Climate Chaos – Page 56

Two arrested for blocking tar sands megaloads in USA

News from Moscow Idaho, two arrested blockading Exxon’s megaload trucks bound with tar sands equipment for Alberta.

Early News: More Protesters Arrested for Blocking Tar Sands “Megaloads” in Moscow, Idaho

PRELIMINARY NEWS RELEASE

March 5, 2012

Four remarkably brave activists eluded the barricades and put their bodies between enormous Alberta tar sands upgrader parts and the ecological and climate devastation they will visit on us all. As three of the last five of 78 ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil megaloads moved through downtown Moscow, Idaho, two protesters were arrested for linking arms and sitting down in Washington Street late Sunday night, March 4. Police arrested two men but pulled two women to the side and detained and released them when the convoy passed. The women did not appreciate the discrimination.

In a video by Joshua Yeidel of a KRFP Radio Free Moscow interview, We Won’t Be Accessories to Genocide: Moscow ID, March 4, 2012, one of the dismissed women explained her and her many allies’ motivations for marching, chanting, and even obstructing megaloads and risking arrest in cold and dark winter conditions. “We’re not going to be accessories to genocide and climate change and increased cancer rates and all the other ecological damages that the tar sands intends to cause…”

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and community members have gathered along Moscow streets to raise their voices in protest more than forty times since July 15, 2011, when the first transports of outsourced equipment rumbled up to 425,000 pounds on Highway 95 from the Port of Lewiston to the climate-wrecking tar sands. Despite heavy, industry-sponsored police presence and closure of entire rights-of-way, some citizens have entered the crosswalks and streets to briefly block the shipments and halt their ecological death march, before state, county, and city police officers surround, harass, and drag them away and/or arrest them.

For a video shot by Joshua Yeidel of Sunday night’s action, Megaloads and Arrests, Moscow, Idaho, March 4, 2012, please see this video.

Fifty-one of Zachary Johnson’s photos of the March 4 demonstration are available on the Wild Idaho Rising Tide Facebook page

WIRT members extend our gratitude, love, and highest esteem to the four good souls who sacrificed their freedom to stand up for what’s right last night and to all of the supportive citizens on the streets and sidewalks, who spoke out and bore witness for a greener planet, healthier humanity, and a livable, worthwhile future for everyone’s descendants. Please join friends and activists at 9 am on Monday, March 5, at the Latah County Courthouse for the arraignments of Cass Davis and Jim Prall. One of their spouses reported that they are doing well in jail. Besides this brief press release compiled from WIRT activists’ input, we will send a more comprehensive, campaign-inclusive story later today.

Meanwhile, for more news, photos, videos, and interviews, please see the WIRT Facebook page and web site/blog and listen to the Climate Justice Forum radio program on Mondays at 7:30 to 9:00 pm PST on KRFP Radio Free Moscow.

More info, photos and past protests at http://wildidahorisingtide.org/

Shut Down the Corporations: Report from F29 actions against ALEC

29th February 2012

Rising Tide North America sent out this report today about the Shut Down the Corporations call to action: “#F29 is off to bang this morning with actions across the country. big props to our Rising Tide & Occupy comrades in Portland for initiating this great day of action.

The target of the day is the American Legislative Exchange Commission, or ALEC, & their member corporations. ALEC is the shadowy front group that has been pushing a right wing agenda on everything from labor to climate change.

Here’s some updates:

-OccupyLA is blockading a massive Wal-Mart Distro Center
-Occupy Wall Street had a teach-in with Rolling Stone journalist Matt Taibbi & is seeing marches to Pfizer, blockades at Bank of America & lots of heavy handed police repression (shocking, we know)
-OccupyDC is blockading Monsanto’s offices
-Actions are stepping off in Arizona, Salt Lake City, Connecticut, Hattiesburg, MS, Fargo, ND, Lakeland, FL, Tampa, FL, and Winston-Salem, NC.
-Today at 1130, OccupyPortland has organized a mass march to visit all ALEC offices in the city.

here’s the Global Live Blog if you want to keep up

Great article this morning on Mother Jones

…solidarity, RTNA News”

And check out this video of a blockade of G4S security company today in Tucson, AZ: http://youtu.be/AB5MZDdjHck

Mass Action: The Big-Six Energy Monopoly

Thursday 3rd May 2012
Meet in central London, details to be announced

The Big Six energy companies: British Gas, EDF, E.ON, RWE power, Scottish & Southern and Scottish Power control 99% of our energy supply – making obscene profits from burning fossil fuels, trashing the planet and pushing people into fuel poverty.

Let's take back the power.

Thursday 3rd May 2012
Meet in central London, details to be announced

Let's take back the power.

On Thursday 3rd May, as the Executives of the Big Six meet at the UK Energy Summit in central London, join Climate Justice Collective in a mass action for energy democracy and against corporate control and centralised power systems.

The more heads involved in organising this, the better it will be – so come along to our next organising meeting:
When: Saturday; 3rd March: 11am – 5pm
Where: Greenpeace, Canonbury Villas, London, N1 2PN. Closest tube: Angel
or Highbury & Islington.

*Crash Space & Kids* Please email climatejusticecollective@gmail.com if you'll be needing crash space for Friday and/or Saturday night. Also let us know if you'll be bringing along any of the next generation of movement builders 🙂 Their ages would be helpful to know as well.

http://climatejusticecollective.wordpress.com/

FRACK MOB 2

*Demo: 14th March*

Organised by *Frack Off <http://www.frack-off.org.uk/>*

*Demo: 14th March*

Organised by *Frack Off <http://www.frack-off.org.uk/>*

On the 14-15th of March, The Marriott Hotel Regents Park is playing host to another orgy of misinformation and industry propaganda, all in the name of shafting the planet for profit. Let’s not disappoint! Fracking investors and the fracking companies themselves will be there. This is a fantastic opportunity to expose the greenwash and show investors and backers how dangerous and unpopular it is.

Wednesday, 14 March 2012, 3-8pm, 128 King Henrys Road, NW3 3ST London.

More details TBC - join the 'Frack Off' facebook event

https://www.facebook.com/events/165452203557945

to keep updated!

Hinkley Barnstormers Eviction Imminent ! Help Needed !

JOIN THE HINKLEY BARNSTORMERS BEFORE THEIR EVICTION !

On 27th February at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, EDF won a possesion order against anti-nuclear activists who are occupying a barn on the proposed new site for a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point.

The barn has been successfully occupied for over two weeks now but the eviction could come at any time in the next few days.

The occupiers are welcoming any one who wants to come and help dismantle the camp. There is lots of food available and a cosy and convivial atmosphere to be enjoyed ! Please come !

PHONE : 0793 392 0425 or 0753 094 7554

The activists will be celebrating what the camp had achieved in terms of raising awareness of Hinkley to the national level , as many people do not know that the government is planning to build new nuclear reactors, they want to slip these plans in "under the radar" to avoid a proper public debate taking place, like there has been in Italy and Germany, in the wake of Fukushima.

Nuclear power is a catastrophic choice for Britain's energy future. A part from the fact that nuclear power is still very fossil fuel reliant and won't make much of a dent in the carbon emmissions: If Hinkley C is built, it won't be in operation until 2023 at the earliest ! Also, nuclear is a bottomless pit of expense to the tax payer, all that money will be diverted away from investment in safe and sustainable alternatives.

There is no such thing as safe nuclear power, problems occur in the reactors for inumerable reasons, including human error, and once every 12 years or so there is a major disaster. There is also the ever looming problem of nuclear waste, Britain already has enough to fill 5 Albert Halls and no where long term to put it. Only an insane government/industry would want to make more.

After Fukushima, many countries are saying enough is enough, Nuclear power is finished. It's a dinosaur of the 20th century and leads to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It's time we said the same !

Please show your solidarity and go to the camp for some fun !

If you can't make it to the camp, there's another chance for you to show your opposition to new nuclear on 10- 11 March at Hinkley Point for the Surround and Blockade action. Details below :

Coach tickets are available to take you to the Surround action on 10 March from Bristol CND:

secretarybristolcnd@gmail.com

For more information about the 10-11 March see:

www.stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Earth First! makes a mess of SITLA tar sands plans in Utah

Yesterday, February 20, the Earth First! 2012 Organizers Conference & Winter Rendezvous culminated in a rowdy demonstration outside the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) offices in downtown Salt Lake City. Earth First! activists staged their protest with local organizers from Utah Tar Sands Resistance and Canyon Country Rising Tide. The offices were closed for Presidents’ Day, but a clear (and messy) message was left at the doorstep—a mock oil spill accompanied by a mural reading “Hey SITLA: Tar Sands Outta Utah!”

The project would lease school trust lands for tar sands extraction in the Book Cliffs area, directly impacting PR Springs, a site which is also utilized for camping and recreation.

“Destruction of education trust lands through tar sands mining is contrary to the mandate of this agency, which requires them to maintain the land for the long term,” said Mark Purdy of Utah Tar Sands Resistance.

An article in the Desert News stated: “The proposed mining operation would occupy a 213-acre site in the East Tavaputts Plateau straddling the borders of Uintah and Grand counties. An ore processing facility would accommodate up to 3,500 tons of ore per day in the production of bitumen. The extraction process would require 1.5 barrels to 2 barrels of water per barrel of bitumen produced… The company will have to post a reclamation bond of nearly $1.7 million before any work is allowed to begin at the site.

Another company, MCW Energy, is proposing a pilot project to test its proprietary solvent in the extraction of bitumen on 1,000 stockpiled tons of tar sands 3 miles west of Vernal in Uintah County.

Opponents have appealed permits issued related to the PR Springs project, with hearings set for next month.”

"oil spill" at SITLA's doorstep (non-toxic, maybe even edible…)

Utah was chosen specifically as the site of the annual Earth First! winter gathering to highlight resistance to these tar sands proposal, as well as lend support to the courageous actions of people like Tim DeChristopher who was sentenced to a two-years in prison for his effective sabotage of an oil and gas auction on Utah’s public lands.

Along with DeChristopher, two other ecological and animal liberation activists from Utah, Jordan Halliday and Walter Bond, are also currently facing time behind bars for their involvement with direct action efforts in the state. Contacts for these and other eco-prisoners can be found at the Earth First! Journal’s prisoner support page.

In related news, an anonymous communique entitled Eco-Sabotage Ends Tar Sand Extraction was also received the previous night, apparently sent back from the future, stating: “…The Book Cliffs, where Spotted Owls screech and Elk reign, were under attack… Eco-Warriors worked under the rising sun. We have Molotoved their mining equipment. We have Monkey-Wrenched their machines. We have sawed their bulldozers to pieces. There are no longer any functional drilling tools in the Book Cliffs.

A major blow has been dealt to the oil extraction infrastructure. The PR Springs Mine Project is at its knees. Take Warning. Oil will never be piped through the West. Utah will never be mined. The mines of Alberta will cease.

Image from the futuristic communique distributed at the protest

No longer will our wild places fuel this militarized culture. Your machines are bound to rust. Tar Sand Extraction Profiteers, SITLA, CEO’s Glen D. Snar and Mr. Cuthbert; We are coming for you. This is just the beginning…”

The mining equipment is not actually present on-site yet, just in case that was unclear.

National anti-Fracking Gathering

Saturday 17^th March,

Saturday 17^th March,
Methodist Central Hall, Oldham Street, Manchester. Map and Directions here.
Organised by Campaign against Climate Change with REAF, The Vale Says No, Frack Off and No Fracking in Sussex.

11.00 am to 6.00 pm
Come and meet people from groups all around the country (and beyond) campaigning against 'hydraulic fracturing' or "fracking".(find out more about fracking here)
The event will include:
Opening plenary including presentaion from the Tyndal Centre, speaker from 'Frack Off' and other speakers tba (watch this space)

Regional report session from local anti-fracking campaign groups all around the country.
2 Sessions of workshops on all you need to know about fracking, targeted advice on how to run a local campaign, anti-fracking Direct action ….and more (watch this space for more details about specific workshops…)
Discussion on what we can do to form a broad-based National anti-fracking Coalition or umbrella group (with the local grass-roots residents groups at its core)

Extra time for the meeting to take things forward as it sees fit…..
Lets get together to stop fracking in the UK NOW, before it gets a hold and becomes unstoppable!
Put the 17th March in your diary now !
www.campaigncc.org/nationalantifrackingmeeting

Aussies occupy drill rig to protest coal mining

6.02.12

One Australian activist has been released pending summons for ‘interfering with a motor vehicle’ today after stopping drilling in Bacchus Marsh. Paul Connor locked himself to the top of Mantle Mining’s 8.5 metre-tall drill rig while hanging a banner that read ‘No New Coal Bacchus Marsh’. Another campaigner, local mother Natasha Mills, also locked herself to the drill rig at ground level, surrounded by a support crew of 15 other Quit Coal activists who occupied the drill site to stage a ‘picnic’, which featured produce from local farms.

‘We are eating locally grown food to illustrate what is at stake here’ said Mills, who is currently 7 and a half months pregnant with her second child. ‘This project will destroy prime agricultural land, all for the sake of a quick buck and the burning of brown coal, one of the most environmentally harmful practices possible.

‘Mantle’s project has so little support here among locals in Bacchus Marsh that our Mayor, our State MP and our Federal MP have all come out against it’ she continued. ‘It’s just wrong, and we’re not going to let it happen.’

The Quit Coal action drew a barrage of media attention, with every major television station in attendance. For a sample of the media attention, click on ‘dirty fight’ on the Ten News website here.

After 4 and a half hours chained to the top of the drill rig, Connor was cut free by Police from the Search & Rescue squad with an angle-grinder. ’We need Victorians to join this fight alongside us till we win it’ he said. ‘We can’t ignore the urgent warnings from climate scientists that we need to move away from coal, and blindly seek to dig it up and sell it off overseas. We have a responsibility to the world not to allow brown coal exports to begin, for the first time ever, here in Victoria.’

Because the site was on public land and they had not broken any laws, the remaining Quit Coal activists occupying the site were not arrested. They chose to comply with a police request and ended the protest peacefully, mindful that the police could otherwise physically remove them following the move on order.

Mantle also issued a statement saying that while they support the right to peaceful protest, our action will not affect their future operations.

Quit Coal will see about that.

Videos and more at http://quitcoal.org.au/blog/

Winter Warm-up round-up – Fuel Poverty Action protests

Friday update: an exciting start to the Fuel Poverty Action Weekend of Winter Warm-ups…Hundreds of people across the country came out of their cold homes to get warm at the buildings of institutions that have a hand in creating fuel poverty, to challenge the Big Six’s monopoly and the government’s complicity. London – Leeds – Swindon – Manchester:

Saturday update: Cambridge

Monday update: six activists have barricaded themselves into meeting rooms on two floors of British Gas offices in Staines, Middlesex, as part of the ‘Winter Warm-Up’ weekend called by the campaign group Fuel Poverty Action. British Gas is being targeted as one of the Big Six energy companies making profits out of rising energy bills. Read more.

Update – faced with a threatening police presence, the occupiers of the British Gas offices have now decided to leave on their own terms.

police solidarity blockade of shell petrol station

27.1.12

in many years of independent reporting, i've often seen situations where police have caused larger disruption than a handfull of protestors, closing roads, sometimes closing down businesses, and sometimes massively amplifying the power of the protestors alone (not that that's their intention). however, this evening was, i think, the first time that they so completely did the job of the activists for them, that the campaigners could sit in a nice warm pub and toast the met, instead of standing around in the cold themselves.

the protest this evening was called by the climate-conscious shell-bashing 'london rising tide' group, in co-ordination with the legendary activist samba band 'rhythms of resistance'.

each january, the band commemorate the life of activist, val jones, a woman who helped put the rossport county mayo struggles on the political map, and who, as a designer, produced many brilliant huge banners for the movement. she was sadly struck down with motor neurone disease and passed away two years ago. in memory of val, the commemoration takes the form of a shell garage blockade each year.

so, tonight, the call-out was for a blockade at the shell station in old street, the scene of previous blockades. around twenty people turned up to the meeting point, armed with drums, banners, and leaflets. well, actually someone forgot the leaflets, but as it turned out they weren't needed.

the usual time-line for these events is that the activists turn up at the garage, the band plays on the forecourt, the large banners are used to close the entrance to the site, and leaflets are handed out to staff, to motorists, and to passers-by. the staff then close the shop and call the police, who turn up after about half an hour. the police warn people that they might be committing aggravated trespass, and then they forcefully facilitate the continuation of the action on the pavement, so that the garage opens for business once more.

however, tonight, something was very different. even before the demo began, the garage went dark, bollards blocking its entrance, and small groups of police lurked on street corners nearby.

so the activists were confused. what to do? was there any point attempting a blockade of a garage that was already closed for business? previous estimates from blockades show that garages lose several thousands of pounds of business when they close, and this is of course part of the point of the protests. also, someone had forgotten the leaflets, so although there was a suggestion of moving to a different target, there was the concern the protest wouldn't be so effective without this element.

every now and then, someone went out to check the site, and the garage remained totally closed for business, all lights off, staff locked in their shop, and nonchalant street-corner policing. so, another drink, a bit of food, plans afoot for future actions, and as the cold wind built up, and the wet drizzle came down, the occasional check that the police were continuing to carry out the activists' mission.

an hour passed, another one, a third. wow, this was better than any previous small-scale blockade. there was fond reminiscing of the upper street blockade a few years ago, val and the band present, on a saturday. this had closed the upper street shell garage for five or six hours, and ended with loads of TSG arriving , a couple of arrests, and a lot of details taken. but it was a much larger scale event with lots of prior planning. tonight was always meant to be a small, token, and commemorative action.

after three hours, the police scaled down and appeared to leave, but the garage stayed closed for a futher two hours, until finally near 11pm it opened for business once more.

this has to have been the most successful blockade without a single activist present. maybe they should contact the guiness book of records. we have the photos, the eye-witness reports.

various theories emerged as to why this happened tonight, but none of us really know, so in the meantime, the met should be heartened that a glass or two was raised to them for their sterling work this evening in costing shell five hours-worth of business at a normally very busy london garage, and thanks to them that a couple of dozen activists stayed warm, safe and conspiratorial.

all involved hope that the met join in with even more solidarity for the big blockade on the 8th february (occupyoil).