[DOWNLOAD FLIER JPG | PDF ]

Map of actions up soon.  Let us know about your action here!

Take action Friday May 14 to demand:

-An immediate ban on all offshore drilling

-A rapid and just transition away from fossil fuels

-No bailouts for the oil industry. All recovery costs must be paid for by BP, Halliburton, Transocean and other implicated companies.

-The federal government must remove any caps on liability for oil companies.

-BP provides full compensation for impacted communities and small businesses.

-BP provides full funding for long-term ecosystem restoration for impacted areas.

-Oil companies operating in the Gulf fully fund restoration of coastal ecosystems damaged by canals, pipelines, and other industry activities.

Take action at:

-BP gas stations and offices

-Halliburton and Transocean offices

-Federal buildings

-Offices of members of Congress

-State government officials in states affected by Obama’s offshore drilling proposal.

-Critical Mass bike rides

-Vigils to mourn the unspeakable loss brought by this spill

-Get creative!

Get connected. Pledge resistance and report your actions using the form HERE or write to oilspill@risingtidenorthamerica.org

Boulder Activists Unfurl Banner and Erect Wind Turbines on Top of Giant Coal Pile

Boulder, CO – At approximately 12:45 today, four activists climbed onto the massive coal pile in front of the Valmont Power Plant.  An enormous banner was deployed down the front of the coal pile reading “RENEWABLES NOW” and two large mock wind turbines were erected on top of the coal pile.  The activists reclaimed the coal pile to display their message for approximately 1.5 hours, before they were taken into custody.

Meanwhile a rally took place on outside of the Valmont Power Plant.  Bill McKibben, a leading climate change activist and founder of 350.org, who happened to be in Boulder for a speaking event, came out to the rally and expressed his support for those on the coal pile.
“Our leaders have been listening to the coal industry instead of the science and now people need to take the lead and that is what they are doing.  The action today is great and what is so great about it is that the same thing is happening all around the world. Everywhere people are showing the same kind of courage,” said Mr. McKibben.

The protest, which occurred less than one week after the 40thAnniversary of Earth Day, comes as Boulder is considering whether to renew a 20 year franchise agreement with Xcel.  Recently, the Boulder City Council and City Manager suggested that Boulder should delay signing a new franchise agreement to allow more time to negotiate with Xcel about implementing a stronger renewable energy plan.
Approximately 90% of Boulder’s electricity is generated from fossil fuels, with only 10% coming from renewable sources.  Many local environmentalists and community leaders are calling for electricity generated from renewable sources to increase by 10% each year, reaching 30% renewable by 2012 and 100% renewable by 2020.

“Boulder is ready to move forward with 100% renewable electricity. If Xcel is not willing to partner with the city to make this happen, then Boulder officials and citizens needs to take our energy future into our own hands,” said Tom Weis, a Boulder resident that communicated from atop the coal pile.
While the recent ‘Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act’ will require that Xcel modify three Front Range coal plants by 2017, Xcel is simultaneously planning to open the Comanche 3 coal-fired power plant in Pueblo, which will be the largest coal plant in the state.

Beyond that, three Front Range coal plants are likely to be replaced by natural gas, instead of renewable energy sources.  In fact, the legislation may allow Xcel to sign 20 year contracts on natural gas, effectively locking Coloradans to the high cost and environmentally destructive fuel, at a time when renewable energy technology is rapidly advancing.

“There couldn’t be a more important place for these kinds of protests. Boulder has provided more information about the deteriorating climate than any other town and yet there is a mountain of coal behind me. It is pathetic,” said Mr. McKibben.

At the same time, Mr. McKibben believes that Boulder is the right place to change directions:
“There is no better place for 100% renewable electricity. Boulder’s combination of wind, sun and brain power makes it uniquely suited for just that kind of progress.”

Photos available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49717025@N06/

Initial media reports:
Video and Article: http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_14968436#axzz0mLAxuWwK
Article: http://cbs4denver.com/wireapbusinessco/5.arrested.at.2.1660009.html

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA; Say “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They Will Bring The Mountains to Her”

In an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency’s headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA’s door that reads, “EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010.” Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.

This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today’s tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies’ imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath.

“We’re losing our way of life and our culture,” said Chuck Nelson, who worked as a coal miner in West Virginia for three decades and came to DC to support today’s protest. “Mountaintop removal should be banned today. The practice means total devastation for communities, the hardwood forests, the ecosystems, and the headwaters. Why should our communities sacrifice everything we have?”

Despite the Obama administration’s big announcement last year that it was going to take “unprecedented steps” to reduce the environmental damage from mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia, the EPA has been slow moving. Two weeks ago, the EPA delayed action on a set of broad-ranging and specific measures to reduce the environmental impacts of mountaintop removal, after details of the plan were leaked to coal-state mining regulators. The EPA has for months been close to finalizing these permit guidelines, which many hope will mandate tougher protections to limit damage to water quality and be a step in the right direction toward abolishing the practice.

The delay in EPA’s announcement of more detailed permit guidelines came just as the agency also asked U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers for more time to decide if it will veto the largest mountaintop removal mining permit in West Virginia history, the nearly 2,300-acre Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County.

“The science has become clear that mountaintop removal is harming water resources in real and measurable ways,” said Kate Rooth of the Rainforest Action Network, which organized the protest. “The EPA definitely can and must do much more on mountaintop mining and that includes exercising its full regulatory authority to block every single mining permit application that seeks to remove America’s oldest mountaintops and dump the waste into waterways.”

Based on EPA Administrator Jackson’s statements on March 8th at the National Press Club, it appears that the EPA is seeking ways to “minimize” the ecological damage of mountaintop mining rather than halt the most extreme strip mining practice. A paper released in January by a dozen leading scientists in the journal Science, however, concluded that mountaintop coal mining is so destructive that the government should stop giving out new permits all together. “The science is so overwhelming that the only conclusion that one can reach is that mountaintop mining needs to be stopped,” said Margaret Palmer, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences and the study’s lead author.

“Ultimately, what is clear is that mountaintop removal cannot be regulated. It must be abolished. Otherwise, we will continue to jeopardize our historic mountains, precious drinking water and especially the lives of the people who call Appalachia home. All of this for a tiny percent of dirty coal, the tradeoff doesn’t add up,” said Kate Finneran, one of the two main climbers in today’s protest.

Called the worst of the worst coal mining, mountaintop removal coal mining results in the clear-cutting of thousands of acres of some of the world’s most biologically diverse forests, the burying of crucial headwaters streams and the contamination of groundwater with toxic levels of heavy lead and mercury. According to the EPA, this destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020.

for hi resolution pictures click here

Follow @RANactions on Twitter for updates

February 26, 2010

Contacts:

Brian Bernhardt; ‘Power Past Coal’ Organizer; 703-439-0725; brian.bernhardt@colorado.edu

Amy Guinan, ‘Power Past Coal’ Organizer; 303-999-6374; amyguinan@yahoo.com

Tom Weis, President of Wind Power Solutions; 303-499-9648; tom@windpowersolutions.com

Denver, CO – At 11:45am on Friday, February 26th, local citizens demonstrated at the Denver headquarters of Xcel Energy – located at the corner of 17th St. and Lawrence St. – in protest of the utility’s impending plan to bring a new coal-fired power plant online in Pueblo, CO. The lunch hour protest called on Xcel executives to move Colorado in the right direction by keeping the Comanche 3 coal-fired power plant closed. Protestors demonstrated in a ‘die-in’ in front of the building’s main entrance to highlight the grim consequences that coal has on our lives and those of future generations. Simultaneously, two activists clad in hazmat suits dropped a banner off an adjoining bridge on Lawrence St. Police arrived on scene but no arrests were made.

The 750-megawatt Comanche Unit 3 would be the largest coal-fired power plant in the state, surpassing even the mammoth Cherokee coal plant in North Denver. “At a time when the costs of coal are becoming increasingly clear and the benefits of clean energy are ever more apparent, building the largest coal-fired power plant in the state is taking us 180 degrees in the wrong direction,” said Amy Guinan, an activist with Power Past Coal.

According to Xcel’s own data, the Comanche 3 plant would emit over 20 million pounds of CO2 a day, 2 pounds of mercury a week and thousands of tons of particulates and haze forming pollutants every year. The plant would also consume over 4 million gallons of water a day.

“Xcel has already wasted nearly $1 billion on this planet-destroying boondoggle. Operating it could cost ratepayers billions more. For the sake of Colorado’s children, and future generations, it is time for Xcel to pull the plug on this ill-conceived coal plant and redirect their investments towards making Colorado 100% renewable,” said Tom Weis, President of Wind Power Solutions.

Xcel has had ongoing problems bringing the plant online. While Xcel originally hoped to bring the plant into operation last fall, a variety of technical problems – currently involving a boiler pump – continue to push back its scheduled opening.

“There are a lot more than just technical problems with this new coal-fired power plant. There are serious social, economic and environmental problems. Rather than talking about a delayed opening, we should be talking about a permanent closure. Instead of building a new coal-fired plant, Xcel should be investing heavily in Colorado’s abundant solar and wind resources,” said Brian Bernhardt, an activist with Power Past Coal.

Today’s protest is part of an ongoing series of actions to move Colorado beyond coal. Sparked by the failure of elected and appointed officials to take meaningful action to move rapidly to renewable energy, the Power Past Coal campaign is building a grassroots protest effort. With the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment approving the permit-to-pollute for both the Valmont and Cherokee stations despite overwhelming public opposition, citizens are prepared to ramp up the pressure on Xcel executives, as well as Colorado politicians and regulatory agencies.

“Our leaders are failing to lead and Xcel is failing to take their responsibility seriously. Xcel should expect more protests and actions unless they start closing down coal plants and moving Colorado to 100% renewable electricity,” Kate Clark, a Power Past Coal activist.

Xcel has been challenged on multiple fronts this week. On Tuesday evening, Pueblo residents – where the new coal-fired power plant is built – raised serious concerns about high-pitched noises from the plant which are affecting people as far as nine miles away. Meanwhile, WildEarth Guardians petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect clean air and the climate and overturn an air pollution permit allowing Xcel Energy to illegally pollute while operating the Pawnee coal-fired power plant.

***

*Photographs available throughout the day at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/powerpastcoalcolorado/sets/72157623370635897/

A coalition of environmental activists led by GatewaySucks.org is calling on climate change activists to join the convergence at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

When the 2010 Winter Olympics start a couple of weeks from now in Vancouver, BC the athletes and spectators will be joined by organizations with some of the worst records on climate change.

General Motors is a national partner for the games, and one of the leading corporate opponents of effective action on climate change. Only two years ago, a vice-chairman of GM called global warming a “total crock of shit.” GM is supplying a large fleet of vehicles for the games, almost all of which are gas-guzzling SUVs.

Petro-Canada, another National Olympic Partner, is the retail arm of the largest extractor of Oil Sands bitumen. The Oil Sands are Canada’s biggest ghg emissions point source.

RBC (the Royal Bank of Canada) in addition to being a prominent Olympic sponsor is the largest commercial bank funder of the Oil Sands,. TransCanada pipelines, whose pipelines connect to the Oil Sands, is also an official supplier.

The government of British Columbia is the main funder and promoter of the games. They kicked off a massive plan to add over 1,000 km of new highway lanes (an increase of over 2,000,000 annual tonnes of CO2e emissions ) with the Sea-to-Sky Highway expansion for the Olympics. These plans include the controversial Gateway Program. It continues to heavily subsidize the oil and gas industry which resulted in it being the only Canadian province to see ghg emissions from industrial sources increase in 2008.

The Federal government of Canada which consistently earned “Fossil Awards” at the most recent international climate talks also is a major funder for the Olympics.

These corporations and governments want to fool the world with their claim that these are the “Greenest Games Ever” despite the links to climate change deniers, highway expansion and the Oil Sands.

If you would like to endorse this call-out and the welcoming committee event please contact info@gatewaysucks.org.

MORE INFORMATION:

Convergence Info: http://olympicresistance.net/

Welcoming Committee: http://2010welcoming.wordpress.com/

Green Olympic Watch: http://2010greenwatch.org/

GatewaySucks.org: http://www.gatewaysucks.org/

2010 Climate Crime Scene: http://2010climatecrime.org

]]> http://www.beyondtalk.net/2010/02/climate-change-activists-join-the-vancouver-convergence/feed/ 1 http://www.beyondtalk.net/2010/01/nine-day-tree-sit-ends-sitters-vow-not-over-until-blasting-stops/ http://www.beyondtalk.net/2010/01/nine-day-tree-sit-ends-sitters-vow-not-over-until-blasting-stops/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:46:54 +0000 deadlyvine http://www.beyondtalk.net/?p=347 Friday, January 29th, 2010

UPDATE – legal support needed! click here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: 304-854-7372, news@climategroundzero.org
Note: For more info, see : www.climategroundzero.org, www.mountainjustice.org

PETTUS, WVa—After blocking Massey Energy’s operations on the Bee Tree Permit for nine days, Amber Nitchman, 19, and Eric Blevins, 28 descended from their respective trees. They had occupied the two oak trees—originally accompanied by a third tree sitter, David Aaron Smith, 23—to protest mountaintop removal and the blasting of Coal River Mountain. Upon descent, they were immediately arrested by West Virginia State Troopers. The sitters’ decision to leave the trees was made in light of the recent drop in temperature.

After a week of Massey security harassing the sitters with deafening sirens and air horns, a call-in pressure campaign was launched by Climate Ground Zero, Mountain Justice and other anti-mountaintop removal groups. The receipt of hundreds of calls from around the country led to an emergency meeting with Climate Ground Zero volunteers, the Raleigh County prosecutor and Governor Manchin. The meeting resulted in the moratorium and a call for an investigation of the abuse.

The tree sit represents Climate Ground Zero’s most sustained intervention in mountaintop removal mining operations since its campaign of nonviolent direct action began last February. Volunteers know that the fight is far from over and expect work to commence on the Bee Tree site immediately. However, they see this tree sit as a victory. “It halted blasting for nine days. I think they’ve wildly succeeded with their goals,” said Climate Ground Zero volunteer Mike Bowersox. In a final communication from her perch, Nitchman captured the group’s resolve. “Its not over until the blasting is stopped,” she said.

photos and more available at www.climategroundzero.net

There are major differences between the industrialised nations, the large developing nations of India and China, and the poorest and most vulnerable countries as typified by Tuvalu which proposed to fortify the Kyoto agreement, and Bolivia. Summary of Negotiations by Australian Greens Senator Christine Milne (video)

In Copenhagen 100,000 people marched, however after 3pm police charged into the march and made arbitrary mass arrests estimated to be about 1,000. Further protests are occurring the next week inside the conference center and on the streets, check Denmark Indymedia for details and reports.

Many thousands of people attended a global weekend of vigils organised by 350.org and other protests with Walk Against Warming In Australia attracting 90,000 people, with 40,000 attending a Melbourne rally. (Video)

Aggregation and Video: icop15 aggregation | cop15live video
Radio: Climate Radio | Radio Mundo | Radio Indymedia – Urban War in Copenhagen?, 9 hour detention for Japanese man for nothing
Background on Tuvalu: Climate Adaption Issues | Speech at Melbourne Climate Rally

In Copenhagen Saturday 12th began with the NOAH Flood for Climate Justice Demonstration which started at 10am and marched, danced and waved to Højbro Plads [photo report]. The 12dec Demo started at Christiansborg Slotsplads / Parliament Square [google route map], including a CJA group, and it was soon clear that it was massive, with estimates quickly reaching 100,000 protesters. This was also part of a Global Day of Action on climate change. People were also meeting at Hojbro Plads in the same area for another action in the city.

Police Make Indiscriminate Mass Arrests

At around 3.15pm the police charged into the march near to where the CJA System Change not Climate Change group had joined the march, as well as people from the Ntac called demonstration. They cut off hundreds of people including many who were marching as part of Libertarian Socialist bloc [Pics 1 > 2 > 3 | report | video]. By 5pm several hundred had been handcuffed and made to sit on the floor, where they remain in the cold for hours. The police’s press office reports that those arrested today are between 700-900 people, later revised to close to one thousand. – See AerialTwitpic. See CJA Press Release, of these only three were eventually charged with anything.

Following the enormous mass arrests of climate protesters, accounts are emerging of the poor conditions within the specially set up detention facilities, with people handcuffed for up to eight hours following their lengthy detention upon the streets. Despite this obvious repression climate campaigners remain determined to push the message that we need System Change not climate change.

[the below is from Indymedia Denmark: http://indymedia.dk/ ]

Saturday 12th began with the NOAH Flood for Climate Justice Demonstration which started at 10am and marched, danced and waved to Højbro Plads [photo report]. The 12dec Demo started at Christiansborg Slotsplads / Parliament Square [google route map], including a CJA group, and it was soon clear that it was massive, with estimates quickly reaching 100,000 protestors. This was also part of a Global Day of Action on climate change. People were also meeting at Hojbro Plads in the same area for another action in the city.

Police Make Indiscriminate Mass Arrests

At around 3.15pm the police charged into the march near to where the CJA System Change not Climate Change group had joined the march, as well as people from the Ntac called demonstration. They cut off hundreds of people including many who were marching as part of Libertarian Socialist bloc [Pics 1> 2 | report | video]. By 5pm several hundred had been handcuffed and made to sit on the floor, where they remain in the cold for hours. The police’s press office reports that those arrested today are between 700-900 people – See AerialTwitpic.

To: Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen (Ombudsman), Per Larsen (Detective Commander of the Danish National Police) and Ritt Bjerregaard (Lord Mayor of Copenhagen)

Over the past two weeks, citizens of countries all over the world have come to Copenhagen for the UN COP-15 climate negotiations. Many have engaged in peaceful, nonviolent protest, trying to push world leaders to sign a meaningful deal that will save our planet for future generations.

Rather that giving them the space, the Danish police have used extremely heavy-handed and cruel mass arrest tactics, potentially violating European human rights laws. The Danish police are out of control, and they need to be held accountable.

SIGN PETITION HERE

Please join us and take action! Sign this petition calling on the Danish government to immediately investigate the police actions of the past two weeks, and demand that they allow future peaceful protests to go forward without similar abuses.

Danish Police: Going Too Far

On Saturday, Dec. 12, 100,000 people in Copenhagen participated in an overwhelmingly peaceful protest – but this protest was marred by the overzealous Danish police, who blocked off streets surrounding large groups of protestors, and arrested almost 1,000 people, the vast majority of which were clearly doing nothing illegal. Arrestees were handcuffed and forced to sit in rows for hours, as the temperatures dipped below freezing; numerous people urinated on themselves after being denied use of toilets. According to Maria Ludwig from Germany, “They kept me for two hours with plastic cuffs around our wrists and our hands behind our back, and then they put us on the bus. We had nothing to eat or drink, and one man asked the police to go to the toilet and they said: ‘No way are you going to put your trousers down, you’ll just have to piss into your trousers.”

And this is only one example of the harassment of environmental protestors by the Danish police in recent weeks. On Dec. 11, police arrested 68 people at a nonviolent protest in downtown Copenhagen, refusing to give reasons for making arrests. (You can see examples of police violence at the Dec. 11 protest on this video.) On the night of Dec. 14, police raided the district of Christiania, where a protest group was holding a fundraiser party, arresting 200 people and using tear gas, police dogs, and water cannons on people that they claimed were protestors. Lily Kember, 22, from London, said: “There was no warning. We were dancing, having a great night and then suddenly the tent was full of tear gas. I saw an old man near me doubled up and coughing.”

Possible Violations of EU Human Rights Laws?

Throughout these protests, police have cited a controversial law, passed on Nov. 26, that gave them sweeping powers to make “pre-emptive arrests” and hold people for up to 12 hours without any actual wrongdoing having taken place. The new law was publicly denounced as “draconian” by numerous environmental groups, trade unions, and other organizations.

In a press release from Aug. 10, the Danish police stated that “all people are, without previous permission, at liberty to assemble unarmed” and that “the police arenít allowed to take action, unless attacked, until after the crowd has three times been called upon to disperse.” However, in these protests, these commitments have been blatantly disregarded.According to Claus Bonnez, a lawyer working with Krim, a human rights organization, “according to the European Court of Human Rights process, the police will have to prove that it is necessary for democratic society to make such arrests. And I don’t think that the Danish police will be able to prove that.”

On Dec. 13, Amnesty International called for an investigation into potential human rights abuses, stating that “when nearly 1,000 people are arrested and then all but 13 are released it means that many of those people were just innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Take action now! Please sign this petition, and help make Denmark a safe place for peaceful protest.

SIGN PETITION HERE

Today, on November 30, one week before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen open, and on the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in Seattle in 1999, major demonstrations, teach-ins and civil disobedience are taking actions place in cities around the U.S

Reports are now starting to come in from:

• Chicago, Illinois: Activists target Carbon Trading @ Chicago Climate Exchange – 12 arrested
• Denver, Colorado: Citizens ‘Die-in’ at Department of Public Health and Environment in Coal Protest
• Greensville, SC: Blockade of shipment of generator to Cliffside Coal Plant, 4 arrested
• New York City, NY: Occupation of the Natural Resource Defense Council Office with James Hansen exposing their ties to industry
• San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Climate Justice Action at Bank of America; 200 Rally with at least 23 Arrested
• Whitby, Ontatio: Sit-in for Climate Justice at Finance Minister’s Office
• Washington, DC: Downtown march targets major polluters and lobbyists

Many more updates are coming in from Boston, Palm Beach, Bangor, Burlington, Seattle and other locales – you can read all the details at the Mobilization for Climate Justice (MCJ) website - www.actforclimatejustice.org.

Donations are needed for arrestees! Your support is needed:

Your Support is Needed!

Donation Amount

five $5.00 ten $10.00 fifteen $15.00 twenty $20.00 twenty-five $25.00 thirty $30.00 fifty $50.00 one hundred $100.00 two hundred fifty $250.00 five hundred! $500.00

Donate to which action group?

Any! (where most needed) Chicago New York Maine Ontario San Francisco Denver Greenville, SC

Anything you’d like to say?

Also, check out an interview interview with MCJ’s Ananda Tan and David Solnit on today’s broadcast on Democracy Now!

With the corporate media unlikely to give major coverage to such actions, we need you to spread the word! You can see the combined and growing photo gallery here and follow updates on facebook or twitter.

The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a broad and diverse coalition of organizations working for social, environmental, economic and racial justice is calling for urgent action on the global climate crisis, based on equitable, democratic and science-based solutions.

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen, the people hit hardest by this crisis and the least responsible for its cause—working class, Indigenous and people of color communities around the world—have been systematically excluded and are demanding a voice at the table.

Meanwhile, the world’s major corporations have been dominating international and domestic climate policy – as they did in the international trade policy arena. Carbon-trading and carbon offset projects have already allowed these polluters to avoid cutting emissions and expand their markets into poor countries, accelerating corporate take-over of the world’s resources at the expense of local and Indigenous communities.

“We cannot allow the world’s largest corporate polluters to continue robbing our children’s future,” stated Carla Perez of Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project, who will be marching with her daughter in a parade of children and the Raging Grannies. “US corporations have been holding real climate solutions hostage, while burdening our communities with ongoing attacks on our health and livelihoods.”