Here's the fourth edition of [ [link removed] ]Ekō News. We're bringing this last one to
you in the same way we send other emails. If you want to keep receiving
this newsletter, [ [link removed] ]sign up for our new (and free) Substack, here! (For
more information see our original introduction email below.) If you're
also already receiving it via Substack, we apologize for the short-term
inconvenience.

In the meantime, enjoy the fourth edition -- and since we're just
developing it, please send along any feedback about what you'd like to see
more or less of (just reply to this email)!

Away we go...



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Hello and welcome to the Ekō newsletter. Today we’re covering the Macron
government, Signal vs Germany, how data centers are polluting their
environments, and illegal mining in the Amazon.

Can Macron survive?

[ [link removed] ]Close up of French President Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron, after eight years and seven governments,
might finally be out of time. He’s facing calls for snap elections from
his allies, just weeks after the last government fell.

One such ally, Edouard Philippe, was Macron’s first prime minister in
2017. He’s one of those calling for new elections, calling negotiations
underway for a new government a “distressing political game.” Prime
Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned on Monday.

France’s leadership role in the EU means that whoever is in charge of the
country has outsized influence on how European legislation and the EU
holds companies accountable. A shift in leadership could have implications
on corporate power, leading to stalling, diluting, or reversing
regulations.

Marine Le Pen, the far right leader of the National Rally, is calling for
Macron to resign and feels bullish about her party’s chances. National
Rally President Jordan Bardella said the party is “ready to govern.”

“I am calling on him to dissolve the National Assembly,” Le Pen said of
Macron. “We are at the end of the road.”

The last French elections were in June 2024, and the next are not
scheduled until July 2027. Snap elections would push that timetable
forward by eighteen months.

Macron plans to appoint a new prime minister rather than call an election.
It’s a strategy that might continue to face pushback.

([ [link removed] ]Le Monde) ([ [link removed] ]Politico) ([ [link removed] ]Jacobin) ([ [link removed] ]the New York Times)

In other news

Illegal gold mining in the Amazon resulted in the loss of 140,000 hectares
of Peruvian rainforest, according to Monitoring of the Andean Amazon
Project and Conservación Amazónica. The miners are disregarding
environmental protections and polluting the region’s waterways.

“They are poisoning our rivers—it’s the water that we drink.”—Roberto
Tafur Shupingahua, Loreto.

([ [link removed] ]The Guardian)

The EU regulation known as “Chat Control” could force Signal out of the
market, and the messaging app is appealing to Germany to use its swing
vote to stop the measure from becoming law. In a statement, Signal
Foundation President Meredith Whittaker warned that “the latest Chat
Control proposals would require mass scanning of every message, photo, and
video on a person’s device, assessing these via a government-mandated
database or AI model to determine whether they are permissible content or
not.”

Whittaker added that “given a choice between building a surveillance
machine into Signal or leaving the market, we would leave the market.”

([ [link removed] ]Signal) ([ [link removed] ]The Record)

Data centers are spewing toxins into the environment, public health
advocates say, warning that the tech infrastructure is increasing the
level of PFAS forever chemicals. It’s just the latest concern from
environmental groups, who also cite the industry’s reliance on water and
its warming to nuclear energy as reasons to keep tabs.

“We know there are PFAS in these centers and all of that has to go
somewhere.”—Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, Earthjustice attorney

([ [link removed] ]The Guardian) ([ [link removed] ]Financial Times)

Here’s your campaign of the day.

Ireland is known as an ally to the Palestinian people—and the government
is currently debating a bill that would ban on imports from settlements on
stolen land in the region.

A products and services trade ban is already in place in Spain, Slovenia,
Belgium, and the Netherlands.

But corporate pressure and lobbying from the US and Israel are threatening
to derail the process—your voice matters.

[ [link removed] ]Add your voice



Thanks for reading!
Eoin Higgins and the team at Ekō


PS: In case you missed it earlier, here's the original email about this
new project:

John,

Ekō is starting something new.

For more than a decade, we’ve kept you informed about ways we can use our
collective power to push back against corporate abuse and corruption. And
we’ve had a massive impact, filing shareholder resolutions, changing
policies, buying and protecting forests, and more.

Now, we’re offering a different way to keep up to date on Ekō’s campaigns
and mission. It’s called [ [link removed] ]Ekō News, and it’s a new project on the
newsletter platform Substack.

[ [link removed] ]Sign Up Now! (It's free)

To launch it, we’re working with Eoin Higgins, a US-based journalist whose
work has focused on corporate corruption and power. His book, [ [link removed] ]Owned:
How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left,
delves into how Silicon Valley’s conservative lean has led to a takeover
of alternative media—and offers a history of characters like Elon Musk,
Peter Thiel, and others.

[ [link removed] ]Ekō News will publish twice a week, giving a digest of stories we’re
following about corporate (mis)behaviour, and taking a deeper dive into
one story or character from the news. We’ll also interview people making
change and show you the impact of our work together.

Please [ [link removed] ]sign up today—we hope to see you there. (It’s free, but we’d
love support for the new initiative and there will be an option for a paid
subscription, too.)

 

 

Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep Ekō strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]