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Coalition Seeks To Hold Police Accountable For Use Of Force

January 3, 2018 Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Matt Remle), Lastrealindians.com , ,
Olympia, WA – On December 28th, 2017 a broad coalition of police accountability activists turned in over 355,000 signatures for ballot measure I-940, known as De-escalate Washington that if passed would allow police to be prosecuted for unjustified use of deadly force, to the Washington Secretary of State to qualify for consideration. The effort was driven by family members who have lost loved ones to police violence in Washington State, largely from the Native and African American communities. The Puyallup Tribe, in particular, was a driving force behind I-940.  Last year, Puyallup Tribal citizen Jacqueline Salyers was murdered by Tacoma police.  Salyers was pregnant at the time of the shooting.

Adani Activists Stop Coal Train Before Being Arrested

January 2, 2018 Andrew Backhouse, m.dailymercury.com.au , ,
ACTIVISTS have halted a train carrying hundreds of tonnes of coal headed for the Abbott Point Coal Terminal. Anti-Adani protest group Front Line Action on Coal reported two activists climbed on top of a coal train and hung a banner across a 15-metre-long carriage. After over three hours occupying the coal train, Anna Hush and Gareth Davies were arrested at 10aam. Anna Hush said: "I am stopping this coal train today because I believe coal has no place in our future. The destruction of land and water for corporate profit is deeply exploitative, and ecologically devastating" Another of the climate activists, environmental consultant Gareth Davies said: "Adani is just one part of this struggle - if this rail line is built, there are a whole bunch of companies ready to begin mining the Galilee Basin.

Activist Victory Forces EPA To Regulate Neurotoxin

December 30, 2017 Alexandra Jacobo , Nationofchange.org , , , ,
A federal appeals court in California this week ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must update their antiquated federal lead regulations within 90 days. Advocates for the change have been fighting in court to get the EPA to update very outdated regulations regarding lead, a harmful neurotoxin. The new rules will strengthen lead hazard standards. The EPA has previously concluded that “lead poisoning is the number one environmental health threat in the U.S. for children ages 6 and younger” and that the current standards are insufficient. The previous standards the EPA was using for dangerous levels of lead in paint and dust were 17-years-old. “This is going to protect the brains of thousands of children across the country,” said Eve C. Gartner, a staff attorney for Earthjustice, one of the groups supporting stronger standards.

Erica Garner, Daughter Of Eric Garner, Fighting For Life After Sustaining Brain Damage

December 29, 2017 By Kirsten West Savali, Theroot.com , ,
Updated Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017, 4:55 p.m. EST: Erica Garner is still fighting for her life after suffering brain damage, following a heart attack over the holiday weekend. The activist remains in grave condition on life support, and the family is holding on and clinging to “a glimpse of hope,” the New York Daily News reports. “We got the wrong information; she’s not gone,” Erica’s mother, Esaw Snipes-Garner, told the Daily News. “She’s still here with us. She just needs some time to heal, that’s it. “We just ask that y’all give her time to heal,” Snipes-Garner added. “Keep praying for her.”

Colombia: Paramilitaries Kill Land Rights Activist

December 11, 2017 Staff, telesurtv.net , , , ,
Hernan Bedoya was the second activist from the group, Communities Constructing Peace, Conpaz, to be killed in 10 days. Another land rights activists, Hernan Bedoya, was killed by hired paramilitary members in a rural sector of the Choco Department in Colombia. Bedoya was the second activist from the group, Communities Constructing Peace, Conpaz, to be killed in 10 days. The Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, AGC, took responsibility for shooting Bedoya 14 times as he was traveling home by horse. The Colombian human rights groups, The People’s Defense and the Intercelestial Commission for Justice and Peace in Colombia, announced the killing on their twitter accounts and called for authorities to “quickly investigate” the killing. The AGC continually threatened the Conpaz activist since 2015 for his work in trying to protect Conpaz members’ communal lands from the company, Association of Agroindustrial Campesinos, Agromar, an industrial African palm and banana producer and exporter. 

Climate Activists Delay U.S. Gas Pipeline Approvals: Regulator

December 4, 2017 Timothy Gardner, reuters.com , , ,
By Timothy Gardner for Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National environmental groups waging legal battles against energy projects are delaying approval of U.S. natural gas pipelines, a top federal energy regulator said on Thursday. The groups have lawyers who “understand how to use all of the levers of federal and state law to frustrate pipeline development,” Neil Chatterjee, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), told a meeting of natural gas industry officials. Some recent approvals of natural gas pipelines, such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina, have taken two years or more. Chatterjee said he hoped a timeline of two-plus years would not become the new industry norm. While industry officials have often complained about climate activists, Chatterjee’s comments, which he said reflected his opinion, are rare for a regulator. He did not identify any specific green groups, but the Sierra Club and 350.org both have campaigns to reject pipelines filled with gas from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, projects. The groups are fighting development of fossil fuels including oil, coal and fracked natural gas, because they say the production slows the transition to cleaner sources, like wind and solar power, and the conservation and storage of energy. The Trump administration is trying to boost output of the fuels to increase jobs in the industry and sell energy exports to allies.

Argentina Blocks Some Activists From Attending WTO Meeting

December 1, 2017 Luc Cohen and Nicolás Misculin, reuters.com , ,
By Luc Cohen and Nicolás Misculin for Reuters - BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina revoked the credentials of some activists who had been accredited by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to attend its ministerial meeting taking place in Buenos Aires next month, the foreign ministry and civil society groups said on Thursday. The 63 activists who had their accreditations rescinded were largely affiliated with the Our World Is Not for Sale network, said organizer Deborah James. The group opposes “corporate globalization” and has staged protests at previous WTO meetings. A spokeswoman for Argentina’s foreign ministry told Reuters some individuals were not allowed to attend because they were determined to be “more disruptive than constructive.” WTO meetings often attract protests by anti-globalization groups, but they have remained largely peaceful since riots broke out at the 1999 meeting in Seattle. “We’ve never had this happen before. It’s totally unprecedented,” James, who is also director of international programs at the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, said by telephone from Washington, D.C. The group posted a public letter including an email the WTO sent to certain participants on Wednesday discouraging them from traveling to Argentina for the Dec. 10-13 meeting to avoid being turned away at the airport. The Geneva-based WTO did not immediately respond to request for comment after normal business hours.

Arrested For Feeding Homeless Without Permit Before Thanksgiving

December 1, 2017 Aaron Kesel, activistpost.com , , , ,
By Aaron Kesel for Activist Post - The Sunday before Thanksgiving Atlanta police handed out tickets to activists feeding the homeless in a clear display of disregard for its hungry citizens simply because activists didn’t have a food distribution permit. Atlanta, which is in Fulton County, has long had a policy requiring organizers of such efforts to obtain a permit. Local authorities have in the past turned a blind eye to the ordinance, though, according to the activist groups including Food Not Bombs that feed the homeless. But last week that changed, of all times right before the American holiday where you are supposed to give thanks and share. Instead, those giving to others in need were arrested for not having a measly piece of paper that authorizes them to hold the food drives and pay the state to do so. These permits are often costly and are an outrage in that they violently coerce groups into applying for charity toward fellow citizens so they don’t starve to death. But, alas, the state has always used and abused the color of law to be sure they get their cut of whatever they deem to be “illegal.” When it comes to food, however, it is a practice that is particularly inhumane and insane to punish people’s natural inclination to help those in need. Two activists who were arrested, Adele Maclean and Marlon Kautz, spoke out on the matter to local CBS station WSB-TV in Atlanta. “I mean, outrageous, right? Of all the things to be punished for, giving free food to people who are hungry?” Maclean told CBS WSB-TV.

Lawsuit Against Environmental Activists Should Be Dismissed

December 1, 2017 Blake Nicholson, AP.org , , , ,
By Blake Nicholson for Associated Press - BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Environmental groups being sued by the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Netherlands and U.S.-based Greenpeace and Netherlands-based BankTrack argue in court documents that their opposition to the $3.8 billion project to move North Dakota oil to Illinois is protected free speech, not an illegal effort to undermine the developer. Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners in August filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace, BankTrack and Earth First, alleging they disseminated false and misleading information about the Dakota Access project, interfered with its construction and damaged the company’s reputation and finances through illegal acts. The lawsuit filed in federal court in North Dakota cites “a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas,” and seeks damages that could approach $1 billion. Attorneys for Greenpeace and BankTrack in court documents filed Tuesday argue that the lawsuit is without merit and an attack on free speech. “Greenpeace’s political advocacy criticizing Energy Transfer’s practices is within the core of First Amendment protection,” the attorneys wrote. In the lawsuit, ETP levies numerous accusations against what it describes as a vast network of co-conspiring groups and people that committed crimes to further their agendas.

Trump’s Health Nominee Implicated In Insulin Price-Gouging Scheme

November 29, 2017 Mike Ludwig, truth-out.org , , ,
By Mike Ludwig for Truthout - "That means that a significant number of people who already paid premiums for their health insurance then end up paying more than their insurer does for a medicine," Azar said, adding that some patients may go without medicine rather than pay high out-of-pocket costs to fill a prescription. Within months of Azar's speech, Eli Lilly and other big drug companies were hit with a barrage of lawsuits and government investigations questioning the rising price of insulin and other diabetes medications and accusing major manufacturers of price fixing. As Truthout has reported, Eli Lilly raised the price of Humalog, a fast-acting form of insulin, by 345 percent during Azar's eight-year tenure at the company. However, it was Azar's comments on rising drug prices and the plight of consumers that helped him become President Trump's latest nominee for health secretary. Azar served as deputy health secretary under the Bush administration, and the White House says his experience in both the public and private sectors makes him the perfect candidate for reining in drug prices at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Advocates say Azar's ideas for lowering drug costs could make an already confusing system even more opaque. They also warn that he engaged in the very reimbursement schemes he criticizes before leaving Eli Lilly earlier this year.

House Intel Committee To Subpoena Leftist Comedian & Activist

November 29, 2017 Max Blumenthal, alternet.org , , , ,
By Max Blumenthal for AlterNet - The House Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation has taken an unexpected turn, with investigators homing in on a New York City-based comedian, radio host and renowned civil rights activist named Randy Credico. Credico received a letter this month from the Committee ranking Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, and Rep. Michael Conaway, the Republican leading the investigation. The lawmakers requested that Credico “participate in a voluntary, transcribed interview at the Committee’s offices” during the first half of December. Credico informed the House committee through his legal counsel that he would not submit to the voluntary interview. Soon after, his lawyer told him that the committee planned to issue a subpoena. Credico is among the unlikeliest characters to have surfaced as a player in the ongoing Russiagate drama. For over two decades, he split time as a comedy professional while waging a tireless crusade against the war on drugs. The former host of a radio show on the Pacifica affiliate WBAI, Credico came into the company of high profile dissidents. Today his friends include the transparency activist targeted for arrest and prosecution by the US government: Julian Assange. The Wikileaks founder was recently accused by CIA Director Mike Pompeo of overseeing a “a non-state hostile intelligence service often abetted by state actors like Russia.” Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has suggested without evidence that Wikileaks collaborated with the Russian government to subvert the 2016 presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor. This year, the Trump administration expanded the federal grand jury seeking the arrest of Assange to cover the Wikileaks release of thousands of documents on CIA hacking tools.

Experience: I Am A Kayaktivist

November 27, 2017 Charles Latimer, theguardian.com , , ,
By Charles Latimer for The Guardian - My first political epiphany concerned the world trade protests in 1999. I was 17 and had a feeling globalisation was a good thing – until I realised it was about money and economics, not people and culture; so in the early 2000s I joined some anti-globalisation protests in Quebec. Several years later, I heard about kayaktivism. I’d kayaked before, and been an activist, but never married the two. My first kayak protest was in Quebec’s Saint Lawrence estuary in 2014. TransCanada wanted to build a supertanker port in a beluga whale nursery. Our mission was to kayak to a boat doing seismic testing, unfurl a banner and take a picture. It wasn’t about stopping the boat, but drawing attention to what was happening. Later that year, though, a group of Pacific islanders took to canoes to block coal ships in Newcastle, Australia, to protest against coal’s impact on climate change; they’d seen coastal erosion and a rise in sea level on their islands. It was largely successful: they were moved on, but delayed a bulk carrier and got a lot of press. That’s when I realised that water-based action could be a great way to protest injustice. I’m now part of a collective of kayaktivists in Vancouver called the Sea Wolves.

Jury Convicts ‘Valve Turner’ Leonard Higgins On Both Counts

November 24, 2017 Bennett Hall, gazettetimes.com , , , ,
By Bennett Hall for Corvallis Gazette-Times - FORT BENTON, Mont. — A Montana jury took just one hour to find climate activist Leonard Higgins guilty of misdemeanor trespassing and felony criminal mischief on Wednesday for his role in the “valve turner” protest that briefly shut down the flow of Canadian crude through pipelines in four U.S. states last year. The 65-year-old former Corvallis resident is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 2 by Judge Daniel Boucher in Chouteau County District Court. He faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the criminal mischief count. The 12-person jury could have found Higgins guilty of a lesser charge but determined that his actions caused more than $1,500 in damage to the pipeline’s owner, Spectra Energy (now Enbridge Corp.), making the criminal mischief a felony offense. Higgins’ lead defense attorney, Herman Watson IV of Bozeman, said his client intends to appeal the verdict to the Montana Supreme Court. “That’s always been the plan, and we already have the appeal written,” Watson said. Like his four fellow valve turners, Higgins had hoped to employ a necessity defense, which would have allowed him to argue that his crimes were justified by the imminent danger to humanity of climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. Boucher denied that motion, saying that “the energy policy of the United States is not on trial.”

Activists Disrupt White House’s Pro-Coal Panel At Bonn Climate Summit

November 15, 2017 Dharna Noor, therealnews.com , , ,
By Dharna Noor The Real News Network - The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is in full swing in Bonn, Germany and all eyes are now on the US, now the only country in the world to reject the Paris Climate Accord. In Bonn on Monday, the Trump administration held a presentation they called "The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation". The presentation sought to pose coal, natural gas and nuclear energy as the solutions to the climate crisis. Climate activists disrupted the panel during opening remarks. Joining us to talk a little bit about the Trump administration's Bonn panel, for the first time in our studio in Baltimore, is Steve Horn. Steve is a research fellow for Desmog.com and a freelance investigative journalist. His writing has appeared in Al Jazeera America, The Intercept, The Guardian, Vice News, The Young Turks Project: TYT Investigates and many others. Thanks for being here today, Steve. STEVE HORN: Good to finally be here. Thanks for having me. DHARNA NOOR: So, today during George David Banks opening remarks on this Trump administration panel, climate activists came in, they disrupted, they started singing songs. Talk a little bit about him and generally about this panel pushing clean coal and nuclear power as solutions to climate change.

Climate Activists Arrested Deploying 3-Story Banner At JPMorgan HQ

November 14, 2017 Staff, ran.org , , ,
By Staff of RAN - NEW YORK – This morning, activists from Rainforest Action Network (RAN) dropped a 35 ft. banner from the headquarters of JPMorgan Chase to protest the bank’s investments in extreme fossil fuels, particularly tar sands oil. According to a recent report from RAN, JPMorgan Chase is the top U.S. funder of tar sands oil — one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet due to the immense volume of deforestation, environmental impacts and increased greenhouse gas emissions from the point of extraction to refining to burning. Tar sands oil produces 20%more greenhouse gases than conventional oil. As NASA Scientist James Hansen famously said, further expansion of tar sands oil means “game over for the climate.” Despite the disastrous impacts of tar sands oil, JPMorgan Chase is actually ramping up its investments in the sector. The bank has poured nearly $2B into tar sands in the first three quarters of 2017 alone — already a 17% uptick from 2016. This includes funding for pipelines that slice through Indigenous lands, trample on human rights, and threaten clean water. “JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon talks a big game when it comes to addressing climate change,” said Tess Geyer, an organizer with Rainforest Action Network.
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