Following the attack, military helicopters began flying over the resisting communities, “like in the old days of the armed conflict.” 
On September 17 and 18, community members from Mataquescuintla, Jalapa and San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa, Guatemala protested against the ongoing development of a mining project in their communities. In response to the first of these protests, provocateurs attacked both police and community members with stones. In response to a peaceful blockade outside the mining site, protesters were “attacked without warning by members of the mine’s private security agency, the National Civil Police and the army, using tear gas cannons, firearms and rubber bullet guns. Security agents attacked from inside the mine, with trained attack dogs. The Police cornered the unarmed protestors, and the army surrounded them, crouched and at the ready. The display of repressive force had all the characteristics of military counter-insurgency tactics that we had thought belonged to the past, including the bad intentions, brutality and cowardice that so characterize the tactics of the National Army.”
Mining Company and Government Thugs Attack Guatemalan Mine Resisters
Energy Industry Crackdown, Global Protest Frackdown
Yesterday, while Shell announced suing Greenpeace International in an attempt to have the organization banned from protest within 500 meters of any Shell property in the Netherlands, New York activist Susan Walker was sentenced to 15 days in jail after she refused to pay a fine for blocking the entrance to Inergy gas facility in New York earlier this month.
But judges and jails aren’t enough to stop a world-wide movement against the energy empire, and today marks the “Global Frackdown” with more than 100 protests against gas fracking scheduled to take place around the world. So get out there in the streets and raise some hell…
Shell sues Greenpeace to block environmental protests in the Arctic
The suit against Greenpeace Int’l argued at Amsterdam’s District Court Friday showed Shell aggressively taking the offensive to protect its $4.5 billion investment in drilling for oil in the icy Arctic waters off the coast of Alaska. A verdict is not expected for two weeks.
A protest at a Shell gas station in the Netherlands — with stuffed polar bear. (AFP/ANP, Marcel Antonisse)
Greenpeace has protested Arctic drilling with other stunts around the world, but the trigger for Friday’s lawsuit was a Dutch demonstration on Sept. 14, in which Greenpeace protesters blocked more than 70 Shell gas stations in the Netherlands for several hours, draping banners and clamping gas pump handles together with bike locks.
Fifteen people were arrested. Shell has not put forward any estimate of how much damage it suffered.
“Because Greenpeace International doesn’t operate alone, but is the spider in the web of national and local organizations, our request includes that Greenpeace inform its satellite organizations that it no longer supports protests that are solely directed at causing Shell economic damage or that bring human lives and the environment in danger,” Shell’s complaint said.
Protest backs jailed environmental activist in Inergy Blockade
Joseph Campbell, president of Gas Free Seneca, speaks Friday outside the Chemung County Jail. He said local residents turned to civil disobedience because their petitions, letters and attending hearings failed to get their voices heard on Inergy Midstream’s proposed storage facility.
Nearly 30 people slammed the energy industry outside the Chemung County Jail on Friday but praised the Dundee woman held inside for refusing to pay a fine for trespassing at a proposed gas storage facility.
They demonstrated in support of Susan Walker, 53, who pleaded guilty to trespassing Wednesday night before Reading Town Justice Raymond H. Berry and got 15 days in jail after she refused to pay the $275 fine.
“We’re in agreement with Susan’s words when she spoke in the courthouse, ‘If I were a corporation, I would not be going to jail,’” said one of four speakers, Sandra Steingraber, an Ithaca College scholar in residence who co-founded the coalition New Yorkers Against Fracking.
Fracking Protests Planned Around The World By GlobalFrackdown Campaign
More than 100 protests against the natural gas drilling process known as fracking are scheduled to take place around the world on Saturday, building on public concerns but also using an overly simplified message to spur outrage.
The GlobalFrackdown website and campaign was developed by Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that was once part of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen group. The campaign claims that fracking “has already damaged communities and ruined lives. It pollutes water and makes people sick.”
(USA) Another Lockdown Against the Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline!
Protesters locked to equipment clearcutting forests to make way for the Keystone tar sands pipeline. Winnsboro, TX, Sep. 19 2012
Tar Sands Blockade protesters have locked themselves to a wood chipper and skidder being used to clear-cut trees near Winnsboro, TX to make way for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. This is the fourth action to date in the Tar Sands Blockade campaign.
The Tar Sands Blockade campaign is active and ongoing. Calls to join the action have been put out both by the main group and by “a small crew of Earth First!ers and eco-anarchists engaged in tactical elements of the larger Tar Sands Blockade campaign.”
To find out more, watch this Tar Sands Blockade action video, and visit tarsandsblockade.org and stoptarsands.org.
BBC Investigates Opencast Mining
THE LOOSE ANTI OPEN-CAST NETWORK
BBC’s COUNRTYFILE PROGRAMME INVESTIGATES WHY A REMOTE HAMLET IS ON THE FRONT LINE OF A PLANNING BATTLE OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.
THE LOOSE ANTI OPEN-CAST NETWORK
BBC’s COUNRTYFILE PROGRAMME INVESTIGATES WHY A REMOTE HAMLET IS ON THE FRONT LINE OF A PLANNING BATTLE OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.
A small village, of just 75 households, is all that may stand between preserving large sections of the English countryside and the expressed desire of the UK Mineral Extraction Industry to see more permissions given to exploiting England’s mineral resources in areas that are more environmentally sensitive and / or are closer to where people live.
The unfortunate village is Halton Lea Gate, located on the Cumbria / Northumberland border and near an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A team from the BBC’s Counrtyfile programme was filming there recently to investigate why this spot now finds itself on the front line of a national planning controversy.
In early August, after a Public Inquiry into an Appeal to grant permission for an Opencast Mine, the Inspector found in favour of the Applicant. The sting in the tale, for all other communities in England, is the reasoning given by the Inspector to allow the Appeal. His reasoning set a new case law precedent, it is argued, which affects all future mineral planning applications in England.
What the Applicant has to replicate in the future, is the argument used here: that there is a national need for the mineral in question, in this case coal. If they can persuade the Planning Authority (or the Inspector, if the Application has gone to an Appeal) that this is the case, then ‘great weight’ has to be attached to this claim. So much weight it seems, that this factor alone may override all other considerations. (1)
This situation has arisen as a consequence of the Government implementing the new National Planning Policy Framework. In the time leading up to the 2010 election, lobbying organisations such as Coalpro and the CBI lobbied long and hard for a relaxation of the planning rules for mineral extraction. (2) It seems, from this example, the first Public Inquiry for mineral extraction to be held under the new rules, that their efforts have been rewarded. The advice of the Inspector has now gone to the Department of Communities and Local Government to be confirmed or rejected by a Minister.
The BBC came to investigate the issue and explore why local people have taken on the task of raising £40,000 so that they can mount a Judicial Review over the decision. If local people are successful in raising the money and mounting a successful action, they may have prevented the floodgates from opening and saved England from experiencing a rash of mineral planning applications for developing swathes of the countryside. This is now a Public Appeal, and donations can be made payable to The North Pennines Protection Group, who have been one of the local groups who have opposed this Application
An e petition to the Government has been started about this planning decision and its implication for similar planning decisions elsewhere which can be signed by following this link:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36985
Steve Leary for the Loose Anti Opencast Network commented
“ LAON was contacted by the BBC in the lead up to filming for the Countryside programme. We are delighted to be able to cooperate in the making of the programme and show why we argue that this is an issue of national importance which will affect other communities up and down the Country if the decision is not changed.
We know of five other opencast mine applications, near Smally in Derbyshire (George Farm) , Kirklees, Sth. Yorkshire (Dearne Lea), Trowel in Nottinghamshire (Shortwood Farm) , Whittonstall in Northumberland ( Hoodsclose) and Gateshead (Birklands) that will be affected by this decision if it stands.
In addition, we are aware of three other sites where a potential applicant is making the final decision to proceed with a full application in Gateshead, Marley Hill Reclamation) , Derbyshire ( Hill Top Project near Clay Cross) and Northumberland (Ferneybeds near Widdrington Station, Northumberland) which might also be affected.
The issue here though, we believe, goes way beyond opencast mining. It’s about relaxing the rules around all forms of mineral extraction from pits for sand, gravel and clay to quarries for granite and limestone to opencast mines for coal. This is what the industry lobbied for and now, it seems, the Government has delivered, if it upholds the Inspector’s recommendation to approve the Application and the Judicial Review fails. We therefore urge people everywhere, who cherish and love our countryside, to support both the petition and the public appeal for money to take this case to a Judicial Review.”
The Counrtyfile edition of the programme is to be broadcast on Sunday 30th September 2012. It will include a 12 minute section on the Halton Lea Gate issue.
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References
1) For more information on the significance of this decision as far as opencast mine applications are concerned see LAON PR7 here
http://nottingham.indymedia.org/articles/2754
2) Evidence about the lobbying to relax these planning rules can be found here.
Briefing Note E2 “Energy Policy and the Proposed National Planning Policy Framework,” MOPG 2011 @
http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/mopg-briefing-notes-series.html
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ABOUT LAON
The Loose Anti-Opencast Network (LAON) has been in existence since 2009. It functions as a medium through to oppose open cast mine applications through which any person / group can communicate ideas, information, requests for information and possibly concerted actions if we find a target. In addition feel free to invite any other person / group who oppose opencast mining applications, to join the network so that it grows. At present LAON links individuals and groups in N Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northumberland, Co Durham, Leeds, Kirklees Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Walsall.
You can now follow LAON on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/Seftonchase
Anti Opencast Coal March in Clay Cross
A march is taking place on Saturday 22nd September to show the strength of opposition to any proposal to seek to opencast mine on the Hilltop Project site. For more info see
A march is taking place on Saturday 22nd September to show the strength of opposition to any proposal to seek to opencast mine on the Hilltop Project site. For more info see
Activists ‘brick up’ Shell HQ as Arctic melt
Activists 'brick up' Shell HQ as Arctic melts from Small Axe Films on Vimeo.
Early morning on the 11th September 12 a group of 20 climate change activists calling themselves ‘Ice Bloc’ unloaded nearly two tonnes of ice into the main entrance of Shell HQ. The protest was timed to coincide with this week's impending announcement of the lowest sea-ice coverage ever recorded, a loss of about 50% more ice coverage than the summer ice minimum 30 years ago.
The activists are angry that Shell are set to profit from this environmental catastrophe.The company has this week begun to drill for oil in newly exposed areas once covered by ice. The protest happens as news reports that Shell are already having to delay operations due to floating sea ice near their drill-site [1].
The group are seeking to bring the collapse of the Arctic ice sheet to the door of Shell because they hold the company partly responsible for the carbon emissions that caused climate change, leading to the melt.
The activists piled the 27kg blocks of ice high in the entrance way, which looks on to the South Bank, creating a huge wall of ice to greet Shell executives as they arrived at work.
Rachel Griffin, involved in today’s action, said:
“Right now the Arctic sea ice, a part of the planet essential for our survival, is vanishing because companies like Shell have filled the atmosphere with climate-changing gases.
“Yet rather than being stopped from trading and held to account, the company have begun drilling in Alaska, an area of the Arctic once covered with ice. That they are already having problems there just shows how ludicrous the plan is.
“The political response has been pitiful. People need to take action now to minimise this unprecedented disaster.”
The activists are part of a bigger network, Climate Justice Collective, which grew from the Climate Camp
Indigenous Peruvians Occupy 9 Oil Wells
Community members in Canaan de Cachiaco
Community members in Canaan de Cachiaco
By: Ronald Suarez, President of the Network of Peruvian Indigenous Communicators, Ucayali
*Correction: Maple Energy is a company listed in London and Lima, Peru. It is not a Canadian company.
Over 400 villagers in the Native Community of Canan de Cachiaco in the Ucayali region of the Peruvian Amazon have taken control of nine oil wells, belonging to oil company, Maple Gas, in oil lot 31B.
Community members took over the oil wells on September 2nd, and continue to hold them as a result of 37 years of oil contamination in their territory by the company.
The community leader, Basilio Rodriguez Venancio, said the action was made necessary because the company did not consider the environmental impact assessment carried out by an independent consultant.
One of the oil wells occupied by members of the Canaan de Cachiaco community in the Peruvian Amazon, September 2012
The community is demanding that the company pay them compensation for the use of their lands and for the environmental damage they have suffered for 37 years. Such damage includes the contamination of their rivers, their only source of drinking water, and the contamination of their soils due to the company´s use of chemicals and heavy minerals, which the population says has significantly affected the productivity of their land.
Several community members testified that they have become sick due to the company’s negligence and contamination of their drinking water. There have been several instances in the past years of cancer and ¨unknown deaths¨ that the community attributes to company abuses.
The community awaits the arrival of state representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines and Ministry of Environment, scheduled for Thursday, September 13th, to resolve this conflict.
Meanwhile the villagers are still stationed in the camp until authorities settle their claims.
For more information on the case of Canaan de Cachiaco, and the neighboring community, Nuevo Sucre, watch this video.
Protesters in Greece Clash with Police Over Gold Mine, Again
Riot police show up to protect mining interest
Hundreds of protesters have battled riot police for hours over plans for a gold mine in northern Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula.
Police fired tear gas to fend off protesters who had gathered in the Skouries area of Halkidiki, northern Greece, on Sunday to protest gold mining activity.
Dozens of residents of the nearby village of Ierissos, as well as protesters who arrived by coaches and cars from Thessaloniki, approached the forest in Skouries, where Hellenic Gold, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Eldorado Gold, has begun mining activity that locals are appealing against.
Protesters accused the police of making heavy use of tear gas, causing a fire in the woods, and of chopping down trees to prevent demonstrators from approaching the mine. Police say protesters threw firebombs at them, setting ablaze a forested area on the site. Either way, the fire has been put out.
There were reports of several people being arrested and detained at Ierissos police station. Several people were also injured, including SYRIZA MP Vangelis Diamantopoulos.
Hellenic Gold has been awarded an area of 26,400 hectares, of which 410 is forest land. Almost all the trees in the forest will be cut down as part of the mining firm’s plan to extract gold. The company says it will replant trees when it finishes its work.
Environmental opponents of the mine argue it would lead to the destruction of the local forest and irreversible damage to the ecosystem. Owners of local tourist lodging are also fiercely opposed due to environmental reasons.
This is not the first clash over the gold mine. Opponents succeeded a decade ago in canceling a multimillion-dollar gold mining project in a nearby area. Source
The film below, Treasure Hunt, documents that struggle. This is the first 10 minutes of the film:
The entire documentary with subtitles can be found online by clicking this link.
Five Arrested in New York Anti-Fracking Sit-In
“Spectra Showdown” protest against fracking in New York City, Sep. 6, 2012
“Spectra Showdown” protest against fracking in New York City, Sep. 6, 2012
“Today [Sep 6] the ongoing protest called “Spectra Showdown,” [in New York City]has finally turned into the scene of civil disobedience that the group has been anticipating. At least two people have been reportedly arrested.
“After pre-construction in July, Spectra Energy begins a new phase of construction today that has involved shipments of materials on a barge on the Hudson and from the West Side Highway. Spectra hardhats were seen on people digging at 8:30 this morning right next to the bike path while protesters gathered next to them. A barge with a crane was on the River. The protesters held banners but it wasn’t until after 10 AM that it was tweeted that two were arrested.
“The protest has been against hydrofracking (a process being used to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus shale fields of Pennsylvania and the general bioregion).”
Flurry of Anti-Fossil Fuel Direct Actions
Three activists from Tar Sands Blockade locked themselves to construction equipment near Saltillo, TX this morning, shutting down the construction site completely.
Three activists from Tar Sands Blockade locked themselves to construction equipment near Saltillo, TX this morning, shutting down the construction site completely. As of the latest update, workers and police had all left the site, leaving the blockade intact.
The action is the third so far for Tar Sands Blocakde, a group devoted to stopping TransCanada’s plan to expand the Keystone XL Pipeline to transport oil from the Alberta Tar Sands to Texas. It follows only days upon an August 28 action, when four activists locked themselves to the underside of a truck actually carrying a piece of the planned pipeline. A total of seven protesters were arrested, but not before all Keystone construction transportation for the southern segment was shut down for a full day.
In an unrelated action targeting big energy infrastructure, more than 150 protesters from Everglades Earth First! and Occupy Wall Street blockaded the access roads to TECO’s Big Bend coal plant on the eastern shore of Tampa Bay, FL on Aug 31, coinciding with the last day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
According to a press release, “Earth First! activists chose this day for their protest in order to highlight Mitt Romney’s plan to expand what the group calls the “energy empire” which favors the interest of big donors in oil, gas and coal industries.” TECO was also chosen for its involvement in mountaintop removal coal mining.
The plant was successfully blockaded for nearly four hours. Seven people were arrested. And as a bonus: the action led freaked-out authorities to temporarily shut down the Port of Tampa!