Delta 5

Lessons From the Delta 5 Necessity Defense

January 26, 2016 Patrick Mazza, www.cascadiaplanet.blogspot.com Resist! Civil Disobedience, Climate Change, Delta 5, Necessity defense

By Patrick Mazza for Cascadia Planet - What we did expect was that our act of civil disobedience, positioning on a tripod and blocking a fossil fuel train, would help generate a rising crescendo of actions spurring the public pressure needed to address those deadly threats. After many years when political response that scales to the challenge has been blocked by big money and corporate power, we believed that to make the political system work again, it needs the shock, dissonance and friction of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Rising Tide Statement After Delta 5 Case

January 17, 2016 Staff, www.risingtidenorthamerica.org Strategize! Climate Justice, Courts, Delta 5, Oil Trains, Solidarity

Staff for Rising Tide North America. The Delta Five’s action threatened Big Oil millions of dollars in lost profit. One BNSF Railroad official said “One train can be millions in revenue. “When you have a backup on a system, this impacts yard activity, the ports are impacted from ships, then you have passenger and commuter (traffic) in the corridor. It’s a time-sensitive, very busy terminal area. We can’t tolerate it. They can voice their opinion, but we don’t want them on our property. We’re trying to conduct our business.” Corporations and the government don’t want a climate movement willing to take such risks to stop such abhorrent destruction costing them untold profits. Our democracy is broken. Our voices are not heard. Corporations own politicians in Washington D.C. and state capitols across the country making it impossible for ordinary people to have a voice on crucial issues such as global warming. Large environmental groups are also compromised as they pander to politicians and seek funding from corporate donors.

Historic Climate Trial Starts Monday

January 10, 2016 Ahmed Gaya, www.climatedisobedience.org Resist! Climate Change, Delta 5, Oil and Gas, Oil Trains

By Climate Disobedience. Lynwood, WA - Five community members who blocked the path of an explosive oil train in Everett last year will finally go to trial in Snohomish County on Monday. In a surprise ruling Judge Anthony E. Howard has allowed the defendants to argue that their actions were justified by the threat of climate change. This is the first time a U.S. court has heard a ‘necessity defense’ in a case relating to climate action. The defendants, known to supporters as the Delta 5, will call expert witnesses including a co-author of the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change report and a rail safety expert, to convince the jury that the threat posed by climate change justifies their acts of civil disobedience.

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