Capitalism / Globalisation – Page 17

49 Acts of Powerline Sabotage, 19 Acts of Oil Pipeline Sabotage in Last Six Months

Smoke rises over a recent pipeline attack in Marib governorate, a tribal region in Yemen.

Smoke rises over a recent pipeline attack in Marib governorate, a tribal region in Yemen.

28 June 2013

According to compiled reports from the Yemen Times over 60 acts of industrial sabotage have taken place since January within the tribal area of the Marib governorate in Yemen, cutting power to Sana’a, the nation’s capital 170 miles to the east, and crippling the government’s oil and gas infrastructure. Oil and gas revenue provides 70 percent of the state’s budget.

Media sources have not been able to explain the reason behind the attacks, but Yemeni sources all point to armed tribespeople in Marib. Attacks on Yemen’s oil and gas pipelines and electric grid greatly escalated following the eruption of protests against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011. Officials in Yemen have argued that the tribes are loyalists of the former president while other, unnamed sources, have proclaimed the tribes to be separatists from the concept of central government all together, functioning in a power vacuum.

This infographic offers some detail on the attacks on Yemen’s electrical grid.

According to the Yemen Post, “Residents in the capital Sana’a have had to endure long spells of darkness over the past couple of weeks as power lines were attacked within hours of their repair, leaving people no respite what so ever. While Yemenis are accustomed to blackouts, never before did the capital face so many and lengthy power outages.”

In mid June, the Public Electricity Corporation in Yemen issued a statement requesting more government and military support to suppress the attacks, warning that the power station could collapse completely if attacks continued.

An infographic on pipeline attacks in Yemen since January 2013.

Between January 1 and June 24, there have been 18 attacks on Yemen’s main pipeline, which runs through Marib to the coast for export. Another attack struck the pipeline on June 27th. According to Yemeni officials, armed members of tribes blocked the road leading to the area of the pipeline that had been attacked, preventing technical crews from making repairs. Yemeni troops were sent to reopen the road. Clashes between government forces and the tribes are expected.

Back in December of 2012, the Yemeni army launched an offensive against suspected groups of saboteurs. Twenty people were killed but infrastructure attacks only increased.

It remains unclear which tribes, or which groups within the region’s tribes, are carrying out the attacks. Earlier in June, the largest tribes in Marib, the Al Hutaik and Al Jardan tribes signed, according to the Yemen Times, “a tribal order declaring the legality of executing those behind oil and gas pipeline attacks.” Similar decrees were signed last year as well without results.

Yemen’s oil production has declined from more than 400,000 barrels per day at the beginning of 2000 to the current 270,000 barrels per day when the pipeline actually flows.

Willits Bypass “Crane-Sitter” Resupplied in Stealth Climb

A protester perched atop a wick drain stitcher being used to build the US 101 highyway bypass in Willits, CA, 28 June 2013

A protester perched atop a wick drain stitcher being used to build the US 101 highyway bypass in Willits, CA, 28 June 2013

A mysterious climber ascended Caltrans equipment on the Willits Bypass Project Wednesday evening in order to resupply a protester who has been perched 50 feet up in the air on a construction tower for a week.

Last week, 31-year-old Ukiah resident Will Parrish climbed one of the two pieces of Caltrans equipment used to install wick drains at the site in order to stall work in the Mendocino County highway construction zone.

Fellow activists argue that Parrish has been denied food and water, while authorities state that Parrish is free to leave the tower for food and water and that protesters attempting to bring him supplies are trespassing on Caltrans property.

On Saturday evening, 45 protesters attempted to send supplies up to Parrish in a bucket. According to Earth First!, CHP officers cut the rope and arrested six individuals. According to CHP, four individuals were arrested.

On Wednesday, a second person climbed the second wick drain tower. Jamie Chevalier, a spokeswoman with Redwood Nation Earth First!, said the mystery climber was “like a ninja.”

”He climbed the tower in full daylight with CHP everywhere,” she said. “Then after around six hours he managed to traverse a line over to the other tower 60 feet away for supplies and vanished into the night.”

Chevelier estimated that the entire event took place between 5 p.m. and midnight. She said the supply line is still in place and has a 5,000 pound breaking

strength.

District 1 Caltrans Public Information Officer Phil Frisbie Jr. confirmed that Parrish had been resupplied and said Caltrans personnel are not at the site that late at night.

”He was gone by the morning,” Frisbie said of the resupplier.

Frisbie said the machinery cannot operate with the protesters on it and that protests over four months have directly cost taxpayers $1.2 million by causing delays.

No Shale by Rail: Maine Activists Block Fracked-Oil Train

(Maine Media Today photo by Michael G. Seamans)

28 June 2013 A great two-for-one action against fracking and oil-by-rail transport!

From Common Dreams:

Six Maine residents were arrested late Thursday night after a larger group of climate activists blockaded a set of tracks passing through the small town of Fairfield in order to prevent a train carrying 70,000 barrels of “fracked” oil headed to a refinery in neighboring New Brunswick, Canada.

Associating themselves with a growing national campaign of direct action against the fossil fuel industry called “Fearless Summer,” the protesters at the scene erected a large scaffold over the tracks and held signs reading “Trains for people, not for oil” and “This train’s bound for Gory” (pun intended).

Police arrived, and after several warnings for the protesters to disperse, the six who refused were arrested as the scaffolding was destroyed with a chain saw.

Local media reported a surprisingly large law enforcement response with police from numerous towns showing up at the scene, including troopers from the State Police.

350 Maine*, the statewide group associated but independent from international organization 350.org that led the action, said the goal was to draw attention to the “fracked oil” that is quietly passing through the state on a regular basis. Local members of Earth First also participated in the action.

The groups say that the trains running through Maine carry crude from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota and are especially toxic because “fracked oil” is extracted by blasting a high pressure toxic cocktail deep into the ground to release the oil from shale rock, polluting air and water in surrounding communities.

“People say that this new oil boom in the US will make us energy secure,” said Meaghan LaSala, student at University of Southern Maine and an organzier with 350 Maine. “But there is nothing secure about runaway climate change. This is our moment to change our trajectory before it’s too late.”

One of those arrested, 63-year old Read Brugger from the town of Freedom, was clear about his motivations.

“We feel there has not been enough awareness about the millions of gallons of crude shell oil that shipped across Maine each month,” Brugger told the local Bangor Daily News. “We feel need to move beyond fossil fuels and get away from the poisonous ways oil is being extracted.”

The BDN, which reported that many at the scene “said they did not know that fracked oil was being transported through Maine,” made it seem like the action, at least on local level, may have had the desired result.

But the campaigners acknowledged their concerns go beyond even the dire threats faced by Maine communities if one of these trains rerails or a spill occurs.

“We believe the moment we’re in, in terms of climate change, is a dramatic one and it calls for dramatic action,” said LaSala in an interview with the Morning Sentinel.

“We oppose the continued extraction of fossil fuels, but we also oppose its transportation over thousands of miles of environmentally sensitive areas,” added Sarah Linnekin, a student at Maine’s Unity College. “Since my number one job is to protect my children, I feel an obligation to take action.”

[*Full disclosure: This writer is a sometimes volunteer for 350 Maine, though had no involvement with this action.]

Garda violence retaliation against week of action

28th June Garda violence breaks out again in mayo directed by sgt. Butler Gill and Murphy. 5 arrests today, 2 are being held till court in Castlebar tomorrow at 10.30 one has been sent to mountjoy.This was an attempt of retaliation by the garda to break the high spirits at camp.These attempts to wreck the campaign's collective buzz have resolutely failed and spirits on the camp remain high. Actions and protest against the project will continue, unrestrained and unbroken by the violence and scare tactics of the Gardaí.

Navajos Launch Direct Action Against Big Coal

Photo by Black Mesa Water Coalition

27 June 2013 Navajo Nation members launched a creative direct action Tuesday to protest the massive coal-fueled power plant that cuts through their Scottsdale, Arizona land.

After a winding march, approximately 60 demonstrators used a massive solar-powered truck to pump water from the critical Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal into barrels for delivery to the reservation.

Flanked by supporters from across the United States, tribe members created a living example of what a Navajo-led transition away from coal toward solar power in the region could look like.

Participants waved colorful banners and signs declaring ‘Power Without Pollution, Energy Without Injustice’.

“We were a small group moving a small amount of water with solar today,” declared Wahleah Johns with Black Mesa Water Coalition. “However if the political will power of the Obama Administration and SRP were to follow and transition NGS to solar all Arizonans could have reliable water and power without pollution and without injustice.”

The demonstration was not only symbolic: the reservation needs the water they were collecting.

While this Navajo community lives in the shadow of the Navajo Generating Station—the largest coal-powered plant in the Western United States—many on the reservation do not have running water and electricity themselves and are forced to make the drive to the canal to gather water for cooking and cleaning.

This is despite the fact that the plant—owned by Salt River Project and the U.S. Department of Interior—pumps electricity throughout Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Yet, the reservation does get one thing from the plant: pollution.

The plant is “one of the largest sources of harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in the country,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

While plant profiteers argue it brings jobs to the area, plant workers describe harrowing work conditions. “We are the sweatshop workers for the state of AZ, declared Navajo tribe member Marshall Johnson. “We are the mine workers, and we are the ones that must work even harder so the rest don’t have to.”

These problems are not limited to this Navajo community. Krystal Two Bulls from Lame Deer, Missouri—who came to Arizona to participate in the action—explained, “We’re also fighting coal extraction that is right next to our reservation, which is directly depleting our water source.”

The action marked the kickoff to the national Our Power Campaign, under the banner of Climate Justice Alliance, that unites almost 40 U.S.-based organizations rooted in Indigenous, African American, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, and working-class white communities to fight for a transition to just, climate friendly economies.

Colombian Military Massacres Peasants in Oil-and-Coal Related Protests

Police violently disperse unar

Police violently disperse unarmed peasant protesters in Catatumbo, Colombia, Jun 2013 (photo by Telesur)

27 June The Colombian military has killed at least four peasant protesters in the region of Catatumbo, wounded dozens more (including 21 gunshot wounds) and arrested hundreds.

From Alliance for Global Justice:

In Catatumba, peasants have been holding protests, blocking roads and occupying facilities to protest to the government’s chemical spraying of Monsanto’s RoundUp Ultra herbicide as part of coca eradication efforts; and the refusal of the government to establish a Peasant Reserve Zone, as authorized by legislation in 1994 and 1996. That legislation would provide protected land for collective farming. Protesters say that they are being denied this in favor of concessions made to foreign coal [and oil] companies.

Learn more about the background of the protests here, then send a letter to Colombian officials demanding an end to the violence.

Fracking Equipment Set Ablaze in Elsipogtog!

26 June 2013

Halifax Media Co-op reports that a piece of drilling equipment was set ablaze on the 24th, by person or persons unknown. This comes amidst escalating resistance to hydraulic fracturing by indigenous peoples in Elsipogtog, “New Brunswick”.

This comes after numerous direct actions, the midnight seizure of drilling equipment, and a local man being struck by a contractor’s vehicle.

Farmers Unite With Hydro-Fracking Activists

By Adam McGibbon, www.newint.org

As the G8 Summit began in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, a group of farmers drove 60 tractors in a ‘go-slow’, bringing a 24-kilometre stretch of road to a halt. The 16 June action opposed hydraulic fracturing – fracking – which could take place on both sides of the Irish border. It was followed by statements against fracking from the major farmers’ unions in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland.

This is a significant development in the fight against fracking in Ireland and Northern Ireland, where at least four energy companies are seeking to rend the landscape apart drilling for gas in the very area that the G8 took place. Although there is a temporary freeze on drilling in the Republic, Canadian company Tamboran Resources already have a license to start exploring for shale gas in Northern Ireland due to commence this year.

For over two years, the battle against fracking in Ireland has mostly been the preserve of the seasoned activist. But impressive organizing efforts in Fermanagh over the past few years have mobilized communities as campaign groups harangue elected representatives.

Assembly members speaking against fracking are treated like cranks by ministers. Despite the scientifically proven environmental devastation, the rubbished claims of hundreds of ‘fracking jobs’, and the fact that fracking will make the climate crisis worse, the slippery slope towards fracking in Ireland has continued.

But now, the endorsement of the official organizations of the farmers lobby could turn this opposition into a mass movement. Given their ambivalence on the issue not so long ago, this is refreshing news. After the ‘go-slow’ action, Pat Gilhooley from the Irish Farmers Association said fracking will be an election issue in the Republic’s local authority elections in 2014. John Sheridan from the Ulster Farmers’ Union stated that the risk to the farming industry from fracking was too great. ‘We Deserve Better,’ runs the monicker of a new, cross-border campaign, launched this month.

With the addition of the farming lobby, it’s hard to imagine how the conservative Unionist parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly, both heavily dependent on rural votes, can maintain their support or ambivalence for fracking forever. The North’s Minister for Enterprise, Arlene Foster, is aggressively pro-fracking. Two years ago, allegations of impropriety emerged when it turned out Foster’s husband owns 62 hectares of land within the gas exploration zone. With Foster holding a rural seat, the addition of the organized farm lobby that could break the back of the corporations and politicians that want fracking to take place in Ireland.

There are definitely lessons to be learnt here for other activists battling fracking across the world. Fracking isn’t just an environmental issue – it’s a livestock issue. It’s a food issue. It’s a livelihood issue for those who toil to provide us with food. The Left needs to make common cause with rural communities on fracking; the myth that they are more conservative than urban areas needs to be shattered.

To win on fracking, links have to be made beyond the ‘usual suspects’ of activist groups. Internationally, there are great examples: In Australia, a group called Lock The Gate are succeeding in uniting environmentalists, activists and farmers. In Germany, the unlikely allies have been found in the beer industry, which fears for the future of their products. In France, where fracking is currently banned, farmers stand with activists gathering on their fields and hang protest banners from hay bales to campaign to keep the ban in place.

Across the world, building the broadest coalition possible to defeat fracking means getting out of the activist comfort zone and working with people we wouldn’t usually work with – and people we might not agree with on many issues. Farmers, environmentalists, activists, conservationists must unite and fight.

Hamilton Police direct Mass Arrest at Enbridge Blockade

JUNE 26, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: 20 PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT TAR SANDS BLOCKADE, INCLUDING THOSE OUTSIDE INJUNCTION ZONE

JUNE 26, 2013

BREAKING NEWS: 20 PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT TAR SANDS BLOCKADE, INCLUDING THOSE OUTSIDE INJUNCTION ZONE

(Hamilton, ON) — Hamilton Police moved on to the #SwampLine9 protest action in Ontario this morning mass arresting almost everyone on site including activists further up the street and the police liaison.

Activists have been occupying an Enbridge pumping station north of Hamilton, Ontario early Thursday morning. This action, dubbed Swamp Line 9, aims to prevent construction on Line 9 and block the transport of Tar Sands through Ontario and Quebec. This action is also part of the Idle No More campaign Sovereignty Summer.

News is developing. Much of the photographic evidence was seized but some video footage will be coming soon.

QUOTES:

“This pipeline puts the health of drinking water of millions of people at risk of an oil spill yet Enbridge used the courts and police to arrest 20 people who wanted to protect their lives and our future.

This was a political action. We demand the immediate release of those arrested and insist that their charges be dropped.

The police went above and beyond the limits of the court order by arresting people off the property – people who were on the side walk, and even the police liaison who was on the street. This heavy-handed tactic comes at the heels of Hamilton police receiving over $44,000 from Enbridge recently.

Destructive Enbridge projects across Ontario, and Tar Sands projects across the country will continue to be resisted.”

BACKGROUND
Press Statement on Injunction, June 25: http://swampline9.tumblr.com/post/53851715699/swamp-line-9-press-conference-statement
Media Advisory on Injunction: http://swampline9.tumblr.com/post/53838872671/swamp-line-9-locks-down-and-rallies-after-receiving
Solidarity Action in Support of Line 9: https://www.facebook.com/notes/swamp-line-9/update-swampline9-continues-support-actions-in-13-cities-sovsummer/191416174354528

UPDATES

www.facebook.com/SwampLine9
www.twitter.com/SwampLine9

Swamp Line 9 Update

26 June 2013 Twenty people were arrested this morning Hamilton cops tried to arrest everyone on the site except a few who were able to leave.

SwampLine9 is still holding strong. Four people are on lock down while most of the camp is still on site despite the injunction deadline expiring at 10am this morning. Enbridge was unable to even get the address right of the reversal site on the injunction and is now scrambling to correct its mistake.

You can see more photos of the action here: http://on.fb.me/17AZ4bQ

Solidarity actions took place across Canada including one of Toronto’s busiest streets shut down for nearly an hour as over 50 SwampLine supporters orchestrated a mock oil spill and flyered vehicles.

Photos from Cross-Canada Day of Action: http://on.fb.me/121U7AT

Swamp Line 9 Statement 25th June 3:30pm

7 Hours ago we were served an injunction that gave us 2 hours to leave the property. We kept our shit together, and are working together to keep this thing going. While some people packed up the camp and shuttled stuff to the top of the driveway, others built an elaborate barricade at the back and put themselves in an encasement. 3 people are inside of the encasement and are locked to the fence which leads into the construction site. 1 other person is sitting on top of the barricade and holding tight. About 20 of us are camped out in the middle of the driveway where it meets Concession 6, and are going to keep negotiations up to hold this space as best as we can.

Despite earlier reports, police are not blocking access to this site. We are asking for as many people as possible to come and join our action as it continues to shift and respond to this situation. If a situation arrises where we can no longer safely hold down this driveway, we will move our action to the other side of the street and continue to show support with the people locked down.

Our camping days may be over, but for now this struggle lives on. Those 4 bad-asses at the back of the site have built an impressive and solid barricade, and we don’t expect the police or Enbridge will be able to remove them from the site anytime soon.

Now that things have settled down a little bit we will be posting regular updates, so stay tuned to our tumblr site and follow us on twitter @Swampline9.

Swamp on,

-SL9

Background on Line 9

Line 9: The Tar Sands Come to Ontario from Rachel Deutsch on Vimeo.

Line 9 was built in 1975 to transport imported oil from Montreal to refineries in Sarnia. Enbridge has now applied to Canada's National Energy Board to reverse its direction of flow so that it can transport oil from Sarnia to Montreal.

Enbridge admits that among the possible uses of Line 9 is transporting "heavy oil" a category that includes bitumen, the hazardous raw material extracted from tar sands.

The pipeline passes through cities, watersheds, rivers, and farmland. 9.1 million people live within 50 km of line 9, including 18 first nations communities and 115 communities in total. (Sarnia, Hamilton, North York, Kingston, etc.)

Enbridge has a very poor record of environmental impact. Between 1999 and 2008, Enbridge lists 610 spills that released approximately 21 million litres of hydrocarbons into the surrounding area. But Enbridge is most well-known for their 3.8 million litre spill in Kalamazoo Michigan in 2010, amounting to the largest inland oil spill in US history. Because the spill involved the very hard to clean tar sands bitumen rather than conventional crude oil, the clean-up is still on-going. Meanwhile to this day, residents are still sick from the aftermath of the spill, and tragically many have died since. Most troubling for Ontario residents is that the pipeline that ruptured in Kalamazoo is almost identical to Line 9: it is part of the same pipeline network, uses the same interior lining, and is almost the same age.

With so much at risk, we need to work together to stop Enbridge Line 9. The big picture is spills, contamination, and expanding the tar sands. The even bigger picture is climate change. If it is not halted, climate change will and is resulting in increased frequency and severity of storms, floods, drought, and water shortage, as well as the spread of disease, increased hunger, displacement and mass migrations of people and ensuing social conflict and war.