We are the ones we have been waiting for.

we may face a scorched and lifeless earth.
but they’re accountable to their shareholders first.
thats how the world works.
- Propagandhi

I got to spend the last week touring with a band called Propagandhi.

( check out some video clips here: )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMYXXg3lffc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1nh_1dKQ5g

They just released a DVD to benefit an indigenous community in Canada struggling for autonomy called Grassy Narrows. Grassy is a community in resistance. The current face of the ongoing colonization and genocide they face is a company called Weyerhauser - the world’s largest logging company - who is trying to clearcut their traditional land area that sustains their entire way of life. Grandmothers and high school students from Grassy have been blockading the logging road and shutting down Weyerhauser using Direct Action for the last 5 years. So inspiring. They have been asking for support from RAN in running a campaign in the US and Canada against Weyerhauser to help give indigenous organizers space and breathing room up north to organize their own communities. And I got to go on tour with the band and speak and rant and rave and hopefully inspire at least a couple folks to take action and get involved in the campaign.

I first heard Propagandhi in middle school. Their early 90s LPs taught me to question things like gender roles and patriarchy, and taught me not to pledge allegiance in my 6th grade homeroom class every morning. Eleven years later, the down-to-earthness of the band was refreshing and inspiring. I crowd surfed like I was 15 again. It’s been so long since a punk or hardcore band has inspired the kind of catharsis and meaningful connection and release that meant so much to me growing up. The tour was a kind of reconnection to what made my life meaningful growing up, and reaffirmed my faith in punk as an entry point into organizing and social change. I guess getting to talk to a sea of 500+ sweaty, excited kids per night, with one of the most popular independent political punk rock bands of all time can help do that.

Propagandhi hasn’t toured the U.S. since before 9/11, so a lot of the kids who came out to see them have come from all over - many having driven up to 17 hours (Boston to Kentucky) just to see one show. The average night goes like this: all the other bands play, and then Propagandhi comes on. They tune up, look like they are about to start rocking.and then introduce me to talk first. What a tease. The kids, thoroughly itchy to see their favorite band - and fully betrayed by the fact that there is someone to talk politics with them instead - often seem ready to burst. I expected to be heckled out of existence.

The first night I mostly mumbled awkwardly as I tried to get a feel for it all.

The heckling was somehow all POSITIVE - though a little over the top. Kids would shout things like “LETS GO CLEARCUT WEYERHAUSER’S HEADQUARTERS!!!.RIGHT NOW AFTER THE SHOW! LETS DOOO IT!” But after the first night of experimenting I had my messaging down - keeping it super simple, focusing on romantic direct action and ways to plug in, peppered with dumb jokes and profanity, was surprisingly relatable. By the second night, things got pretty great.

The latent energy from people was amazing to work with - and by the third night, there were hundreds of people flailing their fists yelling such nuanced and thoughtful singalong style chants as “FUCK STEVE ROGEL! FUCK STEVE ROGEL! FUCK STEVE ROGEL! WOOO! WOOO!” I learned that depending on the dynamic, you could get a crowd of 500 people to shout cheering no matter what you are actually saying, just based on the intonation of your voice. So fun. If there is one thing I learned, its that kids across the midwest now REALLY hate Weyerhauser, and totally love RAN.

After the set, the RAN table - which is not so popular during the beginning part of the night, gets flooded with kids. This is also, in no small part due to the props that Propagandhi and the other amazing bands - Hiretsukan and GFK - give RAN during their set, asking kids to come check out the table.

Hiretsukan is a band I have been wanting to see for years and years. Getting to see them for a week straight was such a privilege. Those folks are so sincere and wonderful, too.

The shows, as one would expect, were mostly attended by white punk boys - but what is fascinating is the kind of cross section of white punk boys that Propagandhi attracts. The crowds are often rather intergenerational (for punk shows), and turn out people who would otherwise never be caught in the same room together.

The tabling let me talk to all sortsa folks - from young kids who would say things like “I am so interested in this kind of stuff but have no idea how to plug into activism in my town? Can you help me?” to know-it-all arrogant self-righteous anarcho dudes, to the guy in a purple mohawk who carefully looks around and discreetly whispers that he is a bigtime financial consultant and supports what RAN does.

I got to visit lotsa friends and mentours on the road. I also got to tour with Joe, which was really nice.

More updates soon…

(thanks to dave and michelle from hiretsukan for these photos!)

At the end of June, something amazing is happening. It’s going to be the largest gathering of U.S. based grassroots social movements and organizations in recent history. It’s called the US Social Forum (www.ussf2007.org). USSF organizing is being led by people of color, women, queer, and poor folks. Over 10,000 participants will come to Atlanta GA from June 17th through July 2nd.

This will be a historic moment – a pivotal reference point in how our movements for change conceive of themselves, and how they will move in the next 5 to 10 years.

In an effort to both support USSF and Rainforest Action Network’s growing network of activists and chapters, RAN will be hosting an ACTION CAMP in Atlanta for youth (aged 13-30) during the 4 days prior to USSF. It will be a space for RAN activists to learn organizing skills, develop our grassroots strategy, and build our network. It will also be a place to connect with other RAN activists, to have a base of folks to experience USSF with.

We realize that money is tight for a lot of folks. So we would like to invite you to apply for a scholarship to the Action Camps.

:::The deadline is May 7th – !!THAT IS REALLY SOON!!

If you have ever thought about getting involved with or starting a RAN chapter – this is a great way to jump in!

Here’s the application. Enjoy.
http://ran.org/new/ryse/join_us/ran_youth_action_camp/

The Department of Justice plans to build power plants on the sacred Natural Medicine Lake Highlands near Mt. Shasta. These are spiritual places for the Native peoples of California, and are just another instance of the colonialism and genocide that continues to this day against Indigenous people in the U.S. and beyond.

Could you imagine if they wanted to pollute and destroy Jerusalem to build power plants over the Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques in the area for a quick buck? Why does that seem ridiculous, and this kind of destruction of sacred sites so commonplace? Our government still doesn’t recognize the right to self determination of Native peoples, nor do they acknowledge their beliefs as legitimate religion.

On Friday, April 6, 2007, I joined Native activists and other Environmental Justice allies for a rally at the Department of Justice Office. The Rally itself was beautiful. An intergenerational and multi-racial group of activists stood in a circle. Rather than simply gathering around to see a couple hand-picked speakers, the megaphone was passed around to give each person an opportunity to speak and meet one another. Some people gave fiery and rousing speeches, while others simply said they were here to support.

The demonstration and rally was organized by Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, Seventh Generation Fund, International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environmental Network, Citizens of the Pitt River Nation, and Redding Rancheria Cultural Department. And involved allies like Rainforest Action Network.

Some background from Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites:

On 2/21/07 the US Department of Justice (DOJ), acting on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service (FS), requested that the 9th Circuit Court review the issues involving the proposed plans to build geothermal power plants in the Medicine Lake Highlands, a mountainous region held sacred to many Native Nations. In November 2006, a panel of the 9th Circuit unanimously ruled that the agencies not only violated the cultural rights of the Pit River Nation but also failed to uphold provisions of the National Environmental Protection and National Historic Preservation Acts. In their ruling the Court of Appeals found that the above Federal Agencies had never adequately considered whether the Highlands should be developed for energy at all. As a result, the Court rejected the leases that would have allowed Calpine Energy Company to build geothermal plants.

With DOJ’s recent request to the 9th Circuit Court, the department may try to claim that the issue brought by the tribal government and supported by a panel of the 9 th Circuit is irrelevant. They may argue that the Native peoples who traditionally use the Highlands did not protest a new 40-year lease agreement that superseded the previous lease agreement.

In the 1980s, BLM decided to lease the Highlands for geothermal development, but did not go through the required tribal government consultation process mandated by U.S. law. Pit River, Modoc, Wintu and other Native peoples have been opposing these plans ever since they learned that their holy place would be violated. From a Native rights perspective, Medicine Lake Highlands is essential to the free exercise of Tribal religious beliefs and the encroachment of the proposed electrical power generating plant, represents a gross infringement of their constitutional and civil liberties. Native Peoples have never endorsed energy development in this pristine and sacred region nor will they ever. In fact, as far back as June 5, 1970, the late Mickey Gemmill, a distinguished cultural leader of the Pit River Nation issued a “Proclamation: To the President of the United States and the American People” that stated “We are the rightful and legal owner of the land. No amount of money can buy the Mother Earth; therefore, the California Indian Land Claims Commission has no meaning. The Earth is our Mother and we cannot sell her.” From this statement it is clear that the Native peoples that hold the Highlands sacrosanct would never support the pollution and money generating plans of the federal government and energy companies that would cause irreversible damage to the sacred and natural Medicine Lake region.

“Clearly, DOJ, BLM, FS, and Calpine energy company are grasping at straws with their latest legal argument to try to open up the Highlands for energy development,” said Radley Davis, Co-Chair of the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites.

James Hayward Sr., Co-Chair of the Advocates for the Protection of Sacred Sites, said “If the Creator wanted such development in that area there would not be large amounts of dangerous arsenic and mercury in the ground to contend with. A panel of the 9 th Circuit and a lower court have already spent a great deal of time and other resources reviewing the case and it is time for developers to leave the Highlands alone. “

Youtube Video Here:
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJJq9lXdCU

The sun hadn’t risen yet. After circling once under the cover of darkness, our van and truck pulled up to Chevron’s world headquarters. Our affinity group (Bay Rising Affinity Group aka BRAG!), burst out of the van and deployed our barrels, lock boxes, and bodies. The cops were waiting for us, but for some reason when we hopped out of the van, they ran the opposite direction. We locked our arms into place.

Our barricade and occupation of Chevron’s entrance was in place in less than 60 seconds. We completely shut down the main entrance to Chevron’s International HQ. Initially we were worried that we wouldn’t have enough bodies to cross the whole 6 lanes of the entrance - but lucky for us, even though we didn’t reach the other side (at first!), the cops completely shut down the rest of it for us!

Police accumulated and we were told that a call had been made to the special unit that had the saws to cut us out of the barrels. As we wondered how long we would be able to hold the space, people started arriving.

First it was our friends with bright banners and puppet heads. Then it was the Tug-of-Oil-War affinity group, complete with costumes for subsequent street theater. Then people from local communities that have been devastated by Chevron’s refineries in Richmond. Soon we had over 100+ people with bright signs and loud voices. Groups representin’ included Bay Rising affinity group, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS), Communities for a Better Environment, AmazonWatch, US Labor Against the War, Bay Area Labor Comittee for Peace & Justice, Oil Change International, Global Exchange, West County Toxics Coalition, Tug of Oil War, Failure to Disperse, and Rainforest Action Network (RAN).

We chose Chevron for a lot of reasons. We wanted to step it up with nonviolent direct action and begin to target war profiteering corporations, as they are a strategic pillar along with recruitment centers and other direct military targets. We wanted to help draw the link for the public between CLIMATE CHANGE and WAR, with OIL at the center. We also wanted to highlight (one of the) the real reasons we are at war: the Iraqi Oil Law is being rammed through Iraq’s parliament as I write this. It’s a law that was drafted by the Bush administration in English, and it would literally give the oil underneath Iraq to American corporations. Companies like Chevron would outright OWN 2/3 of the oil underneath Iraq for the next generation if this goes through. The Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions and a coalition of Iraqi Parliamentarians have asked for international solidarity and support. They want us to resist these companies and this law in our own countries, where we have the most power to do so. So we’re leveraging our own power and privilege as American citizens to jam up the gears of the War Machine to give Iraqis a little bit more breathing space to organize.

We were working with local affected communities and organizers who have been campaigning against Chevron for a long time now. Leila Salazar-Lopez, a new RAN campaigner, longtime Bay Area activist, and former organizer with AmazonWatch, said that after years of going after Chevron she knew their PR guy pretty well. Usually at demonstrations he is calm, collected, and professional. At this action, he was going bonkers. Dude was pacing back and forth, getting all bent out of shape and freaking out; Chevron knew we had clear and concise messaging, and roughly a gazillion (maybe even two gazillion) TV cameras on us. See the bottom of this post for media links.

So they decided that it would make them look WAY worse if they let the cops arrest us. So to all our surprise, we held the entire space and shut down their entrance for the whole time. And at the end of the day we walked away without going to jail.

A SWAT team cop told Matt “you know, you guys are really well organized. You run a tight ship. I can respect that!”

It was fun: a bunch of kids who had gotten trained in nonviolent direct action (NVDA) at the demonstration the day prior came and locked down with us, extending our barricade all the way to the second entrance. A group of folks held a funeral procession for “the last ice cube on earth”, and Larry the clown hammed it up as a fabulous preacher. There was a tug-of-oil-war with “the people” dressed in Robbin Hood costumes, and “Chevron Execs” dressed as…Chevron Execs (guess who won). The Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane folks came, and danced dressed as the Bush admin. People sang beautiful songs. Amazing local folks spoke passionately about the Environmental destruction happening right next to us. Amazing women from the Philippines spoke about Chevron destroying their communities. I got force-fed chocolate by Jodie. I also got to wear a diaper. It was a good day.

(tug of oil war)

(Jessica Tovar, organizer with Communities for a Better Environment)

We got tons of media and feedback. This is my favorite message we got:

Dear peace organization,

We have analyzed your group’s activity and deeply respect the bravely rendered dramatizations regarding criminal and exploitative business practices, but it may not be in the best interest and full effectivity of your communications to make corporate executives and Chevron employees look so sexy. We may have available some mechanical slimy toads in our production studio warehouses, should you need to represent Chevron employees in the future, please feel free to contact us.

This action is part of the trajectory of people stepping it up with NVDA and civil disobedience against the war. SDS alone has had dozens of coordinated actions across the country in the last week, resulting in arrests, media, and base building for a rejuvenated anti-imperialist anti-war movement. Over 5,000 students across the country participated in actions over the last 4 days. Across the country we’re connecting this war to the other imperial wars for Empire that our country is engaging in - including the wars inside our own borders against women, people of color, poor people, and queer folks. We’re connecting the mad drive for oil with the impending climate chaos that is looming over our heads across the planet. We’re seeing that people dying as the result of Hurricane Katrina are directly connected to the same system that is murdering children in Iraq.

Here are some more photos of the action:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37274909@N00/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sockrebel/sets/72157600011850193/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/losinghand/sets/72157600009879574/
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/03/19/18379360.php

The best TV and print coverage isn’t available online, but here is a smattering of the media coverage we got:

TV:

CBS
http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_078113411.html

ABC
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5133091

NBC
http://www.nbc11.com/news/11294275/detail.html

The Contra-Costa Times made a slideshow with audio!
http://bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/cct/multimedia/flash/chevronprotest/index.html

PRINT:

Contra-Costa Times
(the actual print version is totally different and much more extensive. Not sure why the e-version is like this… )
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/16934674.htm

SF Bay Guardian
http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?page=2&entry_id=3159&catid=&volume_id=254&issue_id=287&volume_num=41&issue_num=25

SFBG again
http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/03/protesting_chevron.html

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/us/20vigils.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

SF Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/19/BAG2EONS7L4.DTL

NBC Print
http://www.nbc11.com/news/11294275/detail.html

Inside Bay Area
http://www.insidebayarea.com/localnews/ci_5477544

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topics/San+Ramon

INTERNET:

Indymedia
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/03/20/18379716.php

It’s Getting Hot in Here
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/1226

Rising Tide
http://risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/

The Argus / MediaNews
www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_5472028

Aid and Abet blog
http://jenangel.wordpress.com/

RADIO:

KPFA NEWS
(Beautiful live recording includes interviews with Jessica Tovar of Communities for a Better Environment, Michael Eisenscher of US Labor Against the War. It starts about 16 minutes into the news)
http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=19261

FLASHPOINTS:
(Live interviews with Sam, Antonia and an in depth in-studio interview with Leila Salazar. It comes about 2/3 of the way through the show, so you can forward to it).
http://aud1.kpfa.org/data/20070319-Mon1700.mp3

(labor against the war)

(herb)

(funeral)

(extending the barricade)

(after unlocking)

(leila doing media)

(david solnit rocks the mic)

(adrienne)

For more info on the Iraqi Oil Theft Law, Labor, and Environmental Justice check these links:

Are U.S. Oil Companies Going to “Win” the Iraq War?

Iraqi unions attack plans for foreign company control of oil

The Price of Oil

The Bush Agenda

Iraqi journalists union demands apology for raid on headquarters in Baghdad; U.S. military denies involvement
The Associated Press, February 24, 2007

Official Statement on American raids on the General Federation of Iraqi Workers headquarters in Baghdad
February 28, 2007

UK Hands Off Iraqi Oil Coalition

General Union of Oil Employees in Basra, Iraq

Communities for a Better Environment

US Labor Against the War

Please Circulate Widely:

4 Years of War for Oil — Enough! Basta!

End Chevron’s Oil Crimes from Richmond to Iraq

STOP THE IRAQ OIL THEFT LAW!

1. NO BLOOD OR OIL!
2. CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!
3. TO STOP WAR, END EMPIRE!

MON MARCH 19, 7-11am

Protest, Rally, & Nonviolent Direct Action
Chevron World Headquarters
San Ramon, CA

6001 Bollinger Canyon Road at Sunset, just east of Hwy 680
(From Walnut Creek BART: a short ride on County Connection shuttle 121, or flat 12 mile bike ride: we’re also working on providing transportation.)

We encourage you to wear Red.

For nonviolent direct action preparation, transportation, to get involved and for more info:
www.MySpace.com/ProtestChevron

1: OIL

EXPOSE THE OIL AGENDA BEHIND THE WAR

It’s simple: Before the war U.S. and British oil companies were all but shut out of Iraq’s oil. Now, they’re getting ready to take control of it and Chevron’s at the front of the pack. Within a year of the invasion, Chevron’s profits nearly doubled, and each year since then, Chevron has set new record profits, with 2006 the company’s most profitable year ever. Those profits have been driven by Iraqi oil, which Chevron refines in Richmond.

HANDS OFF IRAQI OIL!

We join activists from across Europe and the U.S. who, on March 18 & 19, will demand that Big Oil and our governments get their “Hands Off Iraqi Oil!” We will expose the Iraqi Oil Theft Law that would turn Iraq’s oil over to foreign oil companies including Chevron.

WHAT IS “THE IRAQ OIL THEFT LAW”?

The brainchild of the Bush administration and U.S. oil companies, a new oil law nearing passage in Iraq would radically transform Iraq from a nationalized oil system all but closed to U.S. oil companies, to a commercialized system, all-but-privatized, and open to private foreign corporate control.

Iraqi Trade Unions Unite to Oppose Undemocratic Oil Law

In a joint statement Iraq’s five trade union federations rejected “the handing of control over oil to foreign companies, whose aim is to make big profits at the expense of the Iraqi people, and to rob the national wealth, according to long-term, unfair contracts, that undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people”.

“The Iraqi people refuse to allow the future of oil to be decided behind closed doors.”

Support real democracy in Iraq. End the US occupation of Iraq.

Defeat the oil theft law. Hands off Iraqi oil.

2: CLIMATE

WE DEMAND CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW!

With just 4% of the world’s population, we in the US release 25% of all global carbon emissions. Oil and oil-driven consumption are a primary cause of greenhouse gas pollutants which fuel climate crisis. Chevron is the 2nd largest oil company in the U.S. and the 5th largest in the world.

Chevron sabotages domestic efforts to transition to a green economy and refuses to invest in any significant way in alternative forms of green energy.

WE DEMAND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE NOW!

Chevron poisons local communities from Richmond, to Ecuador and Nigeria. The Chevron refinery in Richmond spews a deadly array of toxins into the air, water, and land, including cancer-causing dioxins, on the largely African American, South East Asian, and Latino communities. The refinery and plant have had hundreds of accidents, including fires, spills, leaks, explosions, toxic gas releases, flaring, and air contaminations causing severe illness, including asthma and deadly cancers, for the people of Richmond. The people of Richmond are fighting back and demanding that Chevron clean up or get out.

We need to imagine a world without Chevron, its oil, and its climate chaos.

3: EMPIRE

WE RECOGNIZE THAT TO STOP WAR, WE MUST END EMPIRE.

To end current and future U.S. wars and occupations, to stop climate chaos, to increase democracy and human rights at home, to redirect resources to urgent human and environmental needs, to take apart a global economic and political system that benefits mega corporations at the expense of the planet, we must change the underlying U.S. government policies of empire.

“Empire” is now used by both critics and advocates to describe the unparalleled U.S. system of economic, political, cultural, and military domination. We pay a high price to live in an Empire, including $441 billion a year on a military of over 2 1/2 million soldiers with more than 700 bases spread across 130 countries fighting ever-increasing wars to feed the Empire and expand its control.

To Stop Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc. etc. etc., we must end Empire!

PLEASE JOIN US!
http://www.myspace.com/protestchevron

I spent the last weekend in Dripping Springs Texas at the 9th Radical Encuentro Camp (REC). This year Rainforest Action Network cosponsored it with some amazing anti-authoritarian Texans and community groups. It was a meeting of about 200 activists around the state to share skills and ideas. The theme this year was “climate justice.” We saw panels of amazing women fighting coal companies from native reservations in the Four Corners, to mountain families in Kentucky. Workshops were led by community groups resisting environmental racism, by spiritual leaders about staying spiritually grounded in the struggle, about skills such as media and legal defense, presentations by Rising Tide (radical roadshow on tour educating about climate change), and lots of other fun stuff.

The location was a ranchy type place near Jacob’s Well, one of the deepest underwater caves known - no one has found the end!

The trainings, workshops, and panels were accompanied by a three act Emma Goldman play, and the Afro-Cuban hip hop group Krudas.

see some videos of Krudas here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snk9KYKEwqQ
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31P6ie047b4
or
http://www.myspace.com/3krudas

I met lots of amazing and inspiring folks, and learned a whole lot about the logistical considerations in putting together an Action Camp. As SDS gears up to do our Action Camps this summer, we sure will need a whole lot of people workin. Events like this seem to be the focal point of the development of vision, strategy, and skillsharing on regional or statewide levels. Once SDS develops a template for Action Campin’ we really should have them as regularly as we have capacity for.

After a weekend of learning about climate change and coal, folks did an action against the coal plants and TXU.

It reaffirms my thinking that the organized, radical Left really really really needs to seriously take on the implications of Climate Change as a major issue. The rest of the country is getting organized around it, and most of us are dragging our feet. In a few days I’ll post up a proposal for more cooperation between the antiwar and climate change movements, the uniting piece of the puzzle being oil…

DYING FOR COAL.

(Adi Nochur from SSC)

People hacked up black tar. They cried black tears. Paramedics in biohazard suits desperately tried to save their lives. It was a lively day for the financial district of Boston. We left major banks and financial institutions nervous, scared, and on their toes.

Here’s a video of the carnage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xoaoNm7hVE

(cut it and paste it in your browser, its not a link)

Last Wednesday across the country in major cities from Dallas to New York, Rainforest Action Network activists stormed branches of Merrill Lynch to hold them accountable for funding TXU, a corporation trying to build 11 coal-fired power plants.
I had the privilege of coordinating the Boston action.

(Mike Da Cruz and Will Lambek of Brown SDS)

It’s hard to describe how big of an impact these coal plants would have. First of all they are planned to mostly be built in rural Texas communities, and I shouldn’t have to outline the class implications of building toxic dumps in low income communities and giving their children asthma. The local connections ran deep, as a similar company is trying to build a power plant in a low income community of color nearby in Chelsea. The power plant is being built right across from an elementary school.

The global impacts are staggering. These plants will release 78 million tons of greenhouse gases. That’s more than many countries. More than 21 combined U.S. states. More than 14 million new cars on the road. More than all of BP releases. More than Japan’s entire commitment to the Kyoto protocols - this one project would cancel out the Kyoto Protocols for the country of Japan. It’s one of the biggest steps backwards our country could take in the fight against climate chaos.

(Carly Huebner and Heidi Cooper)

We saw we had about a 3 month window to either stop or seriously scale back the project. So we went for it.

RAN’s strategy is to follow the money. Crazy how so often captialism’s at the root of things, isn’t it?. Some activists were challenging TXU on legal grounds, others through community pressure, others were trying to block their permits, other people were even activating the business community. But we know that even if TXU got it’s permits, they couldn’t function without financial backing. Three major banks were funding TXU: Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and Merrill Lynch. So far we have secured 20 banks who won’t mess with TXU. Merrill Lynch was the strategic target.

There were actions across the country, but no standing RAN chapters in Boston yet. Most of the folks who came out were various friends, allies, and SDSers (from chapters in Providence, Boston, and New York). SDSers in Portland Oregon had a demo in PDX, and SDSers were rocking in the big New York Action too (from chapters in NYC, and New Jersey), which had a “Billionaires for Coal” meme (an amazing action that got really major media. Look for accounts of it elsewhere!).

Pictures of that action here:
http://www.digitalrailroad.net/astern/Production/PhotoGroupView.aspx?pbid=4&msa=1&pgid=7690967

In ours, people violently died and hacked up pollution that was really hot fudge. We were going to originally splatter charcoal around and smear it all over ourselves, but we figured that with it being ash Wednesday and all, the messaging might be confusing. Then we were gonna sling brownie batter around, but didn’t want to waste brownies (or potential-brownies).

(Will Lambek and I)

After the climate change murders, we marched inside to deliver a letter from the RAN executive director to the CEO of Merrill Lynch. We were told that Merrill Lynch had briefed security that we’d be coming, and under no circumstances would they come down and chat with us.

(Will Chalmus and I)

Turns out they were feeling the heat though. Breaking news has it that TXU is crumbling, and the 11 power plants have now been scaled down to 3. Amazing. We’re still waiting for details and the dust to settle; and I imagine we cannot fairly take credit for this…but collectively in the last few months across the country activists took down 8 of these disgusting things. It gives me more inspiration to gear up for bigger fights.

We can’t stop here. No new coal. Period. Congress isn’t gonna regulate carbon. And as long as Wall Street continues to fund this stuff, we gotta fight.

Global warming is increasingly becoming THE issue of our generation. Everyone in our society is talking about it…except for most radical folks on the Left, for some reason. Al Gore is telling people that if they turn off their lights then they are doing their part. That’s not true. This is real, its looming and dramatic, and there are real power structures and people who are making it happen. It’s going to affect people in our generation the most; it is a youth issue. The people fucking the world are gonna be dead before they see the full effects of this….and then we will be dead, if we don’t do something. It disproportionately affects people who live in the Global South and folks of color in the US (Katrina, Stan, Tsunamis…).

We need to radicalize and polarize this issue. Its one of the most fertile vehicles to build a multi-issue mass movement in this country that can also confront the war, immigrant rights and other pressing issues. The emerging post-issue groups like SDS really need to take this seriously I think…

The action made the front cover of the Boston Metro, IndyMedia, was in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Spare Change News, and some local TV and radio. Maybe Newsweek too, we’ll see.
Holler.

The NYC and other actions made the New York Times, a million financial journals, and city papers across the country.

If you are hammering away at the brand of a company and need to increase the pressure and public visibility of your campaign, coordinated, publicized street theater works. plain and simple.

(Ivy)

here is some of the Boston media:

IndyMedia:
http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/198290/index.php

Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/energy/2007/02/26/billionaires-for-coal-group-skeptical-of-txu-deal/

PDF of the front cover of the Boston Metro:
http://metropoint.metro.lu/20070222_Boston.pdf

Internet version of the Metro article:
http://boston.metro.us/metro/local/article/Protesting_Merrill_Lynchs_support_of_coal_plants/7105.html

the Herald:
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=184301

more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/sets/72157594549323351/

(Will Chalmus, Mandee Schwartz, Jenny Venezia, Carly Huebner, and Heidi Cooper)

(Neena Pathak and Will Lambek)

(Will Lambek and I)

(Grace Yasamura from Rainforest Action Network)

(Heidi Cooper)

*All photos by Jonathan McIntosh