UPDATE at Cliffside Generator: police have cut out both of the folks who were locked down. 4 have been arrested total

UPDATE @:at Cliffside generator: police are slowly working on cutting through lock boxes and are threatening 1 of 2 locked down women with a taser.

UPDATE: 2 People in handcuffs; Police up on generator with ladders and boltcutters for more folks. Pictures  on their way.

Concerned citizens have blocked the shipment of a massive generator to Cliffside Coal Plant.

Keep track at http://twitter.com/RisingTideNA

Pictures here

Greenville, SC Two protestors have locked themselves to the 1.5 million pound generator destined for Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Protestors are vowing to prevent the generator, which has been traveling across South Carolina on a 300 foot trailer, from reaching the coal plant. “Our nation has no choice, we must stop burning coal. The only choice that we can make is whether we do that in time to still have breathable air, drinkable water, a livable climate, and standing mountains,” said, Catherine Anne. Protestors also draped a large banner from the top of the generator reading, “Stop Cliffside.”

The controversial Cliffside coal plant would emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide ever year in addition to toxic levels of heavy metals such as mercury, greatly exacerbating global warming and our abysmal air quality. Duke Energy is seeking to raise electricity rates in order to pay for the construction of Cliffside at a time when record numbers of families are struggling to put food on the table due to the recession.

This act of civil disobedience comes a week before world leaders meet in Copenhagen to hash out a global climate agreement. “Any agreement made in Copenhagen will be meaningless if the US continues to build coal plants such as Cliffside. It is time to tear down coal plants, not construct new ones,” said Rachel Scarano. There are currently 43 coal plants proposed or under construction in the US, though over 100 others have been canceled due to widespread protests.

Since it was first proposed, there has been massive opposition to Cliffside. In the past year and a half over 60 people have been arrested protesting the plant, and they vow to continue the fight. “Since politicians and corporations refuse to take serious action to stop climate change, citizens must step in to shut down coal plants,” said Attila Nemecz. The protest was organized by Asheville Rising Tide and Croatan Earth First! and is part of a national day of action with dozens of protests around the country including Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, and San Francisco.

Posted in global warming

On November 30, major demonstrations, teach-ins and civil disobedience actions will take place in nine cities around the U.S.—in Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Burlington, VT, two cities in Maine, and Washington DC, as well as several other countries—one week before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen open, and on the 10^th anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in Seattle in 1999.  The Mobilization for Climate Justice, a broad and diverse coalition of organizations working for social, environmental, economic and racial justice is calling for urgent action on the global climate crisis, based on equitable, democratic and science-based solutions.

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen, the people hit hardest by this crisis and the least responsible for its cause—working class, Indigenous and people of color communities around the world—have been systematically excluded and are demanding a voice at the table. Meanwhile, the world’s major corporations have been dominating international and domestic climate policy – as they did in the international trade policy arena. Carbon-trading and carbon offset projects have already allowed these polluters to avoid cutting emissions and expand their markets into poor countries, accelerating corporate take-over of the world’s resources at the expense of local and Indigenous communities.

“We cannot allow the world’s largest corporate polluters to continue robbing our children’s future,” stated Carla Perez of Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project, who will be marching with her daughter in a parade of children and the Raging Grannies. “US corporations have been holding real climate solutions hostage, while burdening our communities with ongoing attacks on our health and livelihoods.”

Well-known climate scientist Dr. James Hansen has said lawmakers should abandon cap-and-trade initiatives altogether and implement a simple carbon tax instead. He said during a speech at Columbia University in May 2009, “It’s time to take a stand on global warming. I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen. Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient.”  Dr. Hansen wrote in his book Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity, “The picture has become clear. Our planet, with its remarkable array of life, is in imminent danger of crashing… But we should not give up on the democratic system—quite the contrary. We must fight for the principle of equal justice. Civil resistance may be our best hope.”

Activists in around the U.S. are preparing for non-violent direct action against major climate polluters and their financiers, and also at the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first and largest carbon trading institution in North America. In recent months, millions of people around the world have been taking action to protect their communities and the global climate. Shutting down coal power plants, blockading oil refineries and marching on the streets of their cities, an increasing number of people are speaking out against climate pollution and calling for urgent action.

The U.S. is home to some of the world’s most egregious corporate climate polluters such as Chevron, Exxon and American Electric Power, along with their financiers, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase. The false solutions promoted by these corporations, like “clean coal”, nuclear energy, bio-fuels and carbon markets will delay urgent emissions reductions, threaten ecosystems and subsidize the construction of more toxic industries in the backyards of the poor.

Specific Times and Locations:

• 11 a.m. CST Chicago: Rally at Federal Plaza, marches to the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first and largest carbon trading institution in North America
• 8:00 a.m. EST Washington DC: March from US Chamber of Commerce (H St. NW & Connecticut St. NW) to other corporate polluters and their lobbyists.
• Nov. 29-Nov. 30 Boston: “Sleepout” on Boston Commons in front of the State House, followed by morning lobbying and 12 noon rally at City Hall Plaza, followed by march to offices of Sen. John Kerry
• 12 noon EST New York: Rally at Bank of America (16th and 5th Ave. nr Union Sq.); colorful procession with marching band to offices of US CAP member Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for Speak Out with climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and others. Street theatric to follow.
• Maine: Rally in downtown Portland; rally and march in Bangor
• 12 noon PST Seattle, Washington: Climate! Justice! Assembly, Westlake Park, 401 Pine
• 3 pm EST Burlington, VT: Davis Student Center at UVM rally, followed by a march to the federal building.
• 11:30 am PST San Francisco: Justin Herman Plaza rally, followed by 12 noon march to Bank of America, 345 Montgomery St. where non-violent civil disobedience will take place

The Mobilization for Climate Justice is calling for

• Drastic emissions reductions guided by science, without carbon trading, offsetting or other corporate-driven false solutions like nuclear power”, biofuels, clean coal” and incinerators.
• Protection for the rights of those most impacted by polluting industries, climate change impacts and the transition to a clean energy economy.
• Re-localization of production and consumption, favoring local markets, cooperative economies and community-controlled, renewable energy systems.
• Rights-based resource conservation that enforces Indigenous land rights and ends corporate control over energy, forests, seeds, land and water.
• An end to forest and biodiversity destruction, and international sanctions and tariffs supported by Indigenous peoples, peasants, fisher-folk and other frontline communities.

more info: www.actforclimatejustice.org

Posted in global warming

Today on the Global Day of Climate Justice Action, a rowdy march in San Francisco made it’s way to Bank of America’s skyscraper (the tallest building in San Francisco), where dozens of activists blockaded the doors all around the building.  Over 200 rallied and marched, while police eventually arrested at least 22.

Some locked themselves within the revolving doors to disrupt Bank of America’s business for the day.  Bank of America is one of the largest funders of coal plants, oil and gas in the country.  They also play a leading role within trade associations pushing for cap and trade.

“The world’s largest corporations are blocking an agreement to address the climate crisis that is endangering our common future,” stated organizer David Solnit. “Meanwhile, Bank of America profits from financing dirty energy and carbon trading schemes that subsidize pollution and poverty.” According to Bloomberg, Bank of America is the third largest financier of oil, gas, and coal in the world, and is heavily involved in financing mountaintop removal coal mining.

The activists, organized as The Mobilization for Climate Justice, also targeted carbon traders, and five of the largest contributors to climate pollution: JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Chevron, BP, and American Electric Power.

The Mobilization blames these corporations for contributing to the climate crisis and promoting false solutions such as carbon trading, “clean coal”, nuclear energy and bio-fuels. Through direct lobbying, and support of lobbying institutions like the Chambers of Commerce and the US Climate Action Partnership, these corporations have prevented democratic domestic and international climate negotiations.  Moreover, companies like Chevron, whose Richmond oil refinery is the single largest emitter of climate pollution in California , continue to dump toxic pollution in poor communities with impunity.

This protest marks the 10th anniversary of the massive mobilization in Seattle that effectively derailed the corporate agenda driving the World Trade Organization’s trade liberalization policies. “We cannot allow the world’s largest corporate polluters to continue robbing our children’s future,” stated Carla Perez of Movement Generation, marching with a parade of children and the Raging Grannies carrying clean up equipment. “US corporations have been holding climate solutions hostage, while burdening our communities with ongoing attacks on our health and livelihoods.”

Protestors demand that Bank of America and the other corporations stop polluting the climate and promoting false solutions at the UN and in the halls of Congress.

Posted in global warming

The Avaaz aliens are baa-acck!

Since the aliens first arrived on Planet Earth to make an intergalatic intervention at the Barcelona climate meeting earlier this month, they have been roaming the Earth searching for real climate leaders.

When the Avaaz aliens heard that the Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and the new European Union (EU) President Herman Van Rompuy were meeting today to prepare for the Copenhagen climate summit they knew they knew they must attend!

“Someone’s got to hold them accountable. Doesn’t always have to be a human,” says one very green alien in this hot video.

The aliens have become very alarmed that in the midst of a planetary emergency the EU has started to propose some very bad, un-climate leadership-ish, texts for the UN climate negotiations that start next week. Leaked draft proposals by PM Rasmussen and the EU have indicated that they want a totally unambitious and dangerous global peak year of 2020 and NO ADDITIONAL fair climate financing.

The aliens stood at the entrance of Danish Prime Minister’s Marienborg residence- just outside of Copenhagen- and in perfect alien accents asked in unison, “Where are the EU climate leaders? Are there any EU climate leaders?”

The aliens made it clear that real climate leaders will commit to a global emissions peak year of 2015 (what science and survival necessitate) and additional, fair financing.

Because many world leaders – like the EU and US – do not seem to be listening to their people, the aliens also attempted to deliver a petition signed by 9,837,794 global citizens who want a fair, ambitious, and legally binding climate treaty.

When the Prime Minister and EU President heard that aliens were after them, they quickly drove by and pointed from their motorcade. Not very climate leader-y.

The aliens will continue their search for climate leaders, have no fear!

Follow actions throughout the climate negotiations on Twitter @COPactions

See our pretty pictures on Flickr!

Posted in global warming

*More details and photos coming soon!*

Chicago climate activists returned to the streets today – this time in the financial district in downtown  Chicago – in a colorful demonstration against cap and trade, carbon offsets and other “false solutions” to climate change.  Building on the long-term campaign to shut down the Crawford and Fisk coal-fired power plants in the city, community and environmental groups from across Chicago and beyond have come together to demand just, equitable, and effective solutions to the climate crisis.

The main target of today’s action is the Chicago Climate Exchange, the first and largest carbon market in North America.  Several other “climate criminals” were visited during a march, including JP Morgan Chase, one of the leading funders of mountain top removal coal mining; Midwest Generation, the owner of Chicago’s two coal-fired power plants; and the Board of Trade, which trades in palm oil, one of the leading drivers of rainforest destruction.

The event kicked off at 11a.m. at Federal Plaza (Adams and Dearborn Street), and is part of a national day of action called for by the Mobilization for Climate Justice in the lead-up to the UN climate summit in Copenhagen and on the 10-year anniversary of the successful shutdown of the WTO in Seattle in 1999.

“From Chicago to Copenhagen, powerful companies are cashing in on the climate crisis, taking advantage of public concern over climate change in order to make a buck.  Carbon trading institutions like the Chicago Climate Exchange are privatizing the air we breathe and handing over rights to the atmosphere to the biggest polluters,” stated Angie Viands, of Rainforest Action Network (RAN) Chicago.  “Carbon Trading is a fraudulent market that intensifies social injustice, does not reduce emissions in a meaningful way, and acts as a dangerous distraction from the real climate solutions we urgently need.”

Event organizers seek to highlight the connections between the global drivers of climate change and local struggles for environmental justice and climate stability.

“The solution to climate change isn’t carbon trading; it is a just, rapid transition away from the industries that are poisoning our communities and the planet.  We can begin by shutting down the Crawford and Fisk coal plants right here in Chicago,” said Dorian Breuer of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO).

While carbon trading is the centerpiece of plans to deal with the climate crisis both in the UN, and in the US Congress and Obama Administration, many civil society organizations consider this market-based approach to be ineffective and unacceptable from a climate justice perspective.  “The air is not for sale!” declared Abigail Singer of the Mobilization for Climate Justice.  “Cap and trade plans are an unprecedented and opportunistic attempt to privatize the atmosphere; in reality, many offset projects embody a new form of colonialism in the developing nations that are most heavily impacted by climate change.  We reject these plans as inherently unjust as well as ineffective at reducing emissions.”

Criticism of carbon trading has been mounting, most recently from sources like top NASA climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and EPA attorneys Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel, who between them represent over 40 years of experience analyzing cap and trade and offset programs.  Both were recently muzzled by the EPA for their outspoken criticism of Administration plans to pursue cap and trade and offsets which appeared as a Washington Post editorial.

Activists will also confront Midwest Generation LLC, owner of the Fisk and Crawford coal-fired power plants in Pilsen and Little Village, Chicago. Local residents attribute numerous adverse health effects to the continued operation of the plants, prompting community groups LVEJO and PERRO to actively campaign for their closure.  This demand has been heard by Ald. Joe Moore (49^th Ward), who announced plans on October 24^th to introduce an ordinance which would effectively shut the plants down. The Fisk plant was the target of a large community demonstration in October on the 350 International Day of Climate Action.  Together, Fisk and Crawford’s emissions represent one-fifth of Chicago’s carbon footprint.

“We are here today as a community demanding a transparent and truly renewable clean energy future.  Our environment’s future should not be dependant on a market based system, it should be reliable to save our future. We demand our voice be heard!” said Kim Wasserman, Coordinator for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO)

“We have lived in the shadows of these coal plants for far too long.  The recent lawsuits against the plants for health violations show that government is willing to move, but we need them to move faster and stronger,” Wasserman said.

“To bring atmospheric carbon into the safe zone of 350 parts per million (ppm), we must phase out dirty coal, invest in clean, decentralized, renewable energy, and adopt agriculture and forestry practices that sequester CO2. False solutions like carbon trading, so-called “clean coal” and nuclear power are not going to solve the climate crisis,” states Debra Michaud of Rainforest Action Network Chicago.

Organizers express opposition to currently proposed U.S. climate legislation which relies heavily on can and trade and carbon offsets.

“The current climate legislation is fatally flawed, setting weak targets and creating inappropriate tools,” remarks David Kraft of Nuclear Energy Information Service. “It should be modified to exclude false climate solutions, or else rejected; and certainly should NOT in its current form serve as the blueprint for the U.S. negotiating position in Copenhagen,” insists Kraft.  A co-signed letter in opposition will be delivered to the offices of Sens. Richard Durbin and Roland Burris before the rally, and formal meetings requested of the Senators before they vote on the Senate version of the climate bill.

Some participants will take part in nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience at one of the sites along the march route.

Photos and updates from the event will be available at: http://howgreenischicago.org and http://www.actforclimatejustice.org.  The procession will include a marching band and many colorful banners, props and signs.

Today’s action is one of nine major protests taking place across the US organized by the Mobilization for Climate Justice, Rising Tide North America, and the Climate Pledge of Resistance.   Locally, five organizations that helped organize the October 24^th protest rally at the Fisk coal-fired power plant in Chicago are endorsing today’s action and are participating in the march and rally: Rainforest Action Network Chicago, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Nuclear Energy Information Service, Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization, and Eco-Justice Collaborative.

Posted in Carbon Trading, Climate Justice, Coal, Coal Campaign, Direct Action, Dirty Energy, global warming