Caribbean: Addressing Climate Change Through Global Finance Reform
Link: https://aulablog.net/2023/06/14/caribbean-addressing-climate-change-through-global-finance-reform/
As posted on American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies Blog, June 14, 2023
Initiatives launched by Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley to reschedule the debt of Caribbean countries hit especially hard by climate change and to reform international lender practices are gaining momentum.
Putting Civility at the Core of a New Federal Process for Consultation with Native American Communities
As Published in the September 2022 Issue of the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section's Just Resolutions Newsletter
By Thomas Andrew O’Keefe
ABA House of Delegates Resolution 108 affirms that civility is a foundation for democracy and the rule of law and calls upon “all government officials and employees… to strive toward a more civil public discourse in…the administration of the affairs of government.” The Report supporting passage of Resolution 108 defines civil public discourse as an engagement that encourages people to vigorously, but responsibly, debate the choices facing a community through deliberative dialogue, respectful communication, and informed public decision-making.
The frequent failure by the federal government to conduct adequate consultations with Native American communities before undertaking decisions or embarking on actions that may impact them has contributed to irreparable human rights violations, grave economic injustice, and violent social conflicts. In response to this tragic history, President Joe Biden issued a Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships within days of taking office.1 The Memorandum reaffirms Bill Clinton’s Executive Order 13175 requiring that all executive departments and agencies engage in regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with tribal officials in the development of federal policies that have tribal implications2 as well as Barack Obama’s Memorandum of 2009 that requires each federal agency to prepare and periodically update a detailed plan of action to implement Executive Order 13175.3
Creating a Robust Tribal Consultation Process
Link: https://washingtonlawyer.dcbar.org/julyaugust2022/index.php#/p/42
As Published in the July/August 2022 Issue of Washington Lawyer. Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 42-3
By Thomas Andrew O’Keefe
The United States of America has a long and sordid history of egregious human rights violations committed against Indigenous peoples that includes physical and cultural genocide as well as forcible removal and usurpation of tribal lands. Even today, many Native American communities find themselves exposed to toxic pollution emanating from energy and mining projects operating on nearby federal property. This contamination jeopardizes water supplies and contributes to inordinately high rates of asthma, cancer, and other serious health maladies among Native Americans.
Recognizing the U.S. government’s frequent failure to adequately and effectively confer with sovereign tribal nations on federal policy matters that affect them, Joe Biden promised during the 2020 presidential campaign to create a robust consultation mechanism that would be consistent across all federal agencies and meaningfully engage tribal nations if he were elected president. Within days of taking office, President Biden issued the Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships.
THE FULL TEXT IS AVAILABLE AT: https://washingtonlawyer.dcbar.org/julyaugust2022/index.php#/p/42
South America: Future Global Green Hydrogen Hub?
Link: https://aulablog.net/2022/06/03/south-america-future-global-green-hydrogen-hub/
As posted on American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies Blog, June 3, 2022
A handful of South American countries have long produced hydrogen using fossil fuels for their domestic hydrocarbon, steel, and petrochemical industries, but early efforts by Brazil, Chile and Uruguay to shift to renewable and carbon-free energy sources, along with the emergence of new lower-cost technologies, could position the continent as a leading global green hydrogen supplier.
South America: Reality Check on Lithium Fantasies
Link: https://aulablog.net/2021/07/14/south-america-reality-check-on-lithium-fantasies/
As posted on American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies Blog, July 14, 2021
The urgent need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and transition to an energy matrix centered on renewable energy guarantees a steady demand for lithium, but speculation that South America is on the cusp of a lithium boom is premature. The chemical is critical in the production of rechargeable batteries for mobile devices, electric vehicles, and, increasingly, renewable energy storage systems. The so-called Lithium Triangle of Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile holds just over half the world’s currently known lithium deposits, while Brazil and Peru have large amounts of spodumene hard rock that contains lithium.