happening, because of the shortage of pig iron that’s going on in the world right now, steel prices have gone way up. Pig iron prices have gone way up. And like with the oil and gas industry and a lot of other industries right now with inflation, that means corporate profits have gone up. And that’s getting passed on to the consumers. So there isn’t any real incentive for the U.S. steel industry to change their business model.

And that’s why we argue that we need government policies, we need industrial policies that address this, because we have to clean up the U.S. steel industry. And what we really need to be doing is, instead of importing dirty steel, we need to be exporting green steel to the world, because we’re going to need a lot of steel to build out the wind turbines, the solar farms for the energy transition. Steel is a wonderful material. It’s infinitely recyclable. We do a great job of recycling it in the U.S. But there’s nothing that’s going to replace it anytime soon, so we need to clean up the process of making steel.

AMY GOODMAN: Zack Exley, you’re one of the architects of the Green New Deal. You report that steel is essential for the development of renewable energy systems, like wind turbines, which are largely made from steel. Can you talk about this and how this example fits into the broader clean energy transition outlined in the GND, in the Green New Deal?

ZACK EXLEY: Yeah. Thank you so much for having us.

I mean, we already knew that the world economy was destroying the planet, but now we’re seeing also how fragile it is. And especially the U.S. economy is incredibly fragile, because both parties in this country have followed policies out of this commitment to a very esoteric, ideological kind of purism, that they believed that we should actually shut down our ability to make things. They decided that — leaders in both parties decided that, you know, Americans should just be doing nice, clean jobs at computers and not dirty jobs like working in steel mills. So they actually followed policies to shut down our ability to make our means of making a living. And the idea was that people in countries like China and Ukraine would make all the stuff that we needed.

So, now we’re seeing that when things aren’t going exactly the way everybody expected at the end of history, that it suddenly becomes very difficult for us to just get the basic products that we need. So, the silver lining in this development, in this realization, is that, you know, people in both parties now are — leaders in both parties, some of them, are starting to realize that we actually need to rebuild our ability to make stuff and make our own living. And because of what we need to do in the world economy and in the U.S. economy to stop global warming and stop greenhouse gas emissions, we’ve got a real opportunity here to start building clean industries that can make the stuff that we need without changing the composition of the atmosphere and without polluting the oceans and everything else that’s going on.

So, what we’re recommending, you know, a core tenet, a core piece of the Green New Deal and what we’re working on at New Consensus right now is trying to talk about: How do we rebuild institutions in this country that will allow us, as a nation, to build the industries that we need, the clean industries that we need? One of those institutions is financing. Right? Most industrialized countries in the world that have been successful at creating prosperity and giving a good means of making a living to most of their people, they have some system of public financing, so that when it doesn’t make economic sense for corporations to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build a new industry that isn’t going to generate massive profits anytime soon, there needs to be a public — there needs to be a public funding system to just make that happen. And so, most countries have that. Most industrialized, prosperous countries have that. The United States does not have it.

Our strange pattern of economic development is that, usually around a big war, whether it was the Civil War or World War II, we sort of create these institutions temporarily and build a whole bunch of industries, and then shut it all down right after the crisis. So, we’re entering into a new period of crisis here with global pandemics, with global warming, and now with wars — and, you know, hopefully not another world war, but already something a little bit like it. And so, what we’re arguing is that we need some permanent institutions to allow us to build the industries that we need, the clean industries that we need, and to really also build them at the scale where the United States can contribute to a global transition. And we need to do that as fast as possible.

AMY GOODMAN: Zack, this comes as the Biden administration announced a new policy this week that requires projects funded by the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to source their construction material with U.S. steel. Will this be harder because of the pandemic and war-related supply chain issues? You say it would be cheaper if made in the U.S. with green energy. You write, “In Germany, the government is directly funding the replacement of pig iron-producing coal-fired blast furnaces with green hydrogen technology to produce sponge iron.” What can Biden do?

ZACK EXLEY: I mean, it’s difficult, because, unfortunately, the ideas around, like, how would we go about building a new clean steel industry are just starting to get into some of the circles, of the Democratic policy circles and the Republican policy circles. So, I think the thing that Biden should really do right now is get on TV and lead, you know, as a president, and say, “Look, we’ve made horrible mistakes over the past several decades. My party and the other party both did this. We shut down America’s means of making our own living and making things that we need, like steel. And so we’ve got to rebuild it. And we know that we’ve got to rebuild a steel industry that is clean, that is not spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heating up the planet. And here’s my plan to do that.”

And there are simple mechanisms that Biden could use. For example, we already have a big bank in the government. It would just — it’s in the Treasury. It’s called the Federal Financing Bank. It would just take a small tweak to change that into a bank that could not only fund the agencies of the federal government, but that could also fund something like investment in a new steel industry. We’ve got proposals for that plan on our website at NewConsensus.com. That’s the kind of thing that Biden could lead on and really get Americans into the mindset of “We’ve got to learn how to do stuff again here, and we’ve got an opportunity and a responsibility to do stuff in a way that is not destroying the planet and that gives the United States more security and gives the whole world more security.”

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you both for being with us, Zack Exley, executive director of New Consensus, think tank working on detailed plans, such as the Green New Deal, for governments to transition to clean energy to address the climate crisis and renew their economy, and also Justin Mikulka, a research fellow at New Consensus, has reported on the energy industry for years. Zack also was one of the leaders of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Oh, I do have to ask you something, Zack. I know we’re ending, but if we haven’t lost you yet, is Bernie Sanders going to run for president yet? Do you have any — know anything that we don’t?

ZACK EXLEY: I have no idea, but, of course, I hope so. You know, I hope we get a bunch of people running and providing some alternatives and leading on some of these messages that we just talked about. I think we need that.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, thanks again, again, Zack Exley and Justin Mikulka. We will link to your article at democracynow.org. It’s called “Russia-Ukraine War Is Another Reason to Break Free of Dirty Steel, but U.S. Companies Still Chase Profits Over Green Future.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. 

Indigenous Communities Worldwide Are Rising Up Against Big Coal and Big Oil


BY Amy Goodman, 

Democracy Now!

April 22, 2022



We continue our Earth Day special by looking at how Indigenous peoples are protecting the Earth. We follow the journey of Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Navajo filmmaker whose new film Powerlands shows how corporations like Peabody, the world’s largest private coal company, have devastated her homeland. She also connects with Indigenous communities in Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Standing Rock facing the same struggle. “The most important thing about the film to know is that it’s for Indigenous people, by Indigenous people … and it’s about showing this global scale,” says Manybeads Tso in an extended interview that features clips from her travels to several continents. Powerlands recently won the award for Best Feature at the 2022 American Documentary and Animation Film Festival.

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we continue our Earth Day special by looking at how Indigenous people are protecting the Earth, as we follow the journey of Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Navajo filmmaker whose new film shows how corporations like Peabody, the world’s largest private coal company, have devastated her homeland. She also connects with Indigenous communities in Colombia, in the Philippines, in Mexico and at standing Rock in North Dakota facing the same types of struggles. This is the introduction to Powerlands.


IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: My name is Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso. And this is Dinétah, also known as the Navajo Nation. My family can trace our history to 85 generations with this land. I began working on this film to document our community’s struggle against resource colonization. Along the way, I found that we are not alone. This is a story of Indigenous people protecting and rebuilding.

AMY GOODMAN: Before we speak with Ivey Camille, this is another clip from Powerlands that features some of the Navajo elders and young land and water defenders in the film.


LOUISE GOY: [translated] They want the land from me. They want to take away my livelihood, the sheep and horses. These are the ways they try to intimidate us. If a horse roams close to the house, they say we have to pay a fee.

LAND DEFENDER: For a long time, people were terrorized with livestock impoundments, having their livestock being forcibly taken away. And, of course, that’s traumatic for people, you know?

SPIKE MANNING: They’ve done things where they’ve brought big trailers out here and have literally forced people into their homes, you know, with, like, guns. But for someone to point guns at elders and tell them to back up, and for them to just come in here and take what’s theirs, you know, it’s just not right. And, you know, it really hurts that people do that, you know?

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, whose new film Powerlands just won the award for Best Feature at the 2022 American Documentary and Animation Film Festival. She’s joining us from Flagstaff, Arizona, where there’s a massive wildfire burning very close to where she lives.

Ivey Camille, welcome to Democracy Now! Congratulations on your film. But before we talk about the film, can you talk about this fire, that’s exploded right now in size, and if it threatens you and your community?

IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Yeah. So, the fire started, I believe, Tuesday. We got the alert. It was really rapid, within like 15 minutes. There were like four — three or four evacuation notices that came out, just like literally in rapid fire. You would, like, call somebody to check, and then there’d be another street that was being evacuated because of the massive winds that were happening.

The firefighters are doing incredible to try to keep, you know, as many homes safe as possible, but there’s definitely been loss of homes and loss of property and loss of — just a lot of loss. You know, you hear stories about families who had a 1-year-old, and all they could grab on their way out the door was the child, you know, and so they’ve lost everything.

But this community really is incredible and helping everybody get together and stand together in it. On Tuesday, you know, I was out trying to help clear brush from places, especially with elders who had a hard time getting underneath their porches. But yeah, it’s pretty close. It’s moved a little bit further at the moment. But for about two days the sky was just full of smoke.

AMY GOODMAN: I mean, your film is all about sustainability. And, in fact, this fire that’s exploded to something like 20,000 acres, fanned by high winds and fueled by the dry grass that you’re dealing with — Arizona and the other western states are suffering an unprecedented megadrought brought on by the climate emergency.

IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Yeah, and the desertification that’s happened around here definitely can be tied directly into Peabody coal and BHP. They were pulling thousands and thousands of gallons of water out every day and, in doing so, made it so that the water resources down below are very depleted, which means that all the plant life is dying quickly, so there’s a lot of brush for it to move. And then the winds, as I’ve heard from recent people, is just — they’re going to keep staying this way. We’re going to have high winds in this area due to climate change.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to go back to another clip of your award-winning film, Powerlands, on the resistance of Diné, of Navajo youth.


IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Younger generations are returning to Dinétah, building unity and resistance.

KIM SMITH: This lake, it’s called Morgan Lake. It was built to cool down the power plant, which is one of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the country. They’ve extracted uranium. They extract oil and gas by fracking. They extract coal. All around, there is this resource colonization, this resource extraction.

MAKAI LEWIS: An average person in Phoenix uses about 200 gallons per day, as far as domestic use. And a person in Big Mountain, they use about 12 gallons a day. You know, corporations and dirty politicians, they’re all about money. You know, they want money, money, money, money. I’d like for these guys to have them try to eat money, you know, and see what happens to them; have them drink oil or drink water that’s contaminated with oil, you know? I don’t think they’re going to last.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Ivey Camille, you deal with coal here. Talk more about the largest private coal company in the world, that people, particularly Native peoples, in Arizona are dealing with — Peabody — and the whole issue of how it has affected your livelihoods, your lives.

IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Yeah, well, I was born into the resistance out of Black Mesa. The matriarch of my family, May Tso [phon.], passed away in 2021 due to COVID. And, you know, we saw that throughout the rez. But so, I’ve grown up having it impact in my entire life. I grew up knowing about HPL versus NPL and what that meant, and what it meant to carry my name and carry that forward into the world, and how you need to hold yourself as an Indigenous woman, and as well as, you know, I was taught, being raised, that we are shepherds, that we do not own the Earth. We belong to the Earth. And so, in that sense, we have to make it better and continue doing so. And one of the ways to do that currently is to help stop climate change and to help stop this massive extraction of these very precious resources.

AMY GOODMAN: You know, before we move on to the global picture, I wanted to ask you about an issue you refer to in the film — you don’t focus on it, but it’s certainly one I’m sure you know. Earlier this week, Marketplace published an article titled “A ban on Russian uranium could impact tribal communities in the Southwest.” The article reports, “Some U.S. lawmakers, unhappy with American nuclear power plants’ reliance on imported Russian uranium, are pushing for a ban on those purchases. About 16% of the uranium that fuels the electricity-generating facilities comes from Russia, and an additional 30% is imported from Russia’s partner nations Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. If the ban comes to pass, the U.S. uranium industry would have an opportunity to ramp up domestic mining. But many Indigenous communities are still reeling from the impact of the last U.S. uranium boom. On Navajo lands, for instance, there are more than 500 abandoned mines, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.” So, that was a report from Marketplace. But the residue of the impact that uranium mining has had on Indigenous communities, particularly the Navajo, the Diné, particularly the Hopi, in Arizona?

IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Yeah. I mean, I grew up knowing where the open pits — where they’re just filled in with concrete. That’s the only protection against them. The miners — the old miners would actually be given blocks, that weren’t usable blocks but would still have radiation and uranium in them, and they would build their houses with it, so it would infect, you know, their wives, their children and generations on. So, we’re still dealing with those. And all it is to stop those buildings is just a fence. And I’ve grown up seeing it. You know, we get taught knowing not to drink certain water sources because they are contaminated with uranium.

And a lot of people don’t have any options. You look at places like Cameron, where it has some of the highest radiation in the entire world, and it’s like everyday people are living there and doing their things. And it’s right off of 89, which right now is affected by the fire right. But there are tourists and people going through every single day, so it’s not just affecting, you know, the Diné Nation. Like, it’s affecting everybody who’s passing through it. Any truck drivers, tourists, whatever, you’re unwittingly and unknowingly being contaminated by these open pits and leftover radiation that we are still attempting to clean up and deal with.

AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, these uranium tailings, highly carcinogenic. The issue of cancer in the Navajo and Indigenous communities in the Southwest, Ivey Camille?

IVEY CAMILLE MANYBEADS TSO: Yeah, we’re seeing a huge spike within cancer rates. There’s issues with pregnancy. There’s issues — there’s so much that you can see. It’s really — just without going into statistics, just looking around, you’re seeing people get cancer who it doesn’t normally pop up in our family bloodlines. You’re seeing people losing certain, like, mental faculties quickly, like way faster than they should be, because of this radiation. You can see the effects all over the rez, and then even in outspreading, outlying areas, because they’re also being contaminated. It’s not just like contained in a city.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we want to continue on the theme of your film Powerlands after this break. We’re talking to Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Navajo filmmaker. Her film, Powerlands, just won the award for Best Feature at the 2022 American Documentary and Animation Film Festival. Stay with us.


Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on more than 1,100 public television and radio stations worldwide. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“It’s Not a Drought, It’s Looting”: Water Rights Activists Organize in Mexico

The caravan began in Puebla, where people marched past a Bonafont (Danone) water bottling plant and said their water is not for sale.

BY Tamara Pearson, 

Truthout

April 21, 2022

Mexico is heading into the worst months of its dry season. Fifteen of 32 states are experiencing extremely high stress on water resources, as use surpasses the amount available.

Water rights activists use the term “Day Zero” for the date when a region will lack sufficient water to meet basic needs. Much of Mexico is close to this point, with Monterrey and Nuevo Leon only having two months of water reserves, and Mexico City two years. For comparison’s sake, England has been described as being in the “jaws of death” because its Day Zero is 25 years away.

Activists with the Indigenous Caravan for Water and Life argue that it is multinational corporations, often with governmental support, that are responsible for causing climate change, environmental damage and water shortages — rather than the regular dry season

“It’s not a drought, it’s looting” has been one of the main chants of the month-long caravan which kicked off in Puebla on March 22, and will run until April 24.

The caravan, one of the biggest demonstrations in recent years of Indigenous people’s defense of the environment, will cover nine states and visit Indigenous communities across Mexico each day for 34 days. These communities are standing up for their environmental rights and autonomy. Most are confronting megaprojects, where manufacturing, mining, extractive and commercial companies — often from the U.S. or Europe – have built massive amounts of infrastructure, such as hydroelectric plants and gas pipelines, to plunder the communities of their water and energy resources.

In Puebla state alone, hundreds of corporations have licenses to build or maintain such infrastructure, which many local residents refer to as “death projects” because they threaten the existence of nearby communities. The hydroelectric plants that are built to provide mines with energy deprive nearby farmers of water. There are fracking zones and gas pipelines, and most supportive infrastructure is also privately owned, with corporate interests at heart and no community consultation. Areas with the highest concentration of such projects, such as Serdán and northern Puebla state, also have the highest levels of organized crime.

Mexico has the highest amount of carbon emissions from electricity of any country in Latin America. In Cuautlancingo, Puebla, for example, where Volkswagen and the industrial park, Finsa, is located, at least 80 percent of electricity use is industrial. Companies like Volkswagen, Ternium, Heineken and Dr. Pepper are also among the main users of water in Puebla state.

Indigenous people are participating in a month-long caravan, traveling around the country and marching and meeting in multiple towns and cities a day, in order to denounce environmental destruction by transnationals.

TAMARA PEARSON

Representative of the National Indigenous Council, Marichuy.

TAMARA PEARSON

A meeting of local communities and the caravan in Ahuacatlán on March 26.

TAMARA PEARSON



These mega projects disproportionately affect Indigenous people, said María de Jesús Patricio, widely known as Marichuy, who is a spokesperson for the National Indigenous Council (CNI) and the first female Indigenous presidential hopeful in the country.

From the way Indigenous people farm, to the deterioration of their lands, to the stealing and contamination of their water, the mega projects affect “what they eat, and therefore their health. They are modifying the environment, polluting the … rivers, and modifying farming cycles. And they cause internal divisions in the communities, by winning over some members with donations and telling them that the mega projects will bring employment,” Marichuy told Truthout from a bus during the caravan.Manufacturing, mining, extractive and commercial companies — often from the U.S. or Europe – have built massive amounts of infrastructure to plunder the communities of their water and energy resources.

Mega projects also often involve displacing entire Indigenous communities, and the loss of important natural, cultural or religious sites. Across Mexico, some 4,200 dam construction projects have forced 185,000 people, mostly poor or original peoples, to leave their homes.

The violence against the land is reflected in the violence against people defending it. Last year, 25 such activists were murdered, with 238 total violent attacks recorded — making it the most violent year since 2014, when the Mexican Center for Environmental Rights (CEMDA) began keeping a tally.
Uniting Isolated Struggles

The caravan around Mexico is showing people that “our problems are similar … communities are seeking ways to walk together and denounce all the different types of plundering,” Marichuy said.

For the launch, the caravan held a press conference and marched outside Bonafont, a water bottling plant that is owned by Danone. Local Nahua peoples had taken over the plant last year, but were evicted by the military in February.

The bottling plant is now guarded by security forces in full battle gear, with a wall of 20-liter water bottles and two steel fences to prevent Indigenous locals from returning. The group’s march past the plant was brief. Otomis, who had joined the caravan from Mexico City, shouted, “Water is not for sale. No more armed forces in our towns.”

The next day, the caravan traveled to San Miguel Xoxtla, a nearby region that European steel company Ternium is turning to dust.

“The small farmers in the area denounced the pollution of air, land and water by the company. Its toxic waste and ashes are spewed out over the land. The wind hits you in the face and it smells very bad. The company consumes millions of liters of water — we don’t know how much exactly because there’s no transparency,” Armando Gomez, an Otomi member of the caravan, told Truthout. He said they also visited other towns and struggles nearby, and described how his clothing and shoes were full of dust because the area, which was previously fertile land, is so dry now.

Ternium’s excessive use of water is leaving locals without, and the runoff from its manufacturing processes is polluting a canal and one of the three main wells in Xoxtla that supplies water to people’s homes. The canal also passes through locals’ corn, bean and zucchini farms, contaminating their crops. Residents have denounced an increase in cancer cases and deaths since Ternium (then Hylsa) began operating. Last year, for the first time during the rainy season, the nearby Prieto River was completely dry, thanks to water use by Ternium.

After a march in Puebla city to protest outside the state parliament, as well as visits to other communities in the state, such as San Isidro Huilotepec, where locals are trying to stop a gas pipeline, the caravan headed to Ahuacatlan in the Sierra Norte mountains on March 27.

There, Totonaco and Nahua people, along with other Mexicans, celebrated what they called “partial victories.” They have managed to stop a mega project which involved building a hydroelectric dam for a Walmart, Suburbia, and other shops that would have left them without water for their crops. Communities in the region have also been organizing for years to shut down open-pit gold mines owned by Canadian company, Almaden Minerals, and another which is part of the Espejeras project. The mines have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and contaminated domestic water with cyanide used to separate gold from other minerals. Fifty towns also face water shortages due to hydroelectric dams redirecting water to the gold mines.In Mexico City, mining, food, entertainment, and other companies consume 850 times more water than households on average, and are a major contributor to water shortages.

At the event, activists read out a statement, affirming, “In February and March, after seven years (of resistance), the courts canceled five mining concessions in Ixtacamaxtitlán, Cuetzalan, Tlatlauquitepec and Yaonáhuac.”

A few days later, while in Chilapa, Guerrero, the caravan denounced the organized criminal group, Los Ardillos, for deploying 50 vans and 20 motorcycles in the path of the Indigenous activists. Media and human rights groups were on high alert, and the caravan was on guard all night. Community police accompanied the caravan until it arrived in Mexico City to continue its journey.

Activities as part of the caravan’s visit to Ahuacatlán on March 26.

TAMARA PEARSON

The Indigenous-occupied, former INPI building.

TAMARA PEARSON

NOT BOBA FETT

Security forces guard the entrance to the plant that had been run by Indigenous people, as they march past on March 22.

TAMARA PEARSON

There, the caravan held a public meeting in the House of the People and Indigenous Communities — a five-story building formally used by the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI), a federal agency. On October 12, 2020, Otomí people in Mexico City took over the building, and have been running it ever since. They argued that the INPI betrays Indigenous people, and that the institute is indifferent to their needs. For instance, over 100 Otomis have spent years trying to meet the bureaucratic requirements of the INPI and other government agencies in order to claim some abandoned buildings to live in. In the meantime, they had been living in the street. When the pandemic began, the INPI threw out three years of permits and requests, forcing the Otomis to start again. They say the INPI uses their symbols and art, such as the Otomi dolls, while refusing to defend their rights.

In Mexico City, mining, food, entertainment, and other companies consume 850 times more water than households on average, and are a major contributor to water shortages. On April 7, the caravan visited Xochimilco, in the south of the city, where Indigenous people used to farm using a chinampa system, which consists of built-up islands among the huge lakes and canals. For the last century, that water has been sent to Mexico City, leaving local farmers and residents without.

“The canals are drying up; natural water has been replaced with low-quality treated water; the fish we used to eat are gone. We haven’t benefited in any way from supplying the city with water, and we’ve never been consulted. As original peoples, we have to defend our land, our resources, and our self-determination,” Silvia Cabello Molina, a local autonomous council representative, told Truthout.

Xochimilco was an abundant region of lakes and flower and vegetable growing.

TAMARA PEARSON

Silvia Cabello Molina, a local autonomous council representative, speaking at a meeting in Xochimilco, as part of the caravan.

TAMARA PEARSON

From Coca-Cola’s illegal water extraction in Apizaco, to privatized water in Puerto de Veracruz, the map of struggles that the caravan has visited and will visit is a detailed one.

The caravan “is a message that (original) peoples are bringing to other peoples and communities, suburbs, organizations. As they go, they bring the message that it is important to struggle, to organize in order to defend water, and life … and that together, it’s possible to stop all this,” Marichuy said. “If communities can’t strengthen their self-determination and autonomy, they leave a space for the mega projects to continue their destruction.”

Tamara Pearson  is a journalist and writer living in Puebla, Mexico. She is the author of The Butterfly Prison. Her writings can be found at her blog and she is @pajaritaroja