This article’s opening is much better than anything I could preface it with:

If Nobel Peace Prizes could refreeze the polar ice caps, then Sheila Watt-Cloutier would be a very happy woman indeed because her people are, “defending the right to be cold”.

As it is, the Canadian activist, who lives in a remote community up above the Arctic circle, is thrilled to have her name put forward as one of the 181 nominees for this year’s accolade from the Nobel committee, because it can only advance the cause for which she has been fighting for the past 12 years – protecting the Inuit peoples whose lives are directly and most immediately threatened by the change in the world’s climate and raising awareness about global warming. As she said recently: “It’s been a long haul and a daunting task to get the message out. When you’re 155,000 people at the top of the world, there aren’t very many people who even know who you are or what you’re facing.”

It is far too soon to say who will emerge as this year’s Nobel Prize winner – the nominations were announced yesterday, and the peace prize is not awarded until October – but already the environment has emerged as this year’s big theme and Ms Watt-Cloutier, as the tribune of a remote people living with the stark realities of global warming on a daily basis, is perhaps the closest thing the planet has to a beacon of hope for a better future.

Climate change is real, folks, I think we can stop the so-called “debate” now. Now that there’s are hundreds of thousands of Inuit who are affected by global climate change directly, it’s very possible that the head-in-the-sand folks won’t be able to ignore it anymore. We know that climate change is causing stress for thousands of arctic species, we know that the sea ice is at its lowest points in recorded history, we know that polar bears are forced away from their traditional hunting grounds because of lack of sea ice-and wind up turning to each other for food. We know that those same polar bears’ hibernation cycles are shorter now than ever because of the warming temperatures. We know that species of ice fish and other aquatic life that we never knew existed are being seen for the first time because the ice has receded far enough for us to get to them, we know more than ever before. But now we know something the conservatives and big-business friends can’t ignore-we know there are hundreds of thousands of voices calling out for a change.

To read Sheila Watt-Cloutier’s entire story, and see a video about her plight, follow the link below to TruthOut.org.

[ One Woman, Fighting to Save Her People From Extinction ]
Source: TruthOut.org

There are a number of reasons why whistle-blower protections need to be in place at every workplace, and so many examples of why they’re important so easily available that they seem too numerous to count. From the whistle-blowers who called out Enron and Worldcomm before their collapses to the IT worker who finds child porn on an executive’s computer and is fired for reporting him, people who call out unethical and illegal behavior shouldn’t be punished for doing so, and certainly shouldn’t be told to report their findings to their bosses who may be involved. (especially if they are) Many workers find that following the chain of command only gets them in more trouble for knowing something they shouldn’t and being ready to take it to the people who can correct it, and those people need to be protected, not punished, for doing the right thing.

In the case of the US Government, TSA workers, for example, have one of the highest responsibilities of them all: keeping our transit ports safe and protected. If their management or higher-ups are sacrificing that safety and security for their own benefit, profit, or even just so their day can go by a little eaiser, then the people under them who realize that our security and safety are at stake should be able to speak up to their manager’s management, or to congress if necessary, without fear of retribution or being blacklisted or having their career come to a crashing halt just because they dared to do the right thing. In any government job, Congress ultimately holds the power to oversee the activities of federal agencies and take them to task for inappropriate behavior, and congress cannot accomplish its oversight responsibilities unless it ensures that whistle blower protections are in place.

Unfortunately, congressional republicans don’t quite feel the same way – this isn’t news particularly, as congressional republicans and conservatives who believe in the so-called “unitary executive” have been intent on abdicating congressional oversight responsibilities for a long time now; allowing the executive branch to act with near impunity and do as it chooses, without even the thought that this might come back to haunt them should a democratic yet similarly power-hungry President come to power. All they know is that they agree with the President now, and he needs them to let him do whatever they choose, so they abandon their duties to oversee both the government as a whole and the actions of the President. Voters saw this lack of congressional oversight and were outraged. They voted in a Democratic majority with the hope that oversight and checks and balances would return to Washington, and there are good signs that it has begun to.

Unfortunately, for TSA workers, they don’t have those protections. Democrats in congress are trying to extend them, considering how incredibly important their jobs are and how critical it is that they be able to speak out in the name of national security whenever there’s a threat from either abroad, foriegn, domestic or in their own offices, but congressional republicans don’t seem to like the idea. It’s mind boggling.

Tom Devine is the legal director of the Government Accountability Office, and he describes some of the reasons why whistle blowers are so important:

Whistleblowers are poised to bear witness as the public’s eyes and ears about issues vital to our families, our bank accounts, and our national security. Look what they’ve accomplished without rights:

* FDA scientist Dr. David Graham successfully exposed the dangers of the painkiller Vioxx, which caused over 50,000 fatal heart attacks in the United States.
* NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen refused to cooperate with censorship of warnings about global warming, namely that we have a short window in which to change business as usual, or suffer serious and unpredictable consequences. The country heard the wakeup call.
* Gary Aguirre’s case exposed the SEC’s possible vulnerability to massive corruption involving hedge funds, a vulnerability that could create a new wave of financial victims.
* A host of national security whistleblowers, modern Paul Reveres, have made a record of pre-9/11 warnings that were systematically ignored. They keep warning to this day: Inside the bureaucracy, few lessons have been learned.

Quick congressional action is imperative. Until that happens, they are defenseless. The severity of retaliatory acts by supervisors corresponds directly to how greatly they feel threatened. That translates to unprecedented peril over the next two years for whistleblowers who report wrongdoing to Congress.

Agreed. Even if congressional republicans continue to stall an anti-terror bill that’s on the floor now because of whistle blower protections for TSA workers, Congress should work to pass the Whistleblower’s Protection Act as soon as possible.

[ Whistling Freedom ]
Source: TomPaine.com