Want to know when we’ve posted to the site without visiting the front page? Subscribe to our RSS Feed by clicking here.

West Coast Convergence for Climate Action: July 28 - August 4, Eugene, OR

Southeast Convergence for Climate Action: August 5-11, Louisa County, VA (near Richmond)

Northeast Climate Confluence: July 27 - August 3, High Falls, NY

The climate convergences are gathering places for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together to take direct action against the root causes of climate change while working to build a just and sustainable world. At the convergences there will be dozens of workshops and trainings, networking opportunities, and strategy sessions aimed at building a strong grassroots movement for climate justice.

It’s time to strategize and shut down the infrastructure of global warming!

June 23; Kalamazoo, MI: Protesters bearing drums and whistles paraded through the offices of DLZ Corporation, an engineering firm involved in I-69 construction and planning.

June 24; Hicksville, NY: An office of HNTB at 40 Commerce Pl. was found to have its windows and front door covered in paint, with messages spray-painted all over the front and sides: “Deal with I-69, Deal with Us.” The locks on the front and back doors were glued shut. The windows could not be cleaned, as the paint was etched into the glass.

On the morning of Tuesday June 24, employees of HNTB arrived at their Hicksville, NY office to find the building defaced with spray paint. DEAL WITH I-69 DEAL WITH US was written across the front of the building. When they went to the front door, the lock was glued and the door was covered in paint. They walked around to the back and the back doors were glued too. Other slogans were painted on the sides of the building and all the windows were covered in paint. They called the locksmith to break in for them and then called the cleaning people. The cleaning crew told them there was nothing they could do about the windows, the paint was etched into the glass.

June 24; Evansville, IN: The River City Animal Defense league visited an office of Bernardin-Lockmueller and Associates (BLA), the company responsible for planning the entire route of I-69. Denied entrance to the building, the protesters banged on windows and shouted through an intercom, and a window on the building was smashed. The group released a communique with this message to BLA:

“We know you’ve been targeted in the past, but since construction has recently begun- expect more chaos and aggression directed at your company and the workers that make what you do possible. Next
time maybe we’ll pay your homes a visit,because we know where you live and we know what you do…. Let this be a call for others to take action against this highway which not only effects Indiana, but the entire continents of North, Central, and South America. Those of us who have the privilege of being North
American must use our privilege to fight for a world where the Global South is no longer exploited by capitalism.”

June 28; Haubstadt, IN: Protesters shut down a work yard of Gohmann Asphalt and Construction — the company building the first 1.77 miles of Interstate 69 north of Evansville — for 3.5 hours. One person stopped a truck exiting the site, giving others time to let the air out of the vehicles tires then lock onto it both below and above. They were soon joined by a crowd chanting and holding signs.

One person was arrested for allegedly letting the air out of the tires, but the other protesters negotiated with police to be released without being arrested or even identified.

Now is the time to destroy I-69! Contact Roadblock Earth First! to join the struggle today!

The action came in response to the VIrginia Air Board issuing permits to Dominion Energy for a new coal-fired power plant in St. Paul, VA. It was a protest against Dominion’s plans for new coal and nuclear power plants, and against the practices of coal and nuclear power generation and mountaintop removal coal mining in general.

Police arrested all the activists and their supporters, 12 people in all. For updates and more information, visit the Blue Ridge EF! web site. See photos here and here.

It was a busy week for coal opponents. Earlier in the week, Greenpeace crashed a coal conference by co-sponsoring it via a front group, while a county judge rejected a permit for a new coal plant in Georgia, citing global warming concerns.

Arizona: Plans are under consideration for a freeway to allow I-10 traffic to bypass Phoenix. At a recent public meeting, citizens spoke in opposition to the plan due to its cost, its health and ecological effects, and the fact that it would skirt the side of a sacred indigenous mountain, destroying 600 homes.

Because natural gas is highly explosive, it must be cooled and liquified for shipping, then regasified at a special import terminal. With North American natural gas reserves running out, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has plans for 40 new LNG import terminals.

An LNG import terminal in Manzanillo, Mexico, scheduled to open in 2012, is expected to import gas from Camisea.

Read reports of other actions here, here and here.

Remember that there are lots of ways to help stop this Corridor of the Future! One way is by signing up for r X-69: a month of action, with different affinity groups each pledging to shut down construction for one day. Affinity groups sign up for a day between one and 30, but the starting date will not be known until construction actually begins. Contact Roadblock EF! for more info and sign up today!

Remember that there are lots of ways to help stop this Corridor of the Future! One way is by signing up for X-69: a month of action, with different affinity groups each pledging to shut down construction for one day. Affinity groups sign up for a day between one and 30, but the starting date will not be known until construction actually begins. Contact Roadblock EF! for more info and sign up today! If you are in Bloomington, a new list of ways to help has also been posted.

Before the attack, Nigeria’s output was already 20% below normal following a sustained campaign by MEND to target the nation’s oil extracting infrastructure. These attacks have been identified as a major reason for high global oil prices.

The Bonga offshore oilfield normally produces 200,000 barrels a day, and is Shell’s flagship offshore project. To date, it has been considered too difficult for militants to attack. But early on June 19, a boat full of gunmen raided the installation, damaging a storage and offloading vessel and taking a US worker hostage. The worker was released several hours later.

In addition to the sheer economic impact, the attack is considered an important symbol that no region of NIgeria’s oil production is beyond MEND’s reach.