Rise Up OAFs (Olympians Against Fracking)

Community Potluck.  Speakers.  Music.  Streaming Video.

All Welcome – Free

Traditions Cafe:  300 5th Avenue SW Olympia

Time to save the Planet.  Let’s eat first, then do some planning.

Sponsored by Olympia Movement for Justice & Peace

Oly Movement for Justice & Peace is organizing a global warming event at Traditions at 5th and Water Street on April 16th.  We will be gathering around 6:30 pm, setting up free food – potluck, bring your own utensils please, then will follow with Speakers, Music, and some Streaming Video. We are working on the lineup and will update as things are firmed up.

What’s the point?  Global warming.  It’s coming to get us.  Stop worrying about terrorists, the real threat is global warming.  It’s going to hurt us in a major way if we carry on with business as usual.

What have the smart folks done?  They have ok’d tax breaks for destructive energy systems that drive the problem.  They have exempted the fossil fuel industry from the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Air Acts. 

President Obama is gearing up to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline and arguing for his “all of the above” energy plan.  This smart guy, the best we are likely to get in the WH anytime soon, thinks driving the world over the climate cliff is a progressive idea.  So much for the Smart Folks.

We need OAFs to stop the madness and we are calling out for the OAFs – Olympians Against Fracking – to arise because the stupidity of the smart folks is going to do us in.  What part does Olympia play in the stupidity of the smart folks?  The Port of Olympia is turning a buck by allowing the import and transfer of ceramic proppants manufactured in China and shipping these materials out to the Bakken Formation in North Dakota.  The proppants are manufactured in China where labor and environmental laws are lax compared to our laws, so this import underwrites the loss of US jobs and increases global pollution.

When we hear fracking, we think of hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale on the East Coast.  This fracking claims to be the means to green energy – relatively clean-burning natural gas that can reduce our use of less clean coal, but the destruction and contamination of ground water and the air we breathe is part of the price we pay for fracking for clean fuels, right?

Well, WRONG, in the case of the ceramic proppants moving through the Port of Olympia.  These proppants are not being used to capture “clean” natural gas, they are heading to North Dakota to crack the ground open and allow the fossil fuel industry to turn a profit on oil in the Bakken Formation. The proppanst are injected into the ground where they will jam open cracks in the ground for up to thirty years.  These proppants are infrastructure for an unsustainable and catastrophic energy policy.  Is there natural gas in the Bakken Formation?  Could these proppants be part of the solution to global warming?  Well, yes, there is natural gas in the Bakken, but the fossil fuel industry can’t be bothered to capture this “green fuel” when there is more profitable oil to be had.  They are simply burning the natural gas from the fracking of the Bakken Formation as a waste gas, a nuisance material. The industry that brought the Exxon Valdez to Prince William Sound and the  Deepwater Horizon to the Gulf of Mexico is working day and night in North Dakota and they need the materials that are coming through the Port of Olympia.  Sounds like bad news, right?

Here is the good news:  We can stop this stupidity.  We can lead the way as Olympia often has.  Remember the Port Militarization Resistance that stopped the movement of war materials to Afghanistan, Pakistan and APO?   Mission Accomplished!

We can stop the shipment of ceramic proppants through the Port of Olympia, then we can rally other communities to follow our lead and stop this stupid and deadly economic activity.  Here is more good news:  Global warming is a jobs program.  The transition from a profit-driven fossil fuel energy grid to a clean and green, sustainable energy grid is a jobs program.  This is a change that we have to make.  The US should be leading the way.  The leaders are not going to lead, they are owned by the fossil fuel industry.   Banks that are too big to fail, destructive industries that are too big to jail.  That is what we are up against.

Stand Up, you OAFs!   See you at Traditions on April 16th.  Arrive hungry.  Eat and socialize with your neighbors, but remain hungry.  We need to be hungry for peace and justice.  We need to famished for environmental and social justice.  We are the ones we have been waiting for.  It is up to us to create the change that is needed.  Rise Up, Oafs!  This is our time.

Five minutes and 20 seconds. Grab a cup of coffee and give Paul a listen.

Paul and I agree on a lot of things, but we both start from the point that single issue activism is not going to get the work done.

Paul is a TESC (The Evergreen State College) alum, here is Paul’s website. He has done trainings in Olympia and Shelton on community rights and helped Salish Sea activists shut down the biomass projects a couple of years ago.

Hey, Toto.

2 big blizzards in a couple of weeks. One of the complications of global warming is that the warmed atmosphere holds more water vapor and guess what? More water vapor means heavier snowfalls.

I scanned this piece quickly and did not see any mention of global warming or climate change.

Same thing last week in the mainstream coverage of the snowstorm. Is it irresponsible not to give readers the background information?

Last week was Storm Q (I like the Blizzard of Oz name better). This week is Storm R.

I did spot some coverage that referenced the fact that the last 100 year snowstorm was two years ago when I was scanning the news for mainstream connections to the largest global story – global warming, but I think that coverage did not mention global warming either.

Here is what Yahoo News is running on the second storm in two weeks:

DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) — Blizzard conditions slammed parts of the central Plains Monday, forcing the closure of highways in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles and sending public works crews scrambling for salt and sand anew just days after a massive storm blanketed the region with snow.

National Weather Service officials in Kansas and Oklahoma issued blizzard warnings and watches through late Monday as the storm packing snow and high winds tracked eastward across West Texas toward Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Forecasters also warned of possible tornadoes further southeast.

Snow covered Amarillo, Texas, where forecasters said up to 18 inches could fall, accompanied by wind gusts up to 65 mph. Paul Braun, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transport, said whiteout conditions and drifting snow had made all roads in the Texas Panhandle impassable. Interstate 40 was closed from Amarillo to the Oklahoma state line.

Want to read the whole story? Go ahead. Please let me know if they mention global warming.

Thanks to Austin for the reference information.  Members of our beloved community are detained in Federal detention and are being held in solitary confinement for refusing to cooperate with a secret grand jury.

• Charges against these individuals?  None.
•  Indictments against these individuals?  None.
• Convictions against these indivicuals?   None.

In a beautiful world beset by disturbing and dangerous trends this is a particular disturbing business.

Free Kteeo.   Please.   Free Kteeo.  Please.
Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex by Angela Y. Davis (1998)

The War on the People: An Interview with Christian Parenti by Suzi Weissman (1999)

Crime As Social Control by Christian Parenti (2000)

Lockdown America in 22 Minutes [Audio] by Christian Parenti

Race, Prison, and Poverty by Paul Street (2001)

Empire Abroad, Prisons At Home: Dark Connections by Paul Street (2003)

Open rally in Olympia, Washington in support of the Washington DC Keystone XL Pipeline Demonstration.

February 17, 2013 from 3 pm to 6 pm.  We will be at Heritage Park with PA, music, speakers, tabling and general merriment.  Come and join us.

 Want to sign the Credo Petition to Governor Inslee?  Please do.

 Why are we getting out in February in Western Washington?

    read’m and weep:

KUOW Radio January 31, 2013

Northwest on Verge of Becoming Pacific Crude Oil Gateway

ABERDEEN, Wash. – The Northwest is on the verge of becoming a gateway for crude oil. Three different developers have plans to use docks on Grays Harbor, Washington to transfer crude oil from trains to ships. Other projects are getting off the ground in Tacoma, Vancouver, B.C. and on the lower Columbia River.

There was a huge turnout Wednesday night at an introductory public workshop in Aberdeen, Washington. The response indicates crude-by-rail may be the region’s next big environmental controversy…
To hear / read the rest of the story

We are also gathering signatures and sending letters to Governor Jay Inslee regarding global warming and the need for change.  Here is the letter that Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation has drafted:

AN OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNOR JAY INSLEE

Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Call
360-902-4111
TTY/TDD users should contact the Washington Relay Service at 711 or 1-800-833-6388.

Fax
360-753-4110

Dear Governor Inslee:

          As citizens deeply concerned about the climate crisis, we were encouraged by the remarks you made in your inaugural address about the need to reduce the risk of climate change from carbon emissions. You specifically emphasized the need to “replace rhetoric with quantifiable results.” We hope this means that you will take immediate action to promote a progressive carbon tax, fund energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and divest state funds from fossil fuels.

          As you know, we have a narrow window of time in which to reduce Co2 emissions before runaway, irreversible climate change condemns us to a global temperature rise of 4 to 6 degrees C. Unless we act immediately and with sufficient determination, we risk civilization as we know it. The only way to produce the necessary level of greenhouse gas reductions is a full-scale, all-hands-on-deck mobilization, what William James called “the moral equivalent of war.” We are asking you to become a leader in this fight, to proclaim the urgency of the climate crisis, and to make our state an example of how much can be done to reduce greenhouse gases in a short period of time.

          On February 17, 2013, thousands of people will converge on Washington D.C. to urge President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline which would convey dirty tar sands oil to refineries and export ports in Gulf Coast. As climate scientist John Abraham, of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, said, “If we burn all the tar sand oil, the temperature rise, just from burning that tar sand will be half of what we’ve already seen.” James Hansen, probably the world’s pre-eminent climate scientist, is even more emphatic. Discussing the need to limit greenhouse gas emissions, he said, “If tar sands are thrown into the mix, it is game over for the planet.” In support of the action in Washington D.C., we are holding a No Keystone XL Pipeline rally in Olympia on Sunday, February 17^th at 3:00 PM in Heritage Park. We invite you to join us and to use this protest to voice your opposition to the expansion of the Alberta tar sands.

          In the past you have recognized that the proposed coal export terminals for the Northwest, pose the “largest decision our state will be making from a carbon pollution standpoint, certainly in my lifetime, and nothing even comes close to it.” In an interview with Grist magazine, you said “I’m going to be giving some thought to this.” We hope that you have since recognized that the proposed coal exports from the Northwest are a carbon bomb, which could potentially produce enough Co2 to push the planet towards catastrophic climate chaos. We hope that you have since thought of significant ways that you, as Governor, can defuse the coal export carbon bomb and prevent the proposed coal export terminals and massive trains that would transport coal from the Powder River Basin through our state.

          Last year, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber wrote to the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corp of Engineers asking for a comprehensive environmental impact review of the proposed coal ports in the Northwest – a review that takes into account the cumulative environmental impacts of all the proposed ports and the trains that would transport the coal from Montana and Wyoming through Oregon and Washington. As the new Governor of Washington – a Governor who stated that he is seeking ways to reduce the risk of climate change in his inaugural address – you can do no less.  Indeed, we hope, or rather, we are confident that you will take additional significant actions to prevent coal export from Washington ports.

____________________________________________________

Name                      Address                             E-mail address

The pipelines run through the center of the country from north to south, but the coal trains and fracking trucks run across our rails, roads, and through our ports. Calling all earthlings who care about a sustainable planet to turn out and raise their voices for a just, peaceful and sustainable planet. And we start it here, now. Where we stand.

Q. Which places did you visit in your tour? Did any local anarchists groups host events? If so, which ones?

In total I spoke in 44 North American cities scattered across 2 Canadian provinces and 18 US states. These were on the east and west coasts and from the east coast across the mid-west as far as Minneapolis-St Paul’s.

There were lots of organizations, infoshops and organizations in formation involved on putting on the dates. Around one third were organized through the North East Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC) while some local groups just organized a meeting in the one city they were active in. In the vast majority of cases I’d never met any of the organizers, everything was done over email, the entire Florida tour for instance was initated by one student who was on the Crimthinc mailing list and saw an announcement for my tour which was apparently posted there. He contacted me and then proceeded to contact email addresses he found in Florida and managed to get four dates together that way.

Q. Were the meetings well attended? Does there seem to be much interest in libertarian ideas?

Attendance varied from around 60 to around a dozen, perhaps giving a total close to 1400 people who attended a meeting during the tour. In quite a few stops it was the first public anarchist meeting organized in quite a while so apart from city size and local politics there would have been a good deal of variation in how experienced the local organizers were at putting together and promoting events like these. The people who turned up certainly seemed to be interested but they were rather a small fraction of the local population.

Q. What was the theme of the meeting? Were they well received?

The theme was ‘Building a Popular Anarchism in Ireland.’ Basically I was telling the story of the growth of the Irish anarchist movement in the period from 1997-2007 and in doing so making an argument for an outward looking, organized movement capable of working in alliances. Generally there seemed to be a very high level of interest, it was a great help that the subject matter contained loads of interesting anecdotes that reflected a decade of positive anarchist organization in Ireland.

Q. What is the US movement like from a class-struggle perspective?

Better than I expected. I think on arrival in North America I shared any of the prejudices that you find in the British anarchist movement towards North America, prejudices that are often based on a failure to try and understand conditions there. I expected a lot of North American anarchists to be liberal idiots but the reality I found was huge numbers of people doing quite solid local organizing, in particular when you considered their weak numbers and relative lack of experience. And a good few of the positions that seem a little odd from Europe make a lot more sense when you can put them in the contest of local conditions and North American history.

Q. What are, if any, the tactical and political priorities/differences in the US compared to Ireland/UK?

read the whole piece?  Good idea!

The climate crisis is upon us – and it will get worse.

–