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ELAW Bulletin "I never intended to become a lawyer," Fernando told me. As a child, Fernando read a marine mammal encyclopedia and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. His father persuaded him that law was a practical tool and besides, Mexico City was far from the ocean...

Saying No to Coal

ELAW Bulletin China faces enormous environmental challenges. Ashley White, contract attorney, is helping the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) reach out to new partners in China to build the worldwide corps of grassroots advocates.

ELAW partners at Adam Teva V’Din join call for an end to monopoly in the natural gas exploration sector.

ELAW Bulletin The Grasberg mine, one of the world's largest gold mines, is located near Tembagapura, West Papua. The mine displaced the Amungme people in 1973. Since then, local rivers and springs used for drinking water have been contaminated and the mine has destroyed the top of a mountain the Amungme hold sacred.

ELAW partner Gerthie Mayo-Anda undaunted by risks

ELAW Bulletin India's National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered the inspection of 956 factories that release effluents into the India's most sacred waterway.

Australian government risks undermining environmental regulation.

ELAW Bulletin Last week, ELAW partners in the Philippines rejoiced when local government officials shelved plans to allow a company to dump coal ash on beachfront property in Naga City.

The Great Barrier Reef is threatened by a coal port.

Plans to dump coal ash on a beachfront in Naga City are shelved.

ELAW Bulletin "Ultra Mega" is the term for 12 new super-sized coal-fired power plants proposed to meet India's energy needs. Communities near Cheyyur Lagoon are concerned about plans for an Ultra Mega coal-fired power plant.

ELAW Bulletin ELAW is thrilled to learn that Abu Bakar Siddique, who was abducted April 16, 1014, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, has been returned. Abu Bakar Siddique is the husband of ELAW partner Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the winner of the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay Award and the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize, and the leader of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

ELAW Bulletin Dear friends, Mandakhaitsetsen "Manda" Urantulkhuur arrived from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, last week for a 10-week ELAW Fellowship. This is her first visit to the U.S.

ELAW Bulletin Fishing communities in Malaysia are worried about plans to build an artificial island for 12,000 homes, and a marina and yacht club off the east coast of Penang Island.

ELAW Bulletin ELAW Fellows Oksana Imetkhenova and Liubov Balandina returned to Ulan-Ude earlier this month with new tools and inspiration to protect Lake Baikal and surrounding forests.

ELAW Bulletin ELAW partner Norma Alvares of the Goa Foundation has won a tremendous victory in India. The Bombay High Court ruled that the Grand Hyatt Hotel was illegally constructed in the protected Coastal Regulation Zone, which prohibits development within 200 meters of the sea coast and 100 meters of tidal rivers.

ELAW Bulletin We were surprised and thrilled Saturday night to learn that we were receiving the 2014 David Brower Lifetime Achievement Award. The students of Land Air Water, the organizers of the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC), awarded us this high honor.

ELAW eBulletin ELAW Fellows and visitors from five continents have come together in Eugene to work with the ELAW team. Read about the inspiring work of partners from Uganda, Panama, Turkey, and Mongolia in the current Eugene Weekly.

ELAW Press ELAW Fellows and visitors from five continents have come together in Eugene to work with the ELAW team. Read about the inspiring work of partners from Uganda, Panama, Turkey, and Mongolia in the current Eugene Weekly.

Marine Protected Areas for Haiti

ELAW eBulletin
ELAW's newest Fellow, Harriet Bibangambah from Kampala, Uganda, arrived on Monday. Over the next two weeks she will work with the ELAW team to strengthen her organization, Greenwatch. She will also attend the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) and meet ELAW partners from around the world.

ELAW eBulletin
We are pleased to announce 10 years of collaboration with Defensa Ambiental del Noroeste (DAN) -- an inspiring organization of dedicated environmental leaders working to protect Mexico's Baja California. DAN attorney Maria Llano stopped by our office last week to celebrate our partnership and discuss the threat of an enormous open pit gold mine proposed for Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve.

ELAW eBulletin
When tourists visit Panama, they enjoy the beaches, islands, and mountain forests. ELAW Staff Scientist Heidi Weiskel was in Panama this month with a different agenda. Heidi used her marine ecologist's eye to take in what's threatening Panama's natural environment. She joined ELAW partners to tour a new highway project that has cut through Panama Bay, the site of a proposed mega-port near Colon, and the site of a gold and copper mine that threatens the Tonosi and Quema Rivers on the Azuero Peninsula.

ELAW eBulletin
In Africa, corporations seeking oil, gas, gold, and timber threaten agricultural lands, waterways, and national parks. ELAW is working with local advocates to level the playing field for threatened communities.

ELAW eBulletin
Attorney Baigalimaa Nyamdavaa from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, will be with us for 10 weeks. This is her first time in the United States.

ELAW Press ELAW partner Diana McCaulay at the Jamaica Environment Trust says, "The lack of transparency that has attended this important matter from the outset is nothing short of disgraceful."

ELAW eBulletin
ELAW partners are speaking out for clean air, clean water, and a healthy planet. Enjoy some recent press clips featuring our partners in Tanzania, India, and Israel.

ELAW Press Tanzania's anti-poaching "Operation Tokomeza" was suspended following reports of rampant human rights abuses. ELAW partner Rugemeleza Nshala says the operation targeted "small fish." Rugemeleza says "we need to identify and stop the heavyweights behind the illicit trade."

ELAW eBulletin After four hard fought years, the National Green Tribunal has shelved a coal-fired power plant proposed for Komarada Village in Andhra Pradesh. Ritwick filed the case on behalf of Samata, a social justice organization that defends the rights of the Adivasi people in Andhra Pradesh.

ELAW Press ELAW partner Ritwick Dutta fought his first case at the age of 28 against Vedanta, representing the Dongria Kondh tribals of Niyamgiri, who wanted to stop the London-listed giant from mining bauxite.

ELAW Press The Justice Ministry unveiled a draft bill that will restructure the laws governing Israel's coastal waters. While praising the Justice Ministry's decision to issue a bill, Adam Teva V'Din (Israel Union for Environmental Defense) cited several flaws within its text that could allow for an "environmental disaster" to occur in waters that the organization describes as the "Wild West."