Tag: Kate Brown

No Charges for the 21 Arrested in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s Office

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pic via Southern Oregon Rising Tide

cross-posted from Southern Oregon Rising Tide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, December 20th, 2019
Contact: Southern Oregon Rising Tide, sorisingtide@gmail.com, (541) 392-0643

No Charges for the 21 Arrested in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s Office Demanding That She Oppose Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector Fracked Gas Pipeline
Arrestees Speak Out And Call on Gov. Brown to Take a Stand for our Communities and a Livable Future
[SALEM, OR] – No charges were filed for the 21 individuals arrested at peaceful sit-in in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s office demanding she publicly oppose the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline. On the day that would have been their court arraignment, the 21 people from across rural and urban Oregon spoke out about the reasons why they engaged in civil disobedience to urge the Governor to oppose the project.

On November 21st, following a rally of nearly 1,000 people on the front steps of the state capitol opposed to Jordan Cove LNG, 10 impacted southern Oregonians entered Governor Kate Brown’s office and began a sit in, declaring that they would not leave until she declared opposition to the project. They were joined by dozens more, and nearly 100 people remained in Governor Brown’s office for 9 hours during which they sang songs, shared stories, and called upon the Governor repeatedly to take action. Police arrested 21 people who refused to leave when given a notice of trespass.

“As a landowner on the proposed pipeline route I will continue to fight the pipeline as I have for the past 15 years,” said Sandy Lyon of Days Creek, OR in Douglas County. “Not only do I feel the use of eminent domain is so wrong for a private company’s gain from the destruction of private property and people’s dreams, but crossing through our rivers and streams will be so detrimental to endangered salmon, lamprey and all native fish and their habitats.”

“I have marched, rallied, signed petitions, written letters, met with her staff, and now even spent the night in jail to try to persuade Governor Brown to do the right thing and stop Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector Pipeline. I do this because it is the only way I can look my 10 year-old in the eye and tell him that I am doing everything I can to protect his future from climate disruption,” said Kelly Campbell of Portland. “I urge Governor Brown to join me in opposing this destructive project and protecting our children’s future.”

“The corporations and politicians think they can use shallow promises of economic prosperity to pit rural Oregonians against each other while selling out the future of our planet,” said Derek Pyle of Medford. “It’s time to invest in green jobs, not fossil fuels.”

“Jordan Cove LNG is an environmental disaster both locally and globally,” said Beth Malitz of Corvallis. “Governor Brown should use her power to speak for all of us to stop it.”

The proposed Jordan Cove LNG project and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline would cut through 229 miles of forests, waterways, cultural resources and traditional territories of local Tribes, and private land in four counties of southern Oregon. Tens of thousands of individuals opposed to the project have made their voices heard in federal and state public hearings and comment periods during 2019.

Governor Kate Brown has refused to take a position on the pipeline despite the huge opposition from her constituents and the recent opposition to fracked gas projects from Governors Inslee and Cuomo of Washington and New York. With federal and state permit decisions regarding Jordan Cove LNG expected in early 2020, communities are calling on Governor Brown to immediately take action to oppose the project and put an end to it for good.

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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 stolen Takelma land.

21 Oregonians Arrested in Governor Brown’s Salem Office for Demanding She Oppose Jordan Cove LNG

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image courtesy Southern Oregon Rising Tide

cross-posted from Southern Oregon Rising Tide

 21 Oregonians Arrested in Governor Brown’s Salem Office for Demanding She Oppose Jordan Cove LNG

SALEM, OR – After a nine-hour peaceful sit-in and two informal meetings with Governor Brown, 21 Oregonians were arrested in her office after the Governor refused to take a public stance against the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline. Despite heartfelt testimony from impacted landowners, tribal members, youth, and dozens of others, the Governor twice refused to take a public stance against what would become the largest climate polluter in the state.

One of those arrested standing up for their clean water and a healthy climate was Sandy Lyons, an impacted landowner in Days Creek, Oregon. In a statement she said:

“My husband and I have lived on our ranch for the past 29 years working extremely hard to create and live our dream. We raised our son here teaching him to respect the land, its people and its incredible natural resources. For 15 of those years we have been fighting the proposed gas pipeline which a fossil fuel corporation has chosen our land to cross and seize it from us by eminent domain. I am here today because we have tried every possible way to be heard and want somehow to gain the Governor’s attention to how wrong this is and the negative ways in which it will permanently scar us and our land.”

Another of the 21 arrestees was Emma Marris, an environmental writer from Klamath Falls:

“I live in Klamath County and this is a terrible deal for us. We would bear all the environmental and safety risk so others could profit. Southern Oregon is not a sacrifice zone. All Oregonians should be demanding this project be stopped. I could not look my children in the eyes unless I took this stand today.”

image courtesy Southern Oregon Rising Tide

Inside the sit-in people sang songs, shared stories from over 15 years of fighting the Jordan Cove LNG project, and connected over community solutions to the climate crisis. People inside the room applauded the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for their denial of the 401 Clean Water Act permit in May and acknowledged Governor Brown’s pushback against the Trump administration’s attack of that law.

However, community members participating in the sit-in reiterated many times throughout the day that real climate leadership means standing up against the fossil fuel industry and that they would stay until Governor Brown publicly opposed Jordan Cove LNG. This comes at an especially critical moment with the Federal Government making a decision on the project this February.

“If Governor Brown cares about climate change as much as she claims to, there’s no reason she shouldn’t oppose Jordan Cove LNG today. Governors in New York and Washington have come out publicly against similar fracked gas projects this year,” said Owen Walker with Southern Oregon Rising Tide. “It’s time for Governor Brown to be a climate leader by opposing this project.”

Donate to the legal support fund.

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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 stolen Takelma land.

BREAKING: Constituents sitting in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s office refusing to leave until Governor opposes Jordan Cove fossil fuel project

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cross posted from Southern Oregon Rising Tide

HAPPENING NOW: *NEW LINK TO LIVESTREAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

CONTACT: Southern Oregon Rising Tide, sorisingtide@gmail.com, 541-531-1858

CONSTITUENTS SITTING IN OREGON GOVERNOR KATE BROWN’S OFFICE, REFUSING TO LEAVE UNTIL GOVENOR OPPOSES JORDAN COVE FOSSIL FUEL PROJECT

[Salem, OR] – Enough is enough. This is a crisis. Today, 10 impacted individuals began peacefully sitting in Governor Kate Brown’s office in the Oregon State Capitol Building, quickly joined by 65 more for a total of 75. The sit-in began after hundreds of Oregon and northern California residents entered the Oregon State Capitol Building singing “we have got the power, it’s in the hands of us all.” Allies in the capitol’s rotunda displayed a banner with all the watersheds impacted by Jordan Cove LNG over the Oregon State seal on the floor of the rotunda. The rural landowners, tribal members, and others along the proposed pipeline route are urging the Governor to publicly oppose the proposed Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline, which would damage four southern Oregon counties–and contribute to climate change. They want her to take a stand before the Federal Government issues a decision on the ill-advised project in February. The sit-in comes less than a week after the U.S. government issued a weak final environmental impact statement for the project, underlining the critical role that the State of Oregon must play in denying the project.

Governor Brown has said she wants Oregon to be a leader in climate policy. Keeping silent on a project that would become the state’s largest climate polluter is absolutely incompatible with “climate leadership.” The era in which natural gas, which is largely derived from fracking, could be considered a “bridge fuel” is long past. Scientists around the world agree fossil fuels must be phased out completely and quickly.

The sit-in was led by people living in communities directly impacted by the 229 mile-long fracked gas pipeline and export terminal, including former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury. Others quickly joined, taking seats inside the office in solidarity with the community members who began the sit-in.

LINK TO LIVESTREAM: https://www.facebook.com/sorisingtide/videos/527473954474705/

During the sit-in, people are singing, writing letters to Governor Kate Brown, and telling stories about how their homes and the places they love would be hurt by the project.

“It’s so clear to me that the Jordan Cove energy project in Coos Bay makes absolutely NO SENSE.  It risks the safety of about 25,000 citizens while employing less than 200 people AND makes global warming worse for every resident of our planet,” said former Secretary of State and Coos County Resident, Bill Bradbury.  “Helping a Canadian corporation make money while jeopradizing our citizens is just plain stupid.  They don’t allow it in the state of California, they don’t allow in the state of Washington – we shouldn’t allow it in Oregon – just say NO!”

“The Jordan Cove LNG facility, pipeline, and tankers pose big risks to me, my family, and the lives and property of my friends and thousands of local residents,” says former Department of State Lands employee and Coos County resident, Mike Graybill. “I am taking action today to urge Governor Kate Brown to step up and take a position of opposition to this project. Oregon could and should invest in a future for Coos Bay that does not threaten so many people’s lives and negatively impact existing businesses and residents.”

“My husband and I have lived on our ranch for the past 29 years working extremely hard to create and live our dream. We raised our son here, teaching him to respect the land, its people and its incredible natural resources. For 15 of those years, we have been fighting the proposed gas pipeline which a fossil fuel corporation has chosen our land to cross and seize it from us by eminent domain,” said Sandy Lyons, an impacted landowner and rancher in Days Creek. “I am here today because we have tried every possible way to be heard and want somehow to gain the Governor’s attention to how wrong this is and the negative ways in which it will permanently scar us and our land.”

“We need to be ending our dependence on fossil fuels. And not criminalizing water protectors that are defending the sanctity of Oregon’s lands and waters,” said Thomas Joseph II, Hoopa Tribal Member and co-founder of California Kitchen. “Let’s not do Standing Rock again, lets create something new. Indigenous Knowledge is vital in this transition.”

“I live in Klamath County and this is a terrible deal for us. We would bear all of the environmental and safety risk so others could profit. Southern Oregon is not a sacrifice zone,” says Emma Marris, an environmental writer from Klamath Falls. “All Oregonians should be demanding this project be stopped. I could not look my children in the eyes unless I took this stand today.”

“As impacted landowners, my husband and I have been fighting the Pacific Connector Pipeline for over 10 years,” said Camas Valley resident Kris Cates. “We are concerned about the use of eminent domain to acquire an easement through our forested property. However, more importantly we feel a need to protect the environment for future generations, including our own grandchildren.”

“Today I stand with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women,” said Onna Joseph, Yurok Tribal Member. “We are know pipelines bring man camps that pry on our communities and we need to stop the fracked gas pipeline today. Governor Brown please stand with Indigenous women and stop the Jordan Cove Terminal and LNG Pipeline.”

“I am here on behalf of every Oregonian whose air and water is threatened by this project,” said Southern Oregon University Student, Laura Burke. “I am here because the exploitation of public lands and resources is immoral and must be stopped within this decade. I am here because I have my whole life ahead of me and the decisions made today will directly impact the quality of that life.”

“I am here because of my spiritual commitment to live by the golden rule — do for others as you want them to do for you. A modern version is, do for the next generation what you would want done for your generation. In this era of climate emergency that means we must stop pouring climate pollution into our atmosphere,” said Caren Caldwell, retired Clergy and Jackson County resident. “Jordan Cove LNG, if built, would be the largest polluter in Oregon, and must be stopped now.”

In order to enrich a Canadian fossil fuel corporation, the Jordan Cove LNG export project would trample the private property rights of private landowners, harm the traditional territories and treaty-protected cultural resources of local Tribes, put hundreds of waterways and the drinking water of over 150,000 people at risk, threaten jobs in fishing and crabbing, pose a new major wildfire risk, and become the single largest source of climate pollution in Oregon.

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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 stolen Takelma land.

Hundreds Gather in Salem to Demand that Governor Brown Oppose Jordan Cove LNG Terminal & Pipeline

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Pic Rogue Climate

Cross-posted from Rogue Climate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2019

CONTACT: Allie Rosenbluth, allie@rogueclimate.org, 541-816-2240

HUNDREDS GATHER IN SALEM TO DEMAND THAT GOVERNOR BROWN OPPOSE JORDAN COVE LNG TERMINAL & PIPELINE

[Salem, OR] – Only days after the Federal Government released their Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline, hundreds will assemble on the steps of the Oregon State Capitol Building to urge Governor Kate Brown to take a stand against the project before the Federal Government makes its final decision about the project in early 2020. The rally begins on Thursday, November 21 at 11AM on the Steps of the Oregon State Capitol.

Even if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) grants approval for the Jordan Cove LNG export project in February, Governor Kate Brown and Oregon’s state agencies have the power to deny critical permits and stop Jordan Cove LNG for good.

The rally attendees had a clear call to action for Governor Kate Brown to:

  • Declare opposition to the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline. Governors in Washington and New York have recently opposed similar fracked gas projects.
  • Support agency staff in enforcing Oregon’s regulations in Jordan Cove LNG’s permitting process.
  • Continue to advocate for the protection of state decision-making authority under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act which is currently threatened by changes proposed by the Federal Government; and
  • Prepare to challenge FERC if the agency approves the project.

pic Rogue Climate

Speakers and attendees at the rally spoke to the urgency of Governor Brown supporting communities threatened by the Jordan Cove LNG project. Speakers included: Chairman of the Klamath Tribes Don Gentry; impacted landowner Bill Gow; Hoopa Tribal member Thomas Joseph II; Klamath-Modoc artist Ka’ila Farrell-Smith; Coos Bay commercial fisherman Sam Schwarz; Oregon State Representative Pam Marsh; family medicine doctor Patricia Kulberg, MD, MPH, and South Medford High School student Eliza Viden.

“How can a Canadian company shipping Canadian natural gas for export be allowed to use American eminent domain law against my family to take my property? It’s just not right,” said Bill Gow, impacted landowner and rancher in Douglas County. “Private property rights is an American value that shouldn’t be squashed for a big corporation with lots of money just to turn a profit.”

“A few months ago I refused a once in a lifetime opportunity to hang my paintings in Governor Brown’s office because of her silence on Jordan Cove LNG,” said Klamath-Modoc artist Ka’ila Farrell-Smith. “Governor Brown cannot claim to be an ally of indigenous peoples without taking a stand against and stopping this fracked gas pipeline that threatens our sacred sites, the natural resources we have harvested for millennia, and the safety of our women.”

“If built, Jordan Cove LNG’s impact on our climate and our bay would be devastating,” said Chase Kazzee, student at Southwest Oregon Community College who drove up to the rally from Coos Bay in a van of 15 students. “Governor Kate Brown has the power to be a climate leader and stand up for my generation by stopping Jordan Cove LNG before it ever gets permits.”

“The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) represents  nearly 15,000 Oregon Registered Nurses and strongly opposes the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and the related Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline,” said the Oregon Nurses Association in a statement. “This project will degrade Oregonians’ water quality, harm the health of communities throughout the region, contribute to climate change and irrevocably alter our landscape. This project is not in the best interest of the state of Oregon.”

The Jordan Cove LNG project has been strongly opposed by impacted landowners, tribal members, youth, commercial fishermen, rafters, business owners, health professionals, and allies from across Oregon and northern California for over a decade. Over 90,000 comments opposed to the project have been submitted to permit review processes in 2019 alone.

The Jordan Cove LNG export project would trample the private property rights of private landowners, impact the traditional territories and cultural resources of local Tribes, put hundreds of waterways and the drinking water of over 150,000 people at risk, threaten existing jobs in fishing and crabbing, pose a new major wildfire risk, and become the single largest source of climate pollution in Oregon.

 

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