The Pope says NOPE (Not on Planet Earth) to Fracking and Mega-mining

Environmental Justice Organizations, Liabilities and Trade

Pope Francisco welcomed a group of Argentineans, including an EJOLT member, Antonio Gustavo Gomez, an Attorney General from Argentina, yesterday on November 11th, 2013, in the Vatican. The meeting lasted an hour, with the participation of the film director Pino Solanas, well known for his film “Dirty Gold”, about mega-mining. They spoke about water contamination and the Pope mentioned that he is preparing an encyclical about nature, humans and environmental pollution.
As an image is worth a thousand words, the Pope demonstrated his opposition to shale gas fracking and the contamination of water due to mega mine projects, posing for two photographs. One with a t-shirt that states that “Water is worth more than gold: El Agua Vale mas que el Oro”, and the other stating “No to Fracking”. The concern from His Holiness was clear when the following cases were mentioned to him by Fiscal Gomez, including Barrick Gold, Chevron in Argentina and Ecuador and Yasuni, among others.

Special thanks to Richard Charter