Protecting Community Rights and Resources

For countries rich in natural resources like oil, gas, and minerals, these resources should provide an essential source of financing for improvements to social and environmental well-being. However, economic dependence on these resources is more often accompanied by poverty, inequality, poor public services, and stunted economic growth, a trend economists call the “resource curse.” And an overdependence on natural resources in a weak or corrupt political system often leads to environmental devastation, human rights abuses, and poor labor practices. Citizens have the right to participate in the decisions that affect their environment. For citizens to combat the resource curse, they need to know how much corporations are paying their government to extract natural resources.

Here in the U.S. a bipartisan group of U.S. legislators have joined together in introducing the Energy Security Through Transparency Act (ESTT). Come find out about an exciting campaign to pass a landmark bill that will close a critical gap in information available to citizens and allow them to push their governments towards more environmentally responsible practices.