Amid a natural gas boom, could U.S. activists ever dream of a national ban on fracking? If it seems impossible, they should look to the south for inspiration. On March 29, the small Central American nation of El Salvador passed a total ban on metal mining. The...
The people of El Salvador and their international allies against irresponsible mining are celebrating a historic victory. After a long battle against global mining companies that were determined to plunder the country’s natural resources for short-term profits, El...
From her home in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Karen Feridun is helping stage a growing citizen pushback against the expansion of natural gas extraction. But a far-reaching global deal recently signed halfway around the world may make her job much harder. Feridun got...
A few years back, I was one of the hundreds of climate activists arrested while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline outside the White House. So when the president finally pulled the plug on the project last November, it felt like a huge victory — symbolic, maybe, but...
This article is a joint publication of Foreign Policy In Focus and TheNation.com. With Republicans winning big in the midterm elections, the debate over so-called "free-trade" agreements could again take center stage in Washington. President Barack Obama has been...
This article is a joint publication of Foreign Policy In Focus and TheNation.com. For miners, investors, and artisans, few things are more precious than gold. But for human life itself, nothing is more precious than water. Just ask the people of El Salvador. Nearly...
An obscure tribunal housed at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. will soon decide the fate of millions of people. At issue is whether a government should be punished for refusing to let a foreign mining company operate because it wants to protect its main source of...
“For us, the mine is death.” Those words, spoken by the president of a rural grassroots organization, capture the intensity and urgency of the struggle against mining in El Salvador. Mining has reaped devastating consequences in El Salvador. Toxins from mining...