Category: Global

Global

Direct actions against open cast mines in germany 2014 – mobilisation for a big blockade/action simultaneous to the COPs in Paris in 2015

On the 1st of August this year several actions took place against brown coal mining in the rhineland in germany.

On the 1st of August this year several actions took place against brown coal mining in the rhineland in germany.

One of the biggest open cast mines of europe are located in the midwest of germany. Near to Cologne RWE, the biggest energy provider of germany runs three open cast mines with an area of 160 km². With an emission of ca. 100 million CO2 per year RWE is the biggest emittent of CO2 in whole Europe. Enough Profit for the highly indepted enterprise, the loss of natural resources for millions of people of the global south

The local consequences of the brown-coal-minig are desastrous. Highly fertile soil gets digged away. Tens of thousands of people get resettled. Important ecosystems like the hambach forest get cut down. To prevent the mines from flooding the groundwater gets pumped down. The negative effects for the agriculture and wetlands can be located even in the netherlands which are ca. 60 km away. The grit and fine dust which are produced by the biggest diggers of the world, which work 24/7 includes even radioactive particles.

There was Resistance against the gigantic project for the whole time of RWEs economic activity since the beginning of 1900. Sometimes bigger sometimes smaller the resistance moreover collapses because of the power RWE develops with lobbyism, corruption and the undercutting of administrations, courts and local social communities.

For about 4 years a constantly growing grassrootsmovement tries to power up the resistance against the power generation of coal on a local and nationwide scale. With constant crystallisation points like the hambach forest occupation and a house project in the area, with climate camps and helping to empower the local resistance movement with supporting citizen initiatives.

 

Embedded in the climate camp this year a powerful action day took place.

The coal train which transports the coal from the hambach open cast mine to the power plant was blocked two times. On the the first blockade chained themselves to the rails of the coal train which transports the coal of the mine called hambach to the power plant and the second time two people roped down from a bridge above the rails.

Nearly at the same time about 80 people moved the other big mine Garzweiler to block the infrastructure. 2 Diggers were blocked 3 times with lock-on-actions and squattings.From 8 o'clock in the morning to 10 in the evening the drivers of the diggers and the other personal in the mine had no calm minute.

It seems that more and more people want to take responsibility for themselves to protect ecosystems and natural resources and begin to stop the worst effects of climate change with direct actions against fossil infrastructure.

 

Photos of the action day:

Lock-on-action and climbing action (with other photos of the hambach forest occupation)

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/hambacherforst/with/14797606761/

Blockade of diggers:

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/100963658@N02/sets/72157645681194248/

 

Mobilisation for a big infrastructure blockade simultaneously to the COP21

According to the next COP-meeting in Paris 2015 we want to invite people from all over europe to think about what to do. As we don't want to have such a big depression after the COPs 2009 in Copenhagen again there is a tendency to organise a big blockade of infrastructure of fossil fuel energy production simultaneously somewhere centrally located in Europe. If you have ideas and want to distribute them you can come to Cologne/Germany from the 3rd to the 5th of octobre. There will be accomodation and board.

English callout for the action plenary:

http://ekib.blogsport.eu/2014/08/23/invitation-action-plenary-meeting-3-5-oct-2014-in-cologne/

 

 

Earth First!

An activist from ausgeco2hlt

 

Unfortunately the websites are not in english or the english blogs are not well operated

www.ausgeco2hlt.de

www.hambacherforst.blogsport.de / http://hambachforest.blogsport.de/

http://ekib.blogsport.eu/

www.klimacamp-im-rheinland.de

 

 

Week of Action against the NATO Summit in Newport

The world's leading warmongers will meet this summer in Wales.  A week of action is planned to oppose and stop them, from August 30th to September the 5th.

The world's leading warmongers will meet this summer in Wales.  A week of action is planned to oppose and stop them, from August 30th to September the 5th.

Two organisations are planning actions against the summit, inclusing mass demonstrations and days of action on different aspects of militarism.  This promises to be a massive focal point for the movement against miliarism this summer. Details of can be found here:

https://network23.org/stopnatocymru/

http://www.nonatonewport.org/

Please get involved and spread the word!  Help raise our profile by linking to stopNATOCymru on blogs etc., and more importantly, come along to the events and show your support.

Twelve Hour Blockade Against Rare Earth Metal Exploration, Canada

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The 23rd July we stopped the Canadian corporation Tasman Metals’ test drillings for rare earth elements (REE) in Norra Kärr, Sweden. We heard they probably had been securing the place with CCTV-cameras so we decided to drive as fast as possible right into the enemy claimed forest, straight through any alarm system. Then we ran a few kilometers until we found the drilling rig. Using bike-locks we chained our bodies to the nasty machine. We alerted some media with a press release. Then some cops came with people from the corporation in a few hours. They gathered 20 something cops but Tasman decided not to intervene even though we were breaking the law. They didn’t want the extra fuzz from brutal cop-violence. So we could stay at the beautiful site with the ugly machine the whole day talking to journalists and drinking coffee with excited supporters.

We know rare earth mining has been apocalyptic in desert biomes due to all the toxic waste. This mine would be right next to Swedens biggest drinking water reserve, the beautiful lake Vättern. It’s got bright clear water and supports 260 000 people with clean water at the moment, more cities want to plug in! Tasman Metals is hiding its ugly plans to make investors gamble with human and non-human health and we will not allow that!

In solidarity with all people fighting patriarchy and the white mans colonial worldview!

More pictures on the campaign website.

Arizona Forest Service Roads Spiked

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sharp rebar in road_1405470850242_6845830_ver1.0_640_480

July 23rd, 2014  Flagstaff authorities are seeking the public’s help to gather any information related to sharpened rebar that was placed in the Happy Jack area.

Forest Service law enforcement say that at least five pieces of the rebar was placed on forest roads that are frequented by off-highway vehicles.

The sharp pieces are responsible for slashing at least eight tires last weekend, according to authorities.

“The end of the rebar has been flattened and sharpened to a point and the exposed point has been painted to blend in with the road surface,” Linda Wadleigh, Mogollon Rim District Ranger, said. She added that the objects pose a threat to people hiking and walking and to wildlife in the area.

[EF! Journal editor's note: For more information on road spiking – Ecodefense: A Field Guide]

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Workers evicted in protest against tar sands, USA

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July 17th, 2014 – from Swamp Line 9

Individuals from Six Nations and their allies have interrupted work on a section of Enbridge’s Line 9 pipeline. The work stoppage began around 10am this morning. Individuals involved asked workers to leave, asserting that the land is Haudenosaunee territory guaranteed under the Haldimand deed, and that Enbridge’s workers were present without consent or consultation.

“Meaningful consultation isn’t just providing information and going ahead without discussion – it’s giving the opportunity to say no and having a willingness to accommodate.” says Missy Elliot.

“Enbridge left a voice message on a machine with one person. That’s not meaningful – it’s not even consultation.” Emilie Corbeau, there in support of Six Nations points out.

Those involved intend to host an action camp, filling the time with teach-ins about Six Nations history, indigenous solidarity and skill shares centering on direct action.

The group states that they’ve tried the other processes available to them and here out of necessity. “We’ve tried pursuing avenues with the NEB, the township and the Grand River Conservation Authority. Our concerns were dismissed. What other choice do we have if we want to protect our land, water and children?” Missy Elliot of Six Nations asks.

Under bill C-45 the section of the Grand River adjacent to the Enbridge work site and pipeline is no longer protected. Approximately half a million people rely on drinking water provided by the Grand River.

“This isn’t just about line 9 – or Northern Gateway, Energy East or Keystone XL. This is about pipelines – all of them.” Daniell Boissineau, of Turtle Clan, asserts. “This is about the tarsands and how destructive they are to expand, extract and transport.”

“This is a continental concern. It’s not just a Six Nations issue or an indigenous issue. We share the responsibility to protect our land and water as human beings.” Elliot states.

Blockade Halts Logging in Mattole Forest, US

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The tripod is visible on the logging road to the left of the photo

July 9th, 2014  A blockade was deployed on a logging road in the Mattole forest yesterday morning, preventing the extraction of over 1,000 acres.of old-growth forest

There has been communication between the company and the blockaders, but efforts to remove the technically complicated monopod-tripod complex had not been made as of last contact with the forest defense team.

This marks the second action in as many weeks. Last week a tree sitter going by the name Skunk climbed into the canopy, insisting, “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 forest is host to several species of old growth trees, and endangered species like the Spotted Owl and Golden Eagle.

The Mattole river system has also been the site of heroic salmon restoration efforts in Northern California, as documented by the book Totem Salmon by Freeman House.

This area has been the site of successful forest defense campaigns since the Timber Wars in the early 1990s, and Earth First! continues to maintain a vigilant presence.

 

Update: Help Needed!

The blockade in the Mattole continues amidst pressure from local law enforcement and logging company representatives. The blockade was deployed on a logging road in the Mattole forest yesterday morning, preventing the extraction of over 1,000 acres of old-growth forest in Southern Humboldt.

This morning, 4 Sheriffs and HRC company execs showed up to the road blockade. They threatened to reanchor the lines of the tripod blockade, putting the sitter at risk. We have confirmed they have arrested and released one person, but that the blockade of old growth logging remains. The cops have said that they will return tonight with dogs.

This blockade marks the second action this month. Last week a tree sitter going by the name Skunk climbed into the canopy, insisting, “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 blockade could use more support! Please contact savemattolesancientforest@gmail.com if you want to volunteer with the campaign or donate money and materials. More updates to come on saveancientforest.org.

Activists Shut Down Seneca Biomass Plant in Eugene, USA

Three earth defenders have been taken into custody for this morning’s action at the Seneca Biomass burner in Eugene, Oregon. We will need funds to assist with bail and legal defense.

Three earth defenders have been taken into custody for this morning’s action at the Seneca Biomass burner in Eugene, Oregon. We will need funds to assist with bail and legal defense. Click here for donation page.

View more pictures of the action here.

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July 7th, 2014 EUGENE—Scores of activists with Cascadia Forest Defenders and Earth First! converged on the Seneca Jones biomass plant this morning to protest the company’s privatization of public lands in the Elliott State Forest and ongoing pollution in West Eugene.

Currently several people have locked themselves to equipment at the plant, effectively blocking the “truck dump” where biomass is loaded into the incinerator. A banner has been dropped off of a tower reading: “Seneca Jones: Privatizing the coast range, polluting West Eugene.”

The activists are bringing attention to Seneca Jones Timber’s role in privatizing the Elliott State Forest. This month Seneca closed on their purchase of 788 acres in the Elliott, called East Hakki Ridge. Co-owner of Seneca Kathy Jones recently expressed the company’s intention to clearcut East Hakki and replace it with Douglas fir plantation.

Cascadia Forest Defender Richard Haley commented, “However Kathy Jones paints it, her company is a bad neighbor everywhere it operates. Here in Eugene, Seneca pollutes. In the Elliott, Seneca clearcuts and puts up ‘no trespassing’ signs in pristine, never before logged forest. East Hakki is no longer a place where locals can go hunt, fish, hike, camp or watch birds. Now it is corporate property.”

Coos Bay citizen science group Coast Range Forest Watch documented Marbled Murrelet nesting behavior in East Hakki Ridge in May. The bird is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits actions that injure or kill threatened species–including destruction of habitat. A month after Marbled Murrelets were found in East Hakki, conservation law organizations filed to sue Seneca Jones in the event of logging in the timber sale. Murrelets were also found in two timber sales purchased by timber company Roseburg Forest Products. Another parcel is up for sale this fall, and the State Land Board is considering privatizing the entire forest.

 

Conveyor BeltDespite Seneca’s claim of being sustainable, the biomass plant failed its first EPA air pollution test in 2011 but still requested more state funds to offset its production costs. In spite of its high impact on local air quality, Seneca receives 10 million dollars in tax credits from the state of Oregon under the Business Energy Tax Credit Program.

“The plant has had a bad reputation in this community since its opening,” said West Eugene resident Matthew Hawks. “It’s marketing itself as a ‘green’ solution in my neighborhood, but is actually harming the environment around us, especially the air we breathe.”

The plant, which only employs 11 people, releases an estimated 17,900 pounds of air toxins into West Eugene Neighborhoods annually, in addition to the 73,000 pounds released each year from the mill itself. There are three schools within three miles of the Seneca biomass facility.

“While clearcutting and privatization in the Elliott State Forest is done in the name of public schools, this irresponsible company is taking millions of public dollars and impacting the health and safety of school children in their own neighborhood. It feels really twisted,” said Cascadia Forest Defender Cordelia Finley.

The Eugene-based Cascadia Forest Defenders carried out this action with activists from across the continent following an annual Earth First! camp-out in the woods of Southern Oregon, called the Earth First! Round River Rendezvous.

Banner reading: "Seneca Jones: Privatizing the Coast Lands, Polluting West Eugene" dropped at Seneca biomass facility in Eugene, OR.

Akwa Ibom Youths Barricade Exxon Oil Terminal

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July 7th, 2014

Operations of Exxon Mobil, a multinational firm has been shut down by protesting youths from the host communities in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria following what they described as recurrent oil spills and strings of unfulfilled promises made to the communities.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the angry youths who barricaded the main entrances to ExxonMobil’s Quo Iboe Terminal (QIT) said they will never leave the area until the company commences proper remediation on the environment and fulfil promises it made after past oil spills.

The Secretary of Youth Presidents Forum and President of Iwuokpom community youth where ExxonMobil jetty is located, Mr. David Okon noted that the protest was sparked off following the most recent spill which occurred on Thursday when thunder struck the QIT tank farm and one of the crude oil-laden tanks went up in flames.

According to, Okon several hundred barrels of crude spilled over Mkpanak community and into 26 other communities in the area, spanning over 35 kilometers.

He said, “Our grievance is that since last year, there was an oil spill at the QIT that flowed from Inuaeyet Ikot village to Okposo, about 35 kilometers along the coastline towards Mbo local government area. Since then, Mobil has refused to clean up our environment. They issued and acknowledgement letter to indicate that their tank busted.

“Mobil knows the impact of oil spill and the damage it has done to aquatic life and the water table and the entire environment. When a major spill occurred last December, they promised to provide relief materials to our people and also pay compensation. Up till now, they have not done anything in that regard. Last week, two of the tanks got burnt and crude flowed into our communities.”

Okon lamented that, while a walk along the shoreline would show dead fishes scattered all over the area, it was becoming so difficult a task for the people to fish.

“People are hungry and angry and that is why we have come here to draw the attention of the world to what Exxon Mobil has been doing to our communities”, he added.

Corroborating Okon’s position on the matter, a community leader in Ibenno, Chief Williams Mkpa who admitted that the people of the area have scores to settle with ExxonMobil over cases of oil spillage lamented that the economic mainstay of people of the area has been greatly affected by the spill.

He said, “When similar incidents happen, the community usually agitates for cleanup and adequate compensation.

But in its usual way, ExxonMobil has refused to respond to those requests because they don’t have the interest of the people at heart. In the past 44 years of their operations, the company only compensated us in 1998 when they declared 55 barrel spill and paid N350 million to our communities”.

He noted that because they were aware of the effects of gas flaring to the immediate environment, staff of ExxonMobil do not live in Ibeno communities, as the oil firm chose to locate its housing estate in Eket, about 20 kilometers away.

Mkpa said the intervention of the state Governor, Godswill Akpabio did not yield any positive result in the matter, as the company has deliberately refused to respect the agreement brokered by the government since 2012.

Mkpa further chided those opposed to resource control, saying that if Ibeno people had a say in how ExxonMobil is being operated, some of the damaging impacts of their operations could have been mitigated.

He, therefore, appealed to the National Conference and the National Assembly to take urgent steps to ensure that oil producing areas in the country were given a stake in oil exploration and production.

Mr. Mkpa also lamented that over 95 percent of staff in ExxonMobil are from other parts of the country and challenged the company to publish the list of its top management staff toshow how many people from the host communities it has engaged.

On its part, ExxonMobil explained that Mobil Producing Nigeria unlimted, operator of the NNPC/MPN joint venture said it has activated our emergency response systems and contained the release, with all relevant regulatory authorities and community leaders notified.

The company’s spokesperson, Akaninyene Esiere in an email stated: “MPN remains committed to environmentally safe operations. Subject to a detailed site inspection, our current estimate is that approximately 12 barrels of oil was released during the incident. All relevant regulatory authorities and community leaders have been notified.

“We are working with community leaders to gain access to the impacted area and continue to work to ensure the impacted area is remediated. Offshore production and loading operations are continuing.”

 

South American tribe sues over historic genocide

1st July The survivors of a South American tribe which was decimated during the 1950s and 60s are taking Paraguay’s government to court over the genocide they suffered.

1st July The survivors of a South American tribe which was decimated during the 1950s and 60s are taking Paraguay’s government to court over the genocide they suffered.

The case of the hunter-gatherer Aché tribe, who roamed the hilly forests of eastern Paraguay until being brutally forced out, became notorious in the 1970s.

As the agricultural expansion into eastern Paraguay gathered pace from the 1950s, the Aché found themselves forced to defend their land from an ever-increasing colonist population. These colonists soon started to mount raiding parties to kill the male Aché: women and children were usually captured and sold as slaves.

One of the most notorious hunters of the Aché was Manuel Jesús Pereira, a local landowner. He was an employee of Paraguay’s Native Affairs Department, and his farm was turned into an Aché “reservation”, to which captured Aché were transported. Beatings and rape were common. Countless others died of respiratory diseases. The Director of the Native Affairs Department was a frequent visitor, and also sold Aché slaves himself.

This situation was denounced by several anthropologists in Paraguay, many of whom were deported, or lost their jobs, as a result. It was brought to international attention by German anthropologist Mark Münzel. His 1973 report Genocide in Paraguay, published by the Danish organization IWGIA, documented many of the atrocities committed against the Aché.

Survival International publicized Münzel’s account, and sponsored an investigation by leading international lawyer Professor Richard Arens, who found the situation as bad as others had reported. Many other international organizations, academics and activists denounced the atrocities and called for Paraguay’s government to be held to account, which curbed some of the worst excesses.

However, Paraguay’s then-President, General Alfredo Stroessner, was viewed as a key Western ally in the region. The British, US and West German governments denied that genocide was taking place, and the US authorities sponsored the Harvard-based organization Cultural Survival (CS) to “review the status of indigenous peoples in Paraguay”. Their report to the government was confidential, but a copy was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. CS then published an amended version.

Relying partly on the testimony of Peace Corps volunteer, Kim Hill, it denied that genocide had taken place, and criticized many of those, such as Münzel and Arens, who had brought the Aché’s plight to global attention. US aid to Stroessner’s brutal regime continued.

Now, the survivors of the genocide and their descendants are seeking redress. An Aché organization, the National Aché Federation, has launched a court case in Argentina, with advice from leading human rights lawyer Baltasar Garzón. The Aché are using the legal principle of “universal jurisdiction”, under which the most serious crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity can be tried and punished in a different country to that in which they occurred, if the victims cannot secure justice in their own country.

Ceferino Kreigi, an Aché representative, said, “We’re asking for justice – there was torture, rape, beatings. We can no longer bear the pain we have suffered.”

The Aché’s lawyer, Juan Maira, said, “[The Aché] were hunted as though they were animals, because they wanted to confine them to a ghetto. Once in the reserve, they weren’t allowed to leave. They sold not only the children, but sometimes the women too, as slaves. Perhaps 60% of the population could have been wiped out.”

The Aché’s population is now increasing once more, though their forests have been stolen for cattle ranching and farming, and almost totally destroyed.

Protests in Nigeria After Mobil Spills 600,000 Barrels of Oil

oil_theft_7-300x1991st July Youths in Eket and Esit Eket in Akwa Ibom on Monday staged peaceful protests against fresh oil spills in Nkpana community from a Mobil facility i

oil_theft_7-300x1991st July Youths in Eket and Esit Eket in Akwa Ibom on Monday staged peaceful protests against fresh oil spills in Nkpana community from a Mobil facility in Ibeno.

The youths numbering more than 500 protested on major streets in Eket, including the Marina and Terminal roads.

The protesters, under the ages of Core Youth Forum, carried placards with inscriptions: “Oil spill is killing our aquatic life’’, “No compensation for oil spill” and “Enough of this oil spillage,’’ among others.

Mr Godwin Peter, the spokesman of the protesters, said the spill occurred on Saturday and occupied communities along the spill line on Sunday.

He said the spill had devastated aquatic life and destroyed fishing equipment, among others.
Peter appealed to Mobil to urgently clean up the environment.

The youths threatened to disrupt Mobil activities if their demands, which included immediate clean up and compensation, were not met.

Also reacting, Mr Inyang Ekong, the Secretary of the Artisanal Fishermen Association of Nigeria, Akwa Ibom Branch, noted that fishing had been suspended in the area as a result of the spill.

He said that fish would be scarce in the state and appealed to Mobil to replace its old pipes to forestall further occurrence.

Ekong said the spill would cause untold hardships to the people of Ibeno.

When contacted, Mr Akaninyene Esiere, the Manager of Public and Government Affairs at the Qua Iboe Terminal of Mobil, confirmed the incident.

“We have confirmed a liquid release from our Qua Iboe terminal on Sunday, June 29, following serious weather conditions and lightning strikes over the area at the weekend. We have activated our emergency response systems to contain the release. All relevant regulatory authorities and community leaders have been notified.We will continue to work with the community to allow progress in the effort by Mobil to contain the spill,’’ he said.

Esiere said that Mobil was committed to safe environment during its operations.