Monsanto.

JURIST - Paper Chase: Supreme Court hears arguments on genetically modified crop injunction

Some green minded public interest lawyers editing this blog might think that Monsanto is a dark and mysterious force of environmental control, destruction, and possibly one of the epitomes of evil corporations. Some might not! It's a fun debate.

Michael Pollan and the CEO of Monsanto talked a couple years ago. Some editors of this blog might not have actually watched this conversation, but will share it anyway.



Regardless, keep an eye on these guys. It's also worth noting that Monsanto is now an underwriter of the PBS Newshour, and within the past few years started advertising in mainstream media.

Food, Inc.

Hey Appleseeds,

let's just say, you're stressin, you're dragging your feet, you're overloaded, and you can't sleep?

Well, you could try streaming Food, Inc. from PBS fora limited time only!

The PBS stream works on crappy internet signals, and on older computers. And if you didn't read Omnivore's Dilema, the film is quite nice, but even if you did, it's nice to see some of the points illustrated in the film.

Enjoy.

Good luck.

Waste Audit photos!

Results of the waste audit are soon to be released.

Here we have some Appleseeds clawing through trash.


24 hours. So much garbage.

 

 

Below you will notice 3L Laura Mott finding all sorts of treasures.

 

the clothing swap!

Earth week, Earth Day, so much GC activity.

Here are some photos from the swap, and this writer asks the readers to recognize that he arrived well after it was over and he assumes there was much more than we can witness in the photos here.

Many thanks to Paula Segal and Laura Mott for hauling it all into the car before the terrential downpour!


Donations ended up going to Beacon's Closet. Hipsters shop there, yes, but they also donate all the clothing they pass on to "Dominick’s mobile ministry – a not-for-profit mobile service established in 1995, which distributes customer clothing to the needy, homeless, and to churches throughout new york and pennsylvania." taken from the Beacon's Closet website.

They also donate financial proceeds to a nice list of charities. So WAY TO GO CUNY COMMUNITY. Sharing with your community and donating.

CUNY Law loves clothing swaps. Many thanks to all those who brought in, swapped out, and stopped by and considered the joy of sharing rather than consuming.

waste audit result:

whoa.

Way to go Carmen Rana! Green Coalition loves you! And we think the whole Cunity is grateful for this contribution of beauty at the build up to finals.

FYI: this is 24 hour's worth of disposal cups transformed into art. 451 cups.


CUNY Law: meet the reusable mug:

come to the pool party, help us hit our goal.

People's Climate Conference in Bolivia

Law students don't have much time to give Earth Day its due, but in case you're kicking back, we're embedding a livestream to the People's Climate Conference beginning in Bolivia this week:


And if you want to get some more info about it, this Indypendent article has some more info about it and events that are going on in NY in response.

Further, Democracy Now is broadcasting from Bolivia all week and I just watched Monday's episode. Quite stimulating.

Pool Party too!

Pool Party!

Get Wet!
Thurs April 22nd, 2010 · 7:00pm - 11:00pm
at the Grace Hotel
125 West 45th St bet 6th and 7th Ave, Manhattan
$10 for student pool passes · $10+ suggested donations for everyone else!

Everybody In! It is time to break out your bathing suits and join Green Coalition on Earth Day in support of the inaugural BLSA-Green Coalition summer fellowship. Yes, it's an indoor pool party! We'll play Marco Polo and have a drink at the bar all in honor of Earth Day!

The fellowship will enable a law student to volunteer their summer at an organization that works to promote environmental justice. The award will go to a student who demonstrates an interest in environmental law and the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, culture, education, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

Tickets can be purchased here or from a Green Coalition member during tabling next week. Tickets must be purchased in advance! Visit the Grace Hotel Website here.

i'd rather read about this

Agriculture is the New Golf: Rethinking Suburban Communities - The Neighborhoods Issue - GOOD

instead of finishing my Motion. But if anybody reading the blog has time, please read this and summarize in the comments.



thank you Good.

Heather Rogers (Green Gone Wrong) & Jim Hansen (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)

CUNY Graduate Center book launch, “Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution” (Simon & Schuster, 2010) by Heather Rogers

On April 30th, 2010, the CUNY Graduate Center will be sponsoring a book launch for “Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution” (Simon & Schuster, 2010) by journalist and author, Heather Rogers. Heather is the author of "Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage"(New Press, 2006) which addresses the issues of waste and garbage accumulation in our society. In Green Gone Wrong, she blasts through the marketing buzz of big corporations and asks the simple questions: can earth-friendly products really save the planet? Do today's much-touted "green" products -carbon offsets, organic food, biofuels, and eco-friendly cars and homes- really work? This far-reaching, riveting narrative explores how the most readily available solutions to environmental crisis may be disastrously off the mark. At this event there will be a discussion with Jim Hansen, Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and author of "Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity," (Bloomsbury, 2009). The discussion will be moderated by Ashley Dawson, Faculty Fellow, the Center for Place,
Culture and Politics, CUNY Graduate Center.

Books will be on sale.

Friday, April 30th, 2010
7 - 8.30 pm; Reception to follow
Proshansky Auditorium
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street
Free and open to the public

Pool Party!

Purchase your tix by clicking here! Thanks.

bike lanes and community often conflict *updated*

But this one doesn't really seem like it is more than just drivers asserting their privelege.

The Brooklyn Paper: Prospect Park West’s two-way bike lane is on a roll



Blogger's note: I try to resist posting too much bike stuff. It's not always explicitly environmental. I think this one is pushing the limit of things relevant to this blog. But I think it's neat.

Streetsblog made a video of interviews at the Community Board Meeting, including newly elected Councilman Brad Lander. The video is boring. Click through it, you'll get the idea.

UPROSE bus tour

At the Law Review Panel:



back in February, Elizabeth Yeampierre talked about the work of UPROSE and the video shows the bus they use for the EJ Bus Tour. Here's a media spot from a REALLY awesome project, Brooklyn Independent Television, with a piece about it.

Can we take that tour sometime soon?

tech savvy

Look at our brilliantly designed new compost bin!

Appleseeds, so capable in law and labor.

Toxic Colonialism: U.S. Military Policy and Vieques

GC co-sponsored a CLORE/LALSA Panel today.

Here is the video that was played at the beginning if you're interested:


Please participate in the conversation over at the CLORE blog where they have posted the things that didn't get fleshed out.

Here are some scattered notes I took during the conversation
-History of Navy base in Vieques pollution. 62 years of bombing. Puerto Rico is the oldest colony in the world.

Javier Cuebas: Speaking about primary strategy of civil disobedience and other tactics. Vieques is a reflection of PR diaspora, has different meanings to people living on the island. Vieques known as 'little sister' - reflection of PR experience.
-with the exception of nuclear bombs, all other weapons tested there
-extremely sick population as a result.
on stateside - two camps - deniers and those who are aware of it.
majority of people IN PR are in agreement that vieques is a problem. galvanizes people on the mainland.

at one point navy propoosed transfer of population of vieques to the mainland.
dracula plan.

John Arthur Eaves - how did a gringo mississippi lawyer end up on this case? former mayor called him up, due to publicity from another case.
why did it begin as a case and become a mission?
1-faith
2-modern day civil rights movt - would not have happened anywhere else in the US
3-explains full cost of war
4-health of the people there
5-vieques best opportunity I have had to make a difference
the case - began w/administrative claim. took 4-5 years to collect medical records. doctors didn't even know teh illness the ppl were facing
told by politicians that the votes were not enough,
case dismissed, no evidence that navy's activities
relied on faulty ATSDR conclusions.
all sorts of procedural issues, eventually moved to San Juan ct, govt moved to dismss for sovereign immunity
discovered through FOIA that USNavy knew of problems in 1978
this is where it is now.

Vieques is now a superfund site.

ATSDR

JC - ADOVACY AND ALLIANCES TO BRING people w/ different ideologies together
PR senate passed unanimous resolutions about Vieques
casapueblo - community organizing in PR
everything connected for advocacy through regulations
"politicians, they like to be in office"
identify commonalities among the actors. develop political alliances

questions

community focus needed for a real 'break'

The Indypendent » Greenpeace Indirectly Pits Itself Against Indonesian Farm Workers

The Indypendent Blog posted this brief article about the effects of Greenpeace's recent big campaign against Nestle. Greenpeace has really started to nail down how to wage a successful campaign with cutting viral videos and aggressive pushes against well-known corporations. It's the kinda stuff that makes environmentalists go "oo yeah, you get 'em Greenpeace". And it seems that the campaign is having rapid success, but not without a drawback, pushback from Indonesian palm oil farmers.

At CUNY Law we speak often about organizing and advocacy and the role of the law within that, and I think this issue raises these questions on a big scale. Specifically - how can large environmental groups wage effective campaigns without sacrificing community needs? Can this be done on a large scale or is a smaller community focus required to preserve the lives of workers when one corporation holds all the economic power in a region? Are viral video campaigns inherently exploitive?

And so on.

At the International Law Society's event a few weeks ago "Blood and Capital: Holding Corporations Accountable for Human Rights Violations" we did see some great legal work utilizing the Alient Tort Statute that seems to allow for this type of work. Is there a way that Greenpeace and the other gigantic environmental groups can integrate some of CCR's and EarthRights strategies?

Much to consider, and it's important for all of us to consider these questions in our summer work and beyond.

Regardless, here is the somewhat stomach turning Greenpeace video, in case you haven't seen it.

How to strangle a climate skeptic [VIDEO] | Grist

How to strangle a climate skeptic [VIDEO] | Grist