El Semanario - Periodico para Hispanos en Denver y Colorado - Bilingual Latino newspaper:Environment

Defense of water in México: An initial victory

The movement for the defense of water in México, led above all by farmers belonging to the organization, El Barzón, has had an initial and important victory: President Enrique Peña Nieto has just signed a decree that establishes a ban on drilling in areas of free extraction. Less than a month ago,

America�s most endangered rivers of 2013

American Rivers announced its annual list of America�s Most Endangered Rivers this week, naming the Colorado River the Most Endangered River in the country. The Colorado River is endangered by outdated water management that is inadequate to respond to the pressures of over-allocation and persistent

Rep. Ryan needs to learn something about clean energy

What do you call a future of dangerous pollution, catastrophic extreme weather events, giveaways to Big Oil companies, and even greater reliance on fossil fuels? If you�re House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), you call it �The Path to Prosperity.� Not coincidentally, that�s the name of

Why the EPA is important for Latino families

All air is not equal in the United States. Low-income and minority Americans tend to live and work in areas where they are disproportionately exposed to pollution that harms their health. Latinos are a particularly vulnerable population: Two-thirds of Latino families reside in areas that do not meet

State efforts to �reclaim� our public lands

Despite the many problems that states and municipalities face today�from budget shortfalls to unemployment�seven western states have decided to embark on unconstitutional and quixotic battles attempting to force the federal government to turn millions of acres of public lands over to the states.

Gov. not only official trying to frack Colorado

Over the past few weeks, Colorado�s Governor John Hickenlooper has gotten a lot of negative attention. First, for telling a U.S. Senate committee that he drank Halliburton�s frack fluid and second, for threatening to sue the City of Fort Collins for its ban on fracking. But Hickenlooper isn�t the

Latinos disagree with Rubio on climate change

About three out of four Latinos believe that climate change is a serious problem and a substantial majority support President Obama using his authority to reduce its main cause: dangerous carbon pollution, according to a national poll of 1,218 registered voters conducted after last week�s State of

Climate movement overlooks people who live near Tar Sands refineries

Editor's Note: As many as 40,000 protesters from 30 states participated in rallies Sunday in Washington, D.C., urging President Obama to curb pollution from fossil fuels, including tar sands; nix the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring more tar sands crude from Canada to refineries in

How communities track �microchanges� in climate

The iSeeChange almanac allows people to make observations about climate change in their own backyards and ask scientists questions directly. NAM�s Ngoc Nguyen spoke with the project�s producer, Julia Kumari Drapkin, about how this experiment in crowd-sourced environmental reporting is spurring

Were your children born a generation too late?

Are you ready to tell your children they were born a generation too late? That there is nothing you can do to fight the destruction of the earth�s climate? Me neither. And perhaps you�d like to know that there is a whole lot we all can do to confront the most serious challenge of our era. And

Organizations call for a ban on fracking in the United States

A group of over 100 public health, consumer, environmental and faith-based organizations announced recently the launch of Americans Against Fracking, a national coalition dedicated to banning hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and drilling associated with fracking for oil and natural gas in the

Conservative assault on environmental justice

All air is not equal in the United States. People of color live and work in areas where they are disproportionately exposed to pollution that harms their health. More than 71 percent of African Americans and 66 percent of Latinos live in areas that fail to meet federal air quality standards, and 7

Honoring the Memory of My Grandfather, César E. Chávez

On October 8th, the President traveled to Keene, California to honor the memory of César Estrada Chávez, by designating the property at Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz as a National Monument. Although César Chávez was one of my heroes, he was also my grandfather which made this week�s dedication so

Jurassic plan: Rejection of realities in 21st Century

Mitt Romney finally unveiled his energy plan, and it came so loaded with fossil fuels, we might as well call it the Jurassic Plan. In a stubborn rejection of the realities of the 21st Century, Romney is trying to sell us a sputtering lemon that moves better in reverse. This clunker also runs over

Latino voters are sending a clear message

When it comes to knowledge about the health of our communities and the environment, we Latinos are way ahead of the curve. And this knowledge does not come from a privileged position. Quite the opposite. We know these issues well because we Latinos suffer the consequences of pollution and

Putting priorities into action

The Sierra Club and NCLR (National Council of La Raza) announced a new national survey today, finding that nearly 90 percent of Latino voters favor clean energy over fossil fuels. The national poll surveyed 1,131 Latino registered voters across the country on a number of public health, environmental

EPA takes key step towards a cleaner, healthier future

The Obama Administration and EPA announcement that it will establish the first national limits on carbon pollution from new power plants is great news for anyone that cares about clean air. No longer will new power plants be able to endanger our health with unchecked carbon pollution and the climate

Salazar protects Grand Canyon from new uranium claims, exploration

Conservationists are applauding a notice issued this week by the Obama administration to temporarily place 1 million acres of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon off limits to new mining claims and exploration or development of existing, unpatented claims. The order complies with a June 25th, 2008

Havasupai Tribe gather to oppose uranium mining

Recently, the Havasupai Tribe announced a protest gathering at their sacred site, Red Butte, which is threatened by uranium mining located near the south rim of the Grand Canyon. The public is invited to attend and add their voices in support in opposing uranium mining.

“On behalf of the

Make It Green

DAVA’s latest exhibit Make it Green features drawings, models, installations and recycled art by DAVA youth, with guest artists Rori Knudtson and Sarah H. Chung. The exhibit is open to the public from July 10- August 28, and opening reception , July 10, 4-8pm. DAVA (Downtown Aurora Visual Arts) is