US update

US update

22nd June 2007

The majority of members of the San Carlos Apache nation has been fighting Rio Tinto for around two years [see: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press812.htm]

A year ago they chased the company off their reservation. However, Resolution Copper (a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, with BHPBilliton holding a 45% share in the mining joint venture) is bent on exploiting a vast copper resource elsewhere on Apache territory.

Now the San Carlos Apache have called on other tribal leaders to support their new battle against the world's two largest mining companies. For once, the term "David versus Goliath" seems apt.

Last week the U.S. Senate passed energy legislation that mandates a 40 percent increase in fuel economy standards by 2020 and calls for a massive expansion of renewable fuels production. However, the final bill is far less ambitious than most Democrats had originally hoped it would be.

As Bush promotes continues promoting nuclear (uranium) power - envisaging thirty new US power plants from 2010 onwards - a broad-based report pours cold water on the assumption that this form of generating electricity will curb global warming.

The report's authors also claim that such expansion might well lead to further proliferation of nuclear weapons.