 | The Otero Mesa The Chihuahuan Desert extends southward from New Mexico, Texas and Arizona into the Mexican Plateau. It covers an area of 250,000 square miles and is considered to be among the most biologically rich and diverse desert eco-regions in the world. The area is home to Pronghorn Antelope, migratory songbirds and independent cattle ranches that have been in operation for generations.
Despite local outrage and a 2005 law suit filed by New Mexico'sgovernor against the Bush administration, the Bureau of Land Management has made the decision to nearly double the acreage available for oil and gas development on Otero Mesa. If it is turned into a full-scale oil and gas field, the wilderness and much of the wildlife that live there will be threatened by groundwater pollution. Current drilling requires the use of a number of chemical agents (many of which are suspected carcinogens) that are used for the entire length of a drilling process.
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 | The United Nations In the year 2000, the United Nations called a Millennium Summit, and government leaders established 8 attainable development goals to combat the challenges that human kind faces today. 191 nations signed a pledge to meet these goals by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals will help to guarantee dignity and a decent standard of living for all people.
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 | The Boreal Songbird Initiative The Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI)is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Americans about the importance of the Boreal Forest to migratory birds. BSI is part of the Boreal Songbird Network, a network of U.S. organizations including the American Bird Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council, working to raise awareness about the Boreal Forest and assist efforts in Canada and Alaska to conserve it. Why is a U.S.organization working to protect the Boreal Forest? Because it is one of the largest intact forest ecosystems left on earth and critical to North American birdlife. Consumer choices made in this country are driving much of the demand for the resources of the Boreal. The U.S. isthe leading importer of Canadian wood products and oil as well as other natural resources. Presently trees being logged in the Boreal are primarily pulped and turned into such products as toilet tissue, paper,and catalogs.
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 | Forest Ethics The Boreal Forest in Canada stretches westward from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Alaska. It is an astonishing wilderness over 12 times the size of California. Holding more freshwater than anywhere else on the planet, it plays an essential role in cleaning the air that we breathe. Most of the Boreal is the traditional territory of Canada's aboriginal peoples, and a critical habitat for bears, wolves, the threatened woodland caribou. It is also being destroyed at a rate of 2 acres per day. Why are logging companies like Weyerhaeuser clear-cutting indigenous ancestral homelands? Because American companies like Victoria's Secret buy their timber to make catalogs in order to sell underwear.
PLAY VIDEO CLIP (footage courtesy of Joshua Martin)
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 | Casa de Milagros An eight-year old Peruvian boy spends afternoons in the parks of Cusco, Peruwith other children playing soccer and shining the shoes of tourists. Laughing and running, he appears happy just like any other boy. But at night the boy is often found in the street gutter. With blue lips, body shivering and eyes blank, he does not respond to his name. Thousands of children just like Sergio exist in a world of poverty and misery foreign to many of us. But fortunately there is a way we can help. Channel G is a media company that produces and distributes compelling content designed to educate and inspire people about the work of non-profit organizations in the United Statesand around the world. Channel G focuses its cameras on environmental, social, and health-related projects designed to implement solutions to some of the world's most challenging problems. To view a short clip from Channel G about the Casa De Milagros in Peru click here:
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 | Red Feather Many Native Americans who live on remote reservations struggle daily with isolation and limited employment opportunities. In a harsh and resource-poor environment, homelessness, poverty and addiction are a reality. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that over 300,000 Native Americans are homeless or are living in substandard housing conditions.
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 | Trees, Water, People The World Health Organization reports that 1.6 million women and children around the world die each year from respiratory diseases caused by the toxic smoke produced from indoor burning stoves used for cooking. In Central America, 90% of rural families and 50% in urban areas still use traditional stoves for cooking all their meals. These stoves waste 90% of the potential wood energy and the burning contributes to global warming.
Help reduce toxic smoke in the kitchens of Central America while reducing the need for wood by up to 70%! Click Here.
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 | Hidden Daughters For some European daughters of Pakistani immigrants there are daily struggles to find a balance between cultures. When conflicts turn to culture wars in the family the daughters may disappear - sometimes forever when they are sent back to their parents' native land to be "re-educated." Attempting to shed light on the girls' destinies, Hidden Daughters travels to Pakistan in search of one girl who suddenly disappeared. Thought by friends and teachers to be going on a holiday, no one has heard from her in a year. And there is good reason to be worried. In Pakistan many women are locked away, they are forced into marriage, and they suffer from suppression, physical and psychological abuse.
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