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‘Haul no!’: tribes protest uranium mine trucking ore through Navajo Nation

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Tuesday, August 6, 2024

A coalition of hundreds of environmental activists, Navajo and Havasupai tribal members are protesting the transportation of uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, as a newly opened mine near the Grand Canyon resurfaces a painful legacy of nuclear development.Located just seven miles south of the famous national park, the controversial Pinyon Plain mine is one of the first uranium mines to open in years as the United States works to boost its nuclear arsenal and energy supply.Protests were rapidly organized over the weekend after news broke that Energy Fuels, the company that owns and operates the mine, had begun transporting dozens of tons of uranium across the Navajo Nation without alerting the nation’s leadership, a move that the tribe views as an illegal violation of laws that prohibit uranium shipping on its land.Protesters gathered at several events along the 350-mile long fuel shipping route that trucks will take as they transport ore from Pinyon Plain for processing at White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah. On Friday, about 50 people marched in Cameron, Arizona, alongside the Navajo Nation’s president Buu Nygren and First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren.On Saturday in Flagstaff, Arizona, protesters gathered outside city hall, holding aloft signs that read “Haul No!” and “Respect Tribal Sovereignty”. And on Sunday, more than 100 people – including members of the Havasupai tribe who live in the Grand Canyon – marched in Grand Canyon Junction, Arizona.The renewal of uranium mining and shipping across the region has touched a nerve because of its troubled health and environmental legacy on the Navajo Nation, where more than 500 abandoned uranium mines remain. The US government extracted 30m tons of uranium ore on Navajo Nation land from 1944 to 1986, beginning as part of the Manhattan Project. Many Navajo men labored in the mines, where the health risks of doing so were not well communicated.Pinyon Plain mine (formerly called Canyon mine), nine miles from the South Rim of Grand Canyon, seen from above. Photograph: Bruce Gordon/Bruce Gordon / ecoflightToday, families continue to link health issues – particularly high rates of kidney disease, cancer and reproductive disorders – to the mines. In 1979, the nation was home to the largest radioactive spill on US soil – larger than the accident at Three Mile Island – when a dam burst at the Church Rock uranium mill, flooding the Puerco River with 94m gallons of radioactive waste.“The Havasupai have been fighting the Pinyon Plain mine since the 80s, for decades,” said Leona Morgan, co-founder of Haul No!, a Navajo/Diné-led group focused on ending uranium extraction. “As Diné people, we’re dealing with all the past mining still.”Shipping ore through these tribal lands “risks the waters of the Grand Canyon and puts at risk the people along the haul route”, said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter and one of the organizer’s of Sunday’s march.The transport of uranium ore across Navajo Nation comes as the US is reinvesting in nuclear energy and building up its nuclear arsenal. At Cop28, the US endorsed an agreement to triple nuclear energy production to combat climate change, boosting the demand for uranium.Mark Chalmers, the president and CEO of Energy Fuels, argued that opposition to the mine is “rooted in outdated fears from the legacy of uranium mining from the 1940s through 1960s, which is not representative of the strict regulations and high environmental and safety standards of today’s industry”.“With this transport, we can work together to combat climate change, while meeting the growing demand for clean energy and reducing reliance on Russia for uranium and critical minerals,” Chalmers said in a statement to the Guardian.The reopening of Pinyon Plain has been steeped in controversy. Last August, Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing a national monument around the Grand Canyon and banning future uranium mining there as well – but Pinyon Plain mine was exempted and began operating in January.More actions have been organized in the days ahead, including a performance by the musician Ed Kabotie in Tuba City and another protest in Grand Canyon Junction on 24 August. At the same time, Navajo leaders have taken steps to halt shipments across their lands in an effort that will test the limits of tribal sovereignty.Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren addresses a crowd Fort Defiance, Arizona, on 10 January 2023. Photograph: Felicia Fonseca/AP“They snuck through the Navajo Nation and they made it onto the Utah side, outside of the reservation,” said Nygren, the Navajo president, in a press release. Nygren views the mining company’s actions as a violation of a 2012 law banning the transport of uranium on Navajo Nation, although that law did include an exemption for the state and federal highways that Energy Fuels had designated as its hauling route.Nygren said Energy Fuels had promised to alert the nation before it began shipping uranium through its land, but that they did not receive any advance notice. “To me, they operated covertly to travel the Navajo Nation illegally. It’s very disappointing that they smuggled uranium across our Nation.”Nygren recently issued an executive order requiring Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation to reach an agreement before transporting any radioactive material through the nation – effectively blocking uranium shipments across the nation’s territory for the next six months. Arizona’s governor, Katie Hobbs, also asked Energy Fuels to halt shipments for the foreseeable future – until the company and the Navajo Nation can hold discussions about safety concerns.“Anyone bringing those substances onto the Nation should undertake that activity with respect and sensitivity to the psychological impact to our people, as well as the trauma of uranium development that our community continues to live with every day,” said Ethel Branch, attorney general for the Navajo Nation, in a statement Wednesday.

Firm moves ore through land without telling tribal leaders as mine resurfaces painful legacy of nuclear developmentA coalition of hundreds of environmental activists, Navajo and Havasupai tribal members are protesting the transportation of uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, as a newly opened mine near the Grand Canyon resurfaces a painful legacy of nuclear development.Located just seven miles south of the famous national park, the controversial Pinyon Plain mine is one of the first uranium mines to open in years as the United States works to boost its nuclear arsenal and energy supply. Continue reading...

A coalition of hundreds of environmental activists, Navajo and Havasupai tribal members are protesting the transportation of uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, as a newly opened mine near the Grand Canyon resurfaces a painful legacy of nuclear development.

Located just seven miles south of the famous national park, the controversial Pinyon Plain mine is one of the first uranium mines to open in years as the United States works to boost its nuclear arsenal and energy supply.

Protests were rapidly organized over the weekend after news broke that Energy Fuels, the company that owns and operates the mine, had begun transporting dozens of tons of uranium across the Navajo Nation without alerting the nation’s leadership, a move that the tribe views as an illegal violation of laws that prohibit uranium shipping on its land.

Protesters gathered at several events along the 350-mile long fuel shipping route that trucks will take as they transport ore from Pinyon Plain for processing at White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah. On Friday, about 50 people marched in Cameron, Arizona, alongside the Navajo Nation’s president Buu Nygren and First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren.

On Saturday in Flagstaff, Arizona, protesters gathered outside city hall, holding aloft signs that read “Haul No!” and “Respect Tribal Sovereignty”. And on Sunday, more than 100 people – including members of the Havasupai tribe who live in the Grand Canyon – marched in Grand Canyon Junction, Arizona.

The renewal of uranium mining and shipping across the region has touched a nerve because of its troubled health and environmental legacy on the Navajo Nation, where more than 500 abandoned uranium mines remain. The US government extracted 30m tons of uranium ore on Navajo Nation land from 1944 to 1986, beginning as part of the Manhattan Project. Many Navajo men labored in the mines, where the health risks of doing so were not well communicated.

Pinyon Plain mine (formerly called Canyon mine), nine miles from the South Rim of Grand Canyon, seen from above. Photograph: Bruce Gordon/Bruce Gordon / ecoflight

Today, families continue to link health issues – particularly high rates of kidney disease, cancer and reproductive disorders – to the mines. In 1979, the nation was home to the largest radioactive spill on US soil – larger than the accident at Three Mile Island – when a dam burst at the Church Rock uranium mill, flooding the Puerco River with 94m gallons of radioactive waste.

“The Havasupai have been fighting the Pinyon Plain mine since the 80s, for decades,” said Leona Morgan, co-founder of Haul No!, a Navajo/Diné-led group focused on ending uranium extraction. “As Diné people, we’re dealing with all the past mining still.”

Shipping ore through these tribal lands “risks the waters of the Grand Canyon and puts at risk the people along the haul route”, said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter and one of the organizer’s of Sunday’s march.

The transport of uranium ore across Navajo Nation comes as the US is reinvesting in nuclear energy and building up its nuclear arsenal. At Cop28, the US endorsed an agreement to triple nuclear energy production to combat climate change, boosting the demand for uranium.

Mark Chalmers, the president and CEO of Energy Fuels, argued that opposition to the mine is “rooted in outdated fears from the legacy of uranium mining from the 1940s through 1960s, which is not representative of the strict regulations and high environmental and safety standards of today’s industry”.

“With this transport, we can work together to combat climate change, while meeting the growing demand for clean energy and reducing reliance on Russia for uranium and critical minerals,” Chalmers said in a statement to the Guardian.

The reopening of Pinyon Plain has been steeped in controversy. Last August, Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing a national monument around the Grand Canyon and banning future uranium mining there as well – but Pinyon Plain mine was exempted and began operating in January.

More actions have been organized in the days ahead, including a performance by the musician Ed Kabotie in Tuba City and another protest in Grand Canyon Junction on 24 August. At the same time, Navajo leaders have taken steps to halt shipments across their lands in an effort that will test the limits of tribal sovereignty.

Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren addresses a crowd Fort Defiance, Arizona, on 10 January 2023. Photograph: Felicia Fonseca/AP

“They snuck through the Navajo Nation and they made it onto the Utah side, outside of the reservation,” said Nygren, the Navajo president, in a press release. Nygren views the mining company’s actions as a violation of a 2012 law banning the transport of uranium on Navajo Nation, although that law did include an exemption for the state and federal highways that Energy Fuels had designated as its hauling route.

Nygren said Energy Fuels had promised to alert the nation before it began shipping uranium through its land, but that they did not receive any advance notice. “To me, they operated covertly to travel the Navajo Nation illegally. It’s very disappointing that they smuggled uranium across our Nation.”

Nygren recently issued an executive order requiring Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation to reach an agreement before transporting any radioactive material through the nation – effectively blocking uranium shipments across the nation’s territory for the next six months. Arizona’s governor, Katie Hobbs, also asked Energy Fuels to halt shipments for the foreseeable future – until the company and the Navajo Nation can hold discussions about safety concerns.

“Anyone bringing those substances onto the Nation should undertake that activity with respect and sensitivity to the psychological impact to our people, as well as the trauma of uranium development that our community continues to live with every day,” said Ethel Branch, attorney general for the Navajo Nation, in a statement Wednesday.

Read the full story here.
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China made quiet border advances as ties warmed, Indian critics warn

Buffer zones meant to ease India-China tensions along their shared border have disproportionately restricted Indian forces from patrolling, former officials say.

NEW DELHI — In 2020, after Indian and Chinese soldiers brawled with stones and spiked rods in the thin Himalayan air along their countries’ contested border, nationalist fury gripped India.People smashed Chinese televisions and torched effigies of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The Indian government banned dozens of Chinese apps and vowed it would not mend ties with its geopolitical rival until border issues were resolved.Five years later, India-China commerce has revived and direct flights between the countries have resumed. At a recent summit in Tianjin, China, Xi met his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the leaders pledged to strengthen relations, with the Indian side touting “the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the border areas.”In New Delhi, however, and along the steep mountain passes that divide the countries, a chorus of critics contend that agreed-upon buffer zones meant to ease tensions have, in practice, disproportionately restricted Indian forces from patrolling in areas they once routinely accessed. With India’s quiet acquiescence, they allege, China has been able to effectively push the boundary lines in its favor.“Some of the buffer zones created are mostly in areas previously patrolled by us and on our side,” said a retired lieutenant general who has overseen these parts of the border. “We are supposed to try and get back our territory, but in the foreseeable future, it is a pipe dream,” he added, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.Warnings about the shifting boundary lines — from former military officials and ambassadors, as well as sitting members of Parliament and border residents — have grown louder and more frequent. The claims are difficult to prove, since foreign journalists are denied access to the area. But the criticisms present a challenge to the Indian government, analysts said, as it mends ties with Beijing and seeks to rebalance its global relations amid an ongoing diplomatic feud with the United States.The Indian army referred questions from The Washington Post to the External Affairs Ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment. The Indian Defense Ministry, the Chinese Defense Ministry, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Chinese officials have urged India not to let the boundary question “define” the relationship.The Chinese strategy is “two steps forward, one step back,” said Jabin Jacob, an associate professor who teaches Chinese foreign policy at India’s Shiv Nadar University. “Then they still have one step in their possession.”A frozen boundaryIndia and China went to war over the border in 1962. More than half a century later, it remains undefined and bitterly disputed.The nuclear-armed neighbors still have drastically different interpretations of the de facto boundary — known as the Line of Actual Control, or LAC — and the soldiers deployed there have periodically come to blows.The most recent confrontation came in June 2020, in the border territory of Ladakh. At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fighting, according to official counts. Tens of thousands of troops were rushed to forward positions, and, even after subsequent pullbacks, both sides have maintained a heightened military presence.Since the conflict, the two sides have struck a series of agreements to prevent flare-ups in the most contentious areas. The new protocols allowed some patrolling to resume, but also gave Chinese troops more favorable positions in several key spots, according to former officials, analysts and local leaders.“Around 450 square kilometers of land was converted into a buffer in my constituency alone,” Konchok Stanzin, an official in Chushul, one of the last villages on India’s eastern border, told The Post. “This land belonged to India but now our soldiers cannot set foot there.”As Indian forces have acceded to the new protocols, they have blocked pastoralists from grazing animals in areas where they once roamed freely. That has stirred anger in Ladakh, a restive Indian territory where locals have campaigned for greater political rights and environmental protections. Four people were killed in late September when police in the regional capital of Leh opened fire on people protesting for statehood, according to Human Rights Watch, and a political office belonging to Modi’s party was torched.In the aftermath, prominent environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested by Indian authorities under a national security law for allegedly inciting the violence, a claim he denies. Some of his supporters believe he was targeted, in part, for being outspoken about the loss of pasturelands and Chinese encroachment along the border.“It was not sitting well with government narratives that China is not taking our land,” said his wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo. “What Sonam has been fearing for a long time is that we can’t afford as a border state not to address the demands of the Ladakhis who have so far shown India love and passion.”Increasingly, the warnings from border communities are being echoed within the Indian establishment. A 2022 report by a senior police official in Ladakh said Indian forces no longer had a “presence” at 26 of 65 former patrolling points, highlighting what she called her country’s “play safe” strategy.“The Chinese absolutely have come in and established a position that is more advantageous to them than before,” said Ajai Shukla, a defense analyst and former military official, drawing on conversations with contacts on the ground. “The only question is, how much have we lost?”J.S. Bajwa, a former Indian lieutenant general, said “it is not just salami slicing,” referring to previous Chinese tactics that gradually changed the facts on the ground. “They actually took the whole belly of the pork,” he said.Strategic ‘opacity’The Indian government has been careful and sparing in its descriptions of the situation along the border.Last October, the government said it had reached an agreement with China to restore patrolling rights in two key areas, Depsang and Demchok, and that troops on both sides had pulled back slightly along all friction points. In December, however, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told Parliament that agreements in areas outside of Depsang and Demchok were “temporary and limited.”The MEA then said there had been a “resolution of the issues that emerged in 2020.” But when pressed by reporters and members of Parliament, Jaishankar and his colleagues have avoided stating categorically that patrolling rights have been restored at all friction points. Responding to similar border questions under the country’s right of information laws, the government has repeatedly called them “vague” and “speculative” and, therefore, not answerable.“The opacity is a way of dealing with the problem,” said Ashok Kanta, the Indian ambassador to China from 2014 to 2016. “If you don’t put it out in the public domain, then you don’t need to defend it publicly.”Some former military officials say Chinese troops have also lost access to previous patrolling points, while others reject the notion that India has surrendered any ground.“In all places, the Chinese have gone back to the original points they were at,” said Manoj Mukund Naravane, the army’s chief general during the 2020 conflict.A pragmatic truceIn late August, amid deteriorating U.S-India relations, Modi visited China for the first time since the clash in Ladakh. Videos of the countries’ two leaders engaging in a lighthearted exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin rapidly went viral.India and China have since agreed to allow exchanges of scholars and journalists, cooperate on transboundary rivers, resume direct flights and reopen Indian access to a pilgrimage in Tibet. India has termed it a “gradual normalization of bilateral relations.”Rakesh Sharma, a former lieutenant general who served on the border from 2013 to 2015, said these are “logical” moves, mirroring China’s own increasingly relaxed posture. Some former officials argue that Jaishankar’s description of border measures as “temporary” signals India’s expectation that the issues will be addressed in future talks.“From the Indian side, the story is not over, but you have to live with Beijing next door, so you have to find some sort of an equilibrium,” said Manoj Kewalramani, a China studies fellow at the Takshashila Institution in Bangalore.“The danger,” Jacob warned, “is that this becomes permanent out of sheer inertia until the next crisis.”For now, analysts said, India has more pressing problems, like steep U.S. tariffs and sluggish manufacturing growth — and it needs Chinese investment.“We essentially cannot do without China,” said Manoj Joshi, distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.The hard reality, said Daniel Markey, a senior Stimson Center fellow focused on South Asia and China relations, is that “India does not have an easy, cheap, or effective solution to the broader threat posed by China militarily.”And it is that recognition, according to former Indian brigadier Deepak Sinha, driving the country’s current approach. “We remain intimidated and terrified of a conflict with China escalating,” he said. “It’s a fact of life.”Christian Shepherd in Singapore, Shams Irfan in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir, and Supriya Kumar contributed to this report.

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Jailed climate activist facing deportation from UK fights ‘crazy double punishment’

Marcus Decker is supported by climate experts, religious leaders and celebrities as he fights being first person in UK to be ‘deported for peaceful protest’A climate activist who is appealing against his deportation after serving one of the longest prison sentences in modern British history for peaceful protest has criticised his “crazy double punishment”.Marcus Decker was jailed for two years and seven months for a protest in which he climbed the Queen Elizabeth Bridge over the Dartford Crossing and unveiled a Just Stop Oil banner in October 2022. Continue reading...

A climate activist who is appealing against his deportation after serving one of the longest prison sentences in modern British history for peaceful protest has criticised his “crazy double punishment”.Marcus Decker was jailed for two years and seven months for a protest in which he climbed the Queen Elizabeth Bridge over the Dartford Crossing and unveiled a Just Stop Oil banner in October 2022.The 36-year-old German national, who was released from prison in February last year after serving 16 months, was sent a letter by the Home Office while in prison informing him of his automatic deportation. In his legal challenge, being heard at a tribunal in central London on Monday, Decker has the support of climate experts, religious leaders, celebrities and members of the public.“I would be the first person in this country to be deported for peaceful protest,” he said. “It’s such a crazy double punishment. I have my established life here with my partner, Holly, and the kids [he is stepfather to her two children], we’ve been living together for many years.“We’re in the middle of a multi[faceted] crisis. There’s an inequality crisis, the situation for immigrants has been getting so much worse since Labour has come in, and the climate crisis is getting worse by the day, which, of course, was the reason I took this action in the first place.“It sort of makes sense to be in this situation where I can communicate the values around care that made us take this action in the first place and that need to carry on in this society.”Decker, a teacher and musician, was released from prison in February 2024 after having served 16 months but still has an ankle tag, must report to the Home Office every other week and cannot leave the country. Because he began the appeal against deportation while in prison he served longer than his fellow protester, Morgan Trowland, despite Trowland having been given a longer three-year jail term.“I’m very sorry for those that were impacted by the harm that we caused directly on the day or on the two days,” said Decker. “The people that missed funerals or missed hospital appointments, who were stuck in traffic, that is real harm. But then at the same time whole countries are either on fire, or a third of Pakistan was underwater that year in 2022, London had for the first time experienced 40C heat. If you put it in the greater perspective, zoom out, then we have to keep trying different approaches to addressing these crises, to make change for the greater good.”Decker lauded the “incredible” support he has had in his fight against deportation, which has included a 10-page letter sent to the UK government by the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, Michel Forst, a letter signed by 22 Nobel prize laureates and support from 562 actors, musicians and other artists. Much of it is being presented in evidence at his appeal.Lord Hain, the former cabinet minister who was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement during the 1970s and 1980s, said: “It is difficult to see how the further step of deportation can be justified. That seems to me to cross a line and become unnecessarily punitive.”The former chief scientific adviser to the UK government, Sir David King, described the action by Decker and Trowland as a “reasonable and proportionate response in light of the escalating climate crisis”, while the actor Juliet Stevenson said Decker was a father figure to Holly Cullen-Davies’s children, and that his removal “would do them untold harm and cause unnecessary anguish and abandonment”.The former archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said: “Deportation will reinforce the growing perception that environmental activism at the moment attracts excessively punitive sentencing and assimilates activists to terrorists.”The tribunal’s decision is expected at a later date. The Home Office has been approached for comment.

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California’s pro-housing laws have failed to raise new home numbers

New housing starts were around 100,000 a year when Newsom took office in 2019; they still hover around that number today.

California YIMBY, an organization founded eight years ago to promote housing construction in response to an ever-increasing gap between demand and supply, held a victory party in San Francisco recently. “Welcome to the most victorious of California YIMBY’s victory parties,” Brian Hanlon, founder and CEO of the organization, told attendees. Its acronym (Yes In My Backyard) symbolizes its years-long battle with NIMBYs (Not in My Backyard), people and groups who have long thwarted housing projects by pressuring local governments that control land use. YIMBY’s party marked the passage of several pro-housing legislative measures this year, two of which have long been sought by housing advocates. Assembly Bill 130 exempts many urban housing projects from the California Environmental Quality Act, while Senate Bill 79 makes it easier to building high-density housing near transit stations in large cities. “2025 was a year,” Hanlon gleefully declared. The celebratory atmosphere was understandable because this year’s legislative actions capped a half-decade of ever-mounting state government activism on housing that followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2017 campaign pledge to build 3.5 million new units of housing if elected. That goal was wildly unrealistic, as Newsom should have known, but he did push hard for legislation to remove barriers to housing development. His housing agency also ramped up pressure on local governments to remove arbitrary hurdles that YIMBY-influenced officials had erected and to meet quotas for identifying land that could be used for housing. However, the celebration omitted one salient factor: Pro-housing legislative and administrative actions have failed to markedly increase housing production. New housing starts were around 100,000 a year when Newsom took office in 2019, and they are about that number today, with the net increase even lower. As the Housing and Community Development Department admits in its statewide housing plan, “Not enough housing being built: During the last ten years, housing production averaged fewer than 80,000 new homes each year, and ongoing production continues to fall far below the projected need of 180,000 additional homes annually.” The Census Bureau calculates that since Newsom took office, new housing permits in California ranged from a high of 120,780 units in 2022 to a low of 101,546 last year. Newsom’s own budget agrees with the Census Bureau’s data for the same period and projects future construction through 2028 at 100,000 to 104,000 units a year. Those are the numbers. But how data on housing is collected and collated has been a somewhat murky process, and opponents of housing projects often challenge how they comport with quotas the state imposes on local communities. Fortunately, the Census Bureau has unveiled a new statistical tool that should go a long way toward having complete data that includes not only conventional single- and multi-family projects, but alternative forms of housing such as backyard granny flats, officially known as Accessory Dwelling Units; basements or garages that are transformed into apartments; single-family homes converted into duplexes or apartments; mobile homes or office buildings that become housing. The tool uses several sources of data but is heavily reliant on the Postal Service, which maintains a constantly updated roster of addresses that includes all housing types. More accurate data should make it easier to overcome conflicts and may even reveal that California’s pro-housing actions have had positive effects that current methodology misses. “The housing crisis has persisted in part because we haven’t been able to measure our progress accurately,” an article about the new tool published by the Niskanen Center, a think tank, concludes. “With the Census Bureau’s Address Count Listing File data, that excuse is gone. Now the question is whether policymakers will use this powerful new tool to finally build the housing America needs.”

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Britain's Prince William Calls for Optimism on Environment at EarthShot Prize Event

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Britain's Prince William expressed optimism on Wednesday about tackling global environmental challenges at a star-studded...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Britain's Prince William expressed optimism on Wednesday about tackling global environmental challenges at a star-studded event in Rio de Janeiro for the fifth edition of his EarthShot Prize.William's first visit to Latin America comes shortly before Brazil hosts the UN climate summit COP30 next week."I understand that some might feel discouraged in these uncertain times," William said during the ceremony for the award, founded in 2020 and inspired by a visit to Namibia."I understand that there is still so much to be done. But this is no time for complacency, and the optimism I felt in 2020 remains ardent today."Named in homage to John F. Kennedy's "moonshot" goal, the award was intended to foster significant environmental progress within a decade that has now reached its midpoint.The prize, which aims to find innovations to combat climate change, and tackle other green issues, awards five winners 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) each to drive their projects.Pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes, Brazilian musicians Gilberto Gil, Seu Jorge and Anitta, along with former Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel, were among those who appeared or performed at the ceremony.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan also attended.William will attend the UN climate summit in place of his father, King Charles. On his trip, he announced initiatives for Indigenous communities and environmental activists, and visited landmarks in Rio.(Reporting by Andre Romani in Sao Paulo and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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Insurers calling for trees to be felled as cheap fix for subsidence, say critics

Campaigners say problem so common that some of the UK’s most irreplaceable ancient trees in danger of being lostWhen Linda Taylor Cantrill finally found her dream family home in Exmouth, Devon, it wasn’t the location, the square footage or the local amenities that finally made up her mind – it was the 200-year-old oak tree in the garden.“The way we felt about just standing in the shade of the tree was: ‘We need this house, because look how beautiful it is,’” she told the Guardian. Continue reading...

When Linda Taylor Cantrill finally found her dream family home in Exmouth, Devon, it wasn’t the location, the square footage or the local amenities that finally made up her mind – it was the 200-year-old oak tree in the garden.“The way we felt about just standing in the shade of the tree was: ‘We need this house, because look how beautiful it is,’” she told the Guardian.Little wonder then, that when an insurance company suggested chopping the tree down in an effort to arrest the subsidence affecting the house, Taylor Cantrill says she turned “into Boudicca”, to stop the chainsaws – launching a years-long battle that, this year, she finally won.Hers might seem like an isolated example of arboreal activism, but the issue of insurers recommending tree-felling as a cheap fix to building issues is one played out daily in Britain.The problem, according to some campaigners, is so common that they fear it could bring about the loss of irreplaceable ancient trees.Data on insurance-related tree-felling is difficult to pin down, but underwriters are braced for a increase in subsidence claims this year. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said there had been “unusually high spring temperatures” – often a cause of such claims.The tree that the Taylor Cantrills’ insurers blame for subsidence. Photograph: Jim Wileman/The GuardianAs part of the Haringey Tree Protectors group, Gio Iozzi has been heavily involved in efforts to save a 120-year-old plane tree in north London. “I see it as big a problem, on a par with the water pollution scandal,” she said.Like Taylor Cantrill, she chose her home because of the trees nearby and believes insurers prefer to fell trees suspected of causing subsidence rather than pursuing engineering solutions such as underpinning houses.It is a view shared by the Woodland Trust, which said it was a “significant concern”. Caroline Campbell, who leads the trust’s work on bringing the benefits of trees to the urban areas that need them the most, said: “Mature and veteran trees are often removed before causation is proven, and in many cases where alternative engineering or root management solutions could resolve the problem while retaining the tree.“The general approach from many insurers remains risk-averse, defaulting to removal as the quickest or cheapest option.”The ABI said: “It is not the case that insurers default to tree removal as a matter of convenience or cost-cutting. Insurers will assess each claim on a case-by-case basis, and will consult with experts to determine the most appropriate course of action.”In Billingshurst, in West Sussex, another group is still fighting to save two oak trees villagers believe are at least 200 years old, and that insurers say are the cause of damage to nearby homes.After hiring a lawyer, and thousands of people signing a petition in support, the Save Billi Oaks campaigners have fought their local authority to a standstill. The authority had initially granted permission to fell the trees, despite tree preservation orders being in place.Last month, councillors voted unanimously to pause those plans while they took legal advice. It is understood the council will revisit the matter on 5 November.One of those fighting for the trees, Gabi Barrett, said: “If it weren’t for the community stepping up, both trees would have been felled.” .She added: “The trees are stunning, perfectly balanced and over 200 years-old. They are the only trees of that age and status that remain on the estate. They provide shade in summer and mitigate flood risk in the wetter months.”She said that “from the get-go, saving these trees has been a community effort”.But it has not yet secured the future of the trees. They remain vulnerable, partly because the council fears incurring liability if it does not agree to the insurer’s request to cut them down.Campbell said the effect of losing the trees could be devastating for the local environment: “Even a single insurance claim can lead to the felling of multiple street or garden trees, and subsidence is known to be one of the largest claim types facing the insurance sector.“The cumulative impact over time is substantial, contributing to canopy loss in exactly the urban areas where trees are most needed for cooling, air quality and flood mitigation.”And, while mature trees are effective at taking CO2 out of the atmosphere, newly planted ones – often cited as mitigation when an ancient tree is felled – are much less so. Chopping down mature trees can also release the CO2 back into the atmosphere.The ABI said firms “explore alternative solutions” to felling, but these were not always suitable. A spokesperson also said underpinning “itself has an environmental impact through the use of carbon-intensive concrete”. They added: “The insurance industry takes its climate responsibilities seriously.”Taylor Cantrill’s successful defence of her beloved tree will be an inspiration to others with a similar fight on their hands. For those, like Barrett, the battle to preserve their local greenery is personal. She said: “My children were born in Billingshurst – I have fond memories of stopping for a snack in the shade under those trees on the way back from toddler group. I would find their loss devastating.”

Activism
Climate
Pollution

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Eco Arts in Action

Eco Arts is a creative practice that recognises that we are all part of the Living World. This film provides an overview of the practice of Eco Arts in community. Perspectives of First Nations Elders and artists are interwoven with examples of intercultural and environmental events. Musicians and creative thought leaders discuss the role of arts and culture in strengthening communities against the backdrop of ecological degradation and the climate crisis.

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Still River, Silent Jungle

When a novel dam proposal threatens indigenous communities in the Bolivian Amazon, an Uchupiamona woman named Ruth Alipaz Cuqui must step into the unknown and become a spokesperson for her people. To the Uchupiamona people, the river has its own life and personality, just as a woman does. Returning to her land for guidance, Ruth and her people explore an alternative future for their rivers based on adventure tourism and whitewater rafting. While opposing powers much bigger than her, she must come to terms with how much she is willing to risk to protect her river and her people.

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The Z-Nail Gang

When a corporate mining giant moves into a small coastal town looking for gold and talking about trickle down wealth some folks just aren't convinced.

Activism
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Between Clouds and Glass

A look at the monumental problem of bird collisions in Chicago, the deadliest city for birds, just ahead of Houston and Dallas. According to scientists, what happens in Chicago can affect bird populations across North America. As many as one billion birds die each year in the United States due to building collisions, but there are people who care and work hard to change this.

Family
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L’eau Est La Vie (Water Is Life): From Standing Rock To The Swamp

On the banks of Louisiana, fierce Indigenous women are ready to fight—to stop the corporate blacksnake and preserve their way of life. They are risking everything to protect Mother Earth from the predatory fossil fuel companies that seek to poison it. The film follows water protector Cherri Foytlin in the swamps of Louisiana as she leads us on a no-nonsense journey of indigenous resistance to the Bayou Bridge Pipeline (BBP), which is an extension of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The pipelines are part of an ongoing legacy of colonization and slow genocide. At the heart of the struggle is a battle between people and profit.

Indigenous
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