1959 Highlander Way · New Market,
TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org
|
1959 Highlander Way · New Market,
TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424 |
| Home | 75th | About Us | Programs | Resources | News | Photo Gallery | Links | En Español |
Grassroots Action for Global ChangeProtecting Our Natural ResourcesOrganizations | Books 
Over the last century, Appalachian communities have experienced a terrible consequence of corporate globalization: the loss of quality and quantity of our natural resources, as well as the loss of control over these precious resources. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s, corporations came into the region, bought up land and minerals, and have proceeded to exploit these resources ever since. While the profits from this exploitation mostly leave the region, communities are left with devastated environments and few, if any, economic benefits. Corporations clear-cut forests, mine coal, drill for oil, and build industrial facilities that pollute our communities, air, land and water. Combustion of coal for electricity pollutes the air of the region and adds to global warming. Moreover, as we face water shortages due to corporate pollution, companies are further increasing their profits by selling our “purified” water back to us, making a commodity of a natural substance that is basic to life. This model of natural resource exploitation is not just in Appalachia but is worldwide. Water, forests, coal, land and oil are seen as sources of profits for corporations. It becomes clearer and clearer that this model is destroying the land, air and water we all need to live and thrive. But there have been and are vital organizing efforts to confront this exploitation. Efforts may be local, regional, national, or international. In Appalachia, in the United States and around the world, there have been and are many people fighting for protecting our environmental homes. This section shares information on amazing efforts to fight for environmental justice. OrganizationsBluegrass FLOW Bluegrass FLOW is a “grassroots citizens group founded to conduct research and educational activities regarding the benefits of local control of water resources.” The group is currently advocating for the city of Lexington to buy a water company that had been sold to the German corporation Rheinisch-Westfalisches Elektrizitatswerk. The coalition convinced their city council to condemn RWEAG in efforts to protect Lexington’s water system. Citizens Coal Council CCC is a network of groups from all over the United States organized around social and environmental justice issues, especially those surrounding coal mining. They seek to protect people and the environment from coal mining damage, and they work to ensure that the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act is enforced. Coal River Mountain Watch CRMW is a citizens’ organization working to stop mountaintop removal mining, improve their quality of life and rebuild sustainable communities. CRMW works on the issues of coal dust, sludge dams, overweight coal trucks and mine cracks. Concerned Citizens of Rutherford County CCRC is a community-based group organized around issues of forest sustainability. They mentor other groups in the Southeast and Appalachia, including Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. CCRC supports communities affected by the impacts of chip mills by conducting educational meetings and demonstrations on sustainable forestry; monitoring logging activities, and operating a demonstration forest. Dogwood Alliance Dogwood Alliance is a network of 70 grassroots organizations in 17 states that seeks to protect Southern forests. They want to end “unsustainable forest practices” through non-violent means. Founded in 1996, they are working towards stopping the construction of wood-chipping facilities, and reducing the demand for wood fiber. They encourage the use of recycled products and alternative products that are not based on wood. EcoNews Africa EcoNews Africa was established by nongovernmental organizations in Kenya to provide information to help East African organizations influence policy-making in issues affecting sustainable development, in particular around the issues of the environment and trade. Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is a network of grassroots groups in 70 countries working on environmental campaigns for a healthy, just world, including campaigns to raise awareness of the health effects of genetically engineered corn, to expose Enron’s misuse of taxpayer’s money, and to end interstate developments that would demolish farms and communities. FOE International has also worked to stop harmful dam and water projects, to ban international whaling, to stop strip mining and to reform the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. FOE recognizes the importance of natural resources to eradicate poverty. Numerous resources towards these ends are available through the websites above. Indigenous Environmental Network IEN is a grassroots organization of indigenous peoples in the United States dedicated to addressing environmental and economic justice issues. They work with indigenous communities to protect sacred sites and natural resources, to build economically sustainable communities, and to work on a range of other issues including youth organizing, biodiversity, trade and globalization. IEN has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Alaska and Canada. International Rivers Network IRN “supports local communities working to protect their rivers and watersheds.” IRN “works to halt destructive river development projects and to encourage equitable and sustainable methods of meeting needs for water, energy and food management.” The IRN website connects users to books & publications on the rivers and dams; water and energy alternatives; and river renewal. IRN has campaigns in Africa, China, Latin America, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Its work is connected to organizations in the 50 Years is Enough Network, working on issues around the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Development Projects. Kentuckians for the Commonwealth KFTC is a Kentucky-wide citizens’ activist organization. They have worked since 1981 around issues such as fair taxes, environmental protection, and social justice. One of their current campaigns seeks to stop the practice of mountain-top removal mining in Kentucky. KFTC’s main office is in London, Kentucky. The organization also has offices throughout Kentucky in Salyersville, Harlan, Whitesburg, Lexington and Louisville. Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition OHVEC, founded in 1987, is dedicated to preserving and improving the environment through grassroots organizing, education, coalition building, leadership development and research. The organization has a regional focus of West Virginia and surrounding areas in southern Ohio and Kentucky. Issues related to mining, especially mountain-top removal mining, tend to be a priority for OVEC. Public Citizen Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, has worked since 1971 to represents consumer interests to the government. Public Citizen works “for openness and democratic accountability in government, for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe and sustainable energy sources; for social and economic justice in trade policies; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; and for safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs and health care.” Their Water for All Campaign works to stop water privatization. For more information on this campaign, go to http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/. Public Service International Research Unit “PSIRU researches privatization and restructuring of public services around the world, with special focus on water, energy, waste management and healthcare. It produces a series of reports on specific aspects of privatization and restructuring, and maintains an extensive database, which generates updates on developments and the multinational companies involved. This core database is financed by Public Services International, the global confederation of public service trade unions.” Save Our Cumberland Mountains SOCM is “a non-profit Tennessee grassroots citizen's organization working for environmental, social, and economic justice.” SOCM works on a local level in areas such as forestry, strip mining, toxic issues, tax reform and dismantling racism. Sierra Club The Sierra Club is one of the oldest environmental groups in the United States. With over 700,000 members and offices all over the country, the Sierra Club has great influence on the wide range of issues on which they work. The club’s mission is to “explore, enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth; practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice SNEEJ is a network of activists and grassroots organizations from the U.S. Southwest, West, and the border states of Mexico who work towards developing regional strategies for dealing with environmental degradation and social injustices. This network of indigenous peoples and people of color believes that “sustainable economic development alternatives must be defined by the communities most impacted by these policies.” Sustainable Energy & Economy Network SEEN is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC and the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. SEEN works in partnership with citizens groups nationally & globally on environment, human rights, and development issues, with a particular focus on energy, climate change, environmental justice, gender equity, and economic issues. The SEEN website has a list of links to governmental and nongovernmental organizations working on global issues. Western Organization of Resource Councils WORC is a regional network in the western U.S., composed of “seven grassroots community organizations that include 8,750 members and 50 local chapters. WORC helps its member groups succeed by providing training and coordinating issue work.” WORC addresses issues such as natural resource development, corporate conduct, and the growth of agribusiness. WORC has offices in Montana, South Dakota, Colorado and Washington, D.C. BooksBlue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water This book by Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians and Tony Clarke of the Polaris Institute challenges the assumption that there is an infinite supply of water on the planet. Barlow explains that at global consumption of water doubles annually, at twice the rate of population growth, “governments around the world – under pressure from transnational corporations – are advocating a radical solution – the privatization, commodification and mass diversion of water.” The book goes on to explain that “selling water on an open market does not address the needs of poor, thirsty people.” A similar 87-page 2001 report by Maude Barlow entitled “Blue Gold: The Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World’s Water Supply” is available from the Council of Canadians at: http://www.canadians.org/documents/blue_gold-e.pdf or by calling (800) 387-7177. A companion discussion guide and water resource guide are available via Yes! Magazine at http://www.futurenet.org/28water/barlow.htm or by calling (800) 937-4451. The Water Barons The privatization of public water systems around the world, driven by a handful of European corporations and the World Bank, is increasing dramatically despite sometimes tragic results. The Water Barons, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a project of the Center for Public Integrity, shows that the three largest water utility companies have expanded since 1990 into nearly every region of the world, raising concerns that a handful of private companies could soon control a large chunk of the world's most vital resource. $14.00. VideosBullfrog Films “Over the last 31 years, Bullfrog Films has become the leading U.S. publisher of independently-produced environmental videos that point the way to living healthily, happily and with greater concern for the other inhabitants of this earth.” NOW with Bill Moyers: Leasing the Rain “What are the consequences of treating life-sustaining water as just another commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder?” To find out, NOW teamed up with the new PBS series Frontline World, sending producer David Murdock and The New Yorker’s William Finnegan to Cochabamba, Bolivia, where a fight broke out between the citizens who depend on water and a multinational corporation who wants it for profit. The Frontline World Website has a number of articles on the water crisis in Bolivia available at: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/links.html. $29.98, 2002. Drowned Out This film, by Franny Armstrong, tells the inspiring story of thousands of Indian villagers and their allies fighting the development of a dam that would result in the flooding of their homes and farms in the Narmada valley. “The war for the Narmada valley is not just some exotic tribal war,” says Arundhati Roy. “It’s a war for the rivers and mountains and forests of the world.” $29.95 for home use, 75 min. Thirst This film tells the stories of communites in Bolivia, India and California who are batlling corporate interests over the right to water. Around the world, billions of people lack access to safe drinking water, while transnational corporations are increasingly working to control fresh water systems. The water activists all meet at the World Water Forum in Kyoto as a new movement against global water privatization. The issues around water are critical for all of us to better understand, to defend the right of people to water to sustain their lives. By Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, 2004, 62 minutes. Price for community groups and unions: $59 plus shipping, individuals: $29 plus shipping. Includes Spanish, French and Portuguese versions. Study guide available at http://www.thirstthemovie.org. Other ResourcesArticles on “World Water Woes” and the Water Crisis in Bolivia These articles, developed to accompany the film Leasing the Rain by William Finnegan, discuss the history and key players in the water crisis in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The website also lists articles on battles for water around the world and in places like Oregon and California in the United States. “The Battle for Water” This article is based on a presentation made by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, co-authors of Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water. The website links you to a discussion guide and a water resource guide. Plan Puebla Panama Plan Puebla Panama is “a mega-development project for Southern Mexico and Central America promoted by the governments of the region and the Inter-American Development Bank.” The Data Center web list includes resources in both English and Spanish. |
- 
