06/29/23 06/29/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we have state cooperation with the central african republic. it is supported by the necessary agreements and of course our military advisers will continue their activities in the necessary demanded quantity. amy: after the wagner's aborted mutiny in russia, the biden

administration has imposed new sanctions on companies accused of profiting from their activities in africa. we will get an update. then the impact of the climate crisis is being felt in the united states from the midwest to the east as millions face record heat and rebel air-quality from smoke at least by wildfires raging in canada. the media does a great job covering the smoke but what about the fire? what is causing it? we will look at the role of fossil fuel companies and calls for the media to end climate silence. and we go to montana to use lead climate trial that just ended after five days of dramatic testimony on who can be held responsible for the climate crisis. >> i joined this case out of love for montana because i grew up here and spit my life here and it is a beautiful place t call home. i am a plaintiff in hopes of

protecting my constitutional rights and creating a future where i can be confident in a clean environment, helpful life for myself and descendants. i'm excited to see what the outcome will be. amy: we will speak with one of the teenagers who sued montana. all of that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. smoke from nearly 500 wildfires in canada is blanketing much of north america in an unprecedented haze, triggering air quality alerts. the air-quality index for major cities including chicago, cleveland, indianapolis, milwaukee, pittsburgh, toronto reached unhealthy or very unhealthy as it is skyline's faded into a shroud of smoky air.

air pollution near detroit reached hazardous levels. over 100 million people across the u.s. are under heat warnings and watches today as a heat dome that has lingered over taxes expanse to states at first of california race for triple digit temperatures. we will have the latest on canada's wildfires and the climate crisis later in the broadcast. in sudan, heavy fighting has resumed around the capital khartoum despite declared ceasefires marking the muslim holiday of eid al-adha. fighting between sudan's army and the rapid support forces in sudan's most populous city omdurman, where residents report air strikes and fierce anti-aircraft fire in civilian populated areas. the u.n. says 10 weeks of heavy clashes in sudan and ethnically-motivated killings in the western region of darfur have displaced nearly 2.8 million people. in france, anger over the police killing of a 17-year-old boiled over into protests for a second

straight night in over a dozen cities. protesters set fire to cars, trash cans, and police stations, and launched fireworks at officers who responded with volleys of tear gas. france's interior minister said 150 people were arrested. some 2000 riot police were called up in suburbs around paris, including in nanterre where the teen, who's been identified only by the name "nahel m," was shot dead tuesday after he was pulled over for allegedly breaking traffic rules. video posted on social media contradicts the claims of police, who initially reported one officer shot the teen for driving his car directly at them. instead, the video shows two officers standing beside the vehicle. one of them points a gun as a voice is heard saying, "you are going to get a bullet in the head." the officer then fires at close range as the boy drives off. french president emmanuel macron called the teen's killing unexplainable and inexcusable.

macron also said the resulting protests were "absolutely unjustifiable." french prime minister élisabeth borne condemned the actions of officers. >> the shocking images broadcast yesterday show an intervention that clearly does not comply with the rules of engagement of engagement our law enforcement officers. amy: the u.n. security council has called for restraint on all sides of the israeli-palestinian conflict amid surging violence in the occupied west bank. on tuesday, u.s. deputy ambassador to the united nations robert wood offered a rare diplomatic rebuke of israel over the demolition of palestinian homes and the incitement to violence by elected officials in israel. >> we're deeply troubled by israel's recent announcement, advancing more than 5000 settlement units and reports of changes to israel system of settlement administration that expedite the planning and approval of settlements. amy: the u.s. navy says it will station its largest nuclear-armed submarine to south

korea for the first time in four decades. this comes after south korean president yoon suk yeol and president joe biden agreed to a deal in april in which south korea agreed not develop its own nuclear weapons in exchange for a more aggressive u.s. nuclear posture toward north korea. president joe biden is holding a pair of fundraisers with wealthy donors in new york today ahead of the federal election commission's june 30 disclosure deadline. on wednesday, biden flew to chicago for a fundraiser with deep-pocketed democratic donors at the home of illinois' billionaire governor j.b. pritzker. biden also used his chicago trip to tout his administration's handling of the u.s. economy, and embracing the level bidenomics as a brand for his 2024 election campaign. back in the united states, several sheriff's deputies in rankin county, mississippi, have been fired after two black men filed a lawsuit alleging torture and attempted sexual assault by officers. michael jenkins and eddie parker

say six deputies entered their home outside jackson in january and handcuffed, kicked, and waterboarded them, taunted them with racist slurs, attempted sexual assault, and repeatedly electrocuted them with tasers. jenkins says one deputy placed a gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger, lacerating his tongue and shattering his jaw. the men are seeking $400 million in damages from rankin county sheriff bryan bailey and six deputies. the fbi, the u.s. attorney's office, and the department of justice's civil rights division have opened investigations. here in new york, a white former u.s. marine who choked black street performer jordan neely to death on a subway train has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. daniel penny entered the plea at his arraignment in manhattan court wednesday before walking free on $100,000 bail. his next court appearance is october 25. a legal defense fund set up by

penny's lawyers has raised nearly $3 million. speaking outside the courthouse after penny's arraignment, neely family lawyer donte mills promised justice. >> daniel penny killed a man. he took a life. and for everyone who thought donating $3 million would somehow make this go away or buy his pass, it is not going to happen. it didn't work. you can ask for refund. we are here. so from now on, when justice happens, don't be surprised and don't shocked. amy: the biden administration has dropped its civil rights investigation into whether air pollution regulators discriminated against black communities in an industrial section of louisiana known as cancer alley. some 200 petrochemical plants span the majority-black region over an 80-mile stretch of the mississippi river. on tuesday, the environmental protection agency said in a

court filing it had uncovered no finding of discrimination or other violation of the civil rights act of 1964, that's despite initial findings that louisiana environmental and health officials failed to provide accurate information to residents about airborne emissions of chloroprene, a hazardous chemical linked to lung and liver cancer. the belgian chemical company solvay has agreed to pay nearly $400 million to settle claims linked to drinking water contamination near its factory in southern new jersey. the funds will be used to clean up pollution caused by pfas, a class of toxic substances commonly called "forever chemicals" that don't break down in the environment or in the human body. pfas have been linked to cancer, liver and thyroid disease, maternal mortality, birth defects, and other health problems. wednesday's settlement comes a week after 3m agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits claiming it knowingly

used "forever chemicals" it its products despite risks to human health. this comes as republican congressmembers are promoting legislation that would weaken attempts to regulate pfas while insulating many polluters from liability under the federal superfund law. the united states has recorded its first cases of domestically-transmitted malaria for the first time in two decades. dr. debra houry, the chief medical officer at the u.s. centers for disease control, said tuesday the mosquito-borne disease was discovered in four people from florida and one person in texas. >> it is a concern because malaria is a life-threatening disease. it is not often seen in the united states and we have not seen it domestically are in over 20 years. amy: in 2021, malaria infected nearly a quarter billion people, killing more than 600,000 of them around the world. the disease is triggered by a

parasite that's spread to humans by certain types of mosquitoes that thrive in warm weather and humid conditions. in recent years, those mosquitoes have expanded their ranges in ways that are consistent with climate change. and the head of the teamsters union says a third-of-a-million workers at ups will likely walk off the job on august 1 after slamming the shipping company's proposed union contract as appalling. teamsters president sean m. o'brien said in a statement -- "the largest single-employer strike in american history now appears inevitable. executives at ups, some of whom get tens of millions of dollars a year, do not care about the hundreds of thousands of american workers who make this company run." the teamsters are demanding ups exchange its last, best, and final offer no later than friday. earlier this month, 97% of unionized ups workers voted to authorize a nationwide strike if managers don't agree to a new union contract by july 31. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

i'm amy goodman, joined by my democracy now! co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: a top russian general has reportedly been arrested amidst a crackdown on military officials with close ties to the wagner mercenary group. he was known to have a good relationship with yevgeny prigozhin, who led wagner's aborted meeting. he was nicknamed general armageddon because of his apartment texas -- but barnett tactics. a source was quoted saying apparently he chose prigozhin's side during the uprising. meanwhile in belarus, where wagner leader prigozhin is a fairly exiled, "the new york times" was reporting on construction of a new military

base for wagner fighters who were given the option of relocating to belarus after the failed uprising. satellite images by planet last so the construction about 80 miles from the belarusian capital of minsk and about their teen miles from a town of multiple military facilities. this comes as the by the has imposed a new sanctions on companies accused of profiting from the activities of the wagner group in africa. the treasury department says the sanctions will punish four companies based in russia, the united arab emirates, and the central african republic that extract gold, diamonds, and other minerals to help fund the mercenary force. the sanctions were announced after the -- sergey lavrov said mercenaries will not be withdrawn from africa following last weakens mutiny. saudi outlets are reporting russian military police in syria conducted raids on wagner bases

inside syria and arrested the head of the wagner group in southern syria. on wednesday, a russian foreign ministry spokesperson said leaders in africa would decide whether wagner forces will continue to work in their countries. >> >> whether wagner forces continued in african countries, whether they continue to work under contract and stay there depends on the sovereign authorities of the african countries. amy: for more we are joined by kimberly marten, professor of political science at barnard college, columbia university. she has been working on the wagner group for years. professor, it is great to have you back thus. if you can explain, have the wagner group's aborted mutiny in russia. this is followed by the united states saying they are imposing these sanctions on the group

that is opposing president putin , whose leader, prigozhin, was formally very close to putin, but imposing sanctions on the companies that are profiting from wagner in africa. and then we have syria. please explain how the wagner group operates and what u.s. interest is in cracking down on the group that is rising up against putin who is waging the war in ukraine. >> thank you for having me back. this is not the first time the u.s. has imposed sanctions against the wagner group or yevgeny prigozhin. it was clear from the rubber molar indictment that prigozhin was responsible with his internet research agency based in st. petersburg for election interference in the united states. this is just another in a stream

of sanctions that have been placed against prigozhin -affiliated organizations. what is most significant about the sanctions are not the ones on the groups based in russia or ace in the central african republic because they are unlikely to have any dealings with the united states or with the u.s. allies in any case. the most significant is the section that was put against a firm located in the united arab emirates. it is been known for about -- couple of years with document evidence and open source locations like "the new york times" that dubai has been place where russia could take the gold that it is mining in africa, send it for melting down in the uae, and then get the cash for it into russia at a time when russia is under sanctions and is not supposed to be engaged in the gold trade. in may, the uae came out the statement that said, of us we

will continue to trade openly with our partners under u.n. mandates. well, the united nations security council does not have sanctions against russia because russia has veto power in the united nations security council. in essence, that statement made in may by the united arab emirates was saying, we don't follow u.s. sanctions. i think the significance of what happened in the last couple of days is the u.s. was saying the uae is not exempt from feeling the power of u.s. economic sanctions. the uae has a traditional strong defense relationship with the united states, the kind of an odd one because the uae also has a strong defense relationship with russia. nermeen: professor, if you could talk about some of these companies that wagner has been involved with or actively running. they are all over africa, certainly, and also elsewhere.

"the wall street journal" in a recent documentary found they were 64 companies, some of them shall companies, that linked -- that were linked to wagner and also linked wagner to the kremlin. tina explain what we know about these companies and where all they operate? >> it is important to keep in mind when we are talking about these links, wagner the self does not exist as an entity. the wagner is a contracting mechanism for the russian military intelligence agency. the key person in this is actually yevgeny prigozhin. he does the contracting for wagner group activities, or has until this point. he is also the person associated with these various companies. he and his personnel have been linked to what these companies have been doing. i think it is important to keep in mind in russia, we don't have any form of protection of private property rights. and that prigozhin was in charge

of these companies primarily not because he is some oligarch who has all kinds of economic challenge -- talent and business talent and did this on his own, he was taking this role because a patriot-client relationship he has with vladimir putin that extends back to early 1990's in st. petersburg and he was there on the behest of the kremlin. now that we see things are happening with prigozhin, not exactly sure what they may be, no one has seen him since saturday. there are rumors in depth russian social media sphere that he has been told to get out of russia and liquidate all his business holdings by july 1. we will see if that happens. one thing to keep in mind, it would be easy for the kremlin to put in place of other individual as the ceo of these various companies. no matter what happens to prigozhin, it is very unlikely it is going to affect russia's

presence in africa, which has been built up strongly since 2014, since the sanctions originally went into place against russia for its initial incursion into eastern ukraine and crimea. even though the statement came in your top of the hour quoting of lavrov saying the african sovereign countries are going to be able to make their own decisions, we know from a report that came out in the last couple of days confirming things that the wagner group has essentially taken over sovereign control in much of the central african republic. there's no way in the world russia is going to be leaving there the matter what happens to prigozhin, nevada what happens to the people have been under the heading wagner group were essentially contractors for the russian defense ministry and the russian military intelligence agency in one form or another. nermeen: do we have any idea of what kind of money, what kind of resources are involved here? when the wagner group was

operating in syria, there were times, principally defending the assad regime, but one of the tasks was to defend and they captured four of them largest oil fields in syria in exchange for protecting the oil fields, they were given 25% of the production value from the fields. there are similar things being said about the role they have played with gold mines in the central african republic. so what kinds -- how much money are we talking about? hundreds of millions? billions of dollars? >> nobody knows for sure. in syria, we have to keep in mind syria has never been a real major player in the world in terms of being an oil and gas producer. russia is an having other kinds of economic relationship with other countries for major oil and gas producers. the significance of the prigozhin takeover, the wagner

group takeover of this oil and gas assets in syria, thick most experts believe is less in terms of their actual economic value to russia or to prigozhin and more that it allowed russia to establish a permanent economic presence in syria no matter what happens now that the war has been winding down the last couple of years. in particula their presence in those oil and gas areas have prevented hezbollah as a representative of the iranian government from having the ability to have oil and gas lines that transmit from iran to lebanon through syria in a way that would give iran a dominating presence over the oil and gas -- especially the gas -- transmission lines in the middle east. there has been geopolitics involved here i think much more than the importance of the funding has been for the russian government in terms of what happened in syria.

in the central african republic, most of the mines, gold and diamond mines, are -- the presence of the resources is very much on the surface of the land. so you have people sitting with shovels and pails trying to get little pieces of minerals from these mines. with the individuals involved in the actual mining, it can be just an incredible find for them because they're coming from a very impoverished background. for russia, russia has huge gold and time and resources of its own, gold and diamond reserves and varies places around the world. the monetary value of most of these mines is not high in terms of the relative value for russia. the one exception to this is a mine that is the one where the wagner group has been seen really turning it from an rt

small minded, service level mine into an industrial quality goldmine. it is not yet a finished process so the wagner group has not been getting industrial quality gold to the extent it would have been , that russia would have been getting industrial quality quantities and qualities of gold from other deposits that it has access to, but that is the mind that has come under the u.s. sanctions and that is the one where wagner had the best chance of actually making significant money. again, there is no evidence that it is already getting significant money from these things. it is more establishing a presence, perhaps getting some funding around the edges, but what we have seen is that the major funding that is going into the wagner group has either in the case of activities in ukraine come directly from the russian government, which is something putin said monday in a rather remarkable -- more from

the contracts it has with government officials in all of these countries in syria, libya -- not in the government in libya but the warlord in eastern libya -- in mali, the central african republic. contracts that have been done with the support of russia diplomatic groups, with russian ministries like the energy ministry, but that are contracts for the wagner group to fulfill its duties there rather than in most cases getting a great deal of money from the minerals that are actually coming out. amy: professor, i wanted to ask you about the human toll. we're talking about the money made from mining. but these very places that you're talking about, that the world media rarely covers when it comes to the enormous death toll. we're talking about the central african republic. we're talking about maili,-- mali, sudan.

what is the role of the wagner group in these complex? >> we know in sudan when the original democracy movement had been starting there, when there was a series of coups going on in sedan, we know the wagner group was at least giving advisory assistance to the sudanese military government to try to put down the protesters violently. it is not clear the wagner per se has a security role right now that is significant in sudan. we know they are still engaged, that prigozhin's interests are still engaged in mining. in both the central african republic and in mali, we know the wagner group has been incredibly accused, engaging in real atrocities in massacres of civilians, in torture, in rape,

alongside the domestic security forces about the central african republic and the mali junta that is now in charge and has fit with the wagner's activities in ukraine. by the united nations, sort of indicted for the role it has played in the torture and murder alongside regular russian military forces of civilians, especially in eastern ukraine. we know it is a horrific group. we know it engaged in atrocities against civilians also in libya during the time the warlord was attempting to make his move toward tripoli and capture tripoli. he failed, but we know the wagner group left behind mines and provides explosive devices in civilian areas. it has been absolutely horrible record of committing civilian

atrocities. i would remind us all that makes it not much different from the russian uniformed nila terry forces. sometimes people almost make a distinction between what the wagner group has been doing and what the uniformed russian military has been doing. in places ranging from afghanistan under soviet times, chechnya, syria, and now in ukraine, we see that russian military forces doing things that are similar to what wagner forces are doing. most of the wagner forces, many of them at least, are former russian uniformed military officers, veterans from russia. nermeen: professor martin, if you can say what we know at the moment of prigozhin's whereabouts as well as many or some of wagner's mercenaries, of course, the assumption is that he is now in belarus but you have said in fact very little satellite imagery exists that could show one way or another if they are there.

it was reported this morning that some flight tracker data has shown his private jet went into belarus but then was shown leaving the following day and returning to his hometown in russia. what do we know of where he is and what the status -- is wagner , to the extent it exists as an entity, going to be disbanded as a result of this? >> we have no idea. the truth is, prigozhin has not been seen since saturday night when he left rostov. he issued an audio statement on sunday but it is not clear when the audio statement was recorded . there has been no sighting of him since then. present lukashenko a belarus says he is in belarus, but we don't know. there was the statement that came across on a russian military associated social media

site indicating he has until july 1 to leave russia, but we don't know. we do not know who was on his plane is went back and forth. we don't know what is going to happen to the wagner group. there's been no official statement the wagner group was going to be disbanded. because the wagner group does not exist as a forenn russia, it is very unclear. what seems to be increasingly clear is there is some kind of action being taken in russia against high-ranking military officers, uniformed officers who may have been supporting prigozhin. one has been confirmed as been detained. we don't know he has been imprisoned. he may be being question for his role and things, but he has not been seen since saturday was to apparently come his family has not heard anything from him since saturday. it appears there may be some formal investigation or

housecleaning taking part in russia of uniform russian military sources who may have been on prigozhin's side. that is about all we know at this point. amy: we want to thank you, kimberly marten, professor of political science at barnard college, columbia university. next up, the media is doing a great job covering the smoke unleashed by the wildfires raging in canada, but what about the fire and where it comes from? we're going to look at climate silence in the media. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "your cheatin heart" by hank williams. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to the climate crisis and its impacts that being felt across the united states, from the midwest to the east coast, as millions face record heat and horrible air-quality from smoke unleashed by the canadian wildfires.

hundreds of them. about 20 states that are home to nearly a third of the american population are under air quality alerts, including in chicago. >> you can smell it now. i keep a mask in all times to protect our elders and so but now i think we need a mask on for this. >> i feel like we should fix this if we can. it seems like we should be doing something about it. amy: meanwhile, in canada, toronto's air quality is among the worst in the world due to wildfire smoke. this comes more than 45 million americans live in places that were under heat alerts wednesday. a heat dome is lingering over texas, where temperatures have reached some of the hottest on earth. california is expecting a heat wave this weekend. an increased use of solar power in texas has reportedly helping to stop the state's energy grid from collapsing. meanwhile, a new report by the group stand.earth and the university of waterloo shows pension funds with major fossil

fuel stocks have been tanking compared to those that divested in order to reduce their carbon footprint. for more, we begin our show with longtime canadian climate activist tzeporah berman, international program director at stand.earth and chair of the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative. her most recent article for the guardian is titled "canada is on fire, and big oil is the arsonist." here in the united states, we are hearing about terrible effects and we experience them in new york have the apocalypse, caused by the canadian wildfires. but we don't hear about how canadians are dealing with these 500 wildfires. can you talk about what is happening there and larger connection between the climate catastrophe? >> absolutely. thank you. what is happening across the country is devastating. what we need to remember is this is the beginning of wildfire

season in canada. so we have now, she said, close to 500 fires burning across the country. officials are saying at least 200 are out of control. they could burn the entire summer. there has been over 8 million hectors of forest destroyed already this fire season. that is about 20 million acres. 120,000 people have had to be evacuated and leave their homes. of course, the smoke is choking people in toronto and montréal and now throughout the united states. nermeen: tzeporah, let's go to the article you wrote "canada is on fire, and big oil is the arsonist." could you elaborate? what are the points you me? >> well, just two weeks ago, new scientific research from the climate hub the unit of concerned scientists made a

direct and measurable link between the increase in wildfires, not only in canada but also the united states, and the carbon emission from major fossil fuel producers. in fact, they look at the carbon majors study and showed there are 88 companies that are responsible for the emissions that are trapped in our atmosphere today and literally smothering the earth. this dramatic increase in wildfires, the heat dome's, floods, extreme weather. these 88 companies are directly responsible for what we are experiencing right now. 13 of those companies are in canada. we hear a lot about the smoke that people aren't really talking about the fact 86% of the emissions trapped in our atmosphere today, from three products -- oil, gas, coal. the fossil fuel industry has been shown in courts across the world and in the u.s. that

companies knew what their products were going to do decades ago, they denied it, they delayed it, they delayed progress of policy. they are spending $500 million a year, the fossil fuel industry, to lobby against climate policy. and they have slowed down the transition to cleaner, safer electricity systems, cleaner, safer transit, ways to heat our homes without poisoning us. in some ways, this is like big tobacco when they knew decades ago, except they're not just poisoning us, they are poisoning our whole families and threatening the air we breathe, and a stable climate. nermeen: could you speak about the transplanting pipeline and the trudeau administration's response to it? >> in a lot of ways, if -- we

talk about the big areas of carbon still underneath the ground, the fracture gas, the coal still underneath the ground as carbon bombs. the trans mountain, trudeau lit a fuse to one of the largest carbon bombs on the planet. what is really fascinating right now is we are saying investors pull away from major fossil fuel projects -- not just in canada, but around the world, because they know renewables are cheaper. they can see climate policy is going to have to constrain fossil fuel projects if we're going to keep the world safe. investors pulled out of trans mountain and the government turned around and funded it, with public dollars. now close to well over $20 billion of taxpayers money has gone into this pipeline project

that crosses 3000 streams. that would be -- if it goes forward, and right now it is being built, it is going to facilitate the expansion of the oil sands, which is one of the dirtiest oils on earth. at a time when we know demand for oil is speaking and going down because around the world, we are moving to renewable energy and electric cars. but there was a time when we all thought with climate policy that if demand went down, then fossil fuels would just be constrained. but every government wants to be the last barrel sold so they are keeping these projects alive like prime minister trudeau did, by subsidizing them or even outright buying them. that is why. amy: tzeporah berman, i want to ask you two last questions. clearly, the hope is activism. that is what changes things. you are longtime canadian activist. we're speaking to you in mexico,

not where you fled to -- you're going back to canada today -- that where there is an environmental conference. can you talk about that activism and also the pathway alliances connection to the canadian fossil fuel industry and there let's clean the air campaign? >> it is a particular kind of hubris, the pathway length right now is pushing as across the country that -- amy: explain what the pathway alliance is. >> it is an association of some of the largest oil and gas companies in canada. this is their new advertising campaign to try and convince people that they are part of the solution. the fact is, we now have studies over the last month that show the oil companies nets zero plans are meaningless. this week shall announced it is going to increase production and the work of influence has shown as these companies are spending

literally billions on advertising to show they are green and investing in renewables and carbon capture, but the fact is, over 90% of their investment is in new oil and gas, expanding the problem. you know, the fact is, these are the most powerful companies on earth. this lobby has been holding as back from addressing the climate emergency. that is why it is critical that citizens stand up and call on our governments to stand up to big oil and protect people. it is essential we organize. organizing for divestment in the last decade has resulted in $40 trillion been moved out of fossil fuels. just yesterday, a new report showed pension funds across north america had divested 10 years ago, didn't they would have saved -- and they would literally have saved $21 billion. it makes sense to do this now. it does not make sense to

continue to invest in new oil, gas, and cold but our government continue to do it because the lobby is just so powerful. they're going to continue to push for more fossil fuel development because they are still making billions in profits. last year was the most profitable year ever for the fossil fuel industry. we need people to stand up to this industry. we need activism to protest in the streets, to demand our governments stand up to this industry. we also need international cooperation, and that is why people around the world are calling for a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty to complement the paris agreement because the paris agreement does not constrain the production of fossil fuels. we know today we need to ensure absolute emissions and production decline. we need to protest at home and we need to call on our governments to cooperate urgently to stop the expansion of fossil fuels. amy: tzeporah berman, thank you for being with us, with stand.earth fossil fuel treaty.

we will link to your piece in the guardian "canada is on fire, and big oil is the arsonist." bring in genevieve guenther, founding director of end climate silence, a volunteer organization dedicated to helping the media cover the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves. she tweeted wednesday -- "a grim milestone -- the top four stories after the russia headliner on the new york times app are all climate change stories. of course only one article, an explainer piece, actually mentions the climate crisis and an mention fossil fuels. this is a fail." welcome to democracy now! many would be saying, the weather is covered constantly yet you had a group called and climate -- end climate silence. talk about what is missing. >> i founded end climate silence after i spent a morning in my car listening to public radio

and hearing three segments on stories that were clearly climate stories. one was about the drought in the pacific northwest. one was about the floods in japan that year that had been displacing millions of people. and another was about how self-driving car's would change the way we moved around, changed our transportation systems. none of those stories even mentioned climate change even though clearly climate change was playing a role in the creation of the stories and would have a role in the ongoing transportation systems that we would need to create in order to halt global heating. i founded end climate silence in order to try to teach the news media that even if you are not telling what you think is a science story or an environment story, even if your reporting on breaking news as this smoke ball

across united states clearly is, you need to connect the dots to what -- from what your reporting to the climate crisis. answer the climate crisis, to the use of fossil fuels that is heating up our planet. for example, most of the stories on the wildfire smoke would talk about the unprecedented wildfires that are raging across canada right now. and some of them even discuss the heat and the drought that has been creating this fire whether north of the united states. but none of them actually articulated the words "climate change" and did not expended is the ongoing use of fossil fuels that is putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and crating these conditions for these extreme weather events, these disasters, which are already affecting americans health, americans safety, americans

ability to live, lives. so our job and the job of the news media is to every story make those connections between what is being reported and the reality of the crisis because if you don't do that, you are performing a kind of climate denial you are pretending that something that is happening is not happening. where you are proceeding as if the climate crisis were not already here and weren't already hurting us, hurting our children, hurting our ability to live normal lives and be healthy. we need to stop this practice. we need to end climate silence and always make that link to the climate crisis even if you're not writing a specific climate story or science story or environment story. nermeen: if you could explain, clearly you have spoken to some of these journalists who have covered these journalists who have covered the stories without talking about the climate crisis, what do you understand

about why this issue is not highlighted in their real working? -- in their reporting? >> i think two things need to happen. there needs to be more education about climate change in news media so reporters who are put onto the climate be are duty-bound to educate them selves about the climate crisis but other reporters, for example the chicago bureau chief who wrote one of the stories in "the new york times" that did not mention the climate crisis, these reporters don't have any particular professional obligation as it stands now to learn about the climate crisis. but as our planet heats up, even if we phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible, we are going to continue to see some of these extreme weather events until our climate reaches a certain equilibrium. all reporters need to be educated in the climate crisis, so this needs to happen in

journalism programs and it also needs to happen in onboarding of new journalists into television stations, newspapers, radio stations all venues need to have a kind of institutionalized method to educate the reporters about the climate crisis. and there needs to be a culture shift where editors understand that the climate crisis is no longer a story simply for the science or environment section, it is a story on the front page nearly every day, especially in the summers stop it behooves everybody to make those connections so that readers, viewers, listeners, all citizens can be educated and informed so they can make the decisions they need to make in the ballot box, as activists, as consumers, as americans, human beings on this planet. amy: i know there are meteorologist groups, for example, are doing show your

stripes that show the climate catastrophe when they're showing the weather. 30 seconds under article. your final comments? >> my point is sometimes we think about emissions in terms of national contributions to the carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere but i think it is more useful to think about this in terms of class. if the top 10% of people income brackets arc intruding the emissions, the top 1%, some have carbon footprints that rise over 1000 tons of carbon a year. no billions of people in africa and in the global south unit on the snow carbon at all and yet they are the people who are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. they on the front lines. it is coming from us all, but

always the, the poorest people are suffering first and worst. what i'm arguing is we don't only need to think about national policy and federal policy, but we need to start talking about a new culture where rich people are not allowed to burn down this planet. amy: we have to leave it there, but we will continue to cover this issue. genevieve guenther, founding director of end climate silence, professor at new school. next up, to montana. we will speak with a teenager who joined other teens in bringing suit against montana. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "silver and gold" by gabby la la. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn now to montana, where a youth led climate trial that just ended after five days of dramatic testimony on who can be held responsible for the climate crisis.

the landmark case was led by 16 children and young adults ranging in age from to 22. five they accuse the state of montana of violating their constitutional rights as it pushed pro-fossil fuel policies that devastated the environment and severely impacted their health. the case is first of its kind to go to trial in the united states and focuses on a provision in the montana environmental policy act that blocks montana from considering how its energy economy may contribute to the climate crisis. a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. we're joined from missoula, montana, by grace gibson-snyder, a 19-year-old plaintiff in the landmark held v. state of montana climate trial. she was when it started. 16and we're joined by nate bellinger, lead attorney in the trial, senior attorney at the public interest nonprofit law firm our children's trust. we welcome you both to democracy now! nate bellinger, lay out the legal theory of this case. >> this case argues that the

state of montana is violating the constitutional rights of these 16 youth plaintiffs fight from entity just promoting fossil fuels as the state's primary resource. all of that that is being extracted and burned, that is all being done with authorization and permits from the government. those fossil fuels are resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions that are exacerbating the climate crisis, harming the youth plaintiffs, and we argue violating their constitutional rights. nermeen: grace gibson-snyder, could you explain what made you get involved in this lawsuit and what you hope comes out of it? >> of course. my first memory of thinking about climate change, i was about five years old. my best friend is from the marshall islands. we heard that because of climate

change, the marshall islands would be underwater within six years or so. so we made posters that said "save the marshall islands" and hung them up around our neighborhood. i remember spelling ocean o-s -i-n. in high school, i started getting involved with local organizations and organizing against toxic waste, but through that and to the research i was doing, i realized that as much work as i put in on the local level, as mitch changes as i made here, it would always be less efficient than having policy change. then i started looking for ways to get involved at statewide level and i found out about our children's trust or a club i was in at school called students against violating the environment. i reached out to our children's

trust and started talking with the attorneys about what being the plaintiff would entail. i asked my peers for permission, eventually, and 3.5 years later, here we are. nermeen: nate, if you could tell us how the montana state government has responded? i saw a note saying, quoting spokesperson for the montana state attorney general saying that the lawsuit is "a publicity stunt staged by an out-of-state organization that has exploited well-intentioned children and forced montana taxpayers to put the veil -- foot the bill." >> the state of montana has largely responded with statements such as that you just read, which are not legal defenses. the reason why they are not, why they are responding this way, is because they don't have strong legal arguments to defend the case. we presented compelling expert testimony from montana's top climate scientists about montana's role in how it is

contributing to climate change. the state does not really have a defense to that. they called an expert at trial. they did not have any climate scientists. their main defense is really montana's greenhouse gas emissions are too small in the global scheme of things to matter. we provided expert testimony at court to show that montana's greenhouse gas emissions are significant, both nationally and globally, especially when you already have a dangerous situation with dangerous levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere in an ongoing climate crisis. montana's emissions are significant. they are exacerbating the crisis. the state does not really have a defense to that show they resort to these statements such as accusing us of using the youth plaintiffs but anybody who heard any of the plaintiffs testify at trial no it is totally not true

and these plaintiffs have really deeply compelling personal reasons for being involved in this case. amy: grace gibson-snyder, i want to make sure you have the last word. you had to cancel soccer practice at your school because of the smoke. can you talk about the response of the fossil fuel industry in montana and the ages of your co-plaintiffs? you testified in the trial. we were showing images of you from five years old to 22? >> >> we all had experienced climate change in different capacities. you mention soccer. for me, that was a big on i grew up playing soccer. i played through school. i had a handful at least a practices and games canceled or postponed every year because of the wildfire smoke, which could so dense here toward the end of every summer and early fall that

it is dangerous to be outside, dangerous exercise for sure. it is exacerbated by climate change and higher temperatures. i have also seen melting glaciers in the national which is a landmark of montana's landscape. and watching those glaciers melt is such a devastating thing because it is so iconic for the state. it is so essential for the well-being of the people and of the environment here. it is just beautiful. i would hate be a part of a future where that is not present, where it is not a thing that my kids get to grow up with. those are my and packs. the plaintiffs in the case have everything from respiratory illnesses that are exacerbated by climate change to a cattle ranch where the cattle are dying. it has -- we all have expenses in different capacities, but i

am bolstered by the fact that montana is fundamentally reliant upon but also super appreciative of the natural environment. amy: we have to leave it there.

♪♪ (indistinct man speaking over radio) ...uh, that's the appropriate direction,