archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

study (Wayback Machine)

Critics say the country’s unique biodiversity is at risk as the government plans to boost mineral exports to $3bn by 2035

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/22727434

• Nickel mining on Kabaena Island has caused severe environmental degradation, threatening the health, livelihoods and cultural identity of the Indigenous Bajo people and resulting in child deaths due to toxic sludge.
• Investigations by environmental groups revealed dangerous heavy metal contamination, deforestation and violations of environmental laws, linking the mining operations to politically exposed persons and global electric vehicle supply chains.
• Indonesia’s Environment Ministry has acknowledged the crisis, pledged enforcement and is developing restoration plans but has so far avoided criminal charges.
• Local activists and experts call for a moratorium on mining permits and stronger law enforcement, stressing that temporary fixes and economic gains must not come at the cost of human lives and ecological collapse.

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When Rupert Mayer and Kevin Chou met, a simple question sparked what would soon become a mission-driven nonprofit: Why doesn’t balcony solar exist in the U.S.?

By January 2025, they launched Bright Saver, aiming to make solar power more affordable and accessible to a broader share of Americans. Inspired by Europe’s booming “balcony solar” market — where systems are inexpensive, easy to install and often sold right off supermarket shelves — they saw an opportunity to reimagine small-scale solar for U.S. homes.

In Germany, these compact solar kits can be plugged directly into standard outlets, without permits or utility interconnection agreements. For the first time, recent legislation in Utah has opened a similar pathway in the U.S., allowing systems up to 1.2 kW AC to connect via a standard wall outlet provided they meet basic safety standards. A staffer from Utah state Representative Raymond P. Ward’s office even consulted Bright Saver during the drafting process, which led to them incorporating relevant UL and National Electrical Code (NEC) standards.

“The irony is that people think America is freer when it comes to business and innovation,” said Mayer, who has a background in mechanical engineering, software, and residential battery systems. “But in reality, you cross from one town to the next, and everything changes—state laws, federal rules, local permitting. It’s a jungle.”

Now the company is bringing that to California. In April, Bright Saver sought – and found – 50 early adopters to test its $29-per-month system in the greater San Francisco area. Their current offering is $34.90 a month.

The report said five sectors “intimately connected to the climate crisis” have been linked to the highest number of attacks. A total of 1,681 attacks were attributed to the mining sector, followed by 1,154 from agribusiness, 792 from fossil fuels, 454 from renewable energy, and 359 from logging.

archived (Wayback Machine):

• Mongabay article
• report cited

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

• Hundreds of protesters, including Indigenous and coastal youth from Karossa, Pasangkayu and Kalukku, rallied on May 5 at the West Sulawesi governor’s office to demand the closure of PT Alam Sumber Rezeki’s sand mining operations, citing environmental harm, permit irregularities and lack of community consent.
• Tensions flared after Governor Suhardi Duka dismissed anti-mining resistance as “thuggery,” triggering public outrage and a clash with security forces during the protest, where demonstrators were met with water cannons and no official response.
• The mining, tied to supplying materials for Indonesia’s new capital, Nusantara, has fueled a wider grassroots resistance across West Sulawesi, with activists condemning the criminalization of local opposition and calling for meaningful community involvement in environmental decision-making.

archived (Wayback Machine)

• Environmental impact assessments for development projects in Amazon countries have evolved from highly biased, centralized procedures to more rigorous processes that aim to avoid conflicts of interest.
• EIAs have also become increasingly focused on the social impacts of development and on how to mitigate them or compensate affected communities.
• Large-scale development projects are generally reviewed by national-level entities while less controversial initiatives can be attributed to regional governments.

• Brazil’s President Lula apparently lives in a “disinformation space” surrounded by ministers promoting projects that destroy the Amazon Rainforest and lock in petroleum extraction for decades to come, a new opinion piece argues.
• Among these projects are the BR-319 highway and its associated side roads; the distribution of government land to known deforesters; and opening new oilfields at the mouth of the Amazon River.
• Lula’s support for these proposals is leading Brazil to a climate catastrophe that would devastate the country, the author writes, and the two key ministers who should be the ones to explain to the president the consequences of these projects are apparently not penetrating Lula’s disinformation space.
• This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

The aquifer under Fish Lake Valley feeding the groundwater-dependent ecosystem is heavily over-appropriated, meaning more water is taken out of it than goes into it each year. One acre foot of water is the equivalent to 325,850 gallons, or enough to supply two to three homes for a year, and the basin has a perennial yield of just 30,000 acre feet, according to state documents. But more than that is pumped out each year, and even more water is allocated on paper than what is currently taken.

The basin’s over-appropriation is somewhere between 150 to 250 percent. The aquifer’s water level has dropped two feet a year, the overuse drawing it down 75 feet since the 1960s.

Nearly all of that groundwater has gone to agriculture in the region, most of which is used to grow alfalfa, the water-intensive crop that primarily feeds cattle in the beef and dairy industries.

archived (Wayback Machine)

• A new dataset and analysis released by World Resources Institute finds global tropical forest loss jumped to a record high in 2024, with 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) worldwide.
• In total, the area of forest lost in 2024 is nearly the size of Panama.
• For the first time, fire, not agriculture, was the primary driver of primary tropical forest loss, with Latin America badly hit.
• Non-fire related tropical forest loss also increased, by 14%.

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

• Located at the edge of the western Pacific Ocean, New Guinea is a vast island where the biota of Asia and Australasia meet, making it a melting pot of unique plants and animals that occur nowhere else on the planet.
• Development pressure is ramping up across the island, however, opening up landscapes to new roads, industrial logging and agricultural conglomerates pushing biofuel agendas.
• New Guinea’s low-elevation forests, which represent some of the world’s last vestiges of ancient lowland tropical rainforest, are particularly imperiled, according to a new study.
• To avert tragedy, the authors urge policymakers to improve land-use planning systems, focus on retaining intact forest landscapes, and strengthen the rights of the people who live among them.

archived (Wayback Machine)

archived (Wayback Machine)

Ibama approves Petrobras plan for Foz do Amazonas that allows oil exploration

The next step in the oil extraction project in the Foz do Amazonas region is to carry out practical tests with animals

arquivado (Wayback Machine)

arquivado (Wayback Machine)