The Mobilization for Climate Justice West (MCJ-West) turned out 150 people on a Monday afternoon and marched to the SF financial district offices of Chevron, the Environmental Protection Agency and BP calling for Big Oil to stop harming our environment and communities and pay up for the damage they’ve caused.

A coalition of national, regional and local groups, activists with MCJ-West) blockaded the doors of the SF BP offices and the intersection in front of the building.

With a set of demands, MCJ-West organized one of the largest direct actions at BP to date with 15 arrested.

MCJ-West’s demands include:

* Moratorium on New Offshore Drilling. No Use of Dispersants. Full Access to Media and Civil Society.

* Big Oil corporations pay their debt to all impacted communities – Gulf Coast to Richmond, CA and around the world.

* Big Oil pay for community livelihood and ecosystem restoration, clean energy, public transportation, and health care for impacted communities.

* Big Oil Out of Politics!

Activists also delivered a letter from it’s coalition to BP.

Here’s the letter:

To: CEO’s of British Petroleum, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Tesoro, and Valero

August 30, 2010

In the wake of the recent BP disaster, we are writing to express our concern over the oil industry’s continued disregard for the health of communities and ecosystems around the world. Mobilization for Climate Justice West is a coalition of organizations, some of which represent communities directly impacted by the oil industry’s extraction and refining operations; we are dedicated to promoting effective and just solutions to the climate crisis.

We call on the oil industry to accept responsibility for the damages your operations have caused worldwide and specifically to:

1. End the use of dispersants in cleaning up oil spills. Dispersants, such as the Corexit used in the BP disaster, are toxic chemicals whose long-term impact on ocean life is unknown. Using dispersants allows for better public relations for the oil industry since they make the oil less visible, while possibly making the long-term impact of spills even worse.

2. Grant full access to media and civil society in covering oil spills. During the BP disaster, there have been many complaints from journalists that BP restricted their access and ability to gain information. In July, the Society of Professional Journalists issued an open letter expressing their concerns over restrictions of press access to beaches and other sites in the Gulf.

3. Pay your debt to the communities that have been impacted by your operations. In the Gulf Coast, the oil spill has destroyed the livelihoods of many fishing and oystering communities. Communities are also impacted by oil extraction and refining in places like Nigeria, where an Exxon Valdez-sized spill has occurred every year since 1960; in Alberta, Canada where First Nations indigenous communities are experiencing abnormally high rates of cancer and a destruction of their traditional ways of life due to extreme water pollution from upstream tar sands operations; and in refining communities like Richmond, California where more than 25,000 people live within 3 miles of the refinery and the community suffers from high levels of asthma and other respiratory diseases. The oil industry must pay for the the restoration of ecosystems and community livelihoods, for the development of clean energy and public transportation solutions, and for healthcare to treat those whose health has been impacted by your pollution.

4. Stop funding fake “astro-turf” rallies. Last year the American Petroleum Institute, of which British Petroleum, Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil are members, launched a fake grassroots campaign called “Energy Citizen” and bussed employees to lobbyist-organized rallies to oppose climate legislation that might limit climate pollution. Shell, publicly stated last year that it would not participate in “Energy Citizen” rallies. Now API is up to it again with a series of fake rallies to oppose removing billions in oil company tax breaks and opposing limits on offshore drilling. Will you join Shell’s pledge not to participate in what have been called “glorified company picnics”?

5. Stop lobbying against solutions to climate change and against regulations to protect our communities. Instead of using its profits to re-pay the debt to communities impacted by its operations, the oil industry funnels billions into lobbying to ensure that it will not be held responsible for its pollution. During the BP disaster, from April-June, 2010, the American Petroleum Institute spent $2.3 million on lobbying. According to the Washington Post, three fourths of all oil and gas lobbyists used to work for the federal government; the poor regulatory oversight of deepwater drilling is one result of this revolving door. The oil industry also lobbies against solutions to climate change; members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who voted against the Waxman-Markey climate bill in 2009 received almost 3 times more in contributions from carbon-intensive industries than members who voted in favor of the legislation. In California, Tesoro and Valero are funding Proposition 23 on this November’s ballot to derail the implementation of California’s climate change legislation.

Sincerely,

Mobilization for Climate Justice West, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Communities for a Better Environment, Global Exchange, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, West County Toxics Coalition, Gulf Restoration Network

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As you may recall, a lively protest took place on the streets of Chicago’s financial district last November 30, on the 10th anniversary of the “Battle of Seattle” and a week ahead of the big UN climate summit in Copenhagen.  Several groups from across the city had come together to demand just, equitable, and effective solutions to the climate crisis, starting with the shut-down of the Crawford and Fisk coal plants in Chicago’s Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods.  The November 30th (N30) event also targeted “false solutions” to climate change like carbon trading, nukes and agrofuels, and was part of a national day of action for climate justice.

Now, the city has decided to charge these folks $8,340, with a deadline of mid-August to pay the fines.

Please help us raise the funds we need by donating what you can!

Following visits to several local “climate criminals,” including JP Morgan Chase (one of the leading funders of mountain top removal coal mining), Midwest Generation (the owner of Chicago’s two coal-fired power plants), and the Board of Trade (which trades in palm oil, one of the leading drivers of rainforest destruction), the N30 march arrived at the main target, the Chicago Climate Exchange.

The Chicago Climate Exchange is the first and largest carbon trading institution in North America.  Carbon Trading is a system of trading in carbon that intensifies social injustice, does not reduce emissions in a meaningful way, results in more pollution and more displacement for communities on the ground, and acts as a dangerous distraction from the real climate solutions we urgently need.  (It does succeed in making a bunch of money for big polluters and their cohorts.)  Unfortunately, participation in this fraudulent market has become the primary way that governments, corporations, and mainstream environmental groups have attempted to “solve” the climate crisis.

To draw attention to carbon trading as a false solution, 12 people locked their arms together in lockboxes, formed a large circle, and took over the intersection of Adams and LaSalle, outside the offices of the Chicago Climate Exchange, for several hours, encircling a banner that read, “Chicago Climate Exchange – the Air is Not for Sale!”  (Check out photos and video from the action at http://howgreenischicago.org.)

Now, the city has decided to charge these folks $8,340, with a deadline of mid-August to pay the fines.  We need your support!!  Please consider donating whatever you can to support the N30 defendants.  Throw a benefit party, pass a hat, sell some cupcakes — it all adds up!

You can donate online below,  or send a check payable to LVEJO with “N30 Legal Defense” in the memo line to:

LVEJO – Little Village Environmental Justice Organization

2856 S. Millard Ave.

Chicago, IL 60623

Thank you!  All donations are much appreciated!!!

Love,

The Climate Exchange 12

Please help us raise the funds we need by donating what you can!

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.”

PEOPLE FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

For More Information Contact:

Crystal Metham 416-435-3516

Katelyn Blacisk 647 929 2400

POLICE ISSUE ULTIMATUM TO PROTESTERS ORDERING THEM TO LEAVE BY END OF DAY OR BE FORCIBLY REMOVED

November 30, 2009 (Whitby, Ontario) — Police have issued an ultimatum to the seven climate activists inside Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Whitby office, stating they must leave by the end of the day or else be forcibly removed. To speak directly to one of the protesters currently occupying the office, the following members of People for Climate Justice can be reached via cell phone:

Paul Mero 514-825-9878

Janet McNeill 647-207-3208

The third of a series of peaceful sit-ins staged by a coalition of concerned individuals targeting elected officials, tar sands financiers, and the coal and tar sands industries began at Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s office today, located at: 701 Rossland Road East- Unit 204, Whitby. Seven members of the People for Climate Justice coalition entered the office just after 9:30 refusing to leave, demanding that the federal government act to combat the climate crisis and stem the millions of deaths and displacements that will result from more inaction.

“While our government stalls, millions of people will die or become displaced due to the climate crisis,” said Greenpeace Climate and Energy Coordinator, Dave Martin from inside the office. “If they fail to reach an agreement the Canadian government is saying it does not care about the lives of those currently and most affected by climate change. Minister Flaherty must put pressure on the Government to act and push for a just, ambitious, and binding deal in Copenhagen with science based targets, that is led by the voices of those who are most directly impacted by the climate crisis.”

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions, and sending many into poverty. The UN estimates there will be 150 million climate refugees by 2050.

“Despite the growing crisis, the Harper Government is trying to sabotage efforts to solve this global problem, expanding the tar sands rather than leading the push for and financing of real solutions. We will not let our government delay any further while millions die and are displaced. Their behaviour is unacceptable, we need governmental leadership for climate justice now,” said participant, Indra Noyes.

The individuals inside have multiple affiliations. They presented a letter addressed to Finance Minister Flaherty outlining their concerns and demands (Attached). The sit-in of office is ongoing. The police have been called and there is the potentials for arrests. A group of local and regional supporters have also gathered outside of the Finance Minister’s office.

“Letter writing, rallies, meetings, and phone calls are all important actions, but our Government’s inaction indicates that these tactics are not enough. We must step up the pressure so we are engaging in peaceful civil disobedience, like those before us, to ensure we do our part to solve the greatest environmental threat of our time,” stated former constituent Janet McNeill.

For photos of the action, seehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/canadaclimatejustice

Information about the call for civil disobedience for climate justice, as well as updates on actions set to take place across Canada in the coming weeks is online at:
http://canadaclimatejustice.wordpress.com/

DEMAND LETTER:

Honourable Minister Flaherty:

We are holding a sit-in at in your constituency office today because the Conservative Government is stalling progress to build a just, meaningful, and binding climate treaty this December
in Copenhagen.

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions, and sending many into poverty. In Canada, climate change is harming the land and lives of indigenous communities in the Far North.
Globally, recent declines in food production due to climate-catalyzed droughts, is causing food shortages in some poor countries and escalating global hunger. Climate caused events like floods, melting glaciers, and sea level rise, are forcing millions to permanently flee their homes, from Pacific islanders to subsistence farmers in India. The UN estimates there will be 150 million climate refugees by 2050.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to publicly commit to do everything in your power to meaningfully and fairly address the global climate crisis.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to make sure the Canadian Government supports a just, meaningful, and binding climate treaty this December in Copenhagen.

We call on you Minister Flaherty to publicly commit to pass the Climate Change Accountability Act, which calls on Canada to drastically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and do its’ part to solve climate change.

Finally, we demand that you publicly commit to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Climate change is a human rights issue, and First Nations in Canada are feeling
climate change worst and first.

The global climate crisis is threatening our future, and humanities’ future. We have passed the time for inaction. We demand change.

Yours,

People For Climate Justice

CITIZENS OCCUPY RONA AMBROSE’S EDMONTON OFFICE
CALL FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE IN LEAD-UP TO COPENHAGEN TALKS

November 25, 2009 (Edmonton, Alberta) — The second of a series of peaceful sit-ins targeting elected officials, tar sands financiers, and the coal and tar sands industries began at 11:00 am at Labour Minister Rona Ambrose’s Edmonton constituency office (6801 170 St.) today. 10 people entered the office and have staged a peaceful sit-in – refusing to leave until the federal government commits to combating the climate crisis and stems the deaths and displacements of millions that will result from further inaction. The occupation follows a similar occupation that was held on Monday at Environment Minister Jim Prentice’s office in Calgary.

“While our government delays millions of people will die or become displaced due to the climate crisis. By stalling and blocking progress the Canadian government is saying it doesn’t care about the lives of those currently and most affected by the climate crisis,” said Martin Tweedale, one of the people occupying the office. “Rona Ambrose must put pressure on the Government to act and push for a just, ambitious, and binding deal that listens to the science, and is led by those most directly impacted by the climate crisis.”

Inaction on climate change is already displacing and killing millions, and sending many into poverty. The UN estimates there will be 150 million climate refugees by 2050.

“Canada’s economy is being left behind, our environment is being decimated and we are telling those most vulnerable that their lives don’t matter. Rona Ambrose should be investing in green jobs not carbon intensive industries like the tar sands. The US government invested 14 times more per person in renewable energy than Canada last year,” said Keely Kidner. “We’ve held rallies, phone-ins, flash mobs, we’ve written and talked to our MP’s and nothing has changed. Now we are taking the next step, in the tradition of Gandhi and the Civil Rights Movement to do our part to solve the greatest environmental threat of our time.”

The sit-in is still ongoing. The police have been called and there is potential for arrest.

Information about the call for civil disobedience for climate justice, as well as updates on actions set to take place across Canada in the coming weeks is online at:
http://canadaclimatejustice.wordpress.com/

-30-

For More Information Contact:
Keely Kidner: 780 695 9057
Martin Tweedale: 780 490 8015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2009

Contacts:
Brian Bernhardt; CU Graduate Student; 703-439-0725; brian.bernhardt@colorado.edu
Amy Guinan, CU-INVST; 303-999-6374; amyguinan@yahoo.com

Denver, CO – This morning, approximately fifteen local citizens, representing a diverse coalition of groups, demonstrated at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (DPHE) to demand the denial of the Cherokee coal plant’s permit to pollute. The early morning protest greeted DPHE employees as they arrived for work and called on the department to close down Cherokee. Protestors did 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. At the same time, other activists in hazmat suits roped off the area with “Global Warming Crime Scene’ tape and chanted against coal plants.

“The Department of Public Health and Environment needs to stand up for public health and the environment. They can do this by beginning to phase out coal-fired power plants,” said Kate Clark, a graduate student in Environmental Studies at CU-Boulder.

The DPHE’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) recently held a public hearing on the Cherokee coal plant, in which citizens overwhelming called for denial of the plant’s air pollution permit. In addition, over 200 citizens turned out to express their opposition to the Valmont coal plant in Boulder this past July and over 300 participated in a protest of the plant on October 24th. Beyond that, activists, dressed in Gov. Ritter masks and clown suits, demonstrated in Denver calling on the governor to not be a ‘climate clown.’ Today’s action was meant to amplify public opposition to the Cherokee coal plant as the AQCC prepares to make a decision on the future of Cherokee in the coming weeks or months.

“The Air Quality Control Commission has an opportunity to put Colorado on the path for a clean energy future. We hope they have the courage to do the right thing,” said Amy Guinan, a student in the CU-INVST program.

Today’s protest is part of a national day of action called for by the Mobilization for Climate Justice, a coalition of some 50 environmental and human rights groups. The day of action – called N30, referring to Nov. 30 – hopes to build grassroots momentum for climate justice in the lead-up to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen this December. Climate justice refers to the effort to repower our world in ways that fairly distribute the burdens and benefits of energy production by promoting local solutions, sustainable technologies and democratic communities.

“For our health, our plant and our future, it is clear that we need to begin the process of decarbonizing Colorado. To do that we have to start closing down coal plants and Cherokee is the right place to start,” said Brian Bernhardt, a graduate student in Political Science at CU-Boulder.

Climate justice advocates points out that our current system of energy production places a disproportionate impact on poor people of color. Globally, those nations who have done the least to contribute to climate change bear the greatest risks from rising sea levels and droughts. Locally, the Cherokee coal plant pumps mercury and other pollutants into neighborhoods in North Denver that are 90 percent people of color.

The coalition of groups organizing N30, along with those who are organizing historic protests in Copenhagen to coincide with the conference, are demanding real action on climate change that address the root causes of the crisis and promote solutions that are far-reaching, effective and fair.

November 30th is also significant because it is the 10th anniversary of the shutdown of the World Trade Organization’s meeting in Seattle in 1999.

***

Additional Information:
*Photographs available throughout the day at:
www.flickr.com/photos/powerpastcoalcolorado/
*Information on the National Day of Action for Climate Justice:
http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/
*Key facts on the Cherokee coal plant and renewable alternatives:

• Cherokee coal plant is the second largest greenhouse gas contributor in Colorado and releases over 160 pounds of mercury and 10,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (equivalent to 550,000 cars) every year.
• Cherokee coal plant has violated clean air laws 10,000 times in the last five years
• Approximately 63,000 people live within three miles of the coal plant; the neighborhoods closest to the coal plant are 90 percent people of color.
• Xcel has already received solar and wind energy bids which would total twice the company’s peak generating capacity – more than enough to offset Cherokee.

*** Statistics provided by Jeremy Nichols at WildEarth Guardians***
#####

Climate justice activists march on polluters and lobbyists in downtown Washington DC

Feisty unpermitted march blocks traffic, marks the tenth anniversary of the WTO shutdown in Seattle, demands “Corporations out of Copenhagen” one week prior to the UN climate summit

Washington DC – Climate justice activists this morning marched through downtown Washington DC to visit climate polluters and the K Street lobbyists who represent them, joining thousands more in cities across the country for actions marking the November 30th Mobilization for Climate Justice. The march occurred just one week before the beginning of international climate negotiations in Copenhagen and marked the tenth anniversary of the historic day when activists converged in Seattle to non-violently shut down the meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

[Click to view PHOTOS of today’s climate justice march in Washington DC]

“Oil companies, lobbyists, and banks are driving climate change and using their influence to prevent us from taking swift action to stop climate change. They are accelerating us off of a climate change cliff by promoting business as usual. They’ll just save themselves with their golden parachutes, leaving the rest of the world in free fall,” said organizer Lacy MacAuley, “We are calling for ‘Corporations out of Copenhagen,’ asking businesses and their lobbyists to step aside and let us create meaningful solutions to climate change, solutions that place people before profit.”

The march in Washington began at the US Chamber of Commerce, the top lobby group representing corporate CEOs at the expense of people and the planet, and then visited many sites of climate destruction throughout the city. Activists marched to the American Petroleum Institute, banks funding climate destruction such as Bank of America, and lobbyists for oil companies like Shell, Chevron, BP and Conoco Phillips. Mini-rallies were held outside the buildings.

At each location, speakers at the mini-rallies splashed cups of the water from melting glaciers on the floor or outside of the buildings, demanding that representatives at the businesses cancel their plans to travel to the Copenhagen climate summit. Speakers also debunked corporate-led false solutions to climate change such as “clean” coal, nuclear energy and carbon offsets, promoting real sustainable solutions such as wind and solar energy.

Marchers chanted “Corporations out of Copenhagen” and “stop your looting, polluting and lobbying,” circulating through the K Street corridor where energy companies, lobbyists, and climate change funders have their offices.

“The Copenhagen climate summit must be about our future, about survival of the world’s most vulnerable people, not corporate profits,” said Julie Erickson, an organizer with the Mobilization for Climate Justice. “These climate criminals, corporate polluters and their lobbyists should cancel their plans to go to Copenhagen next week and get out of the way of a clean energy future.”

The Washington DC march is part of the nationwide Mobilization for Climate Justice to demand real, just and effective solutions to the climate crisis. It is one of several actions today in cities across the US, including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York, Portland, ME and Washington, DC. These actions were called for and organized through the Mobilization for Climate Justice (www.actforclimatejustice.org).

# # #

Photos available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/climatejusticedc/sets/72157622777575235/

For more information on the Mobilization for Climate Justice: www.actforclimatejustice.org

Top 5 Reasons Why Corporations are Climate Criminals:

1) Corporations put profits before people, often exploiting people of color, low-income communities, and Indigenous people – We need to put people before profits!

2) They are the biggest carbon polluters. By extracting and burning oil, coal, & natural gas, they perpetuate our addiction to fossil fuels – We need a clean energy economy!

3) They seek to profit from climate change through lax carbon regulation, tax loopholes, and public financing for private industry projects – We need binding emissions targets, not corporate handouts!

4) They have weakened and stalled U.S. climate legislation through millions of dollars of lobbying, reducing the likelihood of a fair, ambitious, & binding treaty at Copenhagen – We need strong climate legislation from Congress now!

5) They work with the World Bank and IMF to expand free trade policies that damage local economies, ecosystems, and communities – We need free people, not free trade!

Update: Four have been arrested: 2 who were locked down and 2 others. About 20 others are still at the site with banners. Pictures coming soon.

For Immediate Release

November 30, 2009

Press Contact: Liz Veazey 919-627-7324 ashevillerisingtide@gmail.com
Onsite Contact: Attila Nemecz 919-889-1261www.asheville.risingtidenorthamerica.org

Concerned citizens block shipment of generator to Cliffside Coal Plant.

Greenville, SC Two protestors have locked themselves to the 1.5 million pound generator destined for Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Protestors are vowing to prevent the generator, which has been traveling across South Carolina on a 300 foot trailer, from reaching the coal plant. “Our nation has no choice, we must stop burning coal. The only choice that we can make is whether we do that in time to still have breathable air, drinkable water, a livable climate, and standing mountains,” said, Catherine Anne. Protestors also draped a large banner from the top of the generator reading, “Stop Cliffside.”

The controversial Cliffside coal plant would emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide ever year in addition to toxic levels of heavy metals such as mercury, greatly exacerbating global warming and our abysmal air quality. Duke Energy is seeking to raise electricity rates in order to pay for the construction of Cliffside at a time when record numbers of families are struggling to put food on the table due to the recession.

This act of civil disobedience comes a week before world leaders meet in Copenhagen to hash out a global climate agreement. “Any agreement made in Copenhagen will be meaningless if the US continues to build coal plants such as Cliffside. It is time to tear down coal plants, not construct new ones,” said Rachel Scarano. There are currently 43 coal plants proposed or under construction in the US, though over 100 others have been canceled due to widespread protests.

Since it was first proposed, there has been massive opposition to Cliffside. In the past year and a half over 60 people have been arrested protesting the plant, and they vow to continue the fight. “Since politicians and corporations refuse to take serious action to stop climate change, citizens must step in to shut down coal plants,” said Attila Nemecz. The protest was organized by Asheville Rising Tide and Croatan Earth First! and is part of a national day of action with dozens of protests around the country including Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, and San Francisco.

Directions to site: From I-85 in Greenville, exit onto US 25/ White Horse Rd. Go South on 25 for 2 miles. Left at Augusta Rd. Protest is .5 miles down the road on right.

###

]]> http://www.beyondtalk.net/2009/11/citizens-block-shipment-of-generator-to-cliffside-coal-plant/feed/ 0 http://www.beyondtalk.net/2009/10/500-protest-climate-criminal-chevron-at-richmond-ca-refinery/ http://www.beyondtalk.net/2009/10/500-protest-climate-criminal-chevron-at-richmond-ca-refinery/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:28:35 +0000 deadlyvine http://www.beyondtalk.net/?p=213

Aug. 21st Richmond, CA – Hundreds of Richmond community members joined climate change advocates, public health experts, local government and labor leaders today in a colorful march, protest and non-violent civil disobedience at Chevron’s Richmond refinery. After a festival outside the Richmond BART station with music, dancers and speakers, and an hour-long march that wound through the city streets, a mass die-in and nonviolent civil disobedience took place at the refinery gates. Thirteen people were arrested.

Photo by Jeff Paterson

The actions outside Chevron were organized by a new coalition–The Mobilization for Climate Justice-West–whose goals are to get Chevron to “cap the crude” at its Richmond refinery and to get al l corporations, including Chevron, out of the international climate talks in Copenhagen in December. Chevron wants to process heavier crude at its Richmond refinery. Refining heavier crude will result in more air pollution, greater greenhouse gas emissions and disease.

“Chevron has the opportunity to do the right thing,” said Mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin. “They just need to agree to capping the crude at the level they currently refine. We want them to put Richmond’s residents to work modernizing and replacing the 80 year old boilers, which sadly they chose to remove from the project several months ago. ” “We want Chevron to build a cleaner and safer refinery,” said Ana Orozco of Communities for A Better Environment. ”We want the union jobs to continue to build a refinery that is cleaner and safer for our community. Our community has been put at risk for too long.”

“Chevron has clearly attempted to drive a wedge between workers and the Richmond community in order to avoid being held accountable to the community’s demand for clean air and a healthy environment,” said Charles Smith, Chief Steward of AFSCME Local 444, “We support the community in this struggle.”

Photo by Brooke Anderson

After a peaceful, celebratory march through the streets of Richmond, the marchers arrived at the gates of the refinery and were met with a heavy police presence. Participants staged a mass die-in while Suanu Bere of Nigeria, Nyunt Than of Burma, Nathan Brinley, a US veteran of the Iraq War, and speakers from Richmond described the death caused by Chevron and its operations around the world. “What is unique about Chevron is the network of Chevron-affected communities that have joined together in opposition to the brutality of the company’s operations,” said Antonia Juhasz, director of the Chevron Program at Global Exchange. “We are here with groups from across the Bay Area and around the world, banding together to create a mass people’s movement to achieve meaningful policy change to force Chevron and the entire oil industry to be cleaner, safer, more humane, and equitable everywhere.”

After the die-in, a “clean-up crew” entered into the refinery through the police barricade in an attempt to make the refinery cleaner and safer. Thirteen “cleaners” were arrested, including Reverend Kenneth Davis of Richmond, while rally participants supported them with chants and songs. The chalk outlines of the dead remained after the protesters left the refinery.

“The North Richmond community is on the frontline of Chevron’s chemical assault. We have experienced a lifetime of chemical exposure, asthma, cancer and death. These are human rights violations. West County Toxics Coalition will fight until there is no net increase in emission from the Chevron Hydrogen Expansion Project,” said Henry Clarke, the Executive Director of the West County Toxics Coalition.

The protest at Chevron was part of a campaign to generate political pressure and “s treet heat” leading up to the international climate change talks to be held in Copenhagen in December. Other protests will be held later in the year and in other parts of the country.

“People, not corporations, should drive the critical climate talks in Copenhagen,” said Ananda Lee Tan, a member of the Mobilization for Climate Justice spokescouncil and the U.S. Campaign Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. “To date, at the United Nation’s climate talks, corporate lobbyists have outnumbered representatives of governments and civil society groups by a ratio of as high as 4 to 1. We want Chevron and all corpor ate lobbyists banned from, and frontline community voices represented at these talks.” ”The MCJ seeks to empower community-based activist groups and networks to lead a global climate justice movement in confronting the root causes of climate change at home,” said Torm Nompraseurt of theAsian Pacific Environmental Network, “while defining community priorities and self-determination pathways for a new energy economy.”

The Mobilization for Climate Justice-West includes more than 35 diverse groups: AFSCME Local 444, Amazon Watch, Art in Action, Asian-Pacific Environmental Network, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice, Bay Localize, Burmese American Democratic Association, Communities for a Better Environment, Contra Costa Greens, Direct Action to Stop the War, Earth First!, Environmental Justice & Climate Change Initiative, Filipino American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity (FACES), Forest Ethics, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, Global Exchange, Global Justice Ecology Project, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Greenpeace, Headrush, International Forum on Globalization, International Rivers, Justice in Nigeria Now!, Movement Generation, Pacific Environment, Poor Magazine, Rainforest Action Network, Richmond Mayor’s Task Force on Environmental Justice and Health, Progressive Bengali Network, Richmond Progressive Alliance, Ruckus Society, Rising Tide North America, Solidarity, West County Toxics Coalition, Youth In Focus, 350.org

For more information, see west.actforclimatejustice.org

For photos of today’s rally, march and non-violent civil disobedience, seewww.actforclimatejustice.org/west