From Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS):

BRISTOL, VA.— Three residents of Central Appalachia and supporters with Mountain Justice chained themselves to an industrial tank of black water in front of Alpha Natural Resources’ Bristol, Va., headquarters to protest Alpha’s mountaintop removal strip mining and coal slurry operations across the region.

“I’m risking arrest today because mountaintop removal has to end now for the future viability of Appalachia,” says Emily Gillespie of Roanoke, Va., whose work with the Mountain Justice movement is inspired by Appalachian women’s history of non-violent resistance. The tank of water represents coal contamination from affected communities across the Appalachian region.

The group called for Alpha to stop seeking an expansion of the Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment in Raleigh County, W.Va. “We want Kevin Crutchfield, CEO of Alpha Natural Resources, to produce a signed document expressing that they won’t seek the expansion of the Brushy Fork Impoundment before we leave,” Junior Walk, 23, from the Brushy Fork area said.

“I live downstream from Alpha’s Brushy Fork coal slurry impoundment on Coal River. If that impoundment breaks, my whole family would be killed,” Walk said, “Even if it doesn’t, we’re still being poisoned by Alpha’s mining wastes everyday. I’m here to bring the reality of that destruction to the corporate authorities who are causing it, but who don’t have to suffer its consequences.”

Read more.

For the third straight day, Illinois anti-fracking protesters stage a sit-in at the office of Governor Pat Quinn

Springfield, IL–For the third day in a row, concerned Illinoisans that have requested a meeting with Governor Quinn and that he reconsider his support of allowing hydraulic fracturing in Illinois, have sat-in in front of Governor Quinn’s office. Today 14 people joined the sit-in and the three people refused to leave as the capitol was closing were arrested. This brings the numbers of arrests for the week up to five.

Citizens sitting-in at Quinn’s office believe that that the voices of people that will be most affected by hydraulic fracturing have been ignored in the process of figuring out how to deal with this controversial practice which has left a wake of health and environmental problems in other states.

Earlier this year, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Illinois Environmental Council and Faith in Place, industry groups and lawmakers were convened by Governor Quinn and worked with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office to craft a bill to place regulations on hydraulic fracturing in the state of Illinois. The bill, being touted by some of the environmental groups that helped craft it as, “the best in the nation” does not require that companies disclose proprietary chemicals that could be harmful to residents and workers. Local, grassroots environmental groups support a moratorium and were shut out of the regulatory bill discussions.

“It’s sad and enraging that they have trampled democracy by cutting a backroom deal to rush through a bill to regulate fracking. Now that it’s the 11th hour and the people who have not been heard and are politely requesting a meeting are being arrested by the people who should be representing our best interests.” said Jenn Carrillo of Bloomington-Normal, who was at the capitol today.

The sit-in started Tuesday after an executive committee hearing voted to unanimously support the regulatory bill.

Also on Thursday, residents in Southern Illinois staged a protest at Representative John Bradley’s office for his support for bringing fracking into the state. Bradley is the lead sponsor of the regulatory bill SB 1715 and the representative for many of the concerned citizens downstate that have been making trips to the statehouse to lobby and attend rallies for a moratorium on fracking.

from The Media Co-Op

Stop The Tar Sands – No Line 9

The impacts of industrial development in the area now known as Chemical Valley are deep. The relationship between the 63 petrochemical industries and the occupied lands they are on is not a coincidence. The devastating affects corporations like Imperial Oil, Enbridge and Polysar have had on the environment, through contamination and corporate irresponsibility disproportionately impact bordering, and downstream Indigenous communities such as Aamjiwnaang and Walpole First Nations. The SunCor Energy refinery alone is responsible for processing 85,000 barrels per-day of gasoline, kerosene, jet and diesel fuels.

In the face of already environmentally devastating conditions in a political context of apartheid against Indigenous peoples, those already impacted by Chemical Valley now seek to say No to further industrial expansion – the proposed Line 9 reversal which will bring Tar Sands crude project much further East. In the spirit of standing ground and speaking out, local First Nations and Sarnia-settler community members as well as supporters from other regions, gathered together at Sarnia’s City Hall at 11am on Tuesday May 21st, 2013. Mike Plain, Anishinabe, Elder, and Aamjiwnaang community member opened the day’s events with an acknowledgement to all of Creation, reminding us that we are not separate from the natural world. Corrine Tooshkenig, Anishinabe-kwe, Elder, and member of Walpole First Nation, spoke to the importance of involving youth in the protection of Mother Earth and resistance to injustices. She led a water acknowledgement, reminding us of our connection to and the importance of water in our lives. Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants were invited to offer tobacco to the water with a spirit of gratitude and healing. She spoke of our relationship with our water, how water takes care of us, and how we have a responsibility to speak for the water now. Next Sam Elijah, Anishinabe-kwe, mother and member of Kettle & Stony Point First Nation spoke to the importance of inter-generational responsibility. Sam expressed her concerns about the ongoing and devastating impacts of the contamination and toxification of the land-base for both our current and future generations.

Local Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members, including elders, mothers and outspoken youth, as well as regional supporters left City Hall to take to the streets. The march, chanting, and carrying banners and signs reading, “No More Chemicals In The Valley”, “Stop Line 9″, “Tar Sands Kill! Pipelines Spill!” and “Cancer Alley” continued on to the site of a Tar Sands industry conference being held at the Best Western Hotel.

The conference, Bitumen Adding Value: Canada’s National Opportunity, was held for the purposes of strategizing to maintain and expand the slow industrial genocide of the Tar Sands in so-called Canada. In an effort to continue cultivating colonialism, investors and resource extraction industry representatives met to articulate their dream of a world of pipelines, upgraders and refineries — as well as the mega-load modules necessary to secure that infrastructure. Support from settler governments is expected along the way. The primary goal of shipping tar sands products much further East, to as far as traditional Mi’kmaq and Maliseet territories in so-called New Brunswick, was discussed at length through various presentations.

In a conference whose tone focuses on the continuing land-theft and exploitation of Indigenous territories and communities, there was an atmosphere of racism which was palpable. Among the sea of older White businessmen who dominated the space, Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair of the TD Bank Group and former Premier of New Brunswick, was one of the worst. With statements like “this is our land” and “these are our resources” directed to a group of White-settlers acts to directly invisibilize the ongoing history and reality of genocide and colonialism that are inherent to the nation-state of so-called Canada and the capitalist system it is under. The efforts to ignore and deny the imperial functions of industries such as resource extraction however were successfully disrupted by Vanessa Gray, an inspiring Anishinabe-kwe, community organizer and member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation.

Amidst attempted discouragement of continuing the march route on to the Best Western, the Aamjiwnaang flag breached police lines as Mike Plain lead the break onto the Best Western — informing the O.P.P. that we were on Aamjiwnaang territory, welcoming demonstrators and supporters. Local community members and supporters then flooded the back lawn of the Best Western to hear Mike speak to his experiences living on the border of Chemical Valley in Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Demonstrators let off a siren to mimic the sound of the emergency siren that has been normalized for those living near the Valley. Demonstrators pounded on the windows of the hotel in excitement and in support of the action taken by Vanessa inside the conference. During the keynote presentation, Vanessa Gray took the stage with a banner that stated, “YOU ARE KILLING MY GENERATION”. After being harassed by security and undercover police, and threatened with arrest Vanessa chose to exit the building to meet up with supporters outside after reclaiming and holding that space.

The Land is Not for Sale! A community in resistance to La Parota dam.

The Council of Ejidos and Communities in Opposition to La Parota Dam (CECOP) has condemned the efforts of armed “self-defense” groups to move into their villages, warning that the groups are actually paramilitaries hoping to provoke a confrontation with the campesin@ movement.

Armed self-defense groups composed of peasants seeking to combat organized crime began to form in the Mexican state of Guerrero in January and have rapidly spread across the country. These groups have now been formally recognized by the government of Guerrero.

But CECOP, which recently won a 10-year battle against the destruction of their lands and river by La Parota Dam, alleges that the government wants to use the self-defense groups to initiate a confrontation at this Sunday’s coming electoral assembly, which CECOP has criticized as irregular.

The battle over La Parota transformed CECOP into an influential campesin@, indigenous and environmental group, and the group believes that the government still views their organized communities as a threat.

At a press conference, the leader of CECOP, Marco Antonio Suástegui, said that at least 20 armed men had approached members of the community to offer their services, recruit members and harass meeting delegates and local police officers. Yet the communities have repeatedly stated that they do not want the presence of armed self-defense groups, and have instead asked to government to allocate more equipment and funding for the rural police council (composed of actual community members).

“We know how this will unfold,” Suástegui said. “They are going to want to introduce these armed forces on the day of the assembly to initiate a confrontation with CECOP; this is the intention of this government, because these police and self-defense groups are financed by the government. We know they are paramilitaries.”

This looks like a good action calling out natural gas, dams and carbon trading are false solutions to the climate crisis … but unfortunately, the people who organized it still seem to believe the lie that wind and solar power can avert ecological collapse.

From Capitalism Vs. the Climate:

Hartford, Connecticut—On Wednesday, members of Capitalism vs. the Climate unfurled a banner from the bridge connecting the State Capitol and Legislative Office Building. The banner said: “We Will Not Let You Dam Our Rivers, Frack our Land, Sell Our Air.”

The banner referred to Governor Malloy’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy, which demonstrators say expands Connecticut’s reliance on “false solutions” including natural gas, hydroelectric power, and carbon trading. A statement from Capitalism vs. the Climate opposed three bills in the state legislature that would implement the Governor’s policies: House Bill 6360 and Senate Bills 839 and 1138.

Read more.

From the Earth First! Newswire:

On Monday a protest in opposition to iron mining in Wisconsin erupted at the DNR [Department of Natural Resources] office in Wausau. Subsequently, a banner stating “Do Not Resuscitate Iron Mining” was nailed to the roof. An additional banner was dropped off Hwy 51 in Wausau sending the message “No Penokee Mine – We Stand with the Bad River Tribe.”

On Wednesday a banner was hammered into the ground in front of a marquis welcoming a DNR conference in Stevens Point, reminding them to “Protect the Water.”

On Tuesday the DNR issued a statewide internal memo telling staff to be on the look-out for more actions in opposition to the Penokee Mine.

The Penokee Hills have been targeted by Gogebic Taconite for construction of what would be the world’s largest open-pit taconite [low-gradeiron ore] mine.

The Penokee Hills are the headwaters for the Bad River Watershed. The Kakagon and Bad River Sloughs, at the mouth of the Bad River Watershed on Lake Superior, have been designated a Wetland of International Importance, and are where the Lake Superior Ojibwe have harvested wild rice for centuries and continue to enjoy it as a sacred food today.

Under recently passed legislation, Wisconsin laws allow streams and lakes to be filled with waste rock from mining. Pyrite and other sulfide minerals in waste rock from this mine, exposed to water and air from blasting, would produce sulfuric acid that would put all living things in the watershed at risk.

On Thursday, May 16th, Gogebic Taconite applied or a permit to begin exploratory drilling as early as June 1st. The DNR now has the option to approve or deny it, though if they do nothing before May 31st the permit will be automatically approved.

If the DNR approves this permit, they will be selling out the communities of Northern Wisconsin and sanctioning the genocide of the Bad River Tribe. We call for actions at DNR offices all around the state – make your voice heard! No Penokee Mine!

From Civil Society Institute:

WASHINGTON, D.C.///May 22, 2013///A total of 68 leading grassroots organizations focused on citizen and environmental issues today released a joint letter to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) disapproving of the group’s willingness to be coopted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) for shale gas.

Available online … the letter addressed to EDF President Fred Krupp states: “Those of us concerned with charting a rational and sustainable energy policy for the United States were disheartened to see the Environmental Defense Fund lend its name and support to an entity called the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD). The very use of the word sustainable in the name is misleading, because there is nothing sustainable about shale oil or shale gas. These are fossil fuels, and their extraction and consumption will inevitably degrade our environment and contribute to climate change. Hydraulic fracturing, the method used to extract them, will permanently remove huge quantities of water from the hydrological cycle, pollute the air, contaminate drinking water, and release high levels of methane into the atmosphere. It should be eminently clear to everyone that an economy based on fossil fuels is unsustainable.” …

Read the full news release here.
Read the text of the letter to EDF.
Listen to the news event.

Springfield, IL — Twenty concerned citizens occupied Illinois Governor Pat. Quinn’s office Tuesday to protest his support of a state bill to regulate hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” After being refused a request for a meeting to discuss the matter with the Governor, three people locked arms and sat down in the middle of the entrance to the Governor’s office to demand that the Governor meet with affected communities to discuss the need for a moratorium on the practice, and that he rethink his support of state bill 1715, a bill to regulate fracking. One person refused to leave and was arrested.  Governor Quinn has publicly stated that he intends to sign the bill once it has passed through the senate and house.

Hydraulic fracturing is a method for obtaining oil and gas in which large amounts of fresh water, sand and chemicals are combined and forced down a well to fracture underground shale rock to release otherwise trapped fossil fuels. Air and water pollution have been linked to fracking in states like Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The occupation of the governor’s office was part of a day of action that included a press conference, legislative committee testimony, and citizen lobbying. Citizens came from all over the state to voice their discontent with plans to allow fracking in Illinois.

Continue Reading »

Two protesters locked to equipment being used to drain wetlands to build a US-101 highway bypass in Willits, CA, May 20, 2013

Undaunted by a string of recent treesit evictions, opponents of the US-101 highway bypass in Willits, California are continuing the struggle.

A treesit remains in place directly in the path where Caltrans plans to destroy a grove of wetlands trees. And on Monday, a lockdown by just two activists successfully disrupted construction work for a day.

To learn more, visit Save Little Lake Valley.

A duck covered in tar sands oil from the Mar 29, 2013 Exxon spill in Mayflower, AR

Two recent stories about the dirty tricks used by fuel companies in their pursuit of profit:

• Internal ExxonMobil documents acquired by Greenpeace show that—surprise surprise!—the company deliberately downplayed the extent to which tar sands oil had contaminated local waterways in the wake of the Mayflower, Arkansas pipeline spill.

• DeSmogBlog has released a spoof video (Frackalypse Now) that features the details of how the fracking industry contracted Army and Marine veterans to wage illegal PsyOps counterinsurgency campaigns against fracking activists in Pennsylvania.