Earth First! Protests Fracking at California Regulatory Agency

frack thisCross-posted from the Earth First! Newswire

Ventura, CA –Dozens of activists from Earth First!, American Indian Movement Southern California, and Wica Agli demonstrated at the offices of California’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) in Ventura Monday morning, protesting the plan to pursue further slick water horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the ecologically sensitive Sespe watershed.

Approximately 50 people chanted and held banners reading “Save Water, Don’t Frack!” while dozens of activists entered the office and served a notice of eviction to DOGGR.

Fracking in the Sespe Oil Field is currently being done by Seneca Resources Corporation, a Texas-based company receiving chemicals, supplies, and other services from Halliburton. A recent DOGGR Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) highlighted the Sespe Oil Field because of its remote location and critical habitat for endangered species. The study determined that fracking in this area would result in seven different “significant and unavoidable Class I impacts,”1 including pollution of water in the Sespe Creek watershed and degradation of cultural sites of the Chumash People. In spite of substantial evidence of environmental impact, DOGGR continues to be complacent in the destruction of the Sespe Watershed.

“We are here to send the message that Seneca Resources Corporation and DOGGR need to stop their trespass and theft of water in the Sespe Watershed,” said Jason Dean, Santa Barbara resident and member of Earth First! “The resources that they use and regulate do not belong to them.”

“Seneca Resources and DOGGR are illegitimate agents acting on stolen Chumash land,” said Gray Wolf, a Yoemi Elder with American Indian Movement Southern California.

Seneca Resources already fracks heavily in the Sespe Oil Field, and DOGGR is set to approve eight new wells in the Sespe Watershed. Sespe Creek is the last undammed waterway in Southern California2 and critical habitat for many endangered species, including steelhead trout, red-legged frogs, and arroyo toads. It is bordered on three sides by the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, which facilitates the recovery of the critically endangered California condor.

“Water belongs to no individual or corporation, but to the ecological community that relies on it, and people are a part of that,” said Dean. “In a fracked world, water is undrinkable; a fracked world is uninhabitable.”

Given California’s current water crisis, it is socially irresponsible for DOGGR to allow Sespe Creek to be poisoned by the toxic chemicals used in fracking. Fracking a well once requires two to eight million gallons of water. During a time that numerous water wells are running dry throughout central and Southern California, we do not need DOGGR to regulate fracking, we need fracking to stop immediately. This morning’s protest comes in the wake of fracking bans in New York, Vermont, and Los Angeles, as well as the largest anti-fracking march in history in Oakland, and civil disobedience actions in San Francisco. Earth First! stands in solidarity with all people resisting fracking around the world.

Anti-Fracking Activists Stage Direct Action in San Francisco, 12 Arrested

Anti-Fracking Activists Stage Direct Action in San Francisco, 12 Arrested

SF action comes a day before large planned march and rally to take place in Oakland aimed at pressuring Governor Jerry Brown to end fracking in California

San Francisco—Twelve anti-fracking activists were arrested in front of Governor Jerry Brown’s San Francisco offices Friday to call on Governor Brown to ban fracking, halt the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, and expedite the transition to 100 percent renewable energy in California. Activists from local labor and climate justice groups blocked the doors to all three entrances of the Earl Warren State Supreme Court building, which houses Brown’s San Francisco offices, while others blocked traffic and locked down to a 16-foot high wooden oil derrick (with one person perched on top of the derrick itself.) Indigenous activists with Idle No More held a round dance in front of the building, while members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship sat in on the Warren building front stairs. Among those arrested were activists from three generations of the same family, from ages 18 to 85.

The direct action opens a weekend of protests calling on Brown to fulfill his stated commitment to leading on climate change by banning fracking in California. On Saturday, thousands will march in Oakland in support of a California fracking ban. The San Francisco direct action on Friday escalates pressure on Brown, who has been dodging the issue for years.

“Humanity can live without fossil fuels.  We cannot live without clean water.  The fracking industry is poisoning the water that is necessary for life to exist.  State regulators have let us all down by irresponsibly allowing the fracking industry to pollute natural water systems that were to be set aside for human consumption. It’s time for everyone to rise up and demand a stop to the corporate give-a-ways.  Idle No More SF Bay is here today to rise up for the future of life on Mother Earth,” said Pennie Opal Plant of Idle No More SF Bay.

“We are taking direct action as food service workers to say ‘Don’t Frack Our Food.’ Fracking poisons the food that we eat, that we feed to our families, and that we serve to our customers. The oil industry is affecting our communities. It’s happening in our backyards, not the bosses’ backyard,” said Veronica Garcia, organizer with UNITE HERE 2850 who participated in blocking the McAllister Street entrance to the Warren building. UNITE HERE 2850 represents food service and hospitality workers in the East Bay and North Bay.

“Jerry Brown says Buddhism has taught him a respect for life. If that’s true, how can he allow fracking to continue in California? Between the harsh chemicals, the excessive use of water during a drought, and notoriously dangerous conditions for workers, fracking kills precious beings,” said Dawn Haney, Co-Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

“In Buddhism we have a concept called ‘ahimsa,’ or non-harming,” said Buddhist Peace Fellowship Co-Director Katie Loncke. “In the face of disproportionate pollution in poor communities and communities of color, we find it necessary to engage in ‘militant ahimsa’: nonviolent action that tries to stop harm from happening. This is our way of compassionately confronting government bodies and corporations who are choosing to harm the earth and living beings through fracking.”

“Our political leaders are profiting from Big Oil’s business as usual, and the only way they will ever stand up for what’s right is if we make it absolutely impossible to continue on our current course.  We must force the political class into a choice between ending the war against the earth and communities on it, or filling the jails with people leading with their conscience.” said Scott Parkin, a local climate activist and participant in today’s actions.

Photos from the action: http://bit.ly/1yQBkZy

###