In two recent actions, Rising Tide North America and allies targeted the coal and nuclear energy industries.

On October 31, Halloween, Rising Tide activists in Asheville, NC and Boston, MA conducted zombie marches against coal financing at branches of Bank of America and Citibank, two of the country’s biggest coal financiers. Sounds like a nice, light-hearted protest with a serious undertone — the press release references “the undead victims of mountain top removal coal mining” — but unfortunately part of the action seems to have involved encouraging the banks to invest more in “clean” energy. It would be nice to see a slightly deeper analysis in actions like this one.

On November 4, activists from Rising Tide, Green Mountain Earth First! and others descended on a meeting where the Vermont Public Service Board was debating whether to extend the license of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Facility till 2032. Dressed as Santa and his elves, the protesters demanded the closure of the plant. A nuclear winter “snowstorm” also blew into and disrupted the meeting.