Category: RT Press Releases

Statement from Rising Tide North America on the Paris Climate Deal

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IMG_7943Statement from Rising Tide North America on the Paris Climate Deal

Rhododendron, OR – In disappointing but unsurprising news, the Global Agreement on Climate Change that has come out of Paris this weekend is exploitive, deceitful and hollow, favoring the rights and voices of corporations over people. This agreement has been signed by nearly 200 nations at the Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris but fails to address the most pressing issues facing our climate and global communities. This agreement sends a powerful symbol that the world is fully committed to participating in the carbon-trade economy, not taking on a low-carbon future or keeping fossil fuels in the ground.

In particular, we are disturbed and deeply unhappy with the exclusion of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the agreement. Indigenous communities are the first to die at the hands of the results of dangerous, empty agreements like the ones reached in Paris.

“Not only is this a slap in the face to the Indigenous communities of the Global North and the Global South, this agreement is a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of us all. When Indigenous rights are discarded, our collective rights to clean air, drinkable water, and a world that can sustain us are in peril,” says Christy Tennery-Spalding of Rising Tide North America.

The lack of reparations extended to the Global South are particularly disgusting. The U.S. continues it’s legacy of brutal imperialism that places economics over human life by co-signing on this agreement. It’s not a proud day for the United States.

This agreement is a blatant public relations maneuver. While the parties have agreed to combat a  global temperature rise above 1.5 degrees, there are no substantive mechanisms in place to make this real. The result of COP21 is yet another example of empty promises, false solutions, and an attempt to deceive the global community to this reality.

Meanwhile, the French National Police have been summarily revoked the rights of civil society in Paris this week. The French government has sanctioned attacks on citizens and journalists alike for exercising their civil liberties during the U.N. talks. Given the profits at stake for U.N. members and multinational corporations, it’s no surprise that they’d want to silence this reality with violent, repressive force on others as well.

“Without real action, the fossil fuel industry will leave the signatories to this agreement with barren, unusable land. This directly threatens the lives and livelihoods of frontline communities and our climate. The U.N. has failed people the world over, just as the French National Police have failed to protect Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for All,” says Ahmed Gaya, Flood the System organizer.

Arielle Klagsbrun, also of Rising Tide North America, asserts, “We stand in solidarity and with movements and people directly affected by our climate crisis. We will continue to build people-powered movements in response to these threats upon all of our lives. We will organize direct action that mobilizes people to challenge the ongoing U.S. imperialism, capitalism, and corporations who participate in and/or bankroll this nonsense, because that’s what this Paris agreement is.”

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Rising Tide North America is an all-volunteer anti-capitalist climate justice network working to challenge the root cause of climate change. 

Seattle Residents Occupy BNSF Offices to Protest Oil Trains As Paris Climate Talks Continue, Activists Call for Concrete Action on Climate Change

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RT seaSeattle Residents Occupy BNSF Offices to 
Protest Oil Trains As Paris Climate Talks Continue, 
Activists Call for Concrete Action on Climate Change

Contact:  
Afrin Sopariwala, Rising Tide Seattle, 
(408) 598-7656,
sheildmaiden@gmail.com


Today 43 residents of Seattle occupied the BNSF office in SoDo 
Seattle to speak out against the company's continued involvement in fossil fuel
extraction and transport. Activists brought a letter with three demands and
asked to speak with the CEO, Carl Ice. Activists were immediately asked to
leave and the police were called. A BNSF spokesperson said they could put
the activists on the phone with Vice President Mr Anderson, claiming that
they had no access to the CEO.

Raging Granny Cynthia Linet read the letter out loud over speaker phone and
Mr Anderson was not able to confirm that these demands could be upheld.
Activists continued to stay and occupy the space, singing and chanting. The
police arrived, and once they had their chain of command in place, they
said they would arrest those who remained. About 30 activists then exited
the building and 13 remained to get arrested. They were released after
being cited for criminal trespass.

“Communities of color here and worldwide are experiencing unprecedented
numbers of extreme fires, floods, hurricanes, and droughts and it’s only
getting worse,” said Jill Mangaliman, executive director of Got Green?. “We
cannot rely on fossil fuel companies and carbon markets to fix this - they
have caused this climate chaos. Instead, we must look to indigenous, black
and brown frontline communities for leadership and solutions.”

“We need to transition away from fossil fuels now, and BNSF could be at the
forefront of that transition by moving goods and people by rail,” said
Valerie Costa, a local small business owner, and one of those cited by the
police. “Instead, they're contributing to catastrophic climate change by
moving dangerous oil trains through our neighborhoods.”

Video:
https://www.facebook.com/shellnoactioncouncil/videos/vb.1625994030965721/1709558165942640/?type=2&theater

Climate Justice Activists Protest and Occupy French Consulate in San Francisco

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Press Release

For Immediate Release

Hi-Res Pictures Here

Video

Climate Justice Activists Protest and Occupy French Consulate in San Francisco

Activists occupy lobby calling on French government to lift ban on climate marches at U.N. climate talks, act on climate change.

SAN FRANCISCO–At 930am this morning, a group of eight  Bayparis SF 5 Area protesters entered the lobby of the French Consulate in San Francisco’s financial district to speak with the consular general. The demonstrators  dressed in blue, covered their mouths with French flag tape to call attention to the repression of climate organizers during the ongoing United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) talks in Paris. Another 20 people rallied outside the consulate doors with signs and banners. The protest calls on the French government to lift a prohibition of public marches during the COP. The group called on the French government  to stop the acceleration of global climate disruption by pushing for a strong international agreement to regulate carbon emissions.

Citing concerns about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, on November 19 the French government announced a ban on public gatherings and protests, interrupting a Global Climate March planned for 29 November, at which 200,000 people from around the world were expected to march. A December 12th climate mobilization was banned as well.  Under a veil of national security, French police  wrongly placed 24 French climate organizers under house arrest and began turning back international activists at its borders. On November 29th, French police attacked peaceful protesters at the Place de Republique with tear gas, pepper spray and violently arrested over 200 people.

Protesters at today’s San Francisco action say that France’s heightened security rules endanger citizens’ ability to participate meaningfully in these international climate talks.

‘Many political leaders now acknowledge Climate Change presents a real security threat to the future of nations.” said protest organizer Lynn Stone, with local climate justice group Diablo Rising Tide. “Stifling free speech during the Paris climate talks is a tragic mistake. Paris should not fear and restrict climate justice protesters when the real threat is climate change.”

The talks in Paris come at a critical juncture in world history as more action is needed on climate as storms, floods and droughts increase in intensity each year. Despite the obstacles faced by protesters in Paris, an additional  700,000 people are estimated to have marched in cities throughout the world last weekend calling for heads of state and COP negotiators to rise to the occasion of the climate crisis. Over 50 major cities saw huge demonstrations.

In Oakland, on November 21st, over 5,000 marched for climate action after hearing the same call to action. Action oriented climate justice groups like Diablo Rising Tide have vowed to pressure corporate and political leaders on the issue of fossil fuel extraction, infrastructure and combustion in Northern California.

protest CJ Paris“As a coastal region and a hotbed of environmental innovation, these climate talks are especially relevant to life in the Bay Area,” said Scott Parkin, also with Diablo Rising Tide. “Numerous Bay Area organizations have sent representatives to Paris to join others from around the globe, and the recent crackdown prevents citizens here and around the world from making their voices heard.”

On September 28th, Diablo Rising Tide organized Flood Wall Street West which saw over 250 people march to the offices of Chevron, Wells Fargo and Bank of the West in San Francisco’s Financial District.. The mass civil disobedience shut down the corporate headquarters of Bank of the West for the day and led to the arrests of a dozen climate activists. Bank of the West is a subsidiary of French bank BNP-Paribas, a lead financier of the coal sector in France.

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Diablo Rising Tide is the Bay Area chapter of Rising Tide North America network. Rising Tide is an all-volunteer climate network in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico who confront the root causes of climate change with protests and grassroots organizing.The larger Rising Tide network spans four continents and works with activists in North and South America, Europe, and Australia.

 

Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis

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justice

A demonstrator speaks about his encounter with attackers who shot five protesters near the Minneapolis Police 4th Precinct on Monday night.

Rising Tide North America Statement of Solidarity with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis

In response to last night’s shooting of five unarmed Black Lives Matters activists at the Justice for Jamar Clark Encampment in Minneapolis by masked white supremacists, Rising Tide North America issued the following statement:

“Rising Tide North America stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter community in Minneapolis, the protest encampment demanding justice for Jamar Clark and communities everywhere in the struggle for racial justice and against white racist violence, state sponsored or otherwise. We stand in solidarity with the right of communities to express their grief and rage, and to take action for justice.

We join the call for the release of the tapes of Jamar Clark’s murder. We condemn the extreme racist and violent rhetoric of white hate groups and individuals, leaders of both political parties, police officials and opinion-makers that target the movement for Black lives. In this moment, we particularly call on members of the climate justice movement to join the fight for racial justice and put their bodies on the line to confront white supremacy — both in the form of vigilante violence and in police departments.

Rising Tide North America is a continental network of climate justice groups and individuals committed to challenging the root causes of climate change. We stand for social, racial, environmental and climate justice. We can only address climate change by exposing the intersections between the oppression of humans, communities and the planet. In order to create a livable and just future, we work toward the empowerment of marginalized communities and the dismantling of the systems of oppression that keep us divided.

On this day, the anniversary of the non-indictment of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, we still believe climate justice is inextricably linked with racial justice. We cannot have the one without the other. Our hearts and actions remain in this fight to create a just and climate stable world.”

Please donate here to support our friends and allies with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.

Please sign the pledge to show up with Black Lives Matter and the movement for Black lives.

Read Rising Tide’s statement of solidarity with Ferguson.

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