04/22/22 04/22/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is a democracy now! birthday special -- earth day special. as russia bombards a massive steel plant in mariupol still under ukrainian control, we mark earth day by looking at how the war in ukraine gives the united states a new chance to break

free of dirty steel. >>he warn ukraine has highlightedow the u.s. steel indust is reliant on steel supplies from ukraine and russia and is also highlighting how this is an opportunity for the u.s. to begin rebuilding u.s. steel industry. amy: plus, we will speak to an indigenous climate activist in alaska about president biden's plans to resume oil and gas drilling leases on public lands, breaking a campaign pledge. >> we have scientists chaining themselves to buildings saying we are headed toward a climate disaster. bideneeds to stop oil and gas sales, no more drilling on public lands. we need a just transition today. amy: and then "powerlands," a new documentary made by a young navajo film in arizona about the displacement of indigenous people and environmental devastation across the globe.

>> it is not just our communy affected. some indigenous communities and 70 people of color that have to face the reality every day. >> [inaudible] amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. new satellite images appear to show mass graves outside the besieged southern city of mariupol in what ukrainian officials say is evidence that russia is burying bodies to cover up war crimes. the release of the images came as the office of the u.n. high commissioner for human rights

said -- "russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes." meanwhile, a top russian general says his army is seeking full control over eastern and southern ukraine. russian news agencies quoted the commander as saying he's seeking to create a land corridor connecting russian-controlled crimea in the south with the eastern donbas region. the strategy suggests russia might be planning an assault on the black sea port city of odessa. president biden's has the u.s. will send another $800 million in military equipment to ukraine, including heavy artillery and tactical drones. the u.s. is also sending another $500 million in economic assistance to ukraine. the announcement came as

president volodymyr zelenskyy continue to appeal to european countries for more weapons. he spoke by video thursday to the portuguese parliament. >> we need weapons to defend ourselves from the brutal russiannvasion that has caused as much people as the fascist invasion 80 years ago. how u can help us to defend the freedom of europe. amy: an affiliate of the islamic state has claimed responsibilit for three bomb attacks across afghanistan thursday that targeted shia muslims in the minority hazara community. in the largest attack, a bomb exploded inside a mosque in the city, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens. this is a survivor. >> urge the islamic emirate to pay more attention to the security of the people.

how long will such incidents continue? afghanistan situation is so bad. we have no secure place to live. amy: elsewhere, two children were injured in kabul after a roadside bomb exploded near a boys school in a hazara neighborhood. a third bomb blast in northern kunduz injured 11 people. french president emmanuel macron and far-right candidate marine le pen are making their final appeals to voters ahead of sunday's runoff presidential election. several polls show macron in the lead. this is le pen's third attempt at the presidency. she is a nationalist running on an anti-immigrant, anti-muslim platform. here in the united states, and a report by human rights first condemns the biden administration for imprisoning tens of thousands of asylum seekers at immigration and customs enforcement, ice, jails -- where they face prolonged detention periods, physical and pshologicaabuse, mical neglect, racism, a lack of legal and language resources, and other harms.

the group says their imprisonment is wasteful, cruel, and a violation of u.s. and international law. this is salma, an asylum seeker from uganda, who was held at the adelanto ice processing center in california. >> they transported me which took almost three hours. imagine being chained, all of your body being chained most of you cannot even reach out for water for three straight hours. when i got there, i was told to hand over my passport, everything. i handed over my identification, my phone. immediately, that cut off my hair. they gave me -- i don't understand what it meant. amy: in related news, documents

obtained by a coalition of immigrant rights groups reveal ice has contracted with the third-party data broker lexisnexis, allowing it to receive real-time jail booking data from sheriff's offices in the state of colorado. the move to track the whereabouts of immigrants curtails colorado's sanctuary policies, which are meant to prevent state d local law enforcement from cooperating with ice. jacinta gonzález of mijente's #notechforice campaign said -- "ice agents once relied on the police to help them track us, arrest us, and deport us. now tech companies, by selling our personal data, are helping them instead." the former honduran president juan orlando hernández has been extradited to the united states. he was put on board a drug enforcement administration plane thursday in the capital tegucigalpa and flown to new york where he faces drug trafficking and weapons charges. u.s. attorney general merrick garland announced the indictment at the justice department.

he said hernández abused his position as president to operate honduras as a narco-state. >> hernandez is alleged to have received millions of dollars from multiple drug trafficking organizations, including from the former leader of the sin a low cartel known as chapo. drug traffickers in honduras were allowed to operate with virtual impunity. we allege that burnett is corrupt a legitimate conclude parts of the national police, military, and national congress. and we allege that hernandez worked closely with other public officials to protect cocaine shipments sit to the united states. amy: hernández was arrested in february, less than a month after his presidential term ended. he was a longtime u.s. ally, who received backing during his

entire eight-year term despite mounting reports of serious human rights violations and accusations of corruption and involvement with drug smuggling. his brother is currently serving a life prison sentence in the u.s. after being convicted in 2019 of smuggling cocaine. a federal judge has halted kentucky's 15-week abortion ban, at least for now. u.s. district judge rebecca grady jennings, a trump appointee, blocked the law from taking effect for the next two weeks after kentucky's two remaining abortion providers said the law's provisions prevented them from continuing abortion care. both clinics now plan to resume offering abortions. kentucky republicans passed the bill in march before overriding a veto by democratic governor andy beshear last week. this comes as the supreme court is weighing mississippi's 15-week abortion ban in a case that could overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in roe v. wade that legalized abortion nationwide.

the supreme court will continue -- has ruled the federal government can continue to deny benefits to seniors and people with disabilities living in puerto rico. in an 8-to-1 ruling on thursday, justices sided with the biden administration which argued u.s. citizens in puerto rico aren't entitled to claim full supplemental security income benefits, or ssi, unless they move to the mainland. the lone dissenter was justice sonia sotomayor, whose parents were born in puerto rico. she wrote in a dissenting opinion -- "there is no rational basis for congress to treat needy citizens living anywhere in the united states so differently from others. to hold otherwise, as the court does, is irrational and antithetical to the very nature of the ssi program and the equal protection of citizens guaranteed by the constitution." prison officials in huntsville, texas, have executed the state's oldest death row prisoner. on thursday night, 78-year-old

carl wayne buntion was strapped to a gurney and administered a single, lethal dose of pentobarbital. death penalty opponents have compared the drug's effect to drowning or being burned alive. in tennessee, republican governor bill lee temporarily halted the execution of 72-year-old oscar franklin smith thursday evening, just hours before he was set to die. governor lee cited an unspecified oversight in the preparation of a three-drug lethal injection cocktail meant to sedate and paralyze smith while stopping his heart from beating. meanwhile, south carolina's supreme court has ordered a pause to next week's planned execution of richard bernard moore. the court is weighing the constitutionality of south carolina's new execution law which requires condemned prisoners to choose between the electric chair and a firing squad. newly published audio reveals top republicans privately

blasted donald trump in the days after the january 6 capitol insurrection. "the new york times" obtained a recording of house minority leader kevin mccarthy speaking on january 10, 2020 with wyoming republican congressmember liz cheney. in the call, cheney asks mccarthy whether the house might pass an impeachment resolution. >> is there any chance your hearing that he might resign? is there any reason to think that might happen? >> i have had a few discussions. my gut tells me no. i am seriously thinking about having a conversation with him tonight. the discussion -- i think this will pass and it would be my recommendation. amy: before "the new york times" released that recording, mccarthy's office denied reports he'd privately called for trump's resignation. in a statement, mccarthy called

the reports "totally false and wrong." meanwhile, republican senator mitch mcconnell, who was senate majority leader at the time, privately told colleagues after the capitol insurrection that his party would soon break with trump. he reportedly said, "if this isn't impeachable, i don't know what is." mcconnell would go on to vote against convicting trump during the senate's second impeachment trial. and republican state legislators in tallahassee, florida, have approved a gerrymandered congressional voting map drawn by governor ron desantis, which virtually guarantees republicans four more seats in the house of representatives. on thursday, florida's house voted 68-to-38 in favor of the map, sending it to governor desantis for his signature. the vote was delayed after black florida lawmakers staged an impromptu sit-in protest against the congressional redistricting plan. >> whose house? >> the people's house.

amy: florida state representative dianne hart, a democrat from tampa, live streamed video from the floor of the florida house chamber as she joined thursday's protest. she said desantis' map is meant to disenfranchise black voters. >> we know that what the governor is doing with these maps is not fair. he is taking us from four representatives to two. that is not fair. he should have allowed us, the legislature, to draw maps. his job is to either accept them or veto them, but he is not doing that. instead, he is sending his own maps and saying if you don't vote on my map, then guess what? you won't get in a map. amy: also on thursday, florida's house voted to rescind walt disney world's self-governing status after governor desantis and his allies blasted disney for opposing florida's so-called "don't say gay" law.

the bill now heads to desantis' desk for his signature. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. today is earth day. intense fighting in ukraine's donbas region has led to urgent humanitarian concerns in the southeastern city of mariupol. while russia has said it has seized the city come over 1000 ukrainian troops and civilians remain trapped inside the sprawling azovstal iron and steel works plant. [bombs] amy: several attempts to create humanitarian evacuation corridors have failed. the capture of mariupol would give russia a land corridor to crimea, which it seized from ukraine in 2014. the steel mill is mariupol's

last line of defense and among its defenders are members of the azov battalion that includes far-right soldiers. it has faced the heaviest shelling and is cut off from electricity, water, and food. in a video message, ukrainian marine commander serhiy volyna pleaded for help. >> your defending one object, where in addition to military personnel, there are also civilians who have fallen victim to this war. we plead for all world leaders to help us. we ask them to use the procedure of extraction and take us to the territory of the third-party state. amy: this comes as ukrainian officials say as many as 9,000 people may be buried in a mass grave in a village outside of mariupol. on thursday, president biden met with the ukrainian prime minister and was asked at a

press conference about putin's claim that russian forces are now in control of the port city. pres. biden: one thing we know for sure about mariupol, he should allow humanitarian corridors to allow people in the steel mill and other places buried under rubble to get out. to get out. that is what any had of state would do it such a circumstance. amy: for more, we begin today's earth day special with the authors of a new piece in the intercept headlined: "russia-ukraine war is another reason to break free of dirty steel, but u.s. companies still chase profits over green future." the steel industry accounts for 8% of carbon dioxide emissions and uses about 15% of the world's coal. today we are joined by justin mikulka, research fellow at new consensus, and zack exley, who is the think tank's founder and executive director. they work on detailed plans, such as the green new deal, for governments to transition to clean energy.

zack was a leader of the 2016 bernie sanders presidential campaign and is co-founder of justice democrats. justin is a longtime energy reporter. we welcome you both to democracy now! we have been reporting on the horror of what has been taken place in mariupol. it is not clear how many people have died there. it is believed somewhere over 10,000. some are putting the number at over 20,000. today on earth day, we're going to look at the site of where 1000 or 2000 -- several thousand people, both ukrainian soldiers and civilians, are holed up, the steel plant. but we are to look at the actual -- well, what is produced there. justin mikulka, talk about the significance of this particular plant, what of the largest in europe, and what it means overall under the context of earth day, in the context of

sustainability. we are just trying to hear justin. justin, can you hear me? justin? >> can you hear me now? amy: can you hear me now? ok, great. >> sorry about that. this steel plant is a traditional -- this is the type of facility that has made most of the steel that is built in the world. what we wrote about in our article is also the u.s. has been relying on ukraine and russia for imports of -- the building block of the steel process which is called tig iron.

in our efforts to clean up the steel industry, the global steel industry, which we need to do -- as you mentioned, creates 80% of our emissions -- thet production of taking ironig iron, all finished steel products, that is where the emissions -- that is where the majority of missions are that is because coal is used in that process. the majority of it is done with coal. this plant -- the ukraine industry is one of the dirtiest, highest emissions to producing industries in the world. when we think about reducing emissions, the was industry actually is a leader in new types of production of steel that are lowered emissions. but those -- that process, electric arc furnace, requires what the tig iron. we have been importing that from

russia and ukraine. what we have into a ball we can claim and the u.s. that you're actually producing fewer emissions than other steel producers, basically outsourcing our emissions. what we need to do in a global effort but in the u.s. as well is clean up the production of tig iron. we have been told -- steel has been referred to as hard to abatement that is no longer true because there now is technology using great hydrogen, hydrogen made using renewable energy a from water. you could use that to replace the: the process and create something called sponge iron which is essentially the equivalent of tig iron. we have the technology to clean up the steel industrbut what we have been doing in the u.s. is relying on steel mills like the ones in ukraine to produce our tig iron that we have been importing. the industry in itself needs to

address emissions, but the was industry has been sidestepping it and not leading in any way are producing green still with green hydrogen. amy: the ceo of a leading steel company has set his coal fueled blast furnaces are "here to stay." lourenco goncalves spoke to cnbc last month. this is what he said. >> by competition don't prode tig iron. a lot of this tig ir comes from russia and ukraine step ukraine, unfortunately, is being beaten down and that is a very sad situation. we are in good shape because we are self sufficient. amy: justin mikulka, can you talk about t significance of what he is saying? you write abouthis company in the article.

>> he is making an argument that ceos like to make that they are doing it the right way and they want to point the finger elsewhere. but the fact is, that company is operating -- operating some of th remaining blast furnaces that are required to make tig iron. his argument is tig iron -- some is made with natural gas, which is a different issue with methane -- but his argument is somef his coetitors the u.s. have been buying ukraine and russian tig iron, which is true, but also saying, i am not going to stop usingcoal to produce tig iron here in the u.s. that is five we talk about an article, other countries like india, canada,ermany, the governments are taking an active role in working with companies like cleveland-cliffs and u.s., for example, and directly finding the replacement of these

blast furnaces and directly funded projects using great hydrogen to make green steel, to eliminate the majority of emissions from steel production. what we're seeing in the u.s., again, the industry itself is making exceptional prots right now most of what is happening because of the shortage of tig iron going on in the world, stl prices have gone way out. tig iron prices have gone way up. like with oil and gas industry and a lot of other industries right now with inflation, that means corporate profits have gone up and that is getting passed on to the consumers. there isn't really it is said to for the u.s. steel industry to change their business model, and that is why we argue we need government policies, we need industrial policies that address this because we have to clean up thu.s. steel industry. what we really need to be doing is inste of importing dirty steel, exporting green stills of thworld because we are going

to need a lot of steel to build out the wind turbines, the solar farms for the energy transition. steel is wonderful material. it is infinitely recyclable. we do a great job of recycling it in the u.s., but there's nothing that is going to read they sit anytime soon so we need to clean up the process of making steel. amy: zack exley, you're one of the architects of the green new deal. the report that steel is essential for the development of renewable energy systems like wind turbines, which are largely made from steel. can you talk about this and how this emple fits into the broader, clean energy transition outline in the green new deal? >> yes. thank you for having us. we already knew that the world economy was destroying the planet, but now we are seeing also how fragile it is. especially the u.s. economy is incredib fragile because both

parties in this country have followed policies out of this commitment to a very esoteric ideological purism that they believe we should actually shut down our ability to make things stop they decided that leaders invoke -- leaders of both parties decided americans should just be doing nice clean jobs on computers and not dirty jobs like working in steel mills. they followed policies to shut down our ability to make her means of making a living. and the idea was that people in countries like china and ukraine would make all this stuff that we needed. now we are saying that when things are not going exactly the way everybody expected at the end of history, his son becomes diffict for us to get the basic products that we need.

the silver lining in this development, in this realization, his people in both parties now, leaders, some of them, are starting to realize we need to rebuild our ability to make step and make our own living. because of what we need to do in the world economy and the u.s. economy to stop global warming and stop greenhouse gas emissions, we have a real opportunity here to start building clean industries that can make the stuff we need without changing the composition of the atmosphere and without polluting the oceans and everything else that is going on. what we are recommending, a core piece of the green new deal and what we are working on at new consensus right now is trying to talk about how we rebuild institutions in this country that will allow us as a nation to build industries that we

need, the clean industries that we need. one of those institutions is financing. most industrialized countries in the world that have been successful at creating prosperity and keeping a good means of making a living to most of their people, they have some system of public financing so when it does not make economic sense for corporations to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new industry that isn't going to generate massive profits anytime soon, there needs to be a publi-- there needs to be a public funding system to just make that happen. so most countries have that. most industrialized countries have that. the united states does not have that. our strange pattern of economic development is usually around a big war, whether the civil war or world war ii, we created

these institutions temporarily and build a whole bunch of industries and and shut it all down right after the crisis. we are entering into a new period of crisis here with global pandemics, global warming, and now with wars. hopefully not another world war. but already something little. like it. what we are arguing is needs of permanent institutions to allow us to build industries that we need, the clean industries that we need come into really also built up at the scale where the united states can contribute to global transition. we need to do that as fast as possible. amy: this comes as the biden administration announced a new policy this week that requires projects funded by the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package to source the construction material with u.s. steel. will this be harder because of the pandemic and war-related

supply chain issues? you say it would be cheaper if made in the u.s. with green energy. you write, in germany, the government directly placing tig iron kovar blast furnaces with great hydrogen technology to reduce sponge iron." what can biden do? >> i mean, it is difficult because unfortunately, the ideas around how would we go about building a new clean steel industry are just starting to get into some of the ccles of the democratic policy circles and the republican policy circle. so i think the thing biden should do right now is get on tv and lead as a president and say, look, we have made horrible mistakes over the past several decades. i party and the other party both did this. we shut down america's means of

making our own living and making things that we need like steel. so we have got to rebuild it. and we know we have got to rebuild a steel industry that is clean, that is not spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heating up the planet. and here's my plan to do it. there are simple mechanisms that biden could use, for example, we already have a big bank the government. it is under the treasury called the federal financing bank. it would just take a small tweak to change thatnto a bank that could not only fund the agencies of the federal government, but also fund investment in a new steel industry. we have that on our website. that is the kind of thing biden could lead on and get americans into the mindset of we have got to learn how to do stuff again here and we have got an opportunity and responsibility

to do stuff in a way that is not destroying the planet and that gives united states more security and gives the whole world more security. amy: i want to thank you both for being with us. zack exley is executive director, at new consensus, a think tank working on detailed plans such as the green new deal for governments to transition to clean energy to address the climate crisis and renew their economy. and also justin mikulka, research fellow at new consensus , has reported on the energy industry for years. zack was one of the leaders of the bernie sanders campan. i have to ask you something. if we have not lost you yet, his bernie sanders when to run for president? do you know anything that we don't? >> i have no idea. i hope so. i hope we get a bunch of people running, providing some alternatives and leaning on some

of these messages we just talked about. i think we did that. amy: thank you again, zack exley and justin mikulka. we will link to your article at democracynow.org called "russia-ukraine war is another reason to break free of dirty steel, but u.s. companies still chase profits over green future." next up, powerlands. a new documentary about the displacement of indigenous people and environmental devastation across the globe. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "seed of life" by the navajo singer and activist radmilla cody. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue our earth day special by looking at how indigenous people are protecting the earth as we follow the journey of ivey camille manybeads tso, an award-winning queer navajo filmmaker whose new film shows how corporations like peabody, the world's largest private coal company, have devastated her homeland. she also connects with indigenous communities in colombia, the philippines, mexico, and at standing rock in north dakota facing the same struggle. this is the introduction to "powerlands." >> my name is ivey camille manybeads tso. also known as the navajo nation. i family can trace our history to 85 generations on this land.

i began working on this film to document our community struggle against resource colonization. along the way, i found we are not alone. this is e story indigens peops proteing. amy: before we speak with ivey camille, this is another clip from "powerlands" that features some of the navajo elders and young land defenders in the film. >> they want the land from me. they want to take away my livelihood. the sheep and horses. these are the ways they try to

intimidate us. if a horse runs close to the house, they say we have to pay a fee. >> for along time, people were terrorized, having their livestock forcibly taken away. that is dramatic for people -- traumatic for people. they have done things were they brought the trailers out here and literally forced people into their homes with guns. for someone to point guns at elders and tell them to backup and for them to just come in here and seek what is theirs, it is just not right. it really hurts that people do

that, you know? amy: for more, we are joined by ivey camille manybeads tso, whose new film "powerlands" just won the award for best feature the 2022 american documentary and animation film festival. she joins us from flagstaff, arizona, where there is a massive wildfire burning very close to where she lives. ivey camille, welcome to democracy now! congratulations on your film. up before we talk about the film, can you talk about this fire that has exploded right now in size and if it threatens you in your community? >> yeah, so the fire started i believe tuesday we got the alert. it was rapid, within like 15 mites. there werthree ofour evacuati noticeshat came out literallin ridfire

you would call 72 check and review another street evacuated because of the massive winds that we happeng. ere has bn lots ohomes an propernd a l of loss you he storiesbout famies who d a one-year-ld a all ey couldrab on tir wayut the or was the child. they have lost everything. th cmuni is iredible d helpg everyo standogethe on tsday, i was ying thelp clr bsh frolaces peciallyith elde who had hard te gettinndernea thr porche it is prty clo. it has moved a little further at the moment for about two days the sky was full of smoke. amy: your film is all about sustainability. this fire that has exploded to something like 20,000 acres fanned by high winds and fueled by the dry grass that you are

dealing with, the ozone and other western states are suffering an unprecedented megadrought brought on by the climate emergency. >> it can be tied to peabody coal. they we pulling thousands and thousands of gallons of water out every day. in doing so, it me it so the water resources down below are very depleted which means all of the plant life is dying quickly. there is a lot of brush free to move. the winds, they're going to stay this way. we will have high winds in this area due to climate change. amy: i want to go back to another clip of your award-winning film "powerlands" on the resistance of navajo youth. >> younger generations are

returning, building unity and resistance. >> this lake, it is called morgan lake, it was built to cool down the power plant, which is one of the dirtiest coal for ired power plants. extract by fracking. all around, there is this resource colonization, this resource extraction. >> an average person in phoenix uses about 200 gallons per day as far as domestic use. a person -- these about 12 gallons a day. corporations and journey politicians, they are all about money. they want money, money, money. i would like for these guys to have them try to eat money and

see what happens to them. have them drink oil or drink water contaminated with oil. i don't think they are going to last. amy: deal with cold here. talk more about the largest private coal company in the world that people particularly native peoples in arizona are dealing with, peabody, and the whole issue of how it has affected your livelihoods, your lives. >> i was born -- the matriarch of my family passed away in 2020 -- 2020 one due to covid. we saw that throughout the res. i grew up knowing about -- but it meant to carry my name and carry that forward into the

world and help we need hold yourself as an indigenous woman as well as i was type committing raised, that we are shepherds, that we do not own the earth. we belong the earth. in that sense, yet to make it better and continue ing so. one of the ways to do that currently is to help stop climate change and stop this massive extraction of these very precious resources. amy: before we move on to the global picture, i wanted to ask you about an issue you referred to in the film, don't focus on it but it certainly is one i am sure you know. earlier this week, marketplace published an article titled "a russian uranium could impact trouble communities in the southwest." reports some u.s. lawmakers unhappy with american nuclear commercial lines on imported russian uranium, pushing for a

ban on this purchases. about 60% of the uranium that fuels electricity generating facilities comes from russia and additional is imported from because asked on an houthis pakistan. if the ban comes to pass, u.s. uranium industry would have an opportunity to ramp up domestic mining but many indigenous communities are still reeling from the impact of the last uranium moon. on navajo lands, for instance, more than 500 abandoned mines according to the environmental protection agency. so that was a report from marketplace. t the residue of, the impact that uranium mining has had on indigenous community's, particularly the navajo, the dine, particularly the hopi and arizona? >> i grew up knowing where the

open pit, where they are just fill in with concrete. the old miners would be give blocks that were not usable blocks but we still had radiation and uranium in the and they would build their houses with the. we are still dealing with those. we are taught not to drink certain waters because they are contaminated. cameron, some of the highest in the world, and it is like every day people are living there and doing their things and write off of 89, which is affected by the fire right now, there are people going through every single day so it is not just affecting -- its affectg everybody who is

passing through it. truck drivers, tourists. you are unwittingly being contaminated by these open pits leftover radiation that we are still attempting to clean up and deal with. amy: these are highly carcinogenic. >> we are seeing a huge spike within canr rates. there are issues with pregnancy, issues -- there is so much that you can see just without going into specifics, just looking around, you're seeing people get cancer who it does not normally pop up in our family bloodlines. yoare seeing people losing mental faculties quickly, like way fat -- faster than they should because of this radiation. you can see the effects all over the res and outlying areas because they're also being contaminated.

it is not just contained in the city. amy: we want to continue on the theme of your film "powerlands" after this break. we are talking to ivey camille manybeads tso, award-winning queer navajo phone maker. her film "powerlands," which just won the award for best feature at the 2022 american documentary and animation film festival. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "in the river" by raye zaragoza. we continue our earth day special. we're speaking with ivey camille manybeads tso, whose new film "powerlands" just want a major word that follows her journey examining corporations like bhp that is devastated her home and connects with

indigenous communities in colombia, the philippines, mexico, and standing rock facing the same struggle. we're going to another clip from "powerlands." we go to the northern tip of colombia close to the border of venezuela. this is the site of a large open pit coal mine owned by the u.k., swiss, australian conglomerate of bhp glencore. this is ms eneida. amy: a clip from "powerlands."

tell us who eneida is and what is happening in colombia now, ivey camille manybeadsso. >> eneida and all the women in the film are matriarchs of these communities. they are the ones cooking the food, holding the space for it. that is one of my favorite parts of the film, seeing these really strong, credible indigenous women. in colombia -- i should have been more prepared. there is still resistance going on. there is a lot to be told about it. really, everywhere. truthfully, the most important thing about the film is to know it is for indigenous people, by indigenous people and about showing the global scale because standing rock, the philippines -- all of these places seem so vast and far apart but truthfully, it is everywhere.

many places that we reached out to that were not ready to speak with us at the time and we are seeing them coming out with their stories now. truthfully, so many communities like anna colombia have no wi-fi, have no access to being able to reach out to other people. all of the energy is being sourced from these communities but they get none for themselves. having a film like this and showing and having a way to be ab to tell all of these communities you are not alone, we are here with you and we hear of people continuing to fight and, please, tell your own story. amy: it is amazing what you show in colombia. you say the coal is shipped to europe, that one thirds into the u.s. and elsewhere and in the ericas the mines taken over about 270 square miles of land, larger than the city of chicago? talk about all the forms of resistance from the food to the

language, the art, the culture. >> i think in all of these indigenous communities, the simple tasks are the ones that preserve our culture and our heritage because there's a mass genocide going on. they're wanting to eradicate our voices, eradicate our waves of life, culture. continuously going out and listening to an elders speed, learning how to cook the traditional food, how to make the traditional clothing, how to make traditional tools are especially helpful going forward in climate because we have lived in extreme climate so know how to fire into the desert climates. there lots of different resources that can go forward just in the indigenous community . i think those simple things as a kid going out and listing to my grandma, i am so thankful for the moments that i got to have with her because every time an elder dies, that entire life i

of stories and everything dies with them. the more people who go out and hear the stories and document them, the more we will have preservation. amy: we're going to continue on your journey, "powerlands" features the philippines and where indigenous earth defenders successfully forced o glencore's compromise, a gold copper mine in 2015. this is a clip. amy: i want to continue on the journey and then have you put these two together. going from the philippines to mexico, to specifically oaxaca. this is one of the earth

defenders that you speak to. amy: indigenous communities in the region have for years been resisting wind farm projects that are displacing them from their ancestral lands. that is particularly interesting as you fight for sustainability. talking about windfarms. work your way backwards. start here in oaxaca and then we will talk about the philippines. >> one, that clip you just played, unset with that man was -- on set with tt man is incredible. i don't speak spanish so i was just feeling what he was feeling. the emotion, daycare care, the love and allf these is evident

even witut words from counities. it is incredible. in oaxaca going on without proper care and eatment of these windfarms, also seeing pollion entering water sources. cutting off their food resources. what is really incredible about oaxaca, they are making their own community windfarm that will be held higher standards and will provide power to that community. again, these communities are not being provided power that they are giving to the rest of the world. will holcomb was incredible to see these people -- oaxaca was incredible to see these people with the color and light coming out of it. i think that is one of my favorite places to film because without language, it was just incredible. amy: your time in the philippines, the struggle going

on there. >> i was unable to go to the philippines. my producer, who you had before, jordan, was there for the philippines. it was incredible. again, the same resistance. you are seeing people show these foods and ancestral feeling things that i know we haveere on the reservation and you're seeing and everything will community. there are things to treat cough, sore hands, bad back even stomach problems that we don't have currently but we listen to these indigenous community's and finding out their basic of a lot of the pharmaceuticals that we have also, where it originally comes from. brilliant to see. amy: ivey camille manybeads tso, as you take as on this journey in this powerful film called "powerlands," talk about why you called it "powerlands."

you have been doing it since you were 19. what staed you on this path? >> we have been doing it for about eight years. what really started was -- we were looking at the parallels between colombia and black hills. if you took away the language, i could not tell the difference between colombia and black sea fleet size maybe the monkeys. it is incredible. we would constantly have to be careful of what day the mine was going or that she would have the coal coming out and effecting clothing or certain livestock and it was the same stuff we were hearing in colombia. that was the beginning of this story was seeing the parallels. from there, jordan went to the philippines while we were in oaxaca, that is what i found about standing rock and we were there medially afterwards and kim, one of the people featured

in the film, one of the first people to arrive as standing rock and set up there. it is been cool to see how that transition between communities and the collaboration that has been going -- recently in l.a. working with my composer daniel french and was able to speak with him as he was making the soundtrack for the film. it was cool because that influenced it as well. amy: you say as you cover the resistance around the world, your film is part of that resistance. we have 15 seconds. >> the film is for indigenous people. you are not alone. we are here. if anyone else learned something fr it, great. amy: ivey camille manybeads tso, award-winning queer navajo film maker who directed the new film "powerlands," which just won the award for best feature at the 2022 american documentary and animation film festival. from more of our coverage on the

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