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The Actions Continue!
When members of the Great March for Climate Action arrived in Washington, DC on November 1, many of the walkers were ready for direct action. During the 8 month 3,000 mile walk across the country which started in Los Angeles, they saw areas of the country devastated by the extreme extraction of fossil fuels and heard the stories of people affected by it.
The climate marchers joined a coalition of groups under the name Beyond Extreme Energy for a week of actions from November 3 to 7. Popular Resistance is a member of that coalition. Every day, people concerned about the climate crisis shut down the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) using a variety of tactics including large pieces of art and soft and hard blockades. People came from affected areas to tell their stories to the FERC workers who had to wait outside until the police arrested the activists and opened an entrance. Every day, the activists read their list of demands calling for an investigation into permits, a halt on further permits and meaningful community engagement in the process.
The FERC was a focus of protest because it is the agency that approves permits for oil and gas infrastructure. And the FERC grants permits for projects that endanger communities and open large areas for oil and gas extraction. The protesters call the FERC a rubber-stamp agency but one staffer in Congress said it is worse than that – that the FERC actively works for the oil and gas industry.
Other institutions around DC that are connected to the climate crisis were also protested during the week.
It was an exhausting week and scores of people were arrested, some multiple times. But the energy remained high throughout. And now, many of the participants continue to be active in local fights against approved projects such as the methane storage facility in Seneca Lake, NY and the fracked gas export terminal in Cove Point, MD.
Here’s what you can do right now:
Cove Point – is the first fracked gas export terminal to be approved for the East coast and the first one to be put in a residential neighborhood. It poses a safety risk to the community because smaller storage tanks than are planned have exploded in the past and there is no safe evacuation route. It also opens up the Marcellus Shale to more drilling because methane gas sells for a higher price overseas. Construction of a pier to bring in equipment for the terminal has begun. Dominion Energy has until Dec. 16 to finish the construction or it will be forced to stop until later in March. This time is critical because there are court cases pending. Visit Stop Cove Point for more details.
Join the upcoming days of action from November 30 to December 3 – There will be a nonviolent direct action training from 2 to 6 pm on Sunday, November 30 and rallies on the succeeding weekdays. Contact info@popularresistance.org if you are interested in attending the training and rallies. The training is free but RSVP’s are required and participants are asked to join one or more rallies afterwards.
Like the We Are Cove Point Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Visit the new We Are Cove Point website.
Seneca Lake – The FERC approved a methane gas storage facility in an unstable underground salt cavern. The project threatens the drinking water for 100,000 people. Construction has begun and for the past several weeks, community members and allies have been blockading the entrances regularly with arrests every day this week. So far 65 people have been arrested and two people are in jail. To support We Are Seneca Lake:
1. Make a donation to cover legal expenses – click here to donate.
2. Follow WeAreSenecaLake on twitter – find out what their immediate needs are for supplies. We know they need hand and foot warmers. Click here to visit their twitter page.
3. Join them! – More people are needed to document, support and participate in the actions. Click here to take the pledge to protect Seneca Lake. And contact Faith Meckley at bluegirl3666@yahoo.com.
Take the pledge above and we will send you action alerts so that you can be involved in this struggle.
We are also engaged in conversations around how to prepare for the Paris Treaty in 2015 and connect with the international struggle for real solutions to the climate crisis.