Three more megaload protesters arrested in Cd’A in USA

28.8.11

Three more protesters were arrested early Saturday in Coeur d’Alene as a megaload shipment of oil excavation equipment passed through the Lake City.

Law enforcement officers confirmed that the arrests were made by Idaho State Police, but the names were not released.

28.8.11

Three more protesters were arrested early Saturday in Coeur d’Alene as a megaload shipment of oil excavation equipment passed through the Lake City.

Law enforcement officers confirmed that the arrests were made by Idaho State Police, but the names were not released.

One woman taken into custody had refused to identify herself, officials said.

The Coeur d’Alene arrests bring to nine the number of persons taken into custody in North Idaho since the 208-foot-long megaload left the Port of Lewiston on Wednesday night.

Its permit allowed nighttime travel, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

Six protestors were arrested in Moscow early Friday morning, according to the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, which cited court records.

Tierra Linda, a spokeswoman for the protestors, said that concerned residents from North Idaho and Eastern Washington converged on U.S. Highway 95 when the megaload shipment arrived about 12:30 a.m.

According to Idaho Transportation Department, the load was scheduled to leave the Latah/Benewah county line at 10 p.m. on Friday and travel through Coeur d’Alene, stopping by 5:30 a.m. at a pullout on Interstate 90 at milepost 33.

The load is 413,000 pounds and measures 24 feet in width and 14 feet in height. It was to travel at 35 mph. The plan called for allowing vehicles to pass at more than two dozen locations on the route through North Idaho.

Linda described the protest as a “nonviolent public witness to challenge the shipment of ExxonMobil tar sands strip mining equipment to Canada’s threatened Athabasca River Valley.”

She said the people arrested in Coeur d’Alene were legally following the ExxonMobil convoy to monitor any safety violations and did not obstruct the equipment.

She described them as observers who were exercising their right to dissent.

Linda said that despite the arrests, the protestors planned to continue monitoring the megaloads.

Environmental concerns stem from the destructive nature of strip mining and the use of energy to extract oil from the tar sands.

She said it would create an “Appalachian moonscape over central Canada’s boreal forests and river valleys.

Linda, in a news release, quoted a NASA scientist as saying the tar sands mining could be a tipping point for global climate change.

In Latah County, court records identified the protestors arrested in Moscow as Vincent Murray, 61; Brett Haverstick, 38; Mitchell Day, 40; David Willard, 52; Gregory Freistadt, 26; and William French, 55.

They were all charged with misdemeanor unlawful assembly, disturbing the peace and refusal to disperse.

French was also cited by the Latah County Sheriff’s Office for malicious injury to property for allegedly breaking out the side window of the jail van, said Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson.

Resistance to fossil fuel infrastructure continues in Western Australia

27.8.11

Woodside tried to bring heavy machinery to the site of their liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub at James Price Point in the early hours of Friday morning, August 25. About 50 protesters blocked the convoy of equipment under police escort heading to the massive fossil fuel infrastructure project in the Kimberley wilderness on the northern coast of Western Australia. A 57-year-old woman was arrested after she locked herself to a low-loader trailer. Other protesters clashed with police. The convoy of about 30 trucks was also blocked by two people locking themselves to heavy machinery and a concrete barrel.

Over 30 people have been arrested this summer in similar blockades against the project.

source

Idaho Residents Arrested Blocking Tar Sands Megaloads Bound for Alberta

26.8.11

They spill, they drill and we fight back with the only currency we have—our bodies, our minds and a fighting spirit.

26.8.11

They spill, they drill and we fight back with the only currency we have—our bodies, our minds and a fighting spirit.

Hundreds have been arrested sitting in at the White House this week and Alberta’s Indigenous communities have been fighting Big Oil’s development of tar sands for quite some time , but today residents in Moscow Idaho crossed a line of their own.

Last night in the wee hours of the morning, as the first megaloads were beginning to roll, four men and women with Wild Idaho Rising Tide sat down in front of the massive vehicles to stop their passage through the highways and byways of the Northern Rockies to Alberta.

Moscow resident Brett Haverstick said- “Big Oil intends to clear-cut and strip mine a place the size of Florida, and simultaneously destroys native communities and entire watersheds. I feel obligated to speak up and say this is wrong.”

This morning’s action is part of a larger campaign being waged in Idaho and Montana by communities and environmentalists to stop the passage of tar sands heavy haul trucks through their region.

Activists Arrested For Blocking Tar Sands “Megaload” on US 95

Citizens Stand In Solidarity with Canadian First Nations & Others In Opposition to Extraction of the Alberta Tar Sands and the Building of the Keystone XL Pipeline

Moscow, ID- Early Friday morning, a group of Moscow residents were arrested for sitting in the road and blocking US 95 to protest an Exxon/Imperial Oil “megaload” shipment destined for the Alberta Tar Sands. In an act of non-violent, civil-disobedience, men and women sat down in the crosswalk of the highway when the four-hundred-thousand pound, two-hundred foot long, twenty-four foot wide, and fourteen-foot tall oil-processing module entered the downtown area. In a showing of solidarity with the First Nations people of Canada, and the hundreds of people getting arrested in Washington, D.C., the individuals are calling for the Obama Administration to deny permits for construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would stretch from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

“Not only are people calling the Alberta Tar Sands the most unsustainable and destructive project on the planet, but also an act of genocide against the people that live in the region, particularly those down-stream of the tailing ponds,” said Moscow resident Brett Haverstick. “Big Oil intends to clear-cut and strip mine a place the size of Florida, and simultaneously destroys native communities and entire watersheds. I feel obligated to speak up and say this is wrong.”

With the Obama Administration getting ready to make a decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline later this year, the individuals said they have been inspired by the hundreds of people getting arrested in Washington D.C. this past week in protest of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“President Obama must deny permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Go ask the people of Montana or the people of Michigan if they want more oil pipelines built across their lands and waterways, said Moscow resident Greg Freistadt. “People are traveling from Nebraska all the way to Washington, D.C. and getting arrested this week because the pipeline threatens their drinking water and livelihoods. It’s time for communities to come together and oppose this.”

The possible construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline isn’t the only oil pipeline that concerns the activists. The Northern Gateway Pipeline is scheduled to be built west from Alberta, Canada to the Pacific Ocean so that crude oil can be shipped to China and India.

“The First Nations people unanimously oppose this pipeline across their lands,” said Moscow resident Vince Murray. “In addition, supertankers plying the pristine coastline of northern British Columbia would endanger one of the last unspoiled ocean ecosystems in the world.”

The individuals have also been extremely disappointed with their city and state elected officials.

“Megaloads are terrorizing our highways in the Northern Rockies, pipelines are spilling oil into some of our most precious rivers, and our governors and Congressional leaders will not come to our defense, said Moscow resident Diana Armstrong. If leaders won’t lead, then it’s up to us to step forward.”

More bomb attacks against nanotechnology in Mexico

17.8.11

The same group who took credit for anti-technology bombing in April, which news sources in Mexico reported exploding at Universidad Politécnica in Valle de Mexico, has claimed more attacks.

According to Time Magazine, “An anti-technology group… was responsible for a package bomb that injured two university professors just outside Mexico City, a state prosecutor said Tuesday [August 9, 2011]. Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office announced that a suspicious envelope presumbly containing explosives was found at Mexico’s National Polytechnical Institute on Tuesday, though it didn’t detonate. The office has opened investigations into both incidents.”

The Time article claims the groups is calling itself ‘Individuals Tending to Savagery’, although a translator’s note on the anarchist blog War On Society, which posted a translation of the communique, uses the name ‘Individualists Tending Towards the Wild’ and explains: “The group’s name, Individualidades tendiendo a lo Salvaje [ITS]… more literally means ‘individualities,’ and salvaje more literally means ‘savage’… having more of the connotations of barbarous undomesticated wildness than pure pristine wilderness, and without as much racist connotation as the English ‘savage’ has.”

As with the April communique, ITS is again a bit wordy, with plenty of footnotes, ala Ted Kaczynski. Here are some excerpts: “But what’s wrong with creating solar energy through modified nanoparticles? some will say. ITS answer: When these modified viruses affect the way we develop as the result of a nanobacteriological war, by some laboratory error, or by the explosion of nanocontamination that compromises the air, food, transportation, water, in short, the entire world, then they will realize, all those who defend nanotechnology and cannot find an apparent threat, that it was a grave mistake to leave it to grow at their leisure.”

“Among the projects at the mentioned university campus are the Center for Business Development and Transference of Technology, CEDETEC, which is part of a futuristic philosophy called Mission 2015, which is committed to developing research and technology relevant to nanobioindustrial progress for the country in different areas… CEDETEC is a place where the efforts of companies, the State, and the university merge, and which aims to promote job creation, attraction of capital, and growth of technology companies and to increase value for the academy.”

“…It is logical we will continue with these acts, and other scientists and the rest of technoswillology [the original 'tecnobazofia' more seamlessly combines two words meaning 'technology' and 'pigswill' or 'hogwash' – transl.] must pay the consequences of their actions…”

China orders petrochemical plant shutdown after protests

14.8.11

Chinese authorities have ordered a petrochemical plant to shut down immediately after tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of a nearby city, demanding the factory be relocated.

14.8.11

Chinese authorities have ordered a petrochemical plant to shut down immediately after tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of a nearby city, demanding the factory be relocated.

The demonstration in Dalian – one of the biggest in a series of recent Nimby rallies against potential polluters in China – was sparked by the news last week that a protective dike around the Fujia factory, in the Jinzhou industrial complex, had been breached by rain and high waves as typhoon Muifa approached.

In a rare concession the local Communist party chief, Tang Jun, and Dalian’s mayor, Li Wancai, promised to move the project out of the city, Xinhua reported.

The protesters demanded a clear timetable for moving the plant, with some refusing to leave until a plan was in place, the state-run news agency said. Read more here

China protest closes toxic chemical plant in Dalian

14 August 2011
Authorities in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian have ordered the closure of a chemical plant after a mass protest over pollution.

Scuffles had broken out on Sunday between police and thousands of protesters calling for it to be moved.

14 August 2011
Authorities in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian have ordered the closure of a chemical plant after a mass protest over pollution.

Scuffles had broken out on Sunday between police and thousands of protesters calling for it to be moved.

Officials ordered the plant’s closure “immediately” and pledged to relocate it, state news agency Xinhua said.

Last week a storm broke the dyke around the plant, sparking fears the paraxylene (PX) it makes could spill.

PX is used in fabric manufacture and can be highly toxic.

About 12,000 residents took part in the protest, some of them moving across the city chanting slogans and waving banners.

Xinhua said the city’s top official, Tang Jun, had tried to calm the crowd on Sunday but the protesters showed no sign of dispersing.

There were no reports of injuries in the scuffles during which riot police were deployed to shield the municipal government office.

Calls for protesters to gather on Sunday for a “group stroll”, as the rally was termed, had reportedly been circulating on social networks.

“Group strolls” have become a favoured tactic for Chinese people to show discontent with the government.
‘PX out!’

Photographs posted on the internet on Sunday showed protesters, including children, marching under such banners as “I love Dalian and reject poison” and “Give me back my home and garden! PX out! Protect Dalian!”.

One picture showed three men standing on top of a police van in front of People’s Square and a person in a skeleton costume surrounded by hundreds of men and policemen, Reuters news agency reports.

On Monday, residents living near the PX plant had to be evacuated after storm waves breached a dyke protecting it.

The dyke was repaired but concern rose among local people, and reports suggested the plant may have been operating illegally months before it received mandatory environmental approval.

PX is used to make plastics, polyester and cleaning products, and can damage vital organs after long-term exposure.

A Dalian resident, who declined to be named, told Reuters news agency: “We know that the typhoon caused some leak of poisonous chemicals from the PX project and we are all worrying about it because it is a threat to our life.”

Local people hoped their protest would “push the government to do something as soon as possible to dispel” the concern, the resident added.

Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, was being censored by the authorities to block searches for the terms “PX”, “Dalian” and “Dalian protests”.

New canopy occupation in the Willamette National Forest

8 Aug 11

An action-filled summer continues as a new call out for support comes from the Cascadia Forest Defenders: “…Looking for experienced tree sitters to occupy a sit we have put up in the North Deere timber sale in the Willamette National Forest.

8 Aug 11

“It is an old growth sale that is about to be logged and we need help defending it! Get yourself to Eugene and we will help you out with the rest (aka a place to stay, a ride to the forest, etc). Reply to forestdefensenow@gmail.com if you can come now… Come be part of the movement to stop saws and change minds!”

Learn more about the Cascadia Forest Defenders here

Protesters urge federal minister to stop Australian gas hub; 29 Arrested

7.8.11

The Federal Minister for Environment arrived in the Kimberley the morning of August 2nd as three arrests were made at the proposed James Price Point natural gas hub site. The massive new project is being forced on the community by the Australian government on behalf of Big Oil including Woodside Petroleum, Chevron, Shell, and BP.

There have now been 29 arrests in protest to the proposal which would signify the beginning of the industrialisation of the Kimberley. Two weeks ago, 5,000 people attended a protest at Cable Beach against the industrialisation of the Kimberley and the threat of turning Broome into a mining town.

Environs Kimberley Director Martin Pritchard said: “An extremely damaging 30 year ‘forest war’ is coming to an end in Tasmania and the Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tony Burke have seen firsthand how damaging this has been environmentally, socially and economically. What we are seeing here now is the beginning of the fight against large scale industrialisation of the Kimberley.”

“Minister Burke has to decide on what his legacy will be for this spectacular part of the world–industrialisation or the protection of the outstanding international wilderness values of the Kimberley… Wilderness areas across the planet are being destroyed and we are lucky here in Australia that we can make a choice to protect the Kimberley. We are calling on the Australian Government to step in and save this place.”

For more information:

Environs Kimberley

Kimberley Direct Action

Sea Turtle Restoration Project/Turtle Island Restoration Network

Links to more news from Kimberley:

Arrests at gas hub site

Three women have been arrested and charged with obstructing police during a protest near a proposed $30 billion gas hub site in the Kimberley.

Protesters urge federal minister to stop gas hub

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke arrived in Broome this morning to a rapturous reception from anti-gas protestors, who have pinned their hopes on him refusing to grant environmental approval to the State Government’s proposed processing precinct at James Price Point.

26 Arrested in Blockades Outside of DeChristopher Trial

26 July 2011

Today, Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in prison and taken away from the courthouse without goodbyes or the option to self-report. In court, Tim said “You can put me in prison but it will not deter my future of civil disobedience and it won’t deter others who are willing to fight to defend a livable future.”

Outside the Courthouse, hundreds of supporters had gathered from the Salt Lake City community, singing, chanting, and speaking out as they bore witness to the sentencing. Immediately after the bang of the gavel Ashely Anderson and Ashley Sanders were hauled out of the courtroom for loudly rallying people inside saying, “this court has proven itself incapable of justice. So the people will take it back – it is now our court!” foreshadowing the civil disobedience to come outside. As Henia Belalia left the Courthouse, she made an official statement declaring, “If there was ever a day in history to take action, this is it.” And people took action. Peaceful Uprising activists did a sit-in to blockade the 2 front entrances of the Federal Courthouse, to tell the world “its ours” and emphasize that if Tim was going to jail, they were too, giving meaning to the slogan “we are all Bidder 70.” Taking their lead, members of the community began to join the blockade to show their love and outrage. 26 people were arrested.

A mother who joined the blockade was with her three children during the time of arrest, and said in tears “I need you to see this, its for your future.” Those participating in the sit-in chose to emphasize their point that business as usual is unacceptable by moving to blockade a major intersection in front of the courthouse during rush hour. As supporters continued to sing and support those who locked down, Tim DeChristopher was quickly rushed out the side door in chains and loaded into a police van. We can only hope he felt our support, and that that support is carried to all people of conscience who do what is right for people and the planet.

Today a true crime was committed in every federal courthouse in the United States. Why is Tim now in prison for protecting our future, while corporate CEOs walk free with millions of dollars for destroying it? We recognized today that our justice system has failed us. It, like our economy and other branches of government, are controlled by the fossil fuel industry. And today we affirm that we stand with millions actively taking it back. Please see our official response to the sentencing for action opportunities and links to all of the remarkable actions that are being taken around the country.

Act! The movement is with you.

Tasmania’s forests defense groups ramp up protest action

25 July
Tasmanian Still Wild Still Threatened activists scaled Parliament House in Canberra yesterday in protest at Sunday’s Heads of Agreement signing and have pledged to continue action.

Huon Valley Environment Centre also vowed to continue non-violent actions yesterday, including illegally boarding woodchip ships, chaining protesters to forestry equipment, blocking roads with tripods, and community walk-ins.

Environment centre spokeswoman Jenny Weber said the agreement failed to offer immediate protection to high conservation areas because verification of the final 430,000ha would take months. Ms Weber said it also fell well short of protecting the initial 572,000ha that conservation groups identified as high-conservation-value forests.

“We will be maintaining our vigilance and will continue to engage in non-violent action until the forests are protected as promised,” she said.