cross-posted from Diablo Rising Tide
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES GATHER AT PG&E HEADQUARTERS TO TAKE BACK THEIR POWER
December 16, 2019
Contact: Pete Woiwode 734.709.1789 sweetfeetpete@gmail.com
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Since March of 2019 at least 111 people in California have died due to fires and power outages caused by PG&E.[i] Even one is too many. On December 16th, 2019, at 12pm a coalition of frontline groups will be gathering at PG&E headquarters, 77 Beale Street, San Francisco, to demand power to live.
We demand that PG&E: 1) Give back all shareholder profits until PG&E can safely provide life-saving power. 2) Invest in frontline communities’ basic power needs. 3) Gov. Newsom and CPUC must turn PG&E over to the people. Utility justice is Climate Justice.
A recent poll from LA Times indicates that 90% of Californians want to end PG&E’s existing operations. We are feeling this strongly in Disabled, chronically ill, elder and fat communities, as well as, in Black, Brown, and poor communities. “Some of us,” says Stacey Milbern of Disability Justice Culture Club, “myself included, depend on life sustaining medical equipment. PG&E shutting off power without providing any assistance is killing us. It’s absurd to assume people have money for generators. We are also seeing migrant workers and domestic workers left behind. It’s time to reclaim our power.”
Utility Justice is a part of the larger movement of people coming together to demand climate justice. PG&E has failed to update its infrastructure to reflect the changing realities of California in climate crisis — choosing to pay shareholders profits, instead of making lifesaving repairs. Frontline communities are dying, while shareholders get rich.
On Dec 16th groups that are coming together will include: Diablo Rising Tide, GreenPeace USA, Color of Change, Senior and Disability Action, No PG&E Bailout, Mask Oakland, Sunrise Movement, East Bay and San Francisco Democratic Socialists of America, Disability Justice Culture Club, Fat Rose, Health Justice Commons, Extinction Rebellion, Youth vs the Apocalypse and more.
#NoBodyIsDisposable #PGEIsKillingUs #PowerToLive #ReclaimOurPower #UtilityJusticeisClimateJustice #UnplugPG&E
Link to photos and video for re-use: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cw1x87uswf2jvyi/AAANufUkukRBFwjnkww3IxFoa?dl=0
Links to articles & press hits & posts: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OwYLOOmJrwWiqjp3qIwkdP1ejkbBsQnPKiX9FJjaqGU/edit?usp=sharing