Author: sparki

Southeast Climate Convergence occupies nuclear facility, Police set up checkpoints around convergence site

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August 7 Louisa, VA Activists from the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action occupied the welcome center for Dominion’s North Anna nuclear power plant today. The action was taken to protest Dominion’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors and to call out nuclear power for the false solution that it is to the climate crisis. “We are here to serve notice on the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’ that the anti-nuclear movement is alive and well,” said Glenn Carroll, coordinator of Nuclear Watch South.

In all 25 people occupied the visitors center for 2 hours until police came in to remove them. The protestors wore shirts that read “Nukes not Welcome” and chanted and sang. “We chose to take non-violent direct action because Dominion and the federal government have completely failed to address the climate crisis,” said Paxus Calta who lives twenty miles from the plant. The protesters also gave their own version of a tour for visitors revealing the true nature of the nuclear industry. In all 6 people were arrested for refusing to leave the building and were escorted out in handcuffs to the cheers of their friends. Continue reading

Billionaire’s for Coal strike in Bank of America’s home state, 4 protests in 3 days

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Asheville, NC Today Asheville Rising Tide’s billionaire bloc descended on Bank of America’s regional headquarters to demand that BoA continue to invest their money in coal. The Billionaires for Coal carried signs reading “More Profit, Less Mountains” and sipped on dirty (coal) martinis to applaud BoA for its funding of mountaintop removal coal mining as well as the new generation of dirty coal plants. The Asheville Police Department did an excellent job of blocking access to the bank entrance and the ATM surely scaring off a number of bank customers.

Two days before, activists with Croatan Earth First! visited three Bank of America branches in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. The activist entered the banks raising a ruckus and handing out fliers to customers until being forced to leave. The motley crew of billionaires then proceeded to demonstrate outside and informing the public of BoA’s dirty deeds. A few weeks before several activists were detained by police in Charlotte, NC (BoA’s hometown) for hanging anti-coal poster’s in the neighborhoods of several BoA executives homes. After intensive interrogation, they were let go without charge (remember kids, never talk to cops).

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Asheville Rising Tide builds green power plant in Duke CEO’s front yard

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May 25, 2008 – Charlotte, NC Today, activists with Asheville Rising Tide broke ground on a new 800 Mw clean energy power plant in Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers front yard. The power plant will tap into a previously unexplored energy source known as hot air which has been found in large concentrations at Roger’s residence, 330 Eastover Rd, Charlotte, NC. “The hot air emitting from Jim Rogers mouth has been around for quite some time, but the last couple of years has seen an exponential growth of this untapped energy source as Rogers parades around the country calling for greenhouse gas reductions while building the dirty Cliffside coal plant. This was simply an opportunity we couldn’t pass up,” said Jill Rockingham, chief engineer for the project. Continue reading

Earth First! blocks I-69 construction in Indiana

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i-69, otherwise known as the NAFTA superhighway, is a proposed interstate that would link Canada, the US, and Mexico. The road is being built to facilitate the movement of goods out of Mexico to the markets of the US and Canada. This will only lead to the further destruction of ecosystems and poor indigenous and campesino coummunities in Mexcio. Meanwhile thousands of acres of farmland, forests, and wetlands will be lost to pavement in the US while continuing the ceaseless expansion of car culture.

In the Wee hours of May 18th, fading into the early morning of May 19th, a small group of activists braved the pre-dawn chill (and the threat of arrest and imprisonment!) and slipped into the trees alongside a country road about 25 miles north of Evansville, Indiana. They went in loaded with ropes, tarps, platforms, and guts. By the time the sun had risen full up in the sky, two brave Earth First!ers–Grant Reynolds and Harriet Ray–were gently swaying thirty-five feet above the ground. Below them, banners reading “I-69 and NAFTA: Destroying Communities Here Through Mexico,” “Resist Construction,” and “Defend Farms” announced this act of physical defense to the Monday morning commuters along State Road 68. Continue reading