Less Than 60 Hours Left to Support Indigenous Land Defenders!

by Amanda Lickers from Reclaim Turtle Island

As yall know, self-representation and independent media are key.

You might have heard about Reclaim Turtle Island , which is a budding platform for Indigenous-run grassroots media projects. Right now we need your support! Literally all across Turtle Island, Indigenous Nations are combating reservation apartheid and industrial genocide. This means fierce ‘n’ frontline resistance to resource extraction! Everything from tar sands, pipelines, fracking, to mining, Land Defenders are throwing down to protect our lands and build up our communities, regaining identity and reclaiming territories.

Born in late 2013, we focused on supporting the Mi’kmaq Warriors fighting fracking, and put out our first short film! Co-produced with subMedia.tv, titled Kahsatstenhsera – Indigenous Resistance to Tar Sands Pipelines.

Reclaim Turtle Island is a form of anti-colonial cultural production and is primarily focused on producing media for and by Indigenous folks, helping to inspire to strive for total liberation. We are raising funds for a few simple reasons.

#1 is equipment. We want to produce high-quality short films that educate and elevate! This means audio, post-production editing tools, data storage (so many hard drives), etc!

The other main reason is that we are in the midst of production right now!!!!

*Funds from this project will go to:

Film production, including Dine’ resistance to frack-sand mining, uranium mining and cultural revitalization and sovereignty projects, Lakota and Ponca resistance to tar sands pipelines, Innu resistance to Plan Nord, and more…

Travel for an ACFN grassroots organizer to attend an important gathering in Lakota territory, marking their 2014 Liberation Day and furthering conversations about tar sands resistanc…

Equipment needed for film-production, such as audio, post-production editing, etc…

Even a small donation will help us reach our goal!!

Donate here.

Nia:wen’kowa – Great thanks!  Your support can help make this happen.

 

Twitter @defendourlands / Facebook 

(amanda lickers, turtle clan/ onondowa’ga haudenosaunee is a curator for Reclaim Turtle Island an anti-pipeline organizer based in tiotiah:ke, so-called montreal @amandalickers)

Marcellus Shale Earth First! Aerial Blockade Celebrates 2 Weeks

DONATE TO THIS CAMPAIGN NOW! KEEP HELLBENDER & THEIR CREW SUPPLIED!

To get directly involved, reach a spokesperson for comment, or donate supplies (tarps, blankets, bulk foods, hand warmers, ropes, harnesses, carabiners, winter boots/clothing, etc.) please contact MarcellusEarthFirst@Riseup.net

Just south of the “New York” and “Pennsylvania” border a battle is raging to defend the Loyalsock state forest in what isknown as Sullivan County, PA, about a half hour north of what is known as the city of Williamsport which lies at the southernmost part of traditional Haudenosaunee Confederacy territory. The high elevation wetlands, and mature forest ecosystems of Loyalsock are home to rare and threatened species such as the Timber Rattlesnake, Northern Water Shrew, Wild Sasparilla, and carnivorous Pitcher Plants. 114,494 acres of this lush forest sit atop the Marcellus Shale, an underground formation that spans from West Virginia to as far north as Ithaca, NY. Houston based corporation Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) has been craving to penetrate this shale formation. APC has proposed developing 26 fracking well-padsalong with multiple pipelines, access roads, and other supporting infrastructure which are poised to devastate the lively streams that sustain all animal and plant life in the Loyalsock. In nearby, Sproul State Forest, Anadarko has spilled over 12,000 gallons of carcinogenic drilling mud. Andarko was also a key investor in British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in 2010 killing 11 workers and releasing 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico forever altering the ecosystem. APC was ordered to pay $272 million towards cleaning up the Gulf. Anadarko refused.

People united under the banner of, Marcellus Shale Earth First! (MSEF!), whose tagline is, “No Drilling! No Compromise!”, have sworn to defend the Loyalsock forest from Anadarko’s ecocidal ways.  On September 13th, two weeks ago today, the first aerial blockade was erected at the site of a proposed well pad. Should Anadarko continue with their plans, activists say there could be many more blockades in this forest. High in the canopy of the forest  sits a brave tree sitter on a platform who chooses to identify themselves as Hellbender, the name of the giant salamander of the North East who makes it’s home in the Loyalsock forest. 

Lawsuit Launched to Protect Endangered Species From Fracking in Michigan

Risky Oil and Gas Production Threatens Rare Butterflies, Bats in Allegan State Game Area

by the Center for Biological Diversity

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.— The Center for Biological Diversity launched federal litigation today challenging the Bureau of Land Management for failing to protect endangered species like the Karner blue butterfly and Indiana bat by properly assessing the risks posed to them by fracking on public land being leased for oil and gas production in a game reserve in southwestern Michigan.

On Sept. 12 the federal government plans to auction off more than 27,000 acres of publicly owned mineral rights in the Allegan State Game Reserve but has not analyzed the harm fracking and drilling could do to all the area’s rare and protected species.  

Join the Rolling Balcombe Fracking Blockade: September 1st – 28th

from No Dash For Gas

Fracking company Cuadrilla’s governmental licence to drill in Balcombe ends on September 28th. The government may be allowing them to drill but they have no social licence from the people of Balcombe to frack their land and threaten their water supply.  Neither do they have any mandate to begin an entire wave of fracking across the country. The vast majority of people in the UK want cleaner, greener energy.
After the upsurge of climate activism at Reclaim the Power in August, let’s make these last 28 days count. Let’s halt their work at Balcombe, and also send a strong message to those wanting to frack elsewhere.

A blockade has been on-going at the drilling site, but trucks have still been getting through. Now it’s time to up the ante.

We invite groups from around the country to come and play a part in a 28 day rolling blockade.

Think creatively and act responsibly. Pick a weekday before September 28, gather friends and useful kit get yourselves to Balcombe.

Fracking is stoppable, another world is possible.

* People are reminded that this is a peaceful blockade and that the Balcombe camp is alcohol-free.

* For further information please contact 28dayslater.balcombe@gmail.com

* Follow us on Twitter (@28_dayslater) and like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/28dayslaterrollingblockade)

South Africa Shale Pits Shell Against Sheep Farmers

by Paul Burkhardt / Bloomberg

Shell applied for permission in 2011 to drill 24 exploratory wells in the Karoo. GO!/Gallo Images/Getty Images

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s shale gas drilling plans for South Africa’s Karoo semi-desert are pitting the government and its energy goals against farmers and conservationists like billionaire Johann Rupert who say the land will be spoiled.

The government estimates enough gas can be discovered to generate 1 trillion rand ($100 billion) of sales within three decades and help bring a country that imports 70 percent of its crude oil needs closer to supplying its own energy demand. Landowners are lining up against the water-intensive drilling techniques that Europe’s biggest oil company intends to use.

“People don’t see what will happen,” Izak van der Merwe, a 59-year old sheep farmer, said as he sipped a beer while walking down a line of freshly slain antelope at the Murraysburg Hunting Competition, 620 kilometers (385 miles) northeast of Cape Town. “The people at Shell don’t realize the kind of ecosystem we have.”

A Dozen Offshore Oil Rigs in California Fracking Without Legally Mandated Review

by The Environmental Defense Center / The Santa Barbara Independent

Oil rigs off the Santa Barbara coast in CA (photo: LA Times)

[EF!N Editor’s Note: While it appears that EDC is on the right track here, we encourage folks to remember not long ago, in 2010, when their greenwashing collaboration with drilling interests made them targets of EF! protests.]

At least a dozen offshore oil wells in California state waters have been fracked in the past three years, apparently without legally mandated review under the California Environmental Quality Act, according to new research. This new revelation doubles the number of known offshore frack jobs, putting additional pressure on the California Coastal Commission to take strong action to control offshore fracking when it meets Thursday in Santa Cruz.

In a joint letter to the Coastal Commission, the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Center (EDC) and Surfrider Foundation urge commissioners to launch an investigation into the use of the controversial process in California waters. The letter also cites records showing that offshore fracking in California employs dangerous substances, including 2-Butoxyethanol, methanol and other cancer-causing chemicals.

“Offshore fracking poses a deadly threat to California’s fragile marine environment,” said Miyoko Sakashita, the Center for Biological Diversity’s oceans program director. “This dangerous practice is being used in our oceans with very little government knowledge or oversight. The best way for the Coastal Commission to protect our water and wildlife is to call an immediate time-out on offshore fracking.”

What The US, Russia Are Really Quarreling Over: Pipelines

For both countries, the Snowden affair is just another ho-hum spat in the greater imperial rivalry.

by Steve Horn / Mint Press News

Secretary of State John Kerry, right, listens to a translation as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks to reporters during their meeting in Washington, Friday, Aug. 9, 2013. The much-discussed Snowden affair is only the latest surface-level event in a geopolitical standoff between the U.S. and Russa over natural gas. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Nearly two months ago, former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden handed smoking-gun documents on the international surveillance apparatus to The Guardian and The Washington Post in what’s become one of the most captivating stories in recent memory.

Snowden now lives in Russia after a Hollywood-like nearly six-week-long stint in a Moscow airport waiting for a country to grant him asylum.

Journalists and pundits have spent countless articles and news segments conveying the intrigue and intensity of the standoff that eventually resulted in Russia granting Snowden one year of asylum. Attention now has shifted to his father, Lon Snowden, and his announced visit of Edward in Russia.

Lost in the excitement of this “White Bronco Moment,” many have missed the elephant in the room: the “Great Game”-style geopolitical standoff between the U.S. and Russia underlying it all, and which may have served as the impetus for Russia to grant Snowden asylum to begin with. What’s at stake? Natural gas.

Hey Earth First!, Time to Get Busy!

More Full Time Direct Action campaigns about to kick off this Summer…

from Earth First! Newswire

At the 2012 Earth First! Rendezvous, during the 4th in a series of workshops intending to “Give EF! a Kick in the Ass,” facilitators proposed what was initially called the “FTDA Pledge” [FTDA = Full Time Direct Action]. The result was a list of people who expressed the desire to be contacted when crucial campaigns were in need of support at critical times.

The workshop discussed what sort of criteria would be used in making these “call-outs” for support.

What was decided together was that they should be: (1) Strategic and well thought-out campaigns, (2) Community-led with strong local organizing looking for support, (3) Against mega-infrastructure

With goals being strong participation in actions that can strengthen the EF! network; renew the culture and spirit of ecological resistance; and radicalize other movements, groups and individuals.

According to EF!ers on the ground last year in East Texas, the Tar Sands Blockades fit very squarely in these criteria, so we called for support from EF! activists around the US, and they came.

There has since been a suggestion to call the FTDA pledge “the Crunch” (a nod to the Movement for a New Society), highlighting the limited window of space that is often present for a rapid escalation of direct action tactics and strategy. 

The following text is modified from an email sent out to EF! activists nationwide regarding organizing efforts which have been discussed and found to also fit the above criteria. If you can plug in to these campaigns over the next few weeks with skills, supplies, time, energy, funds, etc, it could be pivotal moments for the growth of the movement.

Check out the details below. Send it out over local EF! lists. Hope to see you out there. 

2013 Fracktivist Conference: Sept 13-15, Knoxville, TN

from EarthRoot

The movement to end all forms of extreme energy extraction on this planet, wrest control from multinational corporations, and give the power back to the people is becoming something truly beautiful! It is an honor to be a part of it, as so MANY of us are.  We are rising! Please join us for another opportunity to combine struggles and strengthen our efforts.

The 2013 FRACKTIVIST CONFERENCE, a collaborative regional effort, is being organized by the TN Chapter of the Sierra Club along with a plethora of other awesome organizations (listed here). The conference will be taking place at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from September 13-15. We will also be graciously hosted for most meals and sleeping arrangements by the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. (http://www.tvuuc.org/)

From the frac sand mining impacted communities in WI and MN to the newly affected folks in GA and FL, the many issues related to hydraulic fracturing are affecting people all across this splendid country! We are all connected in this struggle.

Our intention for this conference is to educate folks about the variety of elements regarding this extraction process from frac sand mining to transportation to chemical proppants to drilling & storage to methane migration to burning and beyond. We will also have our victories and strategize about how to become a more effective movement to put an end to fossil foolishness!  We look forward to seeing you in Knoxville in September.  

For information on registration, schedules, workshops, contact and how to help, visit the Fracktivist Conference website.

Protests and Sabotage Push Shell Away from Drilling Projects

by Emily Gosden / The Telegraph

Outgoing Shell chief executive Peter Voser called the fall in second quarter profits ‘disappointing’. Photo: GETTY

Royal Dutch Shell profits dropped 60pc to $2.4bn (£1.6bn) in the second quarter after drilling of its shale oil assets in North America showed they were worth $2.1bn less than it had thought. Excluding the impact of the big one-off writedown, profits still fell 20pc to $4.6bn, a result chief executive Peter Voser admitted was “clearly disappointing” and blamed in part on the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria.

Shell also continued to play down the prospects for shale gas in the UK and said recent controversy over fracking showed it was right not to get involved.

The Anglo-Dutch giant, which saw shares fall more than 4pc, said it would begin a major divestment programme, exceeding the $21bn it has sold in the last three years.

It plans to sell small US shale oil fields that it is not interested in developing, and onshore Nigerian oil assets where it is struggling to stem sabotage and theft.