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Articles by Ellen Moore
Silencing the Story: Surveillance and Harassment Limit Reporting on Harita’s Nickel Operations in Indonesia
In 2025, I sat locked in a room in a private home as military officials camped on the front porch. A surveillance photo of me taken that morning was circulating on WhatsApp around Kawasi Village, where I was staying on Obi Island in Indonesia. I was visiting as a representative of Earthworks, along with colleagues from Indonesian environmental NGO WALHI.
PAC-funded junk mail abounds
To the Journal editor: I've received lots of glossy postcards lately telling me how dangerous one of our senate candidates is. There are two separate PAC groups paying for these mailers. One candidate accepts special interest PAC money to help smear his opponent, the other candidate doesn't. One candidate speaks to his constituents in open town halls, the other doesn't. One calls himself "prolife" to extent that women's health care is less important that fetal health care.
Aquí seguimos: el Pueblo Xinka y sus quinientos años de resistencia
In English A principios de este verano, el Pueblo Xinka de Guatemala y sus aliados de todo el mundo se reunieron en línea para celebrar algo extraordinario: nueve años consecutivos de vigilancia frente a la mina de plata de Escobal. Día y noche, bajo la lluvia y el calor, miembros de las comunidades se han turnado para vigilar la carretera, asegurándose de que permanezca cerrada al tráfico relacionado con la mina. Se trata de uno de los campamentos de resistencia indígena más longevos del mundo.
Here We Remain: Xinka People on Five Hundred Years of Resistance
En español Earlier this summer, Xinka People in Guatemala and their allies around the globe gathered online and in person to celebrate something remarkable: nine straight years of standing guard against the Escobal silver mine. Day and night, in rain and heat, community members have taken shifts watching the road, making sure it stays closed to mine related traffic. It is one of the longest-running Indigenous resistance encampments in the world. But this anniversary wasn’t just about nine years.
A Mining Company Loses Its Bet
This is part one of a two-part series on the Peaceful Resistance La Puya and Kappes v. Guatemala. Read the second part here. For fourteen years, the social movement Peaceful Resistance La Puya has maintained a 24-hour camp on the side of a dusty road just north of Guatemala City. The camp sits at the entrance to an open pit gold mine owned by Nevada-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA). A lot can happen in that time. Kids who grew up at the encampment left home and went to college.
One Year Later, We’re Still Waiting for Pan American Silver to Acknowledge the Xinka People’s Decision
One year ago, hundreds of Xinka People gathered in Guatemala City’s central park to announce their decision to deny consent for Pan American Silver’s Escobal mine in their territory. The announcement was the culmination of a more than eight-year long consultation process ordered by Guatemala’s Supreme Court in 2017.
Earthworks celebrates Alannah Acaq Hurley, Goldman Environmental Prize Winner
Today the Goldman Environmental Prize, which celebrates grassroots leaders who prove that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on the environment, announced its 2026 winners. Among the six women who were awarded the prize this year were members of frontline communities affected by mining and oil and gas drilling, and Alannah Acaq Hurley, Executive Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay, was one of them.
An International Call to Respect the Rights of Residents of Kawasi Village in Indonesia
By Ellen Moore, Reposted from Earthworks On Obi Island in Indonesia, residents in Kawasi Village, the ancestral land of the Tobelo Galela Indigenous Peoples, are calling for action from Harita Nickel. The company operates a large nickel mining and processing operation on the island near the village. Residents say the company must respect their right to clean water and safe living conditions.
Nickel waste floods Homes in Indonesia, Sparking Protests
By Ellen Moore, Earthworks From June 10 to 13, 2025, heavy rainfall hit Obi Island in Indonesia. As a result, muddy floods submerged three villages in the Island where one of largest nickel mining companies in Indonesia, Harita Group, has been operating. In nearby Kawasi Village, the flood caused residential areas to be engulfed with muddy water levels of about 50 centimeters.
Multiple Dams Fail at Indonesian Nickel-Mining Facilities
Three people are feared dead and hundreds more are at risk of negative health impacts after multiple tailings dams, which store toxic mine waste, collapsed inside an industrial park in Indonesia. According to media and worker testimony, on March 16, the PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt tailings storage facility was breached, and liquified tailings flowed into the Bahadopi River.
The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Join Calls to Respect the Rights of the Xinka People of Guatemala
In mid February, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), an Indigenous political advocacy non-profit organization representing more than half of all First Nations in BC, approved a resolution in solidarity with the Xinka Parliament of Guatemala and in favour of the Xinka People’s right to self-determination and free, prior and informed consent.
Newmont Mining Running it Back(wards) with Plans for More Ocean Dumping
Every year US mining company Newmont dumps millions of tonnes of toxic waste into the ocean off the coast of Papua New Guinea at the Lihir mine. Another Newmont project, the proposed Wafi Golpu copper-gold mine, could dump an additional 360 million tonnes of mine waste into the nearby Huon Gulf over the life of the mine. Although Newmont acquired these toxic assets when it took over Newcrest Mining in 2023, the company is intimately familiar with the harms of ocean dumping.
Xinka Parliament Calls Out Pan American Silver Obstruction of Escobal Mine Consultation
The Xinka are an Indigenous people who live in what is now southern Guatemala. In 2014, the mining firm Tahoe Resources opened a massive silver mine in their territory without their consent amidst the violent repression of peaceful protestors. It was a clear violation of their right to self-determination, an injustice the Xinka Parliament has been fighting ever since. In 2017, thousands of community members set up opposition camps around the mine.
Third-Party Funder is the Only Winner in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s Suit Against Mexico
Mexico is trying to protect the environment and fishing communities off the country’s northwest coast from the harmful effects of offshore mining. For that, the government will in all likelihood pay a high price. Last month, an international arbitration tribunal sided with a U.S. corporation, Odyssey Marine Exploration, in a lawsuit against Mexico for denying an environmental permit for seabed mining of phosphate off the coast of Baja California Sur.
Third-party funder is the only winner in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s suit against Mexico
Mexico is trying to protect the environment and fishing communities off the country’s northwest coast from the harmful effects of offshore mining. For that, the government will in all likelihood pay a high price. Last month, an international arbitration tribunal sided with a U.S. corporation, Odyssey Marine Exploration, in a lawsuit against Mexico for denying an environmental permit for seabed mining of phosphate off the coast of Baja California Sur.
Consultation Advances with Xinka Indigenous People on Pan American Silver's Mine in Guatemala
On February 21, 2024, the Xinka Parliament of Guatemala announced the start of the decision-making phase of the court-ordered consultation over the future of Pan American Silver’s Escobal mine. Xinka authorities also signaled concerns about institutional weakness, such as the government’s shoddy environmental oversight and failures in the implementation of the court order.
Organizations demand justice for murdered Xinka leader, Noé Gómez Barrera
For over a month, Guatemalans have taken to the streets to call for an end to corruption and respect for the outcome of the September elections, in which reform-minded Bernardo Arevalo secured a surprise presidential victory, setting in motion what many believe is a slow-motion coup aimed at preventing Arevalo from taking office in January.
Newmont’s bid to inherit Newcrest's toxic assets
From Peru to Nevada and beyond, communities impacted by Newmont Mining have been sounding the alarm for years about the company’s failure to live up to its human rights and environmental commitments. Now, the world’s largest gold producer is poised to become even bigger–and own even more problematic mines–through the acquisition of Australian company, Newcrest Mining.
Guatemalans demand right to say no to a Nevada-owned gold mine
The Peaceful Resistance La Puya in Guatemala celebrates 11 years this week in their struggle to defend their land and water from an open-pit gold mine owned by Nevada-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA). La Puya’s around-the-clock resistance camp outside the mine was attacked by police and private security, and leaders faced criminalization and intimidation. Thanks to their persistence, Guatemalan courts suspended the mine in 2016 pending a consultation with Indigenous people.
Opposition to ocean dumping takes center stage at Newcrest Mining’s shareholder meeting
Newcrest Mining, majority-owner of the Wafi Golpu copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea, faced tough questions at its shareholder meeting this week over community opposition to its plans to dump an estimated 360 million tonnes of mine waste into the ocean. Newcrest and its project partner Harmony Gold plan to pipe the toxic waste 130 km along active fault lines through floodplains, farmland, and the country’s second most populous city before dumping it into the Huon Gulf.
Norwegian asset manager excludes mining companies over ocean dumping
Today another investor decided to ditch ocean dumping. Storebrand Asset Management, Norway’s largest private asset manager, announced today that it will no longer invest in companies with mining operations that use marine or riverine tailings disposal or companies involved in deep sea mining. That means the two companies behind the controversial Wafi-Golpu mine in Papua New Guinea, Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold, are out.
Local group to hold Constitution Day celebration Sept. 17
“Did you know that September 17th was National Constitution Day?” she asked. “Well, no, I didn’t”, he replied. “I didn’t either! I wonder why that is?” she responded. This has been the introduction of conversations that a small team of concerned citizens have had with folks in Shelby County this past couple of weeks.
New at Peter White Public Library
What’s New – historical fiction History provides fertile material for fiction. The characters and settings are all standing by, just waiting for a creative mind to bend them into a shape that makes sense to readers in our present times.
“If Pan American Silver has 20 years to wait, we have all our lives to resist”
This week, community members from Guatemala and Argentina fighting to prevent Pan American Silver projects from destroying their water supplies and ways of life met to exchange experiences and solidify collaboration. Calling them a “catalyst for growth,” Pan American hopes to cash in on large silver deposits at the proposed Navidad project in Chubut, Argentina and the suspended Escobal mine in Santa Rosa, Guatemala, despite long-standing resistance from Indigenous and non-indigenous residents.
A Sea of Trouble: Seabed Mining and International Arbitration in Mexico
In its submission to the NAFTA tribunal, the Cooperative argued that an environmental approval for the project would risk the health of their fishing concession, and in turn the livelihoods of the families that make up the Cooperative, as well as the larger local economy. The threat, they add, goes beyond the financial implications given the central role fishing plays in the culture and social fabric of their communities.
A Sea of Trouble: Seabed Mining and International Arbitration in Mexico
In its submission to the NAFTA tribunal, the Cooperative argued that an environmental approval for the project would risk the health of their fishing concession, and in turn the livelihoods of the families that make up the Cooperative, as well as the larger local economy. The threat, they add, goes beyond the financial implications given the central role fishing plays in the culture and social fabric of their communities.
In Guatemala, Harris Should Address U.S. Policies That Put Corporations Over People
Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Guatemala this week to discuss solutions to the poverty, violence, and corruption that are among the driving forces of migration. Contributing to these drivers are neoliberal arrangements, such as the Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which have been imposed on Guatemalans.
Opinion | In Guatemala, Harris Should Prioritize People Over Corporations | Jen Moore
Opinion | In Guatemala, Harris Should Prioritize People Over Corporations | Jen Moore
Guatemala's Land Defenders Are Still Their Own Best Defense
Rising corruption in Guatemala threatens landmark legal victories by Indigenous activists defending their land from mining. By Ellen Moore, Jen Moore, February 10, 2021. Mining trucks near Lake Izabal, Guatemala (Shutterstock) The large-scale extraction of gold, silver, and other metals has large-scale impacts. Each industrial mega-mine leaves behind millions of tons of toxic waste, often polluting water supplies in perpetuity.
When Police Repression is Not Enough: A U.S. Corporation is Suing Guatemala to Crush Local Mining Opposition
Across the Global South, and especially in Latin America, international mining companies are using a combination of pressure tactics to forcibly open mining operations in places where communities have resisted them. First, they resort to deception and repression. Then, if that fails, they sue governments in international tribunals — which can force governments to pay massive awards to the corporations and undermine public decision making in the people’s interest.
When Police Repression is Not Enough: A U.S. Corporation is Suing Guatemala to Crush Local Mining Opposition
Across the Global South, and especially in Latin America, international mining companies are using a combination of pressure tactics to forcibly open mining operations in places where communities have resisted them. First, they resort to repression. Then, if that fails, they sue governments in international tribunals — which can force governments to pay massive awards to the corporations and undermine public decision making in the people’s interest.
Why Did a Norwegian Firm Ditch a Chinese Company Over What It’s Doing in Papua New Guinea?
How’s this for a testament to the complex nature of globalization: Storebrand, Norway’s largest private asset manager, recently divested from Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC), because the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine the company operates in Papua New Guinea dumps millions of tonnes of toxic mine waste into the ocean each year. Meanwhile, back in Norway, a pair of controversial new mines are poised to begin dumping massive amounts of waste into the country’s famous fjords.
A Thank You to Martin Khor, Champion of Global Equity
Last week the world lost Martin Khor, an intellectual and strategic giant of the movements to reduce the inequities between rich and poor countries. He was also my friend for the past four decades. Martin and I met when I was an extremely young and green economist at the United Nations in Geneva, exposing the machinations of global corporations in developing countries.
Guatemalan Water Protectors Persist, Despite Mining Company Threats
The hard work of protecting water and land from the long-term harms associated with gold and silver mining takes place daily on the frontlines of tenacious struggles throughout Latin America and around the world. Indigenous people and affected communities face many reprisals for their resistance, including a mounting number of arbitration suits against their governments from mining companies suing over projects that people have managed to halt through direct action and in the courts.
Following the Footsteps of a Mining Monster
The metaphor of “a big monster that treads heavily” has been used to describe war in a song famously sung by Mercedes Sosa. It has also been applied to the mining of metals, such as gold and silver, given the industry’s track record of serious and long-lasting impacts. These impacts are laid bare in an online map that traces the steps of Pan American Silver, one of the world´s largest silver mining companies, based in Vancouver, Canada. The picture isn’t pretty.
How National and Global Inequalities Are Intertwined
Gender and Work At every level of the global hierarchy, wealth inequalities intersect with inequalities based on race, ethnicity, and gender. Those who are rich can accumulate even more wealth over their lifetimes or over generations. Those who depend primarily on income earned from work struggle to stay afloat and are constantly vulnerable to losing their jobs. According to Oxfam, “At the top of the global economy a small elite are unimaginably rich.
Global Mining Corporations Have a Friend in the New Guatemalan Government
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is less than a month into his term and yet there are already disturbing signs that his administration will side with global mining corporations against indigenous communities fighting to protect their land and water. The clearest sign to date: the appointment of Juan José Cabrera Alonso, a former executive of a controversial silver mine, as Special Secretary to the Vice President.
Global Mining Corporations Have a Friend in the New Guatemalan Government
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is less than a month into his term and yet there are already disturbing signs that his administration will side with global mining corporations against indigenous communities fighting to protect their land and water. The clearest sign to date: the appointment of Juan José Cabrera Alonso, a former executive of a controversial silver mine,as Special Secretary to the Vice President.
Global Mining Corporations Have a Friend in the New Guatemalan Government
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei is less than a month into his term and yet there are already disturbing signs that his administration will side with global mining corporations against indigenous communities fighting to protect their land and water. The clearest sign to date: the appointment of Juan José Cabrera Alonso, a former executive of a controversial silver mine, as Special Secretary to the Vice President.
Driven to Organize: App-Based Drivers Launch New Global Network
Brexit signaled the UK’s apparent exit from all things international last month. Meanwhile, UK union activists convened allies from around the world to go the opposite direction and build global solidarity. The organizers they brought together hailed from 27 different countries, and flew from as far away as Chile, Indonesia and Australia to be part of the gathering in Oxford, hosted by the UK-based United Private Hire Drivers Association.
Calling All Intentional Entrepreneurs: The Amazing Truth That Sets You Free
A) having lots and lots of ideas, a small percentage of which had grains of merit, B) making friends fairly easily, some of whom were encouraging of a small percentage of my more meritorious ideas,C) wanting to be like Einstein who said the most important question a human being can ask is if we live in a Universe that is friendly to our ideas.D) concluding that the marketplace as part of the Universe was friendly to my visionary ideas that all my friends agreed were incredibly valuable and...
Ellen A. Moore: Thanks for privilege of July 4 salute
Being one of many at the river for the fireworks July 4, watching the procession of people and families flowing along our grand river walk, enjoying our once-a-year gathering of community, I want to exclaim about our privilege to be here on the banks of one of the great rivers of the world, all of us on our communal quilt of blankets, celebrating together our nation in this glorious setting.
Ellen Moore: Our mantra has to be no more war
Thank you, La Crosse Tribune, for your "the faces" Memorial Day section of the 1,162 Wisconsin veterans killed in Vietnam. Surely this is the most convincing evidence possible of the price of war as a solution to anything — the outcome of decisions made by adult men, sitting in comfortable chairs in a safe place, "leaders" in the world. What about the League of Nations? The European Union?Must we resign ourselves to the idea that war is inevitable? War is the worst of human activities.
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