More Bad News for the Pebble Mine: Rio Tinto Announces It May Divest by Joel Reynolds, NRDC

More Bad News for the Pebble Mine: Rio Tinto Announces It May Divest

by Joel Reynolds, Western Director and Senior attorney, NRDC, Los Angeles Posted: 12/23/2013 4:31 pm

Photograph Copyright 2013 Robert Glenn Ketchum

 Today, in yet another sign that the massive Pebble Mine is doomed, the London-based mining giant Rio Tinto publicly announced that it is considering "divestment" from the uniquely reckless project, proposed for the headwaters of the most productive wild salmon fishery in the world.

Upcoming Shows Featuring Robert Glenn Ketchum

I will celebrate a birthday on December 1st and one of my presents is that a number of institutions are looking back over the last 40-years and recognizing artists and bodies of their work that broadened the conceptual dialogue around photography, and COLOR photography in particular.  On December 15th, the ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART will open the exhibition, "Landscape Into Abstraction", (December 15, 2013 -March 9, 2014) a selection of paintings and photographs from the permanent collection that reflect that transition in artistic concept.

My Fav Places -- Madrid, Spain; Salamanca, Spain; Umbria, Italy;Venice, Italy

My Favorite Places by Robert Glenn Ketchum

Next year is the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. As I am one of the few photographers that has actually helped create a lot of wilderness, I am doing a number of lectures and exhibits. The first is a lecture at the international WILD10, The 10th World Wilderness Congress, from October 4-10, 2013 in Salamanca, Spain! (www.wild10.org).  These delegates meet every four-years, and in 2005 we created iLCP at that conference.

Tonight, Madrid...

MADRID, SPAIN:

Nightlife begins as the evening fades. Just off Plaza de Santana.  This is the street below my hotel. The city of Madrid has been sporadically shut down as austerity protestors (50,000) marching. I've never seen such a forceful police response.

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.

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."

The Environment's Wildfire Dangers

Before I began to use Facebook (FB) as an autobiography with my photographs, those of you who follow me know I was posting stories and data related to specific environmental issues. I have now reserved my Saturday-Sunday FB postings to announce my various public events, AND to occasionally re-visit some of those important environmental issues of interest.

A recent series of articles in the Los Angeles Times (LATimes) reminded me of an online post I put up awhile back, entitled 'Thunderheads', in which the Smithsonian Channel brought together 250 international researchers take part in a unique collective project studying thunderstorms. The pertinent part of their many discoveries for me was the fact that hailstones, especially large ones, form around a VERY particular particle of matter – the particle matter put up in the air by wildfires! I've embedded the 'sneak peak' video, as it's going to air early August. Check your local listings for the next time this show airs, as it's a must see!

Happy Independence Day!

Something to truly celebrate on the 4th of July - Obama has taken a lot of heat for not being more pro-active abt the environment, BUT much of what he has done is overshadowed or ignored, as we have been distracted by other debates. SO, this is a celebratory 4th-of-July Shout Out to President Obama: thank you for canceling all of the oil and gas leases in Bristol Bay, AK; thank you for being the 1st president brave enough to attempt to address climate change; thank you for creating TWO NEW NATIONAL PARKS (Shown above is Pinnacles, one of my favorites among the California parks): I know you will work with the Senate to see that the 3 wilderness bills (MI, OR, WA) become a reality protecting more than 90,000 acres; and going forward, I hope you will encourage the EPA to SAY NO TO THE PEBBLE MINE !  

Photograph © 2013 @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #NoPebbleMine #LittleBearProd

Happy Memorial Day from RGK!

Greetings to All for 2013 ­ and Happy Memorial Day ! I hope you have noticed that my paper mail has virtually ended. I also hope you have noticed that I DO NOT send you an excessive number of e-mailers... THAT IS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO OPEN, READ, AND ENJOY THE FEW I DO SEND. Most of my Constant Contact e-mailers are now dedicated to portfolios or individual bodies of work. There will be little or no advertising or calendar event listings involved, just LOTS of pictures and the stories behind them. Using direct e-mailers I can show you more of my work, and with more intimate commentary, than ANY book or gallery exhibit ever did, so I hope you will OPEN THEM, enjoy them, and share them with your friends.

NRDC's "Splash Ball": SAY NO TO THE PEBBLE MINE

I would like to thank @NRDC and the organizers / supporters of "The Splash Ball" - a fun evening Friday nite in #SanFrancisco to raise awareness about #BristolBay and to SAY NO TO THE PEBBLE MINE. Thank you also to those that bid and purchased the limited edition print and photographically imprinted luxurious silk scarf I donated for the auction. I hope their new owners will enjoy them. I Trust a good time was had by all!
Photograph © 2013 @RbtGlennKetchum #LittleBearProd