Category: RT Newswire

USE ME! Essentially, this is a catch all for everything. This is probably the ONLY category where things that are not directly related to Rising Tide affiliates/allies should go. For example if a coal company goes out of business (and we didn’t directly cause it) it should probably only go here.

Hundreds Rally in Opposition to Wall St. Forestry and False Climate Solutions Outside of Timber Conference

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cross-posted from the Forest Climate Alliance

For Immediate Release:

September 27, 2023

Press Contact- Alex Budd, alex@forestclimatealliance.org, (503) 901-4198

Hundreds Rally in Opposition to Wall St. Forestry and False Climate Solutions Outside of Timber Conference

Activists continue days of disruptions with mass protest outside of “Who Will Own the Forest?” conference

Portland, OR – This afternoon, dozens of organizations came together from across the region to organize a mass protest of the “Who Will Own the Forest” conference, with hundreds in attendance. Speakers at the rally called out forest carbon offsets, which were being promoted at the conference, as false solutions, highlighted the environmental impacts of industrial logging, and aimed criticism at the broader framing of the conference as an affront to Indigenous sovereignty.

“When we think of who will “own” the forest, we must remember the people who have always had the longest relationship with the forest, those who have maintained a reciprocal relationship with forests since time immemorial. These are the same people whose livelihoods and well-being are intertwined with forests’ health,” said Thomas Joseph, Carbon Pricing Educator with Indigenous Environmental Network. “This concept of ownership is rooted in the foundation of this country- conquest and domination- which has enabled extractive culture and the commodification of the sacred.”

Earlier this morning, a dozen activists joined arms and blocked the entrance to the conference, in the second disruption of the conference in two days. Protestors harangued conference goers with chants of “shame” and “clean water, clean air, not another billionaire.” This action came immediately on the heels of a similar disruption yesterday evening, where dozens of activists blocked the entrance to the opening reception of the conference.

On Thursday, September 28 communities and activists will host the Forests Over Profits conference. In contrast to the corporate “Who Will Own the Forest?” conference, Forests Over Profits will elevate truly sustainable forest management and the need for fundamental systems change in the face of capitalist exploitation and the climate and biodiversity crises.

Brenna Bell, Forest Climate Manager at 350PDX, said:

 

“We are in a climate emergency, and the intact forests are one of the Pacific NW’s best allies to help mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. But at the Who Will Own the Forest Conference, big polluters and investors will discuss how best to exploit ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them, to keep their profits rolling in.”

Studies have shown that Pacific Northwest forests are some of the best in the world at drawing down and storing carbon, and could play a critical role in mitigating the climate crisis and building climate resilience, but only if they are protected from logging. Despite the growing body of science that shows that these climate-forests are critical to protecting a stable climate, Wall Street logging corporations and profiteers are continuing to clearcut public and private land forests rapidly with no concern for the environmental impact.

“This is Indigenous land. It is despicable that these out-of-touch timber barons and Wall Street investors gather annually to scheme about the continued destruction of these ecosystems and the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people of their ancestral lands,” said Riley Fields, an Indigenous organizer with W.R.E.N.C.H., a regional forest defense collective. “Forests will never be private property.”

Thomas Joseph, Carbon Pricing Educator with Indigenous Environmental Network, said:

“If we are truly seeking a sustainable forest, we collectively must prioritize land back to Indigenous Peoples, whom we know are proven to be successful in curating a healthy sustainable forest instead of in the hands corporate elites that continue to financially benefit off the desecration of our forests by creating carbon sinks through market mechanisms which allow business as usual for extractive economies to continue.”

Find free-to-use photos of the action in this folder, which will be updated as the conference goes on. Please attribute the photos to W.R.E.N.C.H.

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Oregon: Activists continue to disrupt events as industrial timber conference wears on

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For Immediate Release:

September 27, 2023

Press Contact: Donald Weston, forest.wrench@protonmail.com, (541) 972 3008

UPDATE: Activists continue to disrupt events as industrial timber conference wears on

Activists block doors and stop attendees from entering for second day of contentious conference

Portland, OR – This morning, a dozen activists joined arms and blocked the entrance to the “Who Will Own the Forest Conference,” in the second disruption of the conference in two days. Protestors harangued conference goers with chants of “shame” and “clean water, clean air, not another billionaire”.

The protest comes hours before a major rally planned to protest the conference, and immediately on the heels of a similar disruption yesterday evening, where dozens of activists blocked the entrance to the opening reception the conference while a banner reading, “Land Back: You Will Never Own The Forest” was hung above the entrance of the World Forestry Center.

This “signature timberland investment conference” brings together some of the biggest climate polluters, corporate forest clear-cutters, and false climate solutions peddlers.

“This is Indigenous land. It is despicable that these out of touch timber barons and Wall Street investors gather annually to scheme about the continued destruction of these ecosystems and the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people of their ancestral lands,” said Riley Fields, an Indigenous organizer with WRENCH. “Forests will never be private property.”

The action comes as the Who Will Own The Forest Conference has attracted considerable opposition from organizations across the region.

Dozens of organizations from across the region, including the Indigenous Environmental Network, are converging today for a major rally planned to protest the conference and confront the Wall St. profiteers leveling forests across the region, and the country. The rally will include speakers, music, theatrical performances, art & creative resistance, and more.

On Thursday, September 28 communities and activists will host the Forests Over Profits conference. In contrast to the corporate “Who Will Own the Forest?” conference, Forests Over Profits will elevate truly sustainable forest management and the need for fundamental systems change in the face of capitalist exploitation and the climate and biodiversity crises.

Find free to use photos of the action in this folder, which will be updated as the conference goes on. Please attribute the photos to WRENCH, unless otherwise stated.

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San Francisco: Call for Climate Justice at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum; Nov. 11-18

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cross-posted from Bay Climate Action at APEC

pic via the Stranger in Seattle. July 2023

Organize with and join us and in the streets during the APEC summit in SF Nov. 11-18.

This November in San Francisco, the United States and thirteen other countries plan to announce the conclusion of large parts of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) trade agreement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).

Pledge to Resist APEC: https://bit.ly/ResistAPEC

IPEF will have major impacts on climate policy, worker rights and more for decades to come. The people have been completely shut out of these discussions, while corporate CEO’s and lobbyists are keynoting panels with world leaders at APEC. IPEF will do nothing to address the climate catastrophe we are facing and will do nothing to promote an economy that doesn’t rely on extraction. APEC leaders are not taking the climate crisis seriously, and are instead promoting policies that greenwash and hide devastatingly irresponsible backdoor deals with multinational corporations.

In an act of global solidarity, we are seeking to challenge and dismantle the status quo of corporations and all-too-often unaccountable neoliberal leaders of major countries signing trade and environmental pacts that put profit over people and fuel the climate crisis.

If you want to join us please Pledge to Resist APEC via this form. 

We are inviting labor, diaspora, frontline communities and climate justice activists to help plan, organize around and demand the following:

  1. End Climate Pollution. The United States must reverse its disproportionate role in creating the climate crisis, by no longer propping up the fossil fuel industry, rapidly zeroing out greenhouse gas emissions and helping other countries do the same.
  2. Globalize Climate Justice. The United States and all members of APEC must commit to climate justice for communities of color and take action to end the disproportionate impact climate change has on frontline communities and communities of color in their own nations and globally.
  3. Stop Trade Attacks on Climate Action. The United States and all members of APEC must end corporate-driven trade agreements that greenwash, weaken and delay the transition to a just and clean economy, and must commit to a Climate Peace Clause immediately ending trade attacks on climate action.

To add yourself or an organization to these demands, and to learn more about upcoming actions and ways to plug in, please go to https://www.bayclimateaction.com.

Initial Endorsers: Oil and Gas Action Network, Mt. Diablo Rising Tide, Extinction Rebellion SF Bay, California Trade Justice Coalition, Friends of the Earth, Youth vs Apocalypse, Rising Tide North America, ASATA, Brown and Green, 350 Silicon Valley, 350 San Diego, EHL, Trade Justice Education Fund, Alliance for Democracy, Yes!, Thai Community Development Center

Dozens of climate groups prepare to protest international timber conference in Portland

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cross-posted from the Oregon Capitol Chronicle

Dozens of climate groups prepare to protest international timber conference in Portland

The planned action – and a counter conference – mark a first for the industry conference

By: – September 26, 2023 6:30 pm

An annual conference of international timber industry leaders will focus this week in Portland on the ownership and development of Northwest forests while protestors gather and hold their own conference on preserving them.

The industry conference, on Wednesday and Thursday, will feature panels on investments in private forests, with participants discussing everything from investments by international banks, timber companies and trusts to the future of private forest ownership and global markets for Northwest timber and wood products. It’s hosted by the 50-year-old nonprofit World Forestry Center in southwest Portland.

The conference has been held every year for more than two decades but this year, for the first time, it will face protests by more than two dozen environmental groups who oppose the corporate ownership and management of Oregon forests and what they say is the industry’s disproportionate contribution to global climate change. Environmentalists have planned a demonstration outside the World Forestry Center at noon on Wednesday, organized by the Pacific Northwest Forest Climate Alliance, which includes dozens of regional nonprofits such as Oregon Wild in Portland, Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands and the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club.

Alex Budd, an organizer for the alliance, said he’s expecting up to 200 people at the protest.

“Our forests can be a vital solution to the climate crisis right now,” Budd said. “We have a choice between how our forests are going to be managed, and whether they’re going to be managed to generate more shareholder profit for these Wall Street companies, or for the health and well being of our communities and the planet.”

Tyler Quinn, communications director for the World Forestry Center, declined an interview request via email but offered a statement about the planned protest.

“We envision a society that values and takes action to support forests’ economic, ecological and social benefits,” he said. “Our work is focused on welcoming more voices into the forestry conversation, and we support everyone’s right to express their opinion in public spaces, so long as they do so in a safe manner.”

Trees versus timber

The conference is sponsored by some of the largest timber and real estate holding companies in the world, including Weyerhaeuser, and will be attended by officials from large banks such as J.P Morgan as well as international conservation and land trust groups, such as The Nature Conservancy and Pacific Forest Trust.

On the agenda are discussions about growing interest from global investors in Northwest forests and the burgeoning international markets for wood products. Panels will also discuss the growing domestic and international markets for wood by-products that can be used to make biofuels. And they’ll cover the increased use of Northwest forests by fossil fuel and other companies to offset their greenhouse gas emissions levels.

Ben Jones, a spokesperson for the climate organization Seattle 350, part of the forest alliance, said carbon offset use appears to show that the industry is conservation-minded while extracting profits from forests.

“When it’s the same timber companies that are touting that they’re doing stuff with green energy or clean energy — with carbon offsets, with biomass — those are false solutions,” Jones said. “Those are not doing anything about the real problem, which is the continued destruction of ecosystems. We think that forests themselves have intrinsic value, and all of the goals of a clean energy transition involve having intact native and mature forests.”

According to a study published by researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Idaho in 2018, Oregon’s Coast Range forests are among the best in the world at absorbing and storing carbon, including up to 70% of the state’s overall carbon emissions between 2011 and 2015. The $7 billion per-year wood products industry, on the other hand, is the largest contributor to the state’s overall carbon emissions, the study found.

The industry generates more emissions than transportation or electricity and energy generation in the state, according to a 2017 report from the state Global Warming Commission. This is due to emissions from logging equipment, timber transport, milling and the carbon dioxide released from cut and decomposing trees.

Counter conference

The forest climate alliance will hold a counter conference on Thursday in Portland, two miles from the World Forestry Center at the First Unitarian Church of Portland called “Forests Over Profits.” There, according to Budd, experts will discuss sustainable forest management and indigenous forest and ecosystem management and preservation.

Among the speakers will be Thomas Joseph, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, who will discuss issues with selling portions of private Northwest forests for carbon offsets and the global market for carbon credits.

He called the market a scam, saying there’s little oversight and accountability, and that offsets do nothing to stop companies from emitting greenhouse gases.

“It’s a way to allow investors to put a price tag on our Mother Earth, to continue to commodify her,” he said. “We need to reduce emissions at the source, which means keeping fossil fuels in the ground and not thinking of market mechanisms or schemes for how we can just continue to capitalize on our forests.”