Online Stunt Draws Attention to PG&E Bankruptcy and $2.5 million Severance Pay for Former President Geisha Williams

January 23, 2019

Press Release

For Immediate Release

Online Stunt Draws Attention to PG&E Bankruptcy and $2.5 million Severance Pay for Former President Geisha Williams

MEDIA CONTACT: Climate Justice Crew, press@pgecalifornia.com. **Rising Tide does not take responsibility for the stunt.**

San Francisco, CA: Today, the Climate Justice Crew released a fake PG&E website and press release claiming that the former President and Chief Operating Officer, Geisha Williams, donated her complete severance of $2.5 million dollars as her last act in PG&E leadership. The stunt that has since gone viral intended to draw attention to PG&E and Mrs. William’s culpability of the Camp Fire that killed at least 86 people, destroyed more than 18,000 structures, and led to more than $30 billion in potential wildfire liabilities — California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record.

Overwhelming evidence shows that PG&E is solely responsible for starting the recent “Camp Fire” — including PG&E’s own statements. State investigators have also determined PG&E is responsible for at least 16 other fires last fall, 12 of which were deadly, and 11 of which clearly violated laws requiring proper maintenance and safety standards. Yet, the California Public Utilities Commission will soon begin to implement a provision that allows PG&E to pass wildfire costs onto the affected populations instead of the investor-owned San Francisco-based utility — whose net income in 2017 was $1.66 billion and whose former President and Chief Operating Officer, Geisha Williams, recently received $2.5 million in severance despite being in charge during the lethal wildfires of 2017 and 2018.

“We call for PG&E to take complete financial and ethical responsibility for all fires caused by its negligence. The stunt today was meant to draw attention to the spectacular miscarriage of justice that has transpired since the lethal Camp Fire — including the lack of transparency with regards to compensation for victims’ of this tragedy, the way in which PG&E has tried to dodge their debts by proposing a consumer bailout and filing for Chapter 11, and Mrs. Williams’ astronomical severance package,” said the Climate Justice Crew.

The PG&E bankruptcy should serve as a wake-up call for corporations like this to think how about their actions affect masses of people and have contributed towards the climate crisis — a crisis in which we only have 12 years to mitigate.

Climate Justice Crew stands with all residents impacted by the fires and refuses to allow the California Public Utilities Commission President Michael J. Picker and other politicians to bail out PG&E instead of dismantling it. We also recognize PG&E’s role in contributing to the increase in climate catastrophes, like the two-week-long smoke-filled skies over Northern California, by investing in massive fossil fuel infrastructure across California.

“There are alternatives to the monopoly utilities, like the Community Choice Energy project, where the public is in control of the electrical system. We need to democratize energy by putting in the hands of the people, not the corporations driven by profit. If we had decentralized energy — local clean energy — we wouldn’t need the transmission lines that caused the fires in the first place. We’re in a state of emergency where air pollution and climate disasters are more frequently disrupting, displacing, poisoning, and even killing people across the country. We need California to take these issues seriously before it’s too late and that means investing in community-led renewable energy systems that are local and regional — not CEOs and shareholders who make millions and millions in profit no matter what. Left unchallenged, this pattern of institutional and regulatory neglect ensures environmental degradation and climate change hit marginalized groups first and worst,” said the Climate Justice Crew.

Public #NoPGEbailout online petition and statement can be found here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-pge-bailout

Photos and video available here from previous #NoPGEbailout protests: bit.ly/nopgebailoutphotos

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A direct attack on migrants

Yesterday, four volunteers with No More Deaths/No Más Muertes went to federal court in Tucson, Arizona to defend their right to bring water, food, and basic medical aid to migrants crossing into the United States.

These charges are a direct attack on No More Deaths/No Más Muertes — and their ability to mitigate the direct effects of the humanitarian crisis perpetuated by the United States’ racist border and (long standing) economic policies. They also show yet another way Trump seeks to criminalize brown bodies and perpetuate truly vicious acts against people who are in the most need of aid and refuge.

Support the No More Deaths/No Más Muertes legal defense campaign by donating, volunteering, or organizing a fundraiser in your area.

These charges have interrupted and criminalized the important work of No More Deaths. A total of eight people were arrested delivering water to paths traveled by migrants in a southern Arizona wilderness area — and in the middle of the militarized border zone. They’re being charged with crimes related to wildlife refuge restrictions. A ninth arrest, of No More Deaths volunteer Scott Warren, resulted in felony charges related to providing humanitarian aid to migrants.

Since 2004, this group has been delivering humanitarian aid to migrants in the Arizona desert — where so many people die or are brutalized, detained, and separated from their family by border patrol.

Now No More Deaths/No Más Muertes needs your help to drop the bullshit charges against them.

Support the No More Deaths/No Más Muertes legal defense campaign by donating, volunteering, or organizing a fundraiser in your area.

We know that the flow of migrants is only likely to accelerate as the climate crisis gets worse. In the next fifty years, many of the places will become uninhabitable and tens of millions will likely be forced to look for new homes. We also know that climate change is itself a product of deeper economic and social systems of oppression based on the economic interests of industrialized nations. That’s why we need groups like No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes to create avenues for mutual aid to flow to those who are left out, persecuted, and killed by the state.

No More Deaths/No Más Muertes has been a radical ally of Rising Tide for years, and any support or attention we can draw to their work is helpful. Please follow their efforts and the ongoing legal challenges, donate if you are able and volunteer if you can.

To help, you can spread the word about the No More Deaths/No Más Muertes charges by watching and sharing their interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!

We denounce the racist weaponization of the Wilderness Act against humanitarian aid workers to reinforce an agenda of indigenous erasure and settler-colonialist notions of ecological purity.

Salem, OR: Pipeline Resistors Disrupt Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s Inauguration

Cross-posted from EF! Newswire

Happy inauguration day Governor Kate Brown! We are in Salem to demand you #walkyourclimatetalk this year by stowing up with frontline communities to #stopJordanCove.

Pipeline Resistors Disrupt Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s Inauguration

[SALEM, OR] — Activists with Southern Oregon Rising Tide interrupted Governor Kate Brown’s inaugural State of the State address this afternoon to demand the Governor direct state agencies to deny the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline. Following the Governor’s swearing-in ceremony, the activists unfurled a large banner reading “Hey Kate: Walk your climate talk. Support the frontlines, stop the pipeline.”

At the same time, more pipeline resistors gathered on the front steps of the Capitol building with large banners calling on the Governor to live up to her promises to take strong action on climate change.

“Governor Brown talks a big talk about climate change, but she’s remained silent on the largest fossil fuel proposal in the state and claims it’s a federal decision, not a state decision,” said Alex Budd of Southern Oregon Rising Tide. “Our state has the power to stop Jordan Cove LNG and it’s time our Governor shows up for communities who have been on the frontlines of this project for over 13 years.”

Governor Kate Brown has stated in interviews that Jordan Cove LNG is a federal decision, however, the state of Oregon denied permits and stopped a much smaller LNG export terminal proposed on the Columbia River in 2011. Additionally, the Department of State Lands stopped a coal export terminal by denying the same permit they are currently considering for Jordan Cove LNG in 2014.

Supporters at Governor Kate Brown’s inauguration today were given goodie bags full of recommendations for the Governor to help her live up to her rhetoric around climate change. We know climate leaders don’t build pipelines, but does she?

If built, the Jordan Cove LNG terminal would become the largest source of climate pollution in Oregon and open up fracked gas exports from the West Coast of the United States. A recent report from the research organization, Oil Change International, concluded that the full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the project would be equal to over 15 times the Boardman Coal plant, which is set to be shut down in 2020 because of pollution concerns.

“In our region, hotter, drier summers mean longer and more intense wildfire seasons,” said Zac Wilner, a wildland firefighter from Jackson County. “Governor Brown should know that it is unacceptable to permit any new fossil fuel infrastructure, especially an explosive gas pipeline through Southern Oregon’s most fire-prone forests.”

Just last week, thousands showed up to Department of State Lands hearings across Klamath, Douglas, Jackson, and Coos counties to ask the agency to deny ‘Removal-Fill’ permits for the 229-mile highly explosive gas pipeline and mega-export terminal. The DSL who could issue the permit is overseen by the Oregon State Land Board, which is tasked with denying permits that jeopardize Oregon’s clean water and is headed by Governor Kate Brown. Impacted Tribal members, landowners, students, and more expressed concerns around the project crossing waterways nearly 500 times. Construction of the pipeline would risk the clean drinking water of over 150,000 people in Southern Oregon. The final DSL hearing on Jordan Cove will take place tomorrow, January 15, in Salem at the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs, with a rally starting at 4:15pm.

“Our communities aren’t backing down in the face of this project; we will continue to take action to defend water, land, and communities,” said Grace Warner of Southern Oregon Rising Tide.

Southern Oregon Rising Tide is dedicated to promoting community- based solutions to the climate crisis and taking direct action to confront the root causes of climate change. We are based in the mountains and rivers of rural Southern Oregon, with most of our members living on ancestral Takelma land in so-called Jackson and Josephine Counties.

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Travels along the border with No More Deaths

Yesterday, we crewed up with No More Deaths/No Más Muertes and dropped water, supplies, and blankets along Trump’s militarized border zone in Arizona.

There were border patrol, helicopters, sensors in the ground, checkpoints…. It’s hard to describe the terrain — it’s incredibly beautiful, but also incredibly treacherous with huge swings in temperatures.

So many people die or get brutalized, detained, and separated from their family by the border patrol when crossing here. These are truly vicious acts against people who are in the most need of refuge.

Communities here are resisting the racist militarization right in their backyard and the criminalization of brown bodies — and they could use your support.

Also, a handful of “water droppers” are facing bullshit charges for dropping waters and supplies inside of a wildlife refuge.

Trials begin January 15th for the first round of No More Deaths defendants.

No More Deaths calls on everyone who supports the right to receive water, food and medical care, regardless of documentation status, to come out in support of humanitarian aid! Join us at the Federal Courthouse for a press conference at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, January 15th. Pack the court starting at 9:30 and for the rest of the week! Please let us know you are coming at bit.ly/aidisnotacrime.

BACKGROUND:
The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge is one of the deadliest migration corridors along the US–Mexico border—the government’s own description of this vast, remote region states that it “is big and wild and can be incredibly hostile to those that need water to survive.” Maintaining a strong humanitarian presence in this area is vital. All of our volunteers’ charges stem from actions they took with the goal of preventing further unnecessary loss of life in this region where thirty-two sets of human remains were recovered in 2017 and where many more people have disappeared without a trace. The intention to save lives has never been disputed by the prosecution, and our defense argues that the decision to pursue criminal charges “violates the universal sense of justice.”

Please donate to No More Deaths and their extremely important, on-the-ground work.