Tag: No Pipelines

Statement of Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Leadership in Resistance to the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline

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photo credit: Cualli Tlazocamati

In response to the ongoing rebellion against the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline and the Canadian government’s human rights abuses at the Wet’suwet’en, Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en camps, Rising Tide North America issues the follow statement:

“Rising Tide North America supports Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership in resistance to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline. 

We unequivocally support the sovereignty and human rights of the Wet’suwet’en as title holders to their territory, and their rights to resist the massive fracked gas pipeline that puts their land water climate and women at risk.

The Canadian government and Coastal GasLink are using armed forces, snipers, and dogs to remove matriarchs and supporters from the yintah, they are ignoring the human rights of the Wet’suwet’en, Unist’ot’en and Gidimt’en camps.

We stand with Wet’suwet’en and their supporters as they continue to fight this armed invasion  by the Canadian Government of their territory and ongoing colonialism on behalf of a corporation. We see and honour the strength, courage and determination in all those taking action, defending their land through peaceful ceremony, rail blockades, launching legal challenges, and organizing against investors in the project.

The Wet’suwet’en community has a huge network of organizers, activists, musicians, artists, unions, labor councils, faith groups, that support their sovereignty and resistance, and are raising our voice as a collective in solidarity.

If you would like to continue to support the Wet’suwet’en solidarity efforts against Coastal GasLink there is a supporter toolkit here:

We will continue organizing alongside this powerful grassroots movement, to call out those supporting the armed invasion of Wet’suwet’en territory- the decision makers and investors in this project, and answer the call to action to stand strong against the Canadian government, and Coastal GasLink.”

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MN: Faith Leaders Read the Names of 227 Bodies of Water that Line 3 Will Cross

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via Resist Line 3

Participants to Read the Names of 227 Bodies of Water that Line 3 Will Cross in Minnesota

MINNESOTA GOVERNOR TIM WALZ’S OFFICE PRESENTED WITH LETTER AND DEMANDS FEB. 19 SIGNED BY MORE THAN 570 FAITH LEADERS AND OTHERS OPPOSED TO THE TAR SANDS PIPELINE “AS A REAL THREAT TO WATER, CLIMATE AND INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY”

More than 100 people gathered at the state capitol at Governor Tim Walz’s office to deliver a letter signed by more than 571 faith leaders  — including the Minnesota Council of Churches — and others opposed to the tar sands Line 3 in northern Minnesota, which “poses a real threat to water, climate and indigenous sovereignty.”

Minnesota’s own Dept. Of Commerce (DOC) has opposed this line since it was first proposed on analytical economic and environmental grounds, saying that Enbridge never demonstrated an economic need for the line (the oil will be shipped to foreign markets, and not used here), at a time when two major 2019 world reports that carbon emissions threaten to exacerbate climate change.  Mainstream climate and weather experts say is already being felt in Minnesota with increased precipitation and more severe storms.

via Resist Line 3

These issues were passionately argued recently by Public Utilities Commissioner Matthew Schuerger – a former supporter of the line — when he cast the lone PUC vote against approving the $2.6 billion project again.

“Since taking office, Governor Walz has vowed to uphold ambitious climate goals, but at the same time has avoided taking action to stop the largest proposed fossil fuel infrastructure project in the state,” says Julia Nerbonne, Executive Director of MNIPL).

“The Walz administration is poised to issue permits for 227 water crossings for this pipeline against the clear evidence of oil spill risk, broken treaties, and scientifically-vetted risks from climate change.  We join together as faith leaders to urge Governor Walz and other public officials to use their power to protect our sacred water.”

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BNSF Rails in Seattle Blockaded in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en

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cross-posted from Puget Sound Anarchists

On a sunny Sunday afternoon about 50 of us gathered in occupied Duwamish territory to blockade BNSF railroad tracks along Seattle’s waterfront at the railroad crossing of Broad St. & Alaskan Way in a show of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation and countless others who have been fighting Canada’s drive to force Coastal Gas Link’s gas-pipeline by way of police (RCMP) force. Our intentions differed from that of opportunistic NGOs; our aim was to cause as much economic disruption as possible without a single arrest.

via Puget Sound Anarchists

We arrived on the railroad tracks just after 1:00pm with banners, signs and songs. A train with containers had just passed before we arrived, confirming to us that capital moves 24/7 and that we would be given our chance to clog one of its many arteries. Many of us expected a quick and brutal police response, as is the Seattle Police Department (SPD) reputation. It wasn’t 15-20 minutes however until the first police officers pulled up in a car, spoke with one person to ask what was going on, and promptly drove off. We continued blocking the tracks and the atmosphere was jovial; everyone was talking with each other and laughter could be heard as we nervously waited to see what the police would do.

Over the next 30 minutes, police on bikes slowly began to gather on the sidewalk next to the tracks, but they remained fairly hands-off. We could see a train stopped on the tracks pointed in our direction and it became clear that we were impeding train traffic, a small success but a success all the same. Because this was a solidarity action, we decided to try to move down the tracks to get a photo of us right in front of the train. A squad of bike cops had amassed, and they blocked us from continuing down the tracks towards the train. This line of BNSF rail runs along a heavily trafficked street in downtown Seattle with the touristy waterfront, so we simply walked down the sidewalk to the next crossing. SPD rode their bikes down the tracks and blocked our access again, but now it was the cops that were blocking the train, not us.

We made it to the next crossing and held space on the tracks again, chanting “No pipelines, no invasion, Stop colonization!” Holding space in a semi-confrontational way, showing solidarity with the struggle for Indigenous sovereignty up North and abroad, singing and chanting, all of these things have felt impossible in Seattle for the last couple of years. We were allowed a brief moment of conflictual joy with friends and strangers alike. We laughed at the idea of the cops blocking the train for us.

via Puget Sound Anarchists

The police issued a dispersal order, so we slowly packed up and moved back to the sidewalk, singing and chanting, eventually dispersing ourselves. We successfully stopped BNSF traffic for an hour and a half. While many have used this tactic as an act of civil disobedience, holding out as long as possible until inevitable arrest, it was exciting to see what was possible with as little physical contact with the brutal SPD as possible. SPD’s crowd-control strategies over the years have put a stranglehold on our abilities to mobilize in the streets, resulting in a block of our imaginations as well. But today we experimented with what is possible with a word-of-mouth demonstration of solidarity. Not everything needs to be on the internet, we can successfully organize ourselves in ways that do not immediately invite the militarized hand of police repression.

Capital is a global phenomenon, and it moves over and through borders as such. The idea that we can’t show solidarity because we’re not in Canada is false. With the announcement that Canadian cargo has been re-routed to U.S. ports due to ongoing disruptions, we now know that this struggle can be opened up across the U.S.-Canada border, and beyond.

In solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en nation, all of the rail and port blockades across so-called Canada, and everyone taking to the streets. This is an important moment in anti-colonial struggle, and it will pass us by if we fail to grasp it.

-some anarchists from occupied Duwamish Territory

Coastal GasLink Vancouver Office Vandalized in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en

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cross-posted from It’s Going Down

From an anonymous communique to It’s Going Down:

“We are learning to bite. In Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en comrades struggling for sovereignty and against pipeline development we vandalized the entrance to the CGL office. Using a re-pressurized fire extinguisher we made a small mess. This symbolic act feels like the least we could do.

To a growing militant movement – decolonization means attack!”