12/31/15 12/31/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> this picture of a company of thes clearly aware signs, of the emerging science of carbon dioxide research and with the scientist were saying, was largely driven by fossil fuel emissions and were smart enough this could mean some kind of policy response farther down the road. 2015, the hottest year on record, the year exxon mobil was caught in more than a three-decade lie. internal documents revealed exxon knew that fossil fuels cause global warming in the 1970's, but hid that information from the public.

now it turns out that exxon isn't alone. a new exposé from inside climate news reveals nearly every major u.s. and multinational oil and gas company was likely aware of the impact of fossil fuels on climate change at the same time as exxon. we'll speak to neela banerjee, the insideclimate news reporter who broke this story. the story sparked a new york criminal investigation and calls for federal probe, like the one that brought down big tobacco. but some aren't waiting for the justice system to act. will go to an unusual afternoon in paris during the yuan climate summit. >> over those 25 years, exxon continue to maintain that architecture and ecosystem of denial and deception and nfnfnfdisinformation. and for that, we ask for a in favoragainst exxon

of the future of this planet. amy: we broadcast highlights of "mock trial" of exxon for what prosecutors say our climate crimes, staged by environmentalists during the u.n. climate summit in paris, france. the prosecutors, bill mckibben, cofounder of 350.org and an environmentalist journalist naomi klein. all of that and more coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. legendary actor and comedian bill cosby has been charged with sexual assault, one of the nation's most powerful and wealthy entertainers, cosby has long faced allegations he drugged and raped dozens of women in cases that stretch back decades. many doubted cosby would ever faced criminal charges.

but on wednesday, authorities and montgomery county pennsylvania announced felony charges of aggravated indecent assault against bill cosby, 2004ing from an alleged attack. the indictment alleges cosby urged andrea constand to take pills and drink wine until she was unable to move, after which he assaulted her. this allegedly came after she twice red the incident at the time, but the district attorney's office refused to bring charges, citing a lack of evidence. in the ensuing years, more than 50 women have come board to accuse cosby of sexual assault. on wednesday, gloria allred spoke about the charges. >> today bill cosby was charged in montgomery county, pennsylvania with aggravated indecent assault, a felony. for many of my 29 clients who alleged they are victims of bill cosby, seeing him criminally charged and having to face a

trial is the best christmas present that they have ever received. amy: bill cosby has been released on $1 million bail. floodwaters continue to rise in missouri, where officials warn the swollen rivers could overflow federal levees. hundreds of families are evacuating communities around the fast-rising meramec river. the mississippi river has also surged to near-record levels. it's expected to reach nearly 13 feet above flood stage in st. louis today. in the last week, flooding across missouri, illinois, arkansas, and oklahoma has killed at least 24 people. a spate of islamophobic incidents continues nationwide. in las vegas, police are investigating a possible hate crime in which a man wrapped bacon around the handles of a mosque before sunday morning prayer. in new york, in israeli man has been charged with a hate crime after he allegedly accosted four

pakistani-americans in brooklyn brandishing a pistol and screaming, "i want to see the blood of muslims in the street." meanwhile, in fresno, california, an elderly sikh man was hit by a truck and then beaten in the street by two men saturday. the attack left 68-year-old amrik singh bal with a broken collarbone. police say he may have been mistaken for a muslim, as has happened in other violence against sikhs nationwide. a recent study finds hate crimes against muslim americans and u.s. mosques have tripled since the attacks in paris and san bernardino. the council on american-islamic relations has reported more incidents targeting mosques this year than in any other year on record. chicago mayor rahm emanuel says there are new police reforms as he fence off calls for his resignation amidst continue protest over fatal shootings by officers. on wednesday, the mayor said he will order additional training and double the number of tasers from 700 to 1400 to promote the

idea that shooting is a last resort. "the chicago tribune" reports the police department already expanded the use of tasers in 2010, but that the move did not reduce police shootings in the ensuing five years. meanwhile, protesters brought the call for mayor emanuel's resignation to the front steps of his north side home where , they said the time to implement changes has expired. messaged to bring our to rahm emanuel store step because i guess you didn't hear us. i guess he hasn't been listening. we were protesting for over a month and he is still in office. he doesn't understand that we are fed up. we are fed up with this leadership in chicago and he has to resign. >> that's right. doeverything he is trying to , now that the pressure is on him, should have been done 13 months ago. it should have been done for years ago.

he could have done it in april when he got back in office, but instead, he waited. he waited until we were fed up. so rahm emanuel, you are too far in the hole. you're too far in the hole and i don't think you can get back out. we need you to resign and we need you to resign now. amy: daily protests also continue in cleveland, ohio, over grand jury's decision not to indict the officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old tamir rice. on tuesday, protesters blocked traffic by lying in the street outside the justice center in downtown cleveland. a coalition of community groups is urging residents to vote against cuyahoga county prosecutor tim mcginty in the upcoming 2016 election. puerto rico governor alejandro garcia-padilla has confirmed the commonwealth will default on some of its scheduled debt repayment on january 1. congress could have prevented a default, but passed on their opportunity earlier this month.

a garcia-padilla told reporters wednesday, -- "we know that our creditors have spent a fortune lobbying against the people of puerto rico." hedge funds have spent the last year aggressively lobbying against legislation granting puerto rico limited bankruptcy protection similar to what is available for cities and municipalities inside the united states. to hear democracy now! co-host juan gonzalez's recent speech about how puerto rico's debt crisis is tied to the commonwealth's legacy of u.s. colonialism, you can go to our website, democracynow.org. in bangladesh, two students have been sentenced to death for the murder of a secular blogger. in february 2013, ahmed rajib haider was hacked to death by people wielding machetes. his death was the first in a string of targeted killings of secular bloggers. prosecutors say the students were radicalized by extremist islamic clerics. on thursday, a judge sentenced the two students and five others in connection with the murder.

in turkey, residents of the southeastern town of cizre are protesting the lack of water, food, and electricity as a two-week government crackdown continues. cizre is one of more than a dozen towns under mandatory curfew for more than two weeks. the turkish government says it is carrying out a massive military operation to target members of the kurdistan workers' party, known as the pkk. at least 10,000 turkish troops, backed by tanks, have been deployed, but local residents say the military offensive has led to repression of kurds at large, displacing an estimated resulting in civilian 200,000, casualties, including the recent death of a 5-year-old boy and a 3-month-old girl. in cizre, shopkeeper ramazan simsek spoke out. >> the country is in a bad place right now, as a treatment and a citizen, we suffer from electricity being cut off, the water being cut off, everyone,

especially kids, are mentally not healthy. they can't go to school. they're spending so much time without education. the community is miserable right now. amy: in michigan, the head of the department of environmental quality has resigned amid continued fallout over the dangerously high levels of lead in flint's drinking water. last year, the city's unelected emergency manager, who was appointed by governor rick snyder, switched the city's water source from the detroit system to the long-polluted flint river in an attempt to save money. two weeks ago, flint's mayor declared a state of emergency after a study found the proportion of children under five in flint with elevated lead levels in their blood nearly doubled following the switch. on tuesday, environmental quality department head dan wyant resigned amid the revelations that michigan state officials were aware the water had dangerously high levels of lead, but continued to tell residents the water was safe. governor snyder also issued an apology to flint residents. but many residents say the apology doesn't go far enough. thousands have taken to social

media calling for snyder's arrest. michigan activists are planning to hold a tribunal on flint water poisoning and the continued shutoffs of drinking water in detroit in the coming weeks. and on the lakota pine ridge indian reservation, hundreds of lakotas and supporters arrived on horseback at the gravesite at wounded knee to honor the 125-year anniversary of the massacre on december 29, 1890, u.s. army killed as many as 300 oglala latoka indians, including many women and children. the commemorative chief big foot band memorial ride began more than a week ago when riders set out from bridger, south dakota. they traveled more than 150 miles on horseback until reaching wounded knee. the site is remembered as not only for the 1890 massacre, but also for the historic 1973 occupation, in which members of the american indian movement occupied wounded knee to demand their treaty rights. in this clip from the 71 day occupation oglala lakota

, activist russell means spoke to reporters about u.s. government's continuous disregard for their treaty rights. >> the united states government and its people have effectively isolated indian people and filed away our treaties for over a century and more. consequently, the united states government neither has any explanation of the massacres based on the treaty rights and they haven't any answers for us negotiating over treaty rights. right now i imagine them washington, d.c., there's a heck of a lot of bureaucrats and white house personnel researching indian treaties. until those treaty questions are resolved, you'll have much more, many more wounded knees. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. on this last day of the year, 2015 will be remembered as a pivotal one for the environment, the warmest year on record.

in order the last few days, we have seen historic storm hurling for the north pole, threatening to warm temperatures by more than 50 degrees above average. in south america, massive drought has fueled wildfires across colombia, which has issued a red alert for more than 80% of the country and at least 24 people have died in missouri and surrounding states amidst the worst flooding in two decades. all right or tornadoes killed 11 people in texas over the weekend. and that is only in the last five days. the year 2015 ended with the u.n. climate treaty in paris and will also be remembered as the year exxon mobil, one of the corporations with major responsibility for climate change, was caught in a more than three-decade lie. exposés by insideclimate news and the "los angeles times" revealed how exxon concealed its own conclusions that fossil fuels cause global warming, alters the climate, and melt the arctic. exxon knew about climate change as early as 1977. but instead of taking action,

the oil giant lied to the public and funded bogus climate denial -- paid for by the billions it made from practices it knew was harming the planet. now a new investigation reveals that in the oil industry, exxon was not the only one with something to hide. insideclimate news reports that nearly every major u.s. and multinational oil and gas company was likely aware of the impact of fossil fuels on climate change as early as the late 1970's. from 1979 to 1983, the oil and gas industry trade group american petroleum institute ran a task force to monitor and share climate research. the group's members included senior scientists and engineers from not only exxon, but also amoco, phillips, mobil, texaco, shell, sunoco, sohio and standard oil of california and gulf oil, the predecessors to chevron. internal documents show that as early as 1979, the task force knew carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was rising steadily. the task force even briefly considered researching how to

introduce a new energy source into the global market, given the research about fossil fuel'' impact on global warming. but in 1983, the task force was disbanded, and by the late 1990's, the american petroleum institute had launched a campaign to oppose the kyoto protocol, which was adopted by many countries to cut fossil fuel emissions but was never ratified by the united states. the exxon revelations prompted the opening of a criminal probe in new york over whether the oil company lied to the public and its investors. exxon's climate deception has also sparked calls for a federal probe similar to the one that led to a racketeering conviction of big tobacco for hiding the dangers of smoking. with these new revelations about exxon's oil industry peers, could more companies be targeted for investigation? for more we are joined by the reporter who broke this story. neela banerjee is a washington-based reporter for inside climate news. her latest expose is, "exxon's oil industry peers knew about climate dangers in the 1970's, too."

tell us just what you found. >> we found that as early as 1979, the oil industry -- oil companies through the american petroleum institute wanted to explore the emerging science around rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. and we saw this through documents that we found as part of our exxon research. and through that, we also found a former api employee who was the director of the task force for those four years. the task force was part of a broader their quality effort at api, and he filled out the picture for us, too. wanted to follow the science, but some were probably -- were already doing her own modeling, though it was not as ambitious as what exxon was doing at its site. amy: you spoke with james nelson, the former director of

the american petroleum institute's task force on climate change, who left api in 1983. he described a shift that was taking place at the time -- "api took the environmental unit and put it into the political department, which was primarily lobbyists. they weren't focused on doing research or on improving the oil industry's impact on pollution. they were less interested in pushing the envelope of science and more interested in how to make it more advantageous politically or economically for the oil industry." expand on that. >> right. what mr. nelson said was, that he did not have any issue with that. he thought that was the right tactic to take because at that time, even though was under the reagan administration, the power of the epa and regulators was growing. and so the industry fell that it was not been properly heard. and there were trying to introduce science, trying to get research done, trying to happen

papers published in peer-reviewed journals. his viewpoint, and that of the industry, was that they could not get their voices heard in or worried about overregulation. so rather than having scientists work on a task force and engage with policy makers, the best way to do this was to have lawyers and lobbyists, and that is how mr. nelson helped fill out the picture from the documents we have. amy: i want to go to the late 1990's and look at the oil industries' role in opposing the kyoto protocol, which was adopted by many countries to cut fossil fuel emissions but was never ratified by the united states. a draft action plan circulated by the american petroleum institute at the time read -- "unless 'climate change' becomes a non-issue, meaning that the kyoto proposal is defeated and there are no further initiatives to thwart the threat of climate change, there may be no moment when we can declare victory for our efforts." the american petroleum institute was part of a lobbying group called the global climate coalition, which included exxon and other companies.

as you write in your article, neela banerjee, a 2001 briefing memo quotes a top state department official thanking the gcc because bush "rejected the kyoto protocol in part, based on input from you." explain what this memo said. how to memo talked about influence the public, and i think policymakers and scientists as well, about climate change. the interesting thing about the coalition, which was formed in that they did not hew to a lot of the theories that climate deniers backed. for example, it is sunspots or volcanoes are natural cycles. they just kept saying the science is uncertain and too uncertain to warned drastic action on the kinds of energy we use an economic, you know,

economic wiltshire's because of that. they kept hammering away at the uncertainty and then came up with this communications plan to do the same. you know, the point that were making that this was unwarranted, that the science was uncertain, that we should not ratify kyoto, it worked. -- gcc.t just the dcc we did not sign on to the kyoto protocol or did not ratify, rather, and then during the bush administration, some of the key people involved in the global climate coalition went on to minister at of posts, top posts, and worked -- some of them worked for science on climate change. amy: i want to turn to a clip from 1996 when then exxon ceo lee raymond spoke about global warming. he was also chair of the

american petroleum institute from 1996 to 1997. the global warming there is a higher levels of greenhouse gases are causing world temperatures to rise in the burning fossil fuels is the reason. the scientific evidence remains inconclusive as to whether human activities affect the global climate. many scientists agree there is ample time to better understand climate systems and consider policy options, so there's simply no reason to take drastic action now. amy: that was lee raymond, chair of the american patrol in institute, that excerpt from a pbs frontline documentary. talk about the significance of what he is saying and what he actually knew. >> mr. raymond encapsulates the talking points and the strategy of the fossil fuel industry then, and that is that the science is too uncertain to

warrant drastic steps to cut emissions from fossil fuels. now, this is at a time when the science is growing more certain and this is nearly 20 years after exxon's top management was that co2ts scientists levels were rising, that they could drive time of change, and that the main -- you know, the main driver of higher co2 levels was the use of fossil fuels. mr. raymond was not part of that group in 1970 seven that heard that, but later on, scientists at exxon continued to tell top management about co2 and the link to fossil fuels through the 1980's and from what we saw on the documents and the people we spoke to, mr. raymond was briefed on that. whether you chose to believe it or why he chose to believe it or not, i can't tell you. but we're pretty certain he was at least exposed to the science

and told about these connections by exxon scientists. amy: can you talk about the impact of your first huge exposé, that what exxon knew, when it knew it, and what it covered up? how exxon has responded right up to challenging the president of columbia university because columbia journalism students were involved in the investigation? exxon has said very broadly that the reporting is inaccurate, that we are cherry picking, and that they have never stopped doing climate research. they are -- they're talking points basically don't address the main thrust of our stories in the stories done by columbia graduate school journalism that were published in the los angeles times. none of us said exxon stopped doing climate research. they did not.

and exxon, yes, continue to do climate research. what exxon has not really responded to is why despite the research that it did to the 1970's and 1980's and really continued on a much less a vicious scale to the 1990's, they took a policy position that cast enormous doubt on climate science. the closest they've come to responded to that is to say, well, our policy positions and what our scientists do are different things, which is interesting and makes you wonder how much science informs other decisions that they take. so that is in the exxon position. the also went after reporters at columbia graduate school of journalism. they wrote to columbia university and, you know, reminded columbia about how much money they give columbia and said that what the columbia wasnalism school projected

entirely a responsible. columbia responded and basically, they have a lot of e-mails and so on to show that exxon's assertions cannot be backed up. with us, there said very general things, but they can't point -- that never challenged the authenticity of the document that we have shared. we've digitized more than two dozen documents so people can see we are not cherry picking. they can read the documents themselves. exxon downloaded them and uploaded them onto the website, so you can see our documents on exxon's website and hours. they have never pointed out how we might be misinterpreting the documents in any specific way. it is been a general response and as you mentioned, there's been a response by lawmakers to launch investigation and there's been a subpoena that is been issued for documents by the new york state attorney general. we don't think that exxon has delivered the documents yet. we surmise exxon will probably

fight this for as long as they can because that has been their strategy and other conflicts with prosecutors. , -- thank you for being with us. neela banerjee is a washington-based reporter for the pulitzer prize-winning insideclimate news. her latest expose is titled, "exxon's oil industry peers knew about climate dangers in the 1970's, too." when we come back, a kind of mock trial. acting as prosecutors, a rainy paris afternoon in the midst of the u.n. climate summit earlier this month, a fascinating moment. we will play highlights of it for you. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: "how is it (we got here)," by the moody blues. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the revelations that exxon concealed its own findings on global warming have sparked a new york criminal investigation and calls for a federal probe like the one against big tobacco. but some aren't waiting for the justice system to act. during the recent u.n. climate summit in paris, environmental activists held a "mock trial" to

try exxon for climate crimes. hundreds from around the world, including dissidents in cop21, packed into a large dark warehouse-like cultural space to hear us during indictment of exxon. it was overcast, great on this paris afternoon, a tribunal of judges from witnesses that included testimony from -- testimony from witnesses that included scientists, energy experts, and residents of front-line communities threatened by climate change. the witnesses were questioned by two leading environmentalists acting as chief prosecutors -- bill mckibben and naomi klein. >> we call this a people's trial. there's nothing mock about this, nothing funny about this. the stakes could not be higher. just as the global climate movement has been doing what our

politicians failed to do by keeping carbon in the ground, stopping pipelines, stopping arctic drilling, just as our movements are failing -- are stepping in where politicians have failed, what we're doing here is stepping in where the courts have failed. and we firmly believe that this is a preview, that this prosecution of exxon will happen in real courts very, very soon. so do not consider this a mock trial, but a preview of exxon's future. >> it is the pleasure of the court, we would like to call our first witness if we could. activist from and the marshall islands. >> could you describe the state of mind for the people on the marshall islands? what is it like to live with the notion that the water is rising? >> we're living in a lot of

fear. we're living in a lot of fear that we would prefer to push back and not necessarily think about on a daily basis. i have confronted that fear that we could be losing our livelihoods, could lose our land, could lose our culture. that kind of fear is haunting because if we lose our land, we lose our identity, lucy we are as a people. >> where would people go? >> we don't know where we would go. there certain islands that have relationships with bigger nations, and we do have a bigger nation a relationship with the united states right now under the compact of free association, however, what we are campaigning for and what we tell everyone is we should have to go anywhere and we should have to have an evacuation strategy. >> how long have people lived on the marshall islands? >> 2000 years. over 2000 years. >> 2000 years. in that time, the ocean has stayed at a level that is made possible to pursue life there. >> yes, we just went out to

visit an island just this past weekend that we were told when underwater. that island when underwater within 10 years -- just 10 years ago it was lush with trees and animals. within 10 years, this island is gone. ,> so within the last 25 years the time that exxon, for instance, knew about climate change -- >> yes, yes. >> remarkable change. >> i spoke to my elders and they haven't seen anything like this in their entire lives. so yes, within that time period. >> thank you, no further questions. the prosecution would call -- tell us your name and describe your work, please. >> i am from the arctic. i was born and live in a reindeer herding family. >> tells about the role of the reindeer. >> it is our identity, our

traditions. it is the thing i strive to protect each and every day. >> your family engages in reindeer herding. how does one family keep its reindeer apart from another? how do you know your own reindeer? >> they are migrating, and we are followers, nomads. there migrating -- they are migrating from the summer to the winter. it is very, very long migrations. but sometimes there are stops, as now. my colleague was going up to the mountains to get the reindeer's down to the winter area where there is good vegetation. he cannot cross the rivers. they have not frozen yet. the reindeer cannot come over because they can't get over the rivers and the lakes. >> do you know how long the saami have been engaged in reindeer herding and this part of the world? >> as long as anyone remembers.

>> many thousands of years? >> yes. >> and in that time, they've been able to continue this work without interruption. >> yes. >> you've indicated that has begun to change in recent years will stu. arehe temperatures increasing and decreasing, which we have never seen at such a rate, and each and every day is different. usually, -- i've heard stories about good winters, right? where we did not have to be out digging holes so they could reach the food. but with the increase and decrease of temperature, the ice crest are on the snow, which makes the reindeer unable to smell the food underneath, therefore, it will not dig for it. and even if they try, it is not strong enough. so they started up. >> so because of these freeze, thaw cycles, it is becoming difficult for the reindeer to access their --

>> food. they start. we've had bad winters as such, as long as i can remember and my whole generation. we're the generation of climate change. i am from arctic village, alaska, the executive dress her dish director. knowe of the things we because of these investigations into exxon in recent months is researching were climate change as far back as the 1970's, they were interested in economic possibilities this would present because ice would melt. did you have a reaction to hearing that exxon saw this as a profit-making opportunity? >> it makes me angry. it makes me angry because we are

ground zero. arctic communities are ground zero for climate change. my children are going to be devastated by what is happening. we have to do something now, and that makes me angry that they knew and are still trying to drill in these places like the arctic refuge, but also have already devastated a whole ecosystem in alaska. and they knew what they were doing, so it makes me angry because it affects my children, their children, all of our children. >> thank you for your testimony today. >> your honors, if it is all right, we will stay with this theme of the far north for a moment that switch to the science side of this equation. we would like to call jason box. could you describe your work, please? >> i'm a climatologist and graciela just. we been installing and maintaining a network of

measurements on the surface of the greenland ice sheet the last 20 years and part of our work is just to publish articles. i managed to be involved in about 90 extreme reviewed scientific articles and contributed to the last two intergovernmental panel town climate change report -- >> you said mitigation matters. use indicated also that you had read some of the exxon disclosures is that right? i would like to show you one of the exxon disclosures. this is a june 6, 1970 eight document. is that one of the documents you recently reviewed from inside climate news? >> yes, i'm halfway through the report. it is fantastically fascinating reading because it is a historical account of kind of a corporation that went rogue. >> and describe what you mean by "went rogue." >> they initially had a

transparent hard-core science profile they were doing some of the best science and the discipline. programs divided those and then started to actively fund disinformation campaigns to perpetuate their profitability, knowing the true cost accounting of their products would lead to some of their own scientists are concluding, failed agricultural systems, drought, sea level rise, climate chaos. they knew that, but they went ahead two, you know, for short-term gain, to lie to the global public. we will be paying for that for decades to come. >> state your name and your position. >> my name is cindy baxter and author of a website and have

spent the last 15, 20 years researching the fossil fuel industries funding of climate denial campaigns. >> based on this research, did exxon draw inspiration from the tobacco industry and its track record of denying the link between smoking and cancer? >> absolutely. i think exxon and/or the climate deniers it works with and the think tanks it works with, went back to the tobacco industries -- >> tell us about that. >> the tobacco industries doubters our product strategies. it is the main thing the tobacco industry did to try and create debate around the science so -- of smoking and cancer, so that the public would not be pushing for action on tobacco

control. >> now, those tobacco company's were eventually taken to court and held accountable for that. based on what you have seen of the exxon revelations, do you believe that we are going to see similar lawsuits? >> i would like to see that. i'm not a lawyer, obviously, but -- i think if you know something, and we asme that exxon knew, and then we saw -- i've been very much looking at what exxon did that. and what they did was, they tont $51 million from 1998 2014 funding climate denial campaigns run by think tanks and also denying that climate science themselves. >> my name is ken henshaw. i am annmental rights campaigner. thate ceo in 2012 said humans have always adapted or

will adapt. one of the ways that humans adapt is by moving, by migrating. based on what you are seeing of the treatment of refugees in europe and north america, do you believe if africans are forced to migrate because of climate change that they will be welcomed? >> it doesn't feel so, no. to me, it does not feel so. it doesn't feel so at all. i don't get the impression that if for any reason people in the niger delta in nigeria who are affected by climate change have to move that they will be welcomed here. i don't think so. >> what do feel we hear those words from the exxon ceo? >> i feel bad because it seems to me they don't taken to consideration what people are passing through. the revelations are becoming more dire. --an say about the order border. it is the place [indiscernible]

benzene --irmed that i've never heard the word before now -- that benzene is a cancer-causing agent in the water that people drink 900 times higher than it should be. people still drink that water now. it is the water ice women in the water i drink until now -- i swim in and the water i drink until now. the sea level has drastically dropped. if you drive to the border, every weekend, there are burials. what you see on each and every one of our posters announcing this burial or that burial or that burial. every poster has the name of the deceased and it is her only up to 50 years old. i'm really scared because i still drink that water. is 43.pectancy

i'm 46. i'm afraid. i'm really getting scared. >> thank you for your testimony. amy: that was ken henshaw, environmental rights campaigner with social action in nigeria. he says burial is now a -- are now more common in his community in ogoniland because of cancer-causing benzene in the water. when we come back, more from the exxon mock trial from the alternative climate summit that took place during the u.n. climate summit earlier in paris this month. ♪ [music break]

amy: "do it now." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we return to the "mock trial" of oil giant exxon mobil, held by activists during the recent un climate summit in paris. we first hear from one of the chief prosecutors, environmentalist bill mckibben. >> tell us your name and describe your work. >> i live in louisiana, mostly work of being a mom. i also work with an organization that helps people along the gulf

coast to tell their stories about social and environmental justice. >> another other impacts of the oil industry, could you explain for a moment about what has happened is they have cut channels and things through the marshes and bayous of louisiana? >> exxon and other oil industry -- other parts of the oil industry have cut these pipelines that crisscross like tic-tac-toe, echo flyswatter, through our wetlands and to date -- what happens, the salt water comes up through those channels, kills the root system on the wetland, and then we have land loss. we living about a football field of land and our in louisiana and lost one million football fields to this date. >> what does that mean when the sea level is rising and when storms like katrina approached? >> those wetlands are our protection. there are a buffer zone for us. when we have hurricanes like katrina that killed over 1000 people,, we don't have that

level of protection that we .ould have for more flooding because they soak up that water. >> as a political activist, the ceo of exxon recently donated the maximum amount of money possible to congressional candidates were members of congress on the eve of an important vote. why is it that you have not decided to donate $10,000 at a crack to congressional leaders? >> donate $10,000? because i'm busy buying sand bags to keep the water out of my front door. in a couple of generations, it is going to be completely under water. >> do think a political system should be open to people handing out $10,000 checks? >> i don't. i think exxon or corporate serial killers, murder. they need to go on trial. >> thank you very much. >> please state your name and your work. >> a name is sandra and i am a

phd biologist and a cofounder and members of concerned health professionals of new york. specialist in the impacts of fracking. could you tell us about exxon's involvement in the fracking industry in the united states? >> sure. exxon is the world's largest .ublic natural gas producer and it extracts oil and gas via fracking all over the world, particularly in the united states, but more recently, it has gone after the shale gas and oil in argentina. >> we have talked a lot about local health impacts of exxon's activities, and we will come to that, but i also would like to ask you about the climate impacts of fracking, since we're here outside a climate conference. sometimes natural gas gets

marketed as a climate solution. is that the case based on your expertise? >> natural gas is a climate problem. it is a catastrophe for the climate. in addition to the deceptions that exxonmobil has precipitated regarding the actual existence of climate change in the role of fossil fuels, exxon is also implicit in promulgating the idea that somehow natural gas is a more friendly fossil fuel than the other two members of the unholy trinity, oil and gas and coal. >> you are a mother of two children. you have written about motherhood and responsibilities to future generations. when you learned that exxon had been researching climate change since the 1970's, research that has been described here today a

state-of-the-art, and you have a reaction as a mother or as a scientist or both? >> i immediately had a reaction as a scientist has i myself was studying climate change and then what we call the greenhouse effect as early as 1977 when a was first introduced to it by my biology professor. when a scientific committed to have known about the reality of climate change for a long time. as a mother, i know that there is no bigger threat to my children than the dissolving climate and the disinformation campaign perpetuated by many but most notably exxon, makes it difficult for me to do my job as a mother. i believe that all tasks parents have fallen to one of two categories. we are called upon to plan a future for our children and keep them safe from harm. and climate change makes that dustsible, and expose of

makes both of those impossible. the climate crisis is really a parenting crisis, which is to say it is a human rights crisis. in for exxon to be involved the disinformation about the science of climate, which we and biology have known about since the 1970's, is a strike against parenthood and a strike against human knowledge and scientific progress. >> thank you. analyst,oil and energy the author of three books on the oil industry and an investigative journalist, including numerous investigations and exxonmobil. >> some of your work has talked about the connection between the oil industry and foreign policy. would it be safe to say the oil industry plays an important role in u.s. foreign-policy? >> absolutely, key and crucial. >> at this point, many of the early figures -- many of the

prominent figures in the war in iraq, for instance, have said that it was a war for oil. is that correct? >> absolutely. we have seen over the last several years increasing statements by those who were deeply involved in the processes of the decision to invade iraq, to make clear that while oil was not the only or sole objective of the war, it was a clear intention and objective of the war. and as i have reported extensively in that objective, it was exceptionally successful. roled it exxon play some in this politics? >> exxonmobil is a major funder of george bush as well as george bush's father. and for those here who aren't from the united states, george bush junior, the lgest to working for the government

was working in the oil secto o u.s. president to come out of the oil sector was his father, george bush, senior. they were heavily supported by exxon and the oil industry. bush and cheney, the oil industry spent more money to get them into office than it had spent on any election prevusly. and that immediately paid off so that the oil industry was essentially able to stop lobbying and start legislating directly. and within a week of the bush white house -- bush taking office, and of course, cheney, the former head of halliburton one of the largest energy service copies in the world, they started meeting as part of the energy task force, which world's america and the energy future. at one of the meetings that took place within the energy tax

force -- task force was early on , and early 2000, looking at a series of maps and charts that fields and ail list that was called foreign suitors to iraqi oil. and this was other companies and other countries that were already in negotiations with saddam hussein for his oil fields. and he was in negotiation with these other countries because they were members of the security council. and if you could convince them to drop the sanctions, he would essentially let them have access to oil. well, nobody from those countries was in this room. this was the u.s. and british oil company, bp, shell, oil guys within the bush administration and from outside the bush administration. and they essentially began the process of planning a war. one of the objectives would be to gain access to that oil, which they did, and exxonmobil

was one of the largest beneficiaries of that war, -- one ofcess to the the largest oilfields in the world. essentially, a country that was completely shut to us prior to the invasion is now the home of , with chevron, bp, shell exxon be one of the significantly large beneficiaries. >> you have heard a collection of witnesses from every corner of the planet. perhaps, if it pleases you, a short summation from counselor klein and myself before your deliberations. we believe that the testimony makes it very clear that this is not just run-of-the-mill usual corporate malfeasance, that this is not just volkswagen turning -- resetting its exhaust controls.

it is not the sort of thing that we have come to expect. this is ahis is -- crime of the first order. and one that has carried the most severe implications for our planet andts future. you have heard eminent scientists explain that because of the delay in action caused by exxon's failure to present the truth, we're going to see increases in the level of these the and you have heard from people who will be driven from their homes by that rise in the level of the oceans. it is hard to imagine a set of corporate practices that could have done more damage and more damage needlessly since exxon knew, as we now know, early on, precisely what the problem that we faced was. the crisis that we faced.

that crisis has grown over those 25 years. but over those 25 years, exxon continued to maintain that architecture an ecosystem of denial and deception and disinformation. and for that, we ask for a judgment against exxon and in favor of the future of this planet. [applause] asking you tot put a price on that which is priceless. we have heard stories of lives lost directly because of melting ice. we have heard stories of ancient cultures threatened because of climate change.

we have heard stories of the most reckless and discriminatory disregard for human life and human well-being and human health. it is exxon's crime that it ,elieves that money trumps life trumps everything. so we aren't going to try to do the same thing. there is no price that can be placed on the marshall islands, on arctic cultures, on the lives of our loved ones on what we're unable to pass on to our children. but we have a duty to seek justice, and that is what we ask of you in rendering your verdict. thank you. >> after the examination by other authorities are able to document the pattern of abuse suggested by today's testimony, we judge that this will represent one of, and perhaps instance ofarkable corporate crime in human

history. we note that even as we meet delegates from around the world, are simultaneous city trying to work it out at this late date, some kind of governmental response to climate change, we note as well that their efforts continue to be hampered by climate denial and deception. we find the evidence persuasive and compelling that had exxon 25 years ago merely stated publicly what it's scientists already concluded notably that climate change was real and careless and demanded immediate action, then the world would have moved far more quickly and decisively and store near the damage could have been -- extraordinaire damage could've been avoided. the burden of proof now rests squarely on this corporation to somehow prove that the documents and memos don't show what prima

facie seems to demonstrate, mainly, a profound disregard for the safety of the planet and its people. we render this verdict unanimously on the fifth of december, 2015, the hottest year yet measured on our earth. [applause] amy: that was actor and activist ther sarsgaard, part of tribunal at the exxon mock trial, held outside the u.n. climate summit earlier this month just outside paris, france. climate justice activists naomi klein and bill mckibben. from or you can go to democracynow.org. colleagueewell to our steve martinez. thank you for helping democracy now! you what it is today.

we will miss you. happy new year, everyone.

>> jones: hi. welcome to healthy heritage kitchen. i'm wilbert jones. join me and learn how to prepare a healthy kwanzaa feast of spoonbread, seafood stew, and a tasty pecan pie. and it's all healthy. we will also be joined by my special guest, sarah williams, who will also share with us the symbols and principles of kwanzaa. this is one of my favorite dishes. this is what we call a spoonbread. we have to give contributions to the native american indians, who actually have come up with this recipe. how is it different? a lot of people say, "well, how do i make spoonbread?" you make spoonbread basically with the same ingredients that you make cornbread. but the difference between spoonbread and cornbread is that