Protesters, police clash in Greece over gold mine

Cross Posted from Huffington Post

THESSALONIKI, Greece — Hundreds of protesters have battled riot police for hours over plans for a gold mine in northern Greece’s Halkidiki peninsula.

Police say one policeman and three protesters were hurt, while 21 protesters have been detained. The protesters have now withdrawn.

This is not the first clash over the gold mine, which has pitted inhabitants of the area against one another.

Owners of tourist lodging, abetted by leftist activists, are fiercely opposed because of environmental reasons, while prospective miners claim the project will create thousands of jobs at an economically difficult time. Supporters of the project staged a counterdemonstration Sunday with banners calling for “no to violence, yes to jobs.”

A multimillion-dollar gold mining project in a nearby area was cancelled a decade ago after similar protests.

After Summer of Solidarity, Eco-Activists Building Autumn of Unity

Cross Posted from Dissident Voice

By Peter Rugh

A hard rain was falling on Monday night as Occupy the Pipeline activists spread out along New York’s Hudson River Park, in front of the site where workers in orange day-glow vests have been laboring around the clock on the New Jersey-New York Expansion Project. Known colloquially by the name of its builder, Spectra Energy, the Spectra Pipeline will pump fuel hydraulically-fracked from Pennsylvania’s gas fields into New York City. The very real risk of explosion along the densely populated regions through which the pipeline passes have made local residents want nothing to do with the project, as evidenced by letters submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the pipeline’s approval process, when only 22 of the 5,000 letters were in the project’s favor. Nor are even those thousands of opponents alone; Monday’s action was part of a nationwide day of actions against fossil fuel infrastructure.

Stand With the ACFN to Stop Pipelines At the Source

Cross Posted from It’s Getting Hot in Here

Any fight against the pipelines and tanker projects in BC must be rooted at stopping them at the source—the Alberta Tar Sands. On Tuesday, October 23^rd we will be standing with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) as they challenge Shell’s proposed expansion of the Jackpine Mine.

They have filed a constitutional challenge, “citing lack of adequate or meaningful consultation and that the application would have adverse impact on their treaty rights” says a press release put out by the ACFN. It continues to explain that, “the application calls for the mining out of 21 km of the Muskeg river, a river of cultural and traditional significance to both the people and wildlife in the area.”

Canadians Present Trees Against Highways

Cross Posted From CBC

A protest at Charlottetown’s province house that included symbolic gifts of hemlocks trees turned nasty for MLAs on Friday.

The demonstration was designed to be a statement about the realignment of the Trans-Canada Highway between Bonshaw and New Haven. The protesters say the new highway is unnecessary and harmful to the environment. They are particularly concerned about the fate of a number of hemlock trees in the path of the highway that are estimated to be 200 years old.

Banner Drop Against Coal Seam Gas in Australia

Cross Posted from Brisbane Times

Protesters opposing coal seam gas production in Queensland have taken to Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point cliffs have their message heard – and seen. As part of the protest involving the Lock the Gate Alliance and environmental groups, seven giant banners with anti-CSG messages were attached to the cliff face. Lock the Gate spokesman Innes Larkin said the banners were a demonstration of the depth of community opposition to CSG mining in southeast Queensland.

‘‘If the government and miners think rural communities will just take this lying down, they’re wrong,’’ Mr Larkin said. Advertisement ‘‘People in the bush are angry and they are prepared to make a stand to protect where they live, their soil and their water.’’ Lock the Gate have been running a week of protests across the state, which began with a march and concert at Murwillumbah in northern NSW last Sunday. 

One Grand Jury Resister Freed, Two More Still Need Support!

Cross Posted from Free Leah

First and foremost, do not panic.

Leah wanted for us to express these points to you with this news:

• She is extremely traumatized and experienced a lot of very, very bad things,  but she is alive. The state of her mental health is also very bad.
• She asks that people do not jump to wild conclusions about her release because they do not apply.
• She spent her whole time in SHU / Administrative Detention (solitary confinement) and was told that that is where she would stay for the duration of her incarceration, up to 18 months. She was classified as “different” from Matt and Kteeo.    

Road to new biotech development in Florida stopped

Occupied gopher tortoise burrow in the path of Hawkeye’s biotech plans, picture taken during Everglades EF! site survey

Last month, activists with the Everglades Earth First! group joined forces with residents of Limestone Creek, a historic Black community, near the city of Jupiter. This week the alliance succeeded in defeating a plan related to Scripps Biotech in Palm Beach County. Following a County Commission hearing on Tuesday, the road proposed by Hawkeye Jupiter LLC to go through a neighborhood leading to 82 acres of endangered species habitat was voted down. 

The plan for plowing through the quiet Limestone Creek neighborhood of Kennedy Estates and paving over the nearby pine flatwoods for more biotech laboratories was the latest in a failing attempt to establish a “biotech hub” in the south Florida region.

The effort to expand biotech venture capitalist investment in the area has been fought since its initial inception in 2004, when then-Governor Jeb Bush unloaded hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to entice the industry. A long journey of agency whistle-blowing, environmental lawsuits, protests and civil disobedience actions has kept their progress at bay. Despite the compromise deals of several Big Green NGOs, grassroots resistance has kept the “biotech hub” from breaking new ground on large undeveloped tracts of land, as initially desired.  

Earth First! Journalist popped at Tar Sands Blockade

Why was that cop bumpin’n’grindin’ with the excavator in front of me?! I know that law and industry work hand-in-hand.. But this is too much.

[Yeah, that’s right. We EF! Journalistas occasionally escape the doldrums of office life and get out to the woods to raise some hell. The following is a first hand account, re-posted from TarSandsBlockade.org]

One Blockader’s Story (Day 25)

by panagioti / Earth First! Newswire

Monday’s early morning hike into the site of the tree blockade allowed me to see the lush and mature forest surrounding the Keystone XL construction first-hand. The abundant slash pine trees and beautyberry shrubs gave me a rush of energy that comes with unexpected sense of familiarity. I couldn’t help but think of the flatwoods of my home in Florida (what they call ‘piney woods’ out here).

So when we got to the massive industrial scar that now cuts through the forest, in preparation for a tar sands pipeline, the impact hit me that much deeper. Obvious wetlands and waterways were clearly trashed, and an absurd security force surrounded the aerial blockade site attempting to starve out the on-site resistance.   

TransCanada’s Police Abuse Peaceful Blockader – A First Hand Account

Day 24 Report from East Texas Tar Sands Blockade

 

Monday I was arrested at the site of Tar Sands Blockade’s tree blockade in Winnsboro, TX.  Though some people attend an action of that size with the intention of being arrested, whether to stop construction activities or to create media attention, I personally never intended to land myself in police custody.

As part of the blockade’s regular ground team, I participate in support operations for those who spend their days and weeks high above the forest floor.  Monday was no different, and I entered the woods in full camouflage with several tasks in mind, all of which revolved around resupplying tree sitters with basic necessities: Fresh fruit and vegetables, vitamins, warm socks, etc.

After a fairly successful morning of fairly undetected movement, I volunteered to try to draw the attention of several police – most of whom are off duty officers from other counties being paid very well to assist in starving out the tree sitters – so another contingent of ground supporters could send a bag full of materials to our friends in the canopy.

Unfortunately, my efforts worked all too well

More Arrests Begin Week Four in Tar Sands Blockade

Updates from East Texas

The following is an excellent report on yesterday’s events by Truthout reported, Candice Bernd.

By Candice Bernd, Truthout | Report

As the Texas tar sands tree-sit enters its fourth week, activists re-enter the tree village to supply and defend members of the Tar Sands Blockade. The arrests continue.

Winnsboro, Tex. – More than 50 blockaders tried to re-enter the site of what has become a historic standoff Monday, to expand and support the ongoing Tar Sands Blockadetree village in east Texas.

Several managed to break through police lines to attempt to re-supply activists who have been occupying trees in the pathway of the Keystone XL pipeline since September 24. The rest of the blockaders rallied nearby, blocked by police and TransCanada’s hired security, who have formed a human barrier around the pipeline easement.

Two blockaders have locked themselves to construction equipment, and six blockaders have been arrested so far today.