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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Rio Tinto's Opportunity: Leave the Pebble Mine by Joel Reynolds, Natural Resources Defense Council

Rio Tinto's Opportunity: Leave the Pebble Mine
by Joel Reynolds, Western Director and Senior attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles
Posted: 09/24/2013 4:24 pm Huffington Post

Yesterday, in Forbes, mining giant Rio Tinto's CEO Sam Walsh, with General Electric's CEO Jeffrey Immelt, offered his support to the process, underway at the United Nations this week, for the design of global sustainable development goals, replacing the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. NRDC has been deeply involved in this process -- one whose fundamental purpose is to create a global roadmap to sustainability -- and we welcome the engagement of these two global companies. We endorse the view that business is an essential partner in designing and achieving these goals.

But we believe it is essential that these companies, two of the world's largest, acknowledge and fully endorse the "three pillars of sustainability" -- economics, social equity, and environment. In their statement today, while much is said about the need for a growing economy, the importance of addressing infrastructure poverty and empowering women, and the value of transparency, nothing is said about the environmental dimension of sustainability or the importance of protecting the ecosystems that sustain us today. In this fundamental respect, we believe they have failed to articulate an effective vision.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Anglo American Dumps the Pebble Mine by Joel Reynolds, Natural Resources Defense Council

Anglo American Dumps the Pebble Mine 
by Joel Reynolds, Western Director and Senior attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles 
Posted: 09/17/2013 8:26 am HUFFINGTON POST

Yesterday Anglo American, a 50 percent partner in the Pebble Limited Partnership, announced that it is withdrawing from Pebble Mine, a giant gold and copper mine proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska. The London-based mining giant finally recognized what Alaska Natives, Bristol Bay residents, commercial fishermen, sportsmen, lodge owners, chefs, jewelers, EPA scientists, NRDC and others have been saying for years: Pebble Mine poses too great of a risk.

Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani issued a statement lauding the "rare magnitude and quality" of the Pebble deposit, while also justifying Anglo's plans to withdraw from the risky venture: "Our focus has been to prioritise capital to projects with the highest value and lowest risks within our portfolio, and reduce the capital required to sustain such projects during the pre-approval phases of development as part of a more effective, value-driven capital allocation model."

Orvis Supports No Pebble Mine

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