Ecuador auctions off Amazon to Chinese oil firms | World news | The Guardian

Ecuador auctions off Amazon to Chinese oil firms | World news | The Guardian: "Ecuador plans to auction off more than three million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, angering indigenous groups and underlining the global environmental toll of China's insatiable thirst for energy."

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Extolled as benefits of walkability - but really they are externalized costs of the private auto

Economic Benefits of Walkability | Ciudades emergentes y sostenibles: "It’s pretty clear from the study that if you can afford to live, work, or own a business in a highly walkable place, that you can reap tremendous benefits. "

Amazon Indians unite against Canadian oil giant - Survival International

Amazon Indians unite against Canadian oil giant - Survival International: "Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said, ‘The Canadian state was founded on the theft of tribal land. When Europeans invaded Canada, they introduced alien diseases, seized control of natural resources, and brought about the extinction of entire peoples. It’s a great irony that a Canadian company today is poised to commit the same crimes against tribes in Peru. Why doesn’t the Peruvian government uphold its own commitments to tribal rights? History tells us that when uncontacted peoples’ land is invaded, death, disease and destruction follow.’"

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Glaciers: Meltwater catastrophes are forming high in the Andes -- 03/14/2013 -- www.eenews.net

Lake Palcacocha, a high Andean lake with a deadly downside. Photo courtesy of Cesar Portocarrero.

Glaciers: Meltwater catastrophes are forming high in the Andes -- 03/14/2013 -- www.eenews.net: "Last month, the Risk Management Office of the Peruvian Municipality of Huaraz sounded the alarm that glacial lake Palcacocha had once again swollen above its record volume of 17 million cubic meters of water (about 612 million cubic feet). At such levels, local authorities feared the lake could suddenly burst and send waves, liquid mud, blocks of ice and chunks of rock roaring down the Santa River valley into the quiet city of Huaraz, population 117,774."

Palm oil plantations eating up old-growth forests

Palm oil company destroys 7,000 ha of Amazon rainforest in Peru: "The report comes a year after a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that 72 percent of oil palm expansion in the Peruvian Amazon since 2000 has come at the expense of forest. "

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Colombia - Only 8 more years of oil

Will Colombia Become Latin America’s Poster Child for Peak Oil: "In a stark interview with RCN Radio, Colombia’s Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas told his audience that Colombian oil reserves will last only eight more years at the current rate of consumption, adding, “We know that's not much time to sustain a pace of 1 million barrels per day. That's why we need to find reserves quickly.”"

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