Fantastic news to share with you, anglo-american ends involvement in Pebble mine project 17SEP13

OVER the past few years I have posted information about and asked you to sign petitions to various government agencies and elected officials as well as the companies involved in the proposed Pebble mine. Now anglo-american, one of the two companies seeking to open  Pebble mine, has pulled out of the project. To be sure this is a victory, but until northern dynasty minerals gives up their plans for the Pebble mine and no other company tries for approval of the project we will still have to be on our guard. Congrats and thank you to all who participated in this campaign! This update from the NRDC......

Mining Giant Anglo American Pulls Out of the Pebble Mine Project! The British company calls it quits on a disastrous plan that threatens one of America's last and greatest wild places. This is a game changer, but our fight still goes on... The announcement came like a thunderbolt yesterday morning. British mining giant Anglo American -- the lead company behind the potentially catastrophic Pebble Mine -- said that it was throwing in the towel on the project immediately! This is spectacular, game-changing news for our long, hard-fought campaign against a mega-mine that threatens to destroy an American natural treasure: Alaska's beautiful Bristol Bay. Believe me, it takes a lot for a hard-nosed company like Anglo American to change its mind. The corporate giant had reportedly sunk more than $500 million into the Pebble Mine-- a massive gold and copper operation that would produce some 10 billion tons of contaminated waste and threaten the greatest wild salmon runs on the planet. For years the company asked us to believe that it could gouge a vast and toxic open pit out of the Bristol Bay wilderness without turning it into the kind of dead zone that surrounds other major copper mines. Now it wants out. And it is willing to write down losses of $300 million to do it. What changed? Anglo American -- like Mitsubishi before it -- came to its senses and realized that the Pebble Mine is a financial and environmental disaster waiting to happen. Of course it helped mightily that local communities, Native groups and fishermen have opposed the mine courageously and tirelessly ... that NRDC BioGems Defenders like you stood shoulder to shoulder with them by deluging Anglo American with nearly one million messages of protest .. that Robert Redford took our campaign to the national and international stage (he was cited by more than 50 news outlets yesterday!) ... that EPA scientists found the mine posed "catastrophic" risks ... and that more than 600,000 Americans petitioned EPA this year to stop the mine. Just last April, we hand-delivered 200,000 messages from NRDC activists to Anglo American's new CEO, Mark Cutifani, calling on him to break with his predecessors and chart a new course by abandoning plans for the Pebble Mine. Now he has done just that -- by pulling the plug on a terrible investment with astronomical risks. As a direct result, every American who loves and cherishes our natural heritage can breathe a little easier tonight. And every BioGems Defender should feel profound pride in the fight we have waged against a horrific project that, until recently, was considered all but unstoppable. Simply put, I have never been more inspired by our collective power to make a difference. So does Anglo's exit mean the Pebble Mine is dead? No. It may be on life support but there are ways it could be revived in a hurry. Anglo American's partner in the Pebble Mine -- Northern Dynasty Minerals, a Canadian company -- must now go it alone in trying to push through the controversial project. It's unlikely that Northern Dynasty can put the massive mine into production without major funding from another giant partner like Anglo American. And Northern Dynasty has already made it clear that it's actively looking for new funding partners. That means you and I must go all out to make sure that other mining giants are not tempted to make the same bad bet that Mitsubishi and Anglo American made.We must also keep the pressure on Rio Tinto, another global player which now owns nearly a 20 percent stake in Northern Dynasty. Above all, we absolutely must protect Bristol Bay forever -- by making sure the EPA uses its power under the Clean Water Act to ban large-scale mining in an American Eden where both human and wildlife communities depend on the annual miracle of 40 million returning salmon. By now you must realize: NRDC never walks away from a battle until it's truly won. This battle is not over, but it sure feels like the tide is turning! I'm counting on you to stand with us until we reach our final goal: the permanent protection of the awe-inspiring Bristol Bay -- and the certainty it will never be destroyed to enrich a handful of mining corporations. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

Five Western senators question Obama on proposed Alaskan mine & TELL EPA TO ACT ON ITS FINDINGS AND REJECT THE PEBBLE MINE! 9JUN13

THE NRDC and a host of other environmental groups have been waging a campaign against the Pebble Mine for the last few years. It is good these five Senators from the Pacific Coast have joined the struggle, now it is time for all of us to join in
. To find out more about the environmental threat from the Pebble mine go to the NRDC's Stop The Pebble Mine campaign webpage http://www.savebiogems.org/stop-pebble-mine/?__utma=1.119269012.1370818096.1370818096.1370818096.1&__utmb=1.2.10.1370818096&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1370818096.1.1.utmcsr=link|utmccn=email|utmcmd=alert&__utmv=-&__utmk=182721574
and check out Frontline's report on it at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/alaska-gold/
YOU can send a message in opposing the Pebble Mine to the EPA Acting Administrator until 30JUN13 by clicking the link in this call to action from the NRDC....

		The time for studying the Pebble Mine is over. The EPA has once again confirmed that the PebbleMine would be a disaster for Alaska’s Bristol Bay. Tell the agency to act on its findings and reject the Pebble Mine! Enough study. It’s time for action! The EPA has just released its latest scientific findings. And once again it has determined that the Pebble Mine would be devastating for the spectacular wilderness, wildlife and people of Alaska’s Bristol Bay. The time for study is over! Tell the EPA to finalize its assessment and stop the Pebble Mine.  The agency is inviting the public to send comments until June 30 -- so we’re aiming to flood them with 500,000 anti-Pebble messages by month’s end. Please do your part today! There are 10 billion reasons for EPA to stop this mega-mine. That’s how many tons of contaminated mining waste the Pebble Minewould produce, endangering one of America’s great natural treasures. I’m sure you agree: We can’t stand by and allow a toxic mega-mine to destroy a world-class salmon fishery that provides 14,000 jobs and generates $1.5 billion per year just to fill the pockets of a few global miningcompanies. The EPA has produced all the scientific evidence it needs to stop this mine. What’s more, it has the clear authority under the Clean Water Act to do so. But the agency and the White House are under enormous pressure from the mining industry to give the Pebble Mine the green light.That’s why it’s so crucial that they hear from 500,000 outraged Americansright away. Please tell EPA you will not tolerate the destruction of one of our planet’s last and greatest wild places. Tell them to turn their latest findings into action by rejecting the Pebble Mine. Thank you for standing with NRDC and our local partners in defense of Bristol Bay. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

FIVE WESTERN SENATORS QUESTION OBAMA ON PROPOSED ALASKAN MINE

By Juliet Eilperin, Sunday, June 9, 5:37 PM

Five Democratic senators are asking President Obama to consider blocking a proposed mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a move that could heighten pressure on theEnvironmental Protection Agency to veto the project.
In a letter Monday, the group of senators from Washington, Oregon and California, led by Maria Cantwell (Wash.), argue that their states could suffer economically if a huge gold-and-copper mine moves forward. The EPA is conducting a scientific review of how the project, underwritten by mining giants Northern Dynasty and Anglo American, would affect the region’s aquatic life.
The group of senators — which includes Patty Murray (Wash.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (Calif.) — points to a recent study by the University of Alaska Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) that estimates that salmon fishing in Bristol Bay provides their states with $500 million in direct income. In addition, the study says, Washington, Oregon and California benefit from $674 million in economic activity from the region’s salmon fishing and processing.
“Our states have a strong maritime history of which our commercial fishing industries are a key part,” the senators write. “In order to maintain these direct fishing and processing jobs, and the jobs supported by associated businesses like gear manufacturers, shipbuilders, suppliers and other maritime businesses, we must maintain healthy, sustainable fishery resources.”
In the letter, the senators ask Obama to “make staff from both the Council on Environmental Quality and the Department of Commerce available to our staff to discuss the implications of this economic report, and how these two agencies, specifically, are working with the EPA to protect our maritime economies.”
Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA can invoke the rarely used section 404(c) authority , which bars the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing a federal permit on the grounds that a project would harm the region’s waterways, fish and wildlife.
The EPA issued a draft watershed assessment last year saying the mine would probably cause the loss of between 54 and 89 miles of streams and between four and seven square miles of wetlands, and any mining accident there could cause serious damage to the salmon habitat. Agency officials are accepting comments on the analysis until June 30 and have said they have not decided what action they plan to take on the proposed mine.
The coalition backing the mine argues that its economic benefits would outweigh any possible environmental damage, and Alaska senators Lisa Murkowski (R) and Mark Begich (D) have warned the EPA against issuing a “pre-emptive veto” of the project. Last month, the Pebble Mine Partnership released an economic analysis estimating that the project would generate 2,500 construction jobs during the five years that it would take to build the facility and up to $180 million in taxes and royalties.
The EPA could not be reached for comment Sunday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/five-western-senators-question-obama-on-proposed-alaskan-mine/2013/06/09/80cc0c90-d115-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html?wprss=rss_politics

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! HERE IS THE AD IN THE LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES TODAY 19APR12

HERE is the ad from the NRDC that ran in the NY Times on 16APR12 and is in the London (U.K.) Financial Times today while representatives of the NRDC and other environmental organizations as well as residents of Bristol Bay and the area of of proposed mine testify against the mine at the annual shareholders meetings of anglo american and rio tinto in London.

		You Helped Us Turn Up the Heat! Thanks to you, our full-page ad exposing the mining giants behind the Pebble Mine ran in Monday’s New York Times. Pressure is building on the companies to take No for an answer. View the Ad Again. We did it! Thanks to donations from thousands of supporters like you, our hard-hitting ad slamming the two British-based corporations behind the disastrous Pebble Mine appeared in Monday’s national edition of The New York Times. The ad will also run in London’s Financial Times on Thursday, the same day that both companies will be holding their annual shareholders meetings -- forcing investors to ask themselves if they really want a share of this environmental and financial disaster. NRDC will be delivering 400,000 new Letters of Protest to those meetings and we’ll be testifying, alongside representatives from Bristol Bay, against this unacceptable assault on one of America’s last and greatest wild places. Thanks to you, our public mobilization campaign is reaching millions of people -- on both sides of the Atlantic -- with the ugly truth behind this toxic mega-mine. Thank you for standing with us in this fight. I’ll be sure to keep you updated in the days and weeks ahead. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! from NRDC 5APR12

THE battle against the Pebble mine in Alaska continues and the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is asking people to watch this video and then sign their petition to rio tinto and anglo american in time to be delivered with tens of thousands of other's signatures to these companies shareholder meetings on 19 APR12. Click the link to participate......

“Please watch our new video about the Pebble Mine, then make your voice heard in London when and where it counts.” -- Robert Redford Two weeks from now, foreign mining giants Anglo American and Rio Tinto -- two of the major backers of the disastrous Pebble Mine -- will hold their annual shareholder meetings in London. There’s no better time for you and me to shine a harsh spotlight on their plans and turn up the heat on their executives and investors. That’s why I joined with NRDC to make a new, hard-hitting video about this outrageous assault on an American natural treasure. But we’re counting on you to do the rest. Please watch this one-minute video, then sign our Petition of Protest. It will be delivered directly to the shareholder meetings in London by representatives of NRDC. Here’s the ugly truth: the Pebble Mine would dump some 10 billion tons of toxin-laced mining waste into one of our nation’s last and greatest wild places -- endangering a wildlife paradise, the world’s greatest sockeye salmon runs and the people who depend on that extraordinary fishery for survival. Is it any wonder that the Native communities and fishermen of Bristol Bay have united against this apocalyptic threat? Rio Tinto and Anglo American love to talk about their respect for local communities. Talk is cheap. Despite overwhelming local opposition, these global corporations continue bulldozing ahead with plans that could destroy the very headwaters of Bristol Bay. You have to wonder what part of “No” these companies don’t understand. Two weeks from now, we’re going to hold them accountable in their own backyard. Please join me in telling Anglo American and Rio Tinto that they are in for the fight of their lives. Watch the video and sign our new Petition right away. We will deliver it, along with your signature, directly to the shareholder meetings on April 19. People around the world have already sent 750,000 messages voicing their opposition to the Pebble Mine. Help us make it to one million strong! And thank you for fighting alongside me and NRDC to stop the Pebble Mine. Sincerely, Robert Redford Trustee Natural Resources Defense Council