No Discussion On Some Of Rio Tinto’s Most Notorious Operations At Shareholder Meeting – April 19, 2013

Mining giant should address pollution and human rights abuses at its mines in West Papua and Papua New Guinea, say critics

Mining watchdog groups and human rights activists from around the world confronted Rio Tinto officials at the mining giant’s annual general shareholder meeting in London Thursday, questioning the company about proposed and in-the-works projects that they said could cause serious environmental and human rights violations if allowed to go forward.

Photo by Kari LydersenExiled West Papua Indigenous activist Benny Wenda protests outside the Rio Tinto shareholder
meeting venue.

They brought up several controversial Rio Tinto projects, including the massive in-the-works Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia, the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska, and in-the-works mines in Arizona… more

by: Kari Lydersen

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European Activists Form Cross-border Alliances to Track the Impacts of International Coal Trade – December 5, 2012

Greens and labor groups demand more transparency about where imported coal comes from and the conditions under which it was extracted

The Ferrybridge coal-fired power plant looms over the rolling hills of Yorkshire, England, an imposing industrial relic with towering brick smoke stacks and a squadron of hourglass-shaped cooling towers pouring steam into the sky. This is a region built on coal, and the small towns dotting the landscape are known as coalfield communities. There are still many millions of tons of coal underground here that will probably never be extracted, a fact that irks many miners who’ve been out of work for two to three decades.

Photo by Vaidotas MišeikisThe Ferrybridge power plant in Yorkshire, England. Much of the coal burned
here and in… more

by: Kari Lydersen

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Germany Continues to Expand Brown Coal Mines Despite Its Commitment Clean Energy – October 8, 2012

Country’s decision to phase out nuclear power means it continues to rely on coal to close the energy gap

Florian "Floh" Hurtig wades through waist-high, thorny weeds and pungent wildflowers with sure-footed agility, dashing up a steep levy in Hembach Forest to take in the shocking view on the other side. That would be the sprawling open pit Tagebau Hambach mine in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany where the company RWE Power is extracting soft brown lignite coal, or "braunkohle," for its equally massive coal-fired power plant that is visible on the horizon.

photo by Kari LydersenBrown coal from the Hambach Tagebau mine feeds the power plant
visible in the background.

The scale… more

by: Kari Lydersen

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