Action Reports – Page 45

Chaos on the Clearwater River: Second Night of Megaload Blockades

7.8.13

One day after a three-hour blockade involving upwards of 150-200 people from the Nez Perce Nation, Idle No More, and Wild Idaho Rising Tide, more than 50 activists once again dedicated themselves to stopping megaload shipments through Idaho.

Omega Morgan, the company responsible for the transport of the 200-ton megaload, has been warned by the Forest Service that the shipment is unauthorized, and the Nez Perce tribe is seeking an injunction. However, Omega Morgan is trying to sneak the megaload through against the law, so direct action must be taken.

The Nez Perce put out a call yesterday for activists to join them in renewed efforts to stop the tar sands equipment from moving through Highway 12. More than 50 protestors came out. They were met by a force of 40-50 police officers in a fleet of cars.

Police gave protesters 15 minutes to speak out as they blocked the roadway, before being forced to move to the shoulder. Some young activists decided to maintain the presence of the blockade by heaving boulders and large rocks into the streets, which held traffic up further.

Several Nez Perce tribe-members were arrested, adding to the 19 arrested on Monday night (including the entire executive committee).

Aerial Blockade Halts Enbridge’s Pipeline 6B, USA

7.8.13

UPDATE:
10:40 AM
Police had intended to tie life-line off to two backhoes. After some uncertainty, both pieces of equipment drove off without attempting it.

7.8.13

UPDATE:
10:40 AM
Police had intended to tie life-line off to two backhoes. After some uncertainty, both pieces of equipment drove off without attempting it.

UPDATE:
10:04 AM
Police have threatened to taze Felix and use dogs to attack folks on the ground supporting them. Please call the Cass County Sherieffs Department and let them know people are watching. (269) 445-8644

UPDATE:
9:28 AM
Police officer throws large log up at Felix.

UPDATE:
9:20 AM
After turning back workers and their equipment for the last several hours, police have arrived on scene and threatened to cut Felix’s life-line.

from MI-CATS

This morning, Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI-CATS) is taking direct action in the Crane Pond State Game Area to halt expansion of Canadian corporation Enbridge Energy’s tar sands pipeline 6B. Enbridge’s claim that they have restored the Kalamazoo River after the 2010 spill holds no merit, nor does it justify expanding the pipeline. Tar sands cannot be cleaned up; this material is thick and heavy, it sinks in water, and clings to surfaces. Expanding the pipeline increases the risk of another disaster for all of life and future generations.

Felix of the unconfined Kalamazoo River basin climbed into the trees early this morning to halt the expansion of Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline 6B. A rope traverse, spanning a portion of where construction is taking place, is the sole line that holds the platform they are sitting on up in the air. If it were cut and/or tampered with by police or workers they could fall from the tree, resulting in serious injury, possibly even death.

Our friend, Felix, sitting high up in the canopy to halt the construction of Enbridge Line 6B

“Tar sands pipeline 6B is pumping a dangerous concoction which fuels global capitalism. This pipeline is Canada’s promise that industrialized capitalism will continue to exploit and oppress the people of the world and the environment. Capitalism guarantees the continued destruction of the natural world. It enables the ruling class to exploit the world’s resources and force the rest of the population to labor for the ruling classes profits. Additionally, we are way beyond the verge of climate crisis. It is of utmost importance that carbon emissions stop immediately. Tar sands infrastructure is one example of industries at the root of the oil addiction. By taking action at the root of the problem, we endeavor to stop the symptoms of the problem. If we halt all carbon emissions into the atmosphere and remember how to live in harmony with the earth, there might be hope for life as we humans have known it for a few hundred thousand years.”

MI CATS asserts that direct action tactics, including civil disobedience, are now necessary as Enbridge’s dominant presence in our bio-region has allowed no room for any constructive alternatives. After three long years of blatant lies and omissions, Enbridge has the audacity to triple the capacity of the same pipeline that poured an ecologically abrasive sludge into the Kalamazoo River. This catastrophe was the largest inland oil spill this continent has ever experienced. While the Kalamazoo spill was the largest, it is one of many devastations brought on by Enbridge. Enbridge’s insidious business practices caused more than 800 pipeline spills between 1999 and 2010; that is more than one tar sands spill a week.

All pipelines leak. All markets peak. Capitalism can rot in hell. Enbridge places profit before our families, the ecosystem, our grandmothers, our dogs (yo what up Smokey*?), our grandchildren and the future of life on this planet. The continuation of tar sands transportation through pipelines like Line 6B risk more than just our own backyards; everything in the industry’s wake is left defiled and in squalor. Our actions against Enbridge won’t stop until Enbridge stops participating in the resource extraction industry. We stand in solidarity with all first peoples’ whose lands were forcibly taken from them, Idle No More, Fearless Summer, those working to end corporate personhood, all the species going extinct, those sick and dying thanks to the extraction industry, and all folks fighting oppression in order to live full and happy lives.

*Smokey was a dog who died as a result of the 2010 spill.

This is the third action MI-CATS has taken to stop construction of Enbridge’s Pipeline 6B this summer. On July 22nd they locked down to construction equipment, and on June 24 an activist climbed deep inside a section of pipe, halting work for the day.

Balcombe update days 12 & 13

Update (11am): Day 12 and blockade still going strong. Cuadrilla need to get in a constant stream of trucks to keep drilling and the community are making it as difficult for them as possible.

Day 13

Update (9am): Day 13 and blockade still going strong. A lot of people stayed overnight. Some people also heading down to Crawley Magistrates Court for 9:30am to support two Balcombe Defenders charged as a result of blockade. Come show your support!

Blockade of Highway 12 to Stop Tar Sands Megaloads

6th August 2013

Nearly 150 members of the Nez Perce Nation were joined by Idle No More, Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT), and others in a blockade of Highway 12 in Idaho for three hours late last night to stop a megaload carrying tar sands equipment.

While most people stood on the edges of the road to support the blockaders, the manifestation included about 50 people on the Highway stopping traffic, and was the longest blockade since the beginning of the megaloads shipments.

The oversized water evaporator had received one permit, but bypassed approval by the U.S. Forest Service and Federal Highway Administration. The Forest Service even raised objections, but the Oregon-based shipper Omega Morgan tried to slip the megaload through unnoticed. Through the important activism of Wild Idaho Rising Tide and others, however, the megaload was located easily and tracked.

Judging by its position, the megaload is set to travel across Nez Perce ancestral land and a Wild and Scenic Corridor soon, so the tribal members decided to take direct action rather than sit around and wait for an injunction.

In a news release, the Nez Perce stated their opposition “based on impacts to treaty-reserved resources, tribal commerce and governmental functions, federally-protected historic and cultural resources and Nez Perce national landmarks located along U.S. 12, and tribal member health and welfare,”"

“I don’t look at this as a symbolic issue,” explained Silas Whitman, chairman of the Nez Perce Tribe. “Otherwise, we’d just issue a press statement, put up a few signs and just let it go. No. We’ve run out of time and initiatives. So that leaves us with disobedience, civil disobedience.”

Whitman was arrested along with more than a dozen blockaders from Idle No More and WIRT after police broke through the blockade by driving a police car straight through the group of people. Police used the usual tactics to break up the blockade, threatening people with mace, pushing activists, separating parents from children, and so on.

According to WIRT’s facebook page, “This blockade lasted longer than any other regional megaload obstruction since the first tar sands extraction modules rolled from Lewiston area ports on February 1, 2011. People are talking about further blockades on upcoming nights, perhaps in Kamiah.”

Stay tuned!

Balcombe update days 9-11

Day 11 (Sun 4th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex

Update (12pm): Good weather and people arriving for Tea Party this afternoon. Come on down!

Update (7am): Large number of people stayed overnight after the great day yesterday.

Day 11 (Sun 4th) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex

Update (12pm): Good weather and people arriving for Tea Party this afternoon. Come on down!

Update (7am): Large number of people stayed overnight after the great day yesterday.

Day 10 (Sat 3rd) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex

Update (12:00pm): Villagers announce result of their own survey of village: 85 percent against, 9 percent undecided, 6 percent for fracking.

Update (11:30am): Around 250 more villagers stroll down to the blockade. Big crowd here.

Update (7am): Somerset Saturday today! Rig Race from London and Brighton.

Around 400 People At The Community Blockade In Balcombe

Day 9 (Fri 2nd) Of Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe Sussex

Update (2:00pm): 2 arrests reported. Come down and support Balcombe.

Update (11:00am): Confused media rumour that drilling may start soon but drill isn’t moving.

Update (9:15am): Fylde Friday at the community blockade in Balcombe. Community groups from Lancashire are visiting to show their support. Police continuing to try to push trucks through the blockade. Weather a bit damp but spirits high.

Apparently Random Attack On Man At Community Blockade By Sussex Police

Another Fracking Truck Tries To Force Its Way Through In Balcombe

Community Groups From “Desolate” Lancashire Are Support Balcombe At The Blockade

There Is Always Another Fracking Truck To Block In Balcombe

Blocking Fracking Truck In Balcombe At The Community Blockade

Police Trying To Escort A Fracking Truck Through The Community Blockade

Cuadrilla’s central fracking lair (AKA HQ) protest in the Midlands

1st August 2013

We’ve all heard about the revolution kicking off in Balcombe, but before today few would have known that the HQ of Britain’s premier fracking corporation Cuadrilla are located in the Midlands. Their offices in Lichfield were stormed today by a group acting in solidarity with the bockade in West Sussex.

1st August 2013

A man in a suit, calling himself Mr Fracktastic, was accompanied by another man in a high vis carrying a fracking rig, which appeared to be made of cardboard. The unsightly duo were chased down the streets of a picturesque city, known by the locals as LichVegas, by an articulate and well-dressed mob armed with well-researched facts and catchy chants.

Mr Fracktastic shouted incoherently through a megaphone: ‘It’s going to be fracking fantastic, we’ll produce billions of litres of chemically enriched delicious water for you all to drink.’

The group responded by chanting: ‘No Dash For Gas! Reclaim the Power!’ and handed out informative leaflets to bemused onlookers. The protesters explained how fracking has become the frontline of the Government’s Dash for Gas, their lans to build up to 40 new gas-fired power stations as our existing power stations come to the end of their life. They’ll be pumped full of fracked gas fresh from our devastated countryside, leaving a trail of broken communities behind. As we spin into climate chaos from further fossil fuel fanaticism, the price of gas is set to rocket, pushing even more people into fuel poverty.

The rag tag bunch finally arrived at Cuadrilla HQ only to find that the doors of the office were locked and de-logo’d, guarded by police and surounded by a (modest) media frenzy.

‘Ha!’ Mr Fracktastic exclaimed. ‘The police are doing their job; protecting corporate profit and not the people.’ The coporate big wig proceeded to launch into a tirade, declaring the protesters a ‘bunch of smelly hippy vermin who simply do not understand the medically proven benefits of water enhanced with fracking fluid.’

Within a minute the posh executive was ovecome by the crowd, first cowering under the cardboard drilling rig. Finally, he lay on his back, arms and legs raised in the air and whimpered ‘I submit’ in a distinctive Etonian accent.

It was a small victory for the forces of sanity, in a battle that is set to continue in the coming weeks, with an ongoing blockade at Balcombe and the Reclaim the Power camp

Video & local newspaper coverage

Video: Activists Shut Down First Tar Sands Mine in Utah

3.8.13

Respect Existence, or Expect Resistance!

Earlier this week activists converged at PR Springs, site of the first proposed tar sands mine in the United States. They shut down work at the mine, and road construction, for the entire day.

http://youtu.be/Yr3lwylwMn0

For more information visit: http://www.peacefuluprising.org/actioncampaction

Please LIKE and SHARE to let US Oil Sands know–if you build it, WE WILL COME!

Latest News From The Great Gas Gala – Day 8

Update (3:45pm): Two fracking trucks forced through blockade with police escort. Ambulance called for lady pushed over by police.

Update (1:00pm): Police tow away fire engine with two frackfighters still lock on inside!

Update (3:45pm): Two fracking trucks forced through blockade with police escort. Ambulance called for lady pushed over by police.

Update (1:00pm): Police tow away fire engine with two frackfighters still lock on inside!

Update (11:00am): Police have put up scaffolding next to fire engine and are trying to cut frackfighters off. Driver arrested. Support Balcombe in its fight against fracking!

Update (8:45am): Police trying to talk frack-fighers into leaving! Will they succeed?

Update (7:30am): A beautiful day in Balcombe. Weather lovely and an old fire engine is blocking the entrance of Cuadrilla’s fracking site. How could it get any better? Support the community in Balcombe!

Update (6:50am): Balcombe gets more support. Antique fire engine blocking entrance of Cuadrilla’s fracking site in Balcombe in Sussex

Our Children Say No To Fracking In Balcombe

Police Trying To Tow Fire Engine Away With Frackfighters Still Inside!

Frackfighters Inside The Fire Engine At The Community Blockade In Balcombe

Police Suround Frackfighter’s Fire Engine At Community Blockade

Good Weather For Day 8 Of The Community Fracking Blockade In Balcombe

Police Cutting Team On Roof Of Fire Engine In Blacombe

Police Have Put Up Scaffolding Next To Fire Engine In Balcombe

Police Trying To Remove Frackfighters From Cab Of Fire Engine In Balcombe

Very Sunny Day In Balcombe! Take Sensible Precautions!

Frackfighter’s Twitter Account Was Suspended Shortly After The Began Tweeting

Police Trying To Remove Frackfighters From Roof Of Fire Engine In Balcombe

Good Start To The Day At Community Fracking Bloackade Of Cuadrilla’s Site

Fracking Emergency Crew Block The Entrance To Cuadrilla’s Site In Balcombe

Community In Balcombe Gets Support From An Unlikely Source. Fracking Emergency!

The FrackFighters Settle In For The Long Haul At Balcombe Community Blockade

Community Fracking In Balcombe Get A Hand. Fracking Emergency!

Community In Balcombe Gets Support From An Unlikely Source. Fracking Emergency!

The Fracking Emergency Crew At The Balcombe Community Blockade

Fracking Emergency Crew Are In Balcombe! Old Fire Engine Blocking Entrance To Site

Fracking Emergency! Old Fire Engine Blocking Entrance To Fracking Site

Latest News From The Great Gas Gala – Day 7

31 July 2013 Fracking company Cuadrilla Resources are trying to start drilling in Balcombe, West Sussex and the community is trying to stop them. Over 250 people stopped 15 trucks bring on equipment on Day 1 (Thurs). On Day 2 more than 100 police were used to break the blockade and escort trucks onto the fracking site. On Day 3 the community continued to resist attempts to force trucks through the blockade but gave up early afternoon. On Day 4 Cudrilla did not attempt to bring any trucks onto the site. On Day 5 Cuadrilla continued to try to push trucks through the blockade and the community have continued to resist. Camp is still going strong and renewed efforts are being made to defend Balcombe.

Update (10:00am): Cuadrilla’s fracking site closed and trucks being turned away. Go Balcombe!

Update (9:00am): Two people superglue themselves together, locking the gate of the Cuadrilla fracking site to defend the community of Balcombe and Sussex more generally from fracking

Cuadrilla’s Fracking Site In Balcombe Blocked By Community

Two People Glue Around The Gate Of Fracking Site In Balcombe

Two People Lock The Gate Of The Cuadrilla Fracking Site In Balcombe

Ongoing road bloackade against Mining in Sweden

30 July 2013 Right now there is a battle against mining in Sapmi, north of Sweden, going on. We have barricaded the road leading to the site where Beowulf Mining Plc. want to make test mines. This is the Sami peoples lands stolen by the Swedish state and colonized since way back. We stand in solidarity with indigenous culture and fight against the mega-machine of mining. The Swedish police are now on the site removing obstacles to help the mining corporation proceed. At least 6 people have been arrested already but protests are still going on. For five days the police have this special mission to help the evil corporation, that’s why we need people now!

This is a strategic battle, if the resistance to the mine is strong enough Beowulf will not be able to sell the mining site to another corporation (which is their plan). There is a security radius of 150m from the test pits, if people are inside those the corporation are not able to detonate explosives. How far is this corporation ready to go? Are they ready to blow people up to get their ore? We don’t know but we are ready to die to stop them. Solidarity protests, new warriors, prayers, actions and whatever you can imagine to help is/are welcome!

For everything wild and free!