Global – Page 10 – Earth First!

Climate Activists Blockade Oil Terminal, Demand Halt to Crude-by-Rail Traffic in Pacific Northwest

30th June This morning, climate justice activists with Portland Rising Tide shut down the ArcLogist

30th June This morning, climate justice activists with Portland Rising Tide shut down the ArcLogistics crude oil terminal in Northwest Portland.
Portland resident Irene Majorie, 22, locked herself to a 55-gallon barrel filled with concrete that was placed on the railroad track leading into the facility.

Train cars enter from a nearby yard to offload oil into 84 storage tanks, before it is piped onto oceangoing ships bound for West Coast refineries. Majorie’s arm was locked to a piece of metal rebar embedded in the concrete, stopping trains for four hours before being cut out by police.

Attempts by law enforcement to move her and the barrel simultaneously risked grave injury; likewise, any train traffic threatened her life.

“This is about stopping the oil trains,” said Majorie. “But beyond that, it is about an industry and an economic system that places the pursuit of profit before the lives and relationships of human beings seeking survival and nourishment, and before the communities, ecosystems, and planet of which we are a part.”

Oil trains are coming under increasing scrutiny recently owing to their propensity to derail in fiery explosions. Portland Rising Tide, however, disputes the notion that an oil train is ever safe, since crude oil is only transported to be burned. Whatever the risk of explosion, the guaranteed result is a worsening of the climate crisis, which is already wreaking ecological havoc and claiming human lives.

US crude oil production has risen from ~5 million barrels per day in the late 2000s to ~7 million barrels per day currently. Increased extraction is North Dakota’s Bakken Shale has resulted in a dramatic rise in oil train traffic, with 250 percent more oil trains traveling Oregon rail lines in 2013 than in the previous year.

Governor Kitzhaber has expressed “deep concern” about oil trains but thus far done nothing to stop them. “Society should be engaged in a rapid, radical decline in fossil fuel use,” said David Bennett. “Instead, policymakers—even those who claim to understand the magnitude of the climate crisis—are forcing us to engage in an absurd conversation about creating ‘safe’ oil trains and building more fossil fuel infrastructure.”

The ArcLogistics terminal, which began operation in January, is one piece of infrastructure facilitating increased oil production. When ongoing construction is completed, the facility will have the capacity to transport 16,250 barrels of oil per day.

In April, Portland Rising Tide entered the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s offices in downtown Portland, issued termination letters to employees at their desks, and announced the formation of a new People’s Agency, which would carry out DEQ’s mandate free of corporate influence. This is the first enforcement action of the nascent agency.

“If our policymakers listened, we would demand an immediate halt to oil train traffic in Oregon and the closure of all crude oil terminals,” said Emma Gould. “Since they don’t, we’re halting oil trains ourselves.” High resolution photos are available for download and may be used with attribution

Today’s action saw activists from across the continent joining together to say no to oil trains, showing that oil trains are an international issue of concern for people and nonhuman animals everywhere.

Blockade Halts Old-Growth Logging in Mattole Forest

30th June A forest defender has taken to the trees to defend an important area of the Mattole Riv

30th June A forest defender has taken to the trees to defend an important area of the Mattole River watershed in Northern California. Going by the name “Skunk,” the blockader is stopping the construction of a new logging road into old-growth forest.

Skunk is supported by residents of Humboldt county and allies who have worked for months to stop Humboldt Redwood Company’s plan for 1,000 acres of logging in the Mattole Forest.

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In April, activists hung a banner across from Humboldt Redwoods State Park to protest the logging in the Mattole.

While Humboldt Redwood Company claims they are not logging old-growth, their definition restricts logging only areas with more than 8 old-growth trees in the span of an acre. They also define old-growth as existing in the year 1800, cutting out any trees younger than exactly 214 years.

Skunk insists, “Our main demands to Humboldt Redwood Company are very simple—don’t cut unlogged forest, and don’t cut old-growth. This road threatens to destroy forest that has never been logged before, and will pave the way for logging even more important habitat if the community does not rise up to stop it.”

The Mattole provides shelter to Golden Eagles and Spotted Owls, among other rare species, and has long been the home of old-growth Big Leaf Maple, Douglas Fir, Tanoak, and Madrone.

This area of Northern California has a long history of forest defense against Maxxam/Pacific Lumber throughout the 1990s. What we are perhaps seeing is just the beginning of a new chapter.

Karawang Farmers Defend Land From Corporate Eviction

28th June About 1200 peasant farmers of the village of Karawang, Indonesia prepared to defend 350 hectares of farm lands that they have tended and survived off of for generations.

28th June About 1200 peasant farmers of the village of Karawang, Indonesia prepared to defend 350 hectares of farm lands that they have tended and survived off of for generations. The land in dispute has been designated by local Indonesian government for the expansion of a factory owned by Agung Podomoro and the people of Karawang seem to have no recourse except to resist.

On Tuesday the 24th, about 7000 fully equipped riot police forces descended on the village with two water cannon vehicles to enforce the land ruling. The local residents had prepared tire barricades and hand weapons yet tried first to non-violently resist the encroaching forces.

This agrarian conflict has led to the eviction of the 1,200 residents. It has become evident that the country is in favor to the owners of capital and indifferent to ordinary people, such as farmers. The proof is the verdict of PK No. 160 PK/PDT/2011 designating the Primary Water Source (PT SAMP) on land owned by residents of three villages in the District Telukjambe.

Based on the decision of the PT SAMP the land has been purchased by the Agung Podomoro group and Falkirk District Court forced the eviction on June 24, 2014, requiring 7,000 riot forces.

Results of the incident reported by the Consortium for Agrarian Reform there were 10 workers who were assaulted and one farmer who was shot by riot police and there are 13 people who were arrested.

The pitch today is still tense as Riot police have set up command posts in ditiga, Margamulya and Wanasari Wanakerta villiages. They also put up a barbed wire fence in the conflict area, covering an area of 350 ha. Currently electricity have been cut into the homes of residents who inhabit the land dispute.

So far there has been no response or attempts to provide temporary housing by the eviction company. But officials Falkirk Farmers Union (patch) said that the residents will survive even if the company and Riot police eviction use heavy equipment.

The Karawang people demand:
1. Stop the displacement towards the peasants mandated by state court of Karawang since the land has been plowed and owned legally by the peasants who pay taxes regularly and obediently to the states for tens of years.
2. Pull seven thousands armed mobile brigade back from agrarian conflict area in Karawang because they intimidate and provoke the people.
3. Solidarity from all Indonesians and comrades in struggle who supports the agrarian reform to condemn the injustice suffered by the peasants.

Villager Wins Court Battle Against Hydroelectric Plant Construction

26th June An administrative court in the Black Sea province of Rize has ruled to halt the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (

26th June An administrative court in the Black Sea province of Rize has ruled to halt the construction of a hydroelectric power plant (HES) that was being built on the Andon River, which provides fresh water to at least 3,000 people in the village of Küçükçayır.

Küçükçayır village was declared an environmentally protected site in 2011. The village’s residents held a protest in February against a HES being constructed near the river, closing the main road of the village for hours as part of their protest and not allowing construction equipment to operate at the site.

According to a Cihan news agency report on Wednesday, Kezım Delal, one of the villagers, sold a cow and took a loan from a bank in order to file a lawsuit against the construction company. Emphasizing that he has been struggling in court against the construction plan, which is likely to harm the environment, Delal said the injunction to halt construction stands as an important step towards protecting the environment from other upcoming power plant construction projects that might destroy the country’s natural beauty.

“I have been living in this village for 70 years. I was born here. This is my home. I am so happy that court ruled in favor of our future. Now, I just want to see the construction company leave us alone right away,” he told the press.

Emphasizing that they have been keeping watch for almost eight months in order to prevent the construction company from doing any damage, Delal thanked all his friends who did not leave his side during the protest. “This victory belongs to all of us. Now we can move on with our lives,” he added.

Stating that they were taken into custody by gendarmes many times due to the their protests, Yusuf Esir, another villager, said that he was happy to take a stand against the construction plans. “In order to intimidate us, gendarmes took us into custody many times. But nobody can deter us. If anybody should leave this village, it’s the construction company, not us. Because this is our village,” Esir stated.

MOBILE SLAUGHTER UNIT SABOTAGED

24th June received anonymously:

"Over the weekend, a mobile slaughter unit operated by Shoe's Mobile
Slaughter and Processing (14515 Coon Hollow Rd, Sublimity, OR) was
decommissioned by having a gallon of bleach poured into its fuel tank.
When the liquid bleach comes into contact with the diesel in the tank it
will create a chemical reaction that will cause rapid corrosion to the
unit's fuel system–forcing it to seize up. For the time being this
slaughter unit will be unable to be used to spill the blood of another
animal.

This method of sabotage was chosen because it is silent, effective, and
easily reproducible. Symbolic protest and consumer boycotts in and of
themselves are not sufficient in addressing the immediate violence that is
being carried out against non-human animals every second of everyday.
Direct intervention is necessary to free imprisoned non-humans and to
destroy the machines that facilitate their exploitation.

This action is dedicated to the memory of Clément Méric, a vegan and
anti-fascist who was beaten to death by neo-nazis in Paris a little over a
year ago. Just as we struggle against those who abuse and exploit
non-human animals; we also take an uncompromising stance against the
far-right's attempts to not only infiltrate the animal liberation and
environmental movements, but also against their attempts to assert
themselves in society in general. Let Clément's tragic death be a
reminder of the necessity for the movement to maintain a strong anti-fascist ethic and to oppose the fascist scum at every turn.

'Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.'"

Indigenous boy protests on pitch during World Cup opening ceremony

16th June One of the three Brazilian children who released

16th June One of the three Brazilian children who released white doves during the World Cup opening ceremony used the occasion to demand recognition of Indian land rights – but his protest was censored by FIFA.

Immediately after releasing a white dove, Jeguaká Mirim, an indigenous Guarani boy, held up a red banner reading ‘Demarcation Now!’ But his courageous protest was not broadcast, as the TV cameras swiftly cut away.

Jeguaká’s father, Guarani author Olívio Jekupe, said that the act “showed the world that we are not standing still… My son showed the world what we need the most: the demarcation of our lands.”

The Guarani are Brazil’s most numerous tribe and they live in five states. Much of their land has been stolen from them and is being used for cattle ranching and sugar cane production, whilst many Guarani are forced to live in overcrowded reserves or in roadside camps where malnutrition and disease are rife. Some, like Jeguaká’s community known as Krukutu, live near urban areas like São Paulo on almost no land.

As a result of the loss of their land, the Guarani-Kaiowá of Mato Grosso do Sul state suffer the highest suicide rate in the world, and their leaders are targeted and killed when they attempt to reoccupy patches of their ancestral land.

The Guarani, Survival International and other organizations are calling on the Brazilian government to uphold its own constitution and international law, and map out the Guarani’s land for their exclusive use.

Coca-Cola, one of the World Cup’s main sponsors, has recently become embroiled in the Guarani land scandal by buying sugar from US food giant Bunge, which sources sugar cane from their ancestral land. The Guarani are urging Coca-Cola to respect their rights and stop this purchase immediately.

To highlight the deep irony of Coca-Cola and FIFA promoting the World Cup with an image of a happy Indian man with the words ‘Welcome to the World Cup for Everyone’, Survival has created a spoof ad featuring Nixiwaka, a Yawanawa Indian welcoming the viewer to ‘The Dark Side of Brazil’ and demanding ‘Let the Guarani live!’.

See Survival’s website on the ‘Dark Side of Brazil’ for more examples of Brazil’s assault on indigenous rights.

Argentina: Activists Arrested & Brutal Police Repression After Monsanto Law is Approved

14th June The legislature of Cordoba approved a controversial Monsanto Law yesterday. Protesters from Malvinas Lucha por la Vida, Madres de Itzuzaingó, and other social organizations held a peaceful protest to contest the law.

The police intervened violently repressing the protesters and arbitrarily detaining anyone who looked like a protester. 26 people total were arrested including Sofia Gatica and many were injured. Sofia Gatica told Argentina Independent the law was created so Monsanto can legally move into the province.

The new law has been passed after a 9 month blockade on construction of a new GMO seed processing plant. You can read archives of coverage from Revolution News of this epic battle against the multinational corporation here.

Climate Change Induced Heat Wave Causes Riots in India

14th June

Under relentless heat, India is reaching the breaking point.

As the country tries to keep cool, the power grid is failing. Rioting protesters in the north of the country set fire to electricity substations last weekend and held power workers hostage, accusing the government of distributing scarce power resources based on political preference.

From Al Jazeera:

Residents had been particularly angry about the power cuts after receiving reliable supplies through the Indian elections, which ended May 16. Since then, only some regions have been guaranteed unbroken power supplies, while others have received little to none.

The High Court in the city of Allahabad is now hearing a petition alleging discrimination in power distribution, and has asked the government to explain why some regions appeared to be receiving preferential treatment.

Those regions include the city of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as constituencies held by Yadav and other top officials in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling party.

As Slate’s Joshua Keating reported recently, a study this year by Lakshmi Iyer of the Harvard Business School and Petia Topalova of the International Monetary Fund found a connection between extreme weather (particularly lack of rainfall) and increased crime in India.

Meanwhile, the heat continues. On Wednesday, New Delhi enters day 10 of a blistering heat wave that’s broken at least one long-standing record, with part of the city peaking at 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.8 degrees Celsius) on Sunday. During that stretch, the average high temperature at the airport in New Delhi has been 109.9 Fahrenheit (43.2 Celsius), with the average low an astonishing 84 Fahrenheit (28.9 Celsius). Days upon days with nighttime low temperatures above 80 Fahrenheit can be deadly, especially for those without a way to keep cool.

If there’s any consolation, at least that’s a dry heat. The dewpoint—the amount of moisture in the air—has been low all week across northern India, with dry air helping to boost the effectiveness of built-in human air conditioning (evaporation of sweat) and making the temperature feel somewhat cooler in the shade.

Areas farther south, near where the monsoon was advancing, were even more unbearable. Just after midnight Wednesday local time, the heat index was still 110 Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in Mumbai. Yep, 110 degrees. At nearly 1 in the morning. I simply can’t fathom existence in those kinds of conditions. Hindu priests thereperformed special prayers for rain to relieve the sweltering country of its misery.

The good news: The end of this scorcher is in sight as the monsoon continues to advance northward. The bad news: In some of the hardest-hit places, like Delhi, that end is still a week away. High temperatures there are expected to stay above normal until next Tuesday.

A developing tropical cyclone is helping to surge monsoon moisture northward along India’s West Coast this week, though it’s still going to be quite some time before the cooling monsoon breezes break this heat wave for good. India’s monsoon was five days late and is expected to bring below normal rainfall this season, in part because of a building El Niño.

Since the forecast of a weak monsoon, India’s government has initiated a contingency plan designed to relieve pressure on its overtaxed power grid, reported the Times of India on Tuesday. Two years ago, India suffered the worst blackout in world history, putting some 600 million residents in the dark. Much of India’s electricity generation comes via hydroelectric power. The monsoon season in 2012 was also below average, and demand for electricity is soaring as a burgeoning middle class buys more and more air conditioners.

As the New York Times’ Elisabeth Rosenthal wrote at that time, “We can’t live with air-conditioning, but we can’t live without it.” In a more temperate climate, Americans use more electricity on air conditioning than the rest of the world combined. Rapidly expanding use of air conditioning in tropical countries will further boost global warming through the release of heat trapping gases. It’s a Catch-22.

India, for one, is warming to air conditioning. In 2007, only 2 percent of India had air conditioning, but that number is rapidly increasing. The hot weather of the past few weeks has boosted sales of air conditioners by 15 to 20 percent compared with last year.

This month’s oppressive heat wave already bears the fingerprint of global warming. Over the last 100 years, India’s average temperature has warmed by about half a degree Celsius (PDF), and monsoons are getting more extreme. The warmest time of the year is typically just before the monsoon hits, when temperatures routinely top the triple digit mark in the otherwise semi-arid north.

This year, though, has been anything but routine.

Sea Shepherd to Deploy Drones to Stop Massive Whale Slaughter

13th June In recent years, the annual dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan, have garnered headlines worldwide and sparked outrage among activists, scientists, celebrities,

13th June In recent years, the annual dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan, have garnered headlines worldwide and sparked outrage among activists, scientists, celebrities, and diplomats. But half a world away, in the North Atlantic nation of the Faeroe Islands, a similar slaughter has received far less scrutiny.

That’s about to change. On Friday, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society USA will unveil details of a new hi-tech initiative aimed at disrupting and halting the whale hunts, which begin this month and continue through September.

The annual hunts are known as “grinds.” As part of “Operation GrindStop 2014,” a land-based campaign, Sea Shepherd USA will deploy drones and livestream video to hinder the slaughter. Other Sea Shepherd organizations will launch simultaneous water-based campaigns.

Why the drones? They are “primarily for surveillance and documentation,” Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said in an email. “They are inexpensive and easy to operate, and they can get us into places we could not otherwise get to.”

Combined with livestreaming video, drone technology “will allow us to cover the more than two dozen beaches in the Faeroes where whales may be killed,” Watson added. “The Faeroes present some logistical challenges, and we need to be able to deploy in such a way that all possible kill sites are monitored at all times.”

Drones might also detect approaching whales, he said, which would “allow us to take our boats to deflect the pods away from the islands.” (The Faeroe Islands campaign is funded in part by the Skoll Foundation, part of the Jeff Skoll Group, which includes Participant Media, TakePart’s parent company.)

Sea Shepherd USA will place four teams of at least 15 activists each on the ground.
Residents of the windswept Faeroes, a self-governing archipelago of Denmark between Norway and Iceland, have been killing fin whales, pilot whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and other small marine mammals for centuries. Though the slaughter has received a smattering of attention in the global media, the Faeroes hunt has been largely overshadowed by the dolphin drives in Taiji, which were chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove.

As many as 1,000 endangered long-finned pilot whales, along with members of other species, are killed each year in the Faeroes during the “traditional” hunt, called grindadráp (“grind”) by islanders.

The hunt is even promoted as a tourist attraction. According to the Visit Faroe Islands website, one of the country’s main attractions is whaling.

“The pilot whale hunt in the Faroes is, by its very nature, a dramatic sight,” it states. “Entire schools of whales are killed on the shore and in the shallows of bays with knives which are used to sever the major blood supply to the brain.”

The method is “the most efficient and humane” means of killing “under the circumstances,” the website reassures potentially queasy tourists, “but it naturally results in a lot of blood in the water.”

This is not the first time that Sea Shepherd, which has been fighting against the Faeroes slaughter for more than 30 years, has used drones in a campaign, according to Jake Weber, Sea Shepherd drone specialist. But it is the first drone deployment in the Faeroes, he said in an email. “A great advantage they will provide is the ability to get [high-definition] footage and still photos very close to the grind without endangering our volunteers or their equipment.”

Environmentalists Halt Leard Forest Clearance for the Winter

13th June Australia Whitehaven Coal yesterday announced it would halt its clearing of Leard State Forest until September following an injuncti

13th June Australia Whitehaven Coal yesterday announced it would halt its clearing of Leard State Forest until September following an injunction in the NSW Land and Environment Court by the Maules Creek Community Council.

The group, aided by the EDO, specifically appealed over the fact that many animals in the forest hibernate over winter and therefore were more likely to be killed by clearing during winter months.

The company voluntarily called a halt to clearing yesterday afternoon, just as the court’s decision on the injunction was due, until the results of a full hearing on the matter.

Maules Creek Community Council spokesperson, Phil Laird said, ‘We are pleased that Whitehaven has been forced to respond to our legitimate challenge in the court by today undertaking to stop clearing in Leard State Forest’.

The Maules Creek Community Council is arguing that Whitehaven is in breach of its development consent by winter/spring clearing of the forest. A breach of development consent contravenes the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

‘This outcome today sends a strong message to coal mining companies across NSW and to the NSW government: if they will not enforce the law, then the community is prepared to step up and do it themselves’ Mr Laird said.

‘We appreciate the action taken by Whitehaven today and we will be preparing to vigorously pursue the full legal challenge,’ he added.

The new Maules Creek coalmine project involves a total clearing of 1664 hectares of forest, which currently provides habitat for threatened species including bats, koalas, forest owls, the Swift Parrot and the Regent Honeyeater.

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has welcomed Whitehaven Coal’s decision to adhere to the conditions of its development consent.

‘This is a clear victory for community members who have been working tirelessly to protect this forest and the region’s water resources,’ campaigns director Kate Smolski said.

‘The decision to stop winter clearing does not end the fight to save Leard Forest, but it does at least give hibernating native animals a fighting chance to escape the bulldozers.

‘It is regrettable the NSW government did not enforce the conditions of its own consent for this atrocious mine, leaving Maules Creek Community Council little alternative but to take legal action.

‘State and federal laws have failed to protect this important natural area, demonstrating the need for deep reform to protect important natural places from coal mining.

‘Until that reform occurs, community groups will continue to seek remedy in the courts, and ordinary people will feel compelled to take direct action in the forest.

‘The Maules Creek mine will tear out the heart of Leard Forest, destroy one of the largest remnant areas of wildlife habitat in western NSW, threaten groundwater resources, and have a lasting negative impact on the local community of Maules Creek. This project should never have been approved.’

Greens NSW MP and environment spokesperson, Dr Mehreen Faruqi has also welcomed news.

‘This decision… proves community concerns were justified. It is clear that Whitehaven saw the writing on the wall and went for an undertaking before it was ordered to by the court,’ Dr Faruqi said.

‘Unfortunately, much clearing has already taken place.

‘I have seen with my own eyes just yesterday the section of the forest bulldozed by Whitehaven Coal, presumably in anticipation of a suspension.

‘It is outrageous that Whitehaven Coal was allowed to undertake winter clearing in the first place. This was completely unnecessary.

‘There needs to be an investigation into how these approvals were granted by the NSW government in the first place, as large tracts of endangered ecological communities have been cleared and cannot be replaced or offset.

‘I was also disturbed to see valuable public resources being used to benefit a mining company, with the government ordering police to set up roadblocks on public roads and search cars.

‘The government should be protecting the Leard Forest, not big coal.

‘In a democratic society, the public have the right to protest peacefully and I have been inspired by the activists standing up to protect our environment and our wildlife.

‘The Greens and many in the community are opposed to this massive coal mining project because of its destructive impacts on biodiversity, cultural heritage and its massive contribution to climate change: allowing clearing during the winter months further compounded these damaging impacts.

‘Congratulations to the grassroots community groups and the Environmental Defenders Office that brought forward this legal challenge. The Greens will continue campaigning to stop this coal mine completely’ she concluded.