Tag: Utah

Utah: Support the #StopthePollutingPort Defendants!

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We need your help!

Right now, ten people are facing felony charges from an action that took place in Salt Lake City this past July against the proposed Inland Port. Many more have been charged with misdemeanors from that action and others while the Port Authority Board evades the public process and continues to push this polluting project towards fruition.

Back in the summer, groups opposed to the Inlet Port organized the action and adjacent rally to raise awareness of the devastating public health impacts of the proposed inland port, and its inherent environmental racism and classism, particularly to the communities surrounding the 16,000 acres set aside for the project. These neighborhoods include Rose Park, West Valley City, and Poplar Grove–communities of predominantly poor and low-income Latinx, white, and other people of color who already experience disproportionate pollution, policing, and other forms of disenfranchisement.

As Adair Kovac, one of the protesters and a member of civil resistance group Civil Riot said at the time: “Nonviolent direct action can shine a light on the grave injustice being done by the powerful elite with this destructive development, through the harm it will cause to the surrounding communities, wildlife habitats, and the planet. The violent response from the police yet again proves that law enforcement serves and protects the wealthy and their property and interests, not the majority of people.”

From the press release of the action: “Grounded in a tradition of Indigenous resistance and Civil Rights movements, the action was an escalation of attempts made by impacted community members to reach Derek Miller, chairman of the Utah Inland Port Authority board, and other wealthy, politically connected stakeholders who support the port. Participants in the action have also testified at public hearings, submitted written comments, and supported the civil suit filed against the port by Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski.”

Now those in resistance to Salt Lake City’s Inlet Port are in danger of jail, big fines or other ramifications from the actions.

Please consider giving what you can to support the defendants. Donate here. 

Utah: Young People Disrupt Governor’s Energy Summit

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Youth climate activists on stage with western governors and Rick Perry.

via Wasatch Rising Tide

Students say the Governor’s fossil-fuel agenda sacrifices their future  

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Students and youth organizers from across Utah disrupted the Governor’s Energy Summit on Thursday. Twenty minutes into the Governor’s policy discussion with Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, the young activists’ phone alarms collectively sounded. The students unfolded large banners that read “Your Time is Up, Climate Action Now” and “Invest in Our Future, Not Climate Chaos.” Some youth held clocks with 11 years painted in the center—the time period the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says society must transition to renewable energy to prevent climate catastrophe.

Many of the summit’s keynote speakers represent the fossil fuel industry, and tickets were prohibitively expensive to the general public. The Governor’s Energy Plan through 2020 centers an all-of-the-above energy strategy, making young organizers feel that Herbert’s plan sacrifices their future.

“What Governor Herbert touts as a diverse energy portfolio is really just a dishonest attempt to continue bolstering fossil fuel economies,” said Eliza Van Dyk, Westminster student and organizer with Wasatch Rising Tide. “As young people, we feel our please for a sustainable future are being ignored or met with false solutions. Events like the Governor’s Energy Summit, which are inaccessible to most of the public, further exemplify that Herbert’s energy policy is not in the best interest of the people, but rather the fossil fuel elites who continue to sacrifice our future.”

Energy Secretary Rick Perry and western Governors plotting to sell away our climate future right before youth climate activists disrupt their shenanigans.

Young people stood in front of the stage peacefully singing for five minutes before being forced out by security. As they walked out of the room, they sang “We’re gonna rise up, rise up til it’s won.”

This action follows a wave of youth-led climate actions. In March, Utah youth participated in the international climate strike with millions of young people around the world. They also held a sit-in at Governor Herbert’s office and a die-in at the School Institutional Trust Land Administration office to demand an end to oil and gas drilling across the state. Now, youth are coordinating with a larger coalition of groups across Utah on a People’s Energy Movement—a grassroots movement for a just transition to a renewable, equitable economy.

“A just transition is the only solution to protecting our futures as young people, students, and our neighbors in rural Utah,” said Olivia Juarez, Latinx Organizer with Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “The governors and other speakers feign ‘energy innovation’ as long as they keep fossil fuels on the table. It’s not an option when imminent climate chaos is threatening our futures, especially communities living on the front lines of industry and disaster.”

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2019 Earth First! Rendezvous Announced! July 3-10, Colorado Plateau

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Cross-posted from Canyon Country Rising Tide

ANNOUNCING THE 2019 ROUND RIVER RENDEZVOUS!

2019 Rendezvous || July 3rd-10th || Colorado Plateau || www.2019rrr.org

Save the Date, Smash the State!
The 2019 Round River Rendezvous (RRR) will be held July 3rd-10th somewhere in or around what is colonially known as the State of Utah—occupied land of the Shoshone, Goshute, Southern Paiute, Ute, and Diné peoples.

Join us as we build relationships, up our skills, take action, and build power as we support a regional campaign. The RRR will feature rad workshops and presentations–direct action, climbing, blockades, ecology walks, campaign strategy, local land and water struggles, and more!

Visit www.2019rrr.org or email rrr2019@riseup.net for more information!

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Utah: Young people sit-in urging Utah Governor to oppose the BLM’s Oil and Gas Sale

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Photo Credit: Brooke Larsen

Cross-posted from Wasatch Rising Tide and allies in Utah

Utah Youth Rise Against Oil and Gas Leasing

Young people urge Governor Herbert to oppose the BLM’s March Oil and Gas Sale

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — On Monday, Utah youth delivered a letter with over 1,500 signatures to Governor Herbert’s office, urging him to request the deferral of all parcels in the Utah Bureau of Land Management’s March oil and gas lease sale. Over 50 community members joined young leaders as they held a sit-in, expressed fears for their future, and shared how the state’s poor air quality has impacted their health. The action comes ten days after over 500 young Utahns, and millions of teens around the world, went on strike for climate action.

Utah’s young climate organizers targeted Governor Herbert to keep him accountable to the resolution he signed last year that acknowledges the threats climate change poses to Utah.

“Governor Herbert has failed my generation,” said Mishka Banuri, a senior at West High. “By acknowledging climate change but not following through with substantive action to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, the Governor is knowingly sacrificing our future.”

photo credit: Carly Ferro

On March 25-26, the Utah BLM is auctioning 217,576 acres of public lands to the oil and gas industry — the largest lease sale since the Bush administration. The BLM has listened to governors in the past. Governor Herbert successfully requested the deferral of parcels near Dinosaur National Monument in 2017, and in more recent months, governors of New Mexico and Colorado have achieved limitations on leasing.

Three students initially met with the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Mike Mower, on March 19 to deliver the letter and express their demands. They were disappointed with Mower’s response.

“Mower told us he attended the youth climate strike, but only wanted to focus on the students who drove away in their cars, turning climate change into an individual problem,” said Eliza Van Dyk, Westminster student and organizer with Wasatch Rising Tide. “Climate change will not be solved on an individual basis, we need to change our entire energy system and we need elected officials to help, not hinder that transformation.”

During the sit-in, students spoke with Mower again and asked him to take immediate climate action. He said the state would continue their “all of the above” energy strategy.

“Science shows we must drastically reduce carbon emissions in the next 11 years to prevent climate catastrophe. The state’s all of the above energy strategy is unethical and irresponsible.” said Brooke Larsen, coordinator of Uplift Climate. “My generation needs a rapid transition to the renewable energy economy. We will continue to rise to defend our future.”

The action was organized with the support of the following organizations: Utah Youth for Environmental Solutions, Utah Chapter Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Uplift, and Wasatch Rising Tide.

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UPDATE: Yesterday, Utah youth led a sit-in at Governor Herbert’s office, demanding he take action to defend our future. We delivered a letter with over 1,500 signatures calling on the Governor to request the deferral of all parcels in the Bureau of Land Management’s March oil and gas lease sale. We showed that the people of Utah will keep our leaders accountable and continue to rise for a livable climate, clean air, and protection of wild and sacred lands.

On Tuesday, April 2nd at 6pm MST, Utah youth will have a webinar/conference call to discuss next steps in ongoing actions in protest of the Utah Bureau of Land Management’s mass sale of public lands to the oil and gas industry, a recent court decision that says the BLM must consider climate impacts, and the numerous ways the public can rise with us in defense of our future.

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_g1j4rCGiTJW1H1eszCbhTg