Environment and Other News

We’ve been hoping to say this for a very long time and here it is:  El Salvador’s water is safe! OceanaGold’s lawsuit against El Salvador has been dismissed -- a lawsuit that threatened the country’s last source of drinkable water. Here’s what happened: A few years ago OceanaGold, an Australian mining company, bought off Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company with a contract to build a massive gold mine in the North of El Salvador.  The mine didn’t meet environmental guidelines and threatened the last remaining river with drinkable water in the country. As much as  90% of El Salvador's water is not safe for drinking.  Here is a picture of the pollution caused by mining to one of the country's most important rivers:  Protecting water means protecting life, so  the SumOfUs community stood, and fought, with the Salvadorans opposing the mine: Over 200,000 of us signed petitions targeting the mining company and the World Bank.  We...

The battle to stop the TPP will be won or lost in the Senate -- and we have a chance to tell Senators that Australians don’t want a corporate-backed trade deal. Can you please make a submission to the Senate Inquiry into the TPP now? We only have a few days left. Add your voice Good news: we’ve heard that the majority of the Senate has endorsed an inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) . And we have a chance to turn up the pressure and tell them what we think. Whether the TPP -- the trade deal that critics have called one of the biggest corporate power grabs of a generation -- lives or dies depends entirely on what happens in the Senate . The government is a cheerleader for the TPP. But it does not have a majority in the Senate. If we can convince Labor Senators that the TPP is bad news, we could block its passage. But to make that happen, Senators need to hear from you. We only have a few days left before submissions close, on 28th...