Tag: direct action

Support Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and land defenders

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photo credit: Michael Toledano

by Vanessa Butterworth

As I type this, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation is under attack. The hereditary chiefs and land defenders in Canada are being removed from their land by military police to build the Coastal GasLink pipeline, despite having rights and title to their land, since time immemorial.

The Coastal GasLink pipeline poses grave risks to the land, air, water, and climate, and to the Indigenous women living near the fracked gas pipeline route.

Here in the U.S., you can help by calling out the largest funders of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, JPMorgan Chase and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR). Their plans to invest in the pipeline aren’t final and there’s still time to stop them.

Sign the petition and rise up with the Wet’suwet’en people: Demand Chase and KKR stop financing the Coastal GasLink pipeline and stop the violence!

The details of the deal are simple:

JPMorgan Chase, the world’s biggest banker of fossil fuels, is helping funnel more than $5 billion in loans to the company behind Coastal GasLink. And, KKR — a New York City based investment firm with a grotesque reputation for putting profits over employees, people, and the environment — is involved too. It has plans to purchase 65% of the pipeline with Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo).

We need to stop all the funders of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Many people are rising up. A movement of defiant and uncompromising support is quickly building around the globe and taking unprecedented action. Indigenous people and allies in Canada have led railway blockades, port shutdowns, sit-ins at government buildings, and huge rallies that have brought parts of Canada to an economic standstill. Meanwhile, global allies are shutting down Canadian consulates and banks that are funding the pipeline. Today across Canada, there’s a nation-wide student walkout.

Add to the chorus now and we’ll be in touch about what you can do next!

Sign the petition and rise up with the Wet’suwet’en people: Demand Chase and KKR stop financing the Coastal GasLink pipeline and stop the violence!

This is as much of a fight for Indigenous rights as it is for the future of the planet. The Wet’suwet’en First Nation never signed a treaty to cede their land. Pipeline funders must be held accountable for their role in stealing Indigenous lands and fueling the climate crisis.

There is no climate justice without Indigenous sovereignty,

 

New York: Resist the Cricket Valley gas plant on March 16th!

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Save the date! Monday, March 16th, noon in Albany

You’re invited to join Resist CVE, Food & Water Action, XR, Sane Energy Project, New Paltz Climate Action Coalition & Others at Empire State Plaza in Albany.

Protest Party- Rally, art, music, chants, action & more. Tell Cuomo to follow his own law – No more fracked gas power plants and NY! No Cricket Valley! No Danskammer!

Please share the RSVP link bit.ly/stopcvethismarch with allies who might be interested!

Folks coming from afar can attend a training in Albany on the morning of the action!

NVDA Trainings (Non-violent direct action)

Trainings are a chance to plan & practice for the March 16th action day. A variety of support roles are needed in addition to escalated roles. It’s also a good opportunity for building skills & trust.

Folks coming from afar can attend a training in Albany on the morning of the action!

Tuesday, March 10th: Millerton Training from 6:30-9pm (light dinner included)

Saturday, March 14th: Kingston Training from 11:30am-2pm (art build to follow)

Monday, March 16th: Albany Training (held on morning of the action)

** Address to follow for those who RSVP**

Art Builds

Art builds in the days leading up to the action will help March 16th be one to remember! They’re also a great chance to get to know other activists on the team!
Thursday, February 27th: XR New Paltz at 7:30pm
Sunday, March 1st: Millerton at 2pm
Saturday, March 14th: Kingston 2-7pm (drop in when you can)
Monday, March 9th: 2pm in Wingdale (PENDING)

** Address to follow for those who RSVP**

We encourage all interested activists, artists & musicians to RSVP, so we can craft a powerful day together!

Rising Tide Chicago Bird-dogs JPMorgan Chase Board Member Again!

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cross-posted from Rising Tide Chicago

We all know Chase’s new policy on Arctic drilling is the babiest of steps; so Rising Tide Chicago birddogged Mellody Hobson, a Chase Bank boardmember who claims to be inspired by social movements like youth uprisings and the anti-Apartheid movement, and concerned about migrant child detention.

We gave her a copy of RAN’s follow-up letter before the dinner, and then got on the mic to ask a follow-up question: “Mellody Hobson, you praised the leadership of the students here tonight, while all young people face a catastrophic future precisely because of Chase bank’s investments in the fossil fuel industry. Chase Banks recent policy limiting arctic oil drilling is a start but we need you to use your leverage to stop all fossil fuel investments. As a Boardmember, will you respond to the demands and next steps we outlined in time for the AGM?”

Unfortunately, she gave us the exact same answer as last time, stating that what happens in the boardroom is private information, but that they look to “serve all their constituents.”

Last month, we asked her to read the 2019 Banking on Climate Change Report and she heard us out. Now that we know she won’t change her line, we’ll have to keep up the pressure.

Students Demand Stop Line 3 Action from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz

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from Northfield Against Line 3

Students Demand Stop Line 3 Action from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz refuses dialogue

Over 40 students and community members protested Governor Tim Walz’s negligence and inaction at a moderated conversation between the governor and reporter Pat Kessler, hosted by Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota this morning. Protesters shut down the forum multiple times, with different groups addressing police brutality, climate and environmental justice, and MN state investments in the fossil fuel industry?. Onstage, Walz committed to dialoguing with protesters about their concerns after the forum ended; however, at the end of the event, protesters awaiting dialogue were informed the Governor would not speak with them.

At 10:15am, activists with Justice for Jamar called out questions about police brutality and state inaction from the audience. 15 activists, including family members of police murder victims, came to confront and question Governor Walz because he has refused previous communication. There was a verbal back and forth between Justice for Jamar activists, the moderator, Pat Kessler, and the Governor himself. Protestors were forced to leave the auditorium by police.

At 10:30am, following the forced removal and detainment of several nonviolent activists for the Justice for Jamar movement, the moderator asked Walz an audience question about Line 3: “Governor, why are you choosing to willingly create a public health crisis and put Native communities at risk by failing to oppose Line 3?”

Instead of responding to the question, Walz argued that he doesn’t have jurisdiction over the choices of the Public Utilities Commission or the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He refused yet again to publicly comment on or recognize the detrimental effects of the Line 3 expansion project. If he regards the issues around climate change as seriously as he claims to, he would publicly denounce the project.

Line 3 protestors responded to the moderator’s question about the climate crisis by standing in front of the stage with banners reading “Stop Line 3” and highlighting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Line 3 activists were told that if they left, same as the Justice for Jamar activists, there would be a one on one meeting with the Governor to address these issues. This did not occur: the commitment the governor made was a lie intended only to remove activists from the audience.

Here are our questions for Governor Walz, should he have upheld his commitment to dialogue:

  • By what date will the Dept of Commerce appeal against the Certificate of Need be refiled? If you don’t have a date yet, when will you let us know a date?
  • Can you commit to following the science rigorously on the 401 water crossing certification, and when the science shows a denial, following through on that by denying