healthy gulf

Climate Movement Monday: whales, tents, & jail support

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

It’s another Movement Monday and I’ll be extra brief as Zippy and I are headed out for a much-needed dose of nature. I’m grateful to be able to escape to the great outdoors where I can clear my mind and refill my well, and I hope you’re also able to  rejuvenate during these incredibly dark days.

This ask comes from Healthy Gulf and involves personalizing a quick letter:

The critically-endangered Rice’s whale lives only in the Gulf of Mexico and is teetering on the edge of extinction, with only about 50 whales remaining. But rather than protecting them, members of Congress are trying to block desperately needed actions to protect the whales. These whales need your support!

Will you take action today to tell your representatives that you support protections for critically endangered Rice’s whales?

Some members of Congress are attaching anti-whale language to bills that would fund government agencies in 2025. One measure by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) would force the U.S. Air Force to exempt itself from protections for the Rice’s whale under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, even though the Air Force has not requested it and has a long history of working to protect endangered species in its operations. Another would block the federal government from spending any money on creating restrictions on the speed of ships traveling through designated whale habitat—a proven conservation action used worldwide to protect whales from vessel strikes. 

It’s pathological behavior for Congress to ignore the multiple crises threatening humanity’s very existence and, instead, to use their considerable power to target whales for extinction. Whew.

The second issue I want to put on your radar is a fundraiser to buy tents for people in Gaza (just realized they also have a separate fundraiser to buy diapers). The Sameer Project is a donations based aid Palestinian-led initiative working to supply emergency funding to the displaced families in Gaza. They are doing amazing work under incredibly difficult circumstances. This from their GoFundMe update today: The Sameer Project has so far provided over 525+ tents sheltering more than 5,000 people since the Rafah invasion started in May. That accounts for 1.5% of all the displaced population. Not only that, but our team has also been providing cash, clothing, food, water, and medical in all parts of the Strip. Wheelchairs are extremely expensive and difficult to find yet we successfully secured one for a woman with a severe case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Our community kitchens and water trucks are going strong in the North because of your support. We also recently sourced around 300 milk tins and 1250 packs of diapers in both the North and South. 

Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated!

The third issue is monetary support for the courageous people of Stop the Money Pipeline who are putting pressure on CitiBank to stop funding fossil fuel projects and genocide in Israel (you can notify Citi you’re opposed their actions here). I wrote about the Summer of Heat campaign here. This from the latest Stop the Money Pipeline email:

In the last three weeks, we’ve helped organize sixteen actions on Wall Street financiers of fossil fuels, including seven civil disobedience protests at Citi’s HQ that have ended in more than 250 arrests.

As a result of our tireless organizing, our message is getting out.

Yesterday, ABC correctly reported that “fossil fuel projects in [the Gulf South] are devastating Black and Brown communities.” Reuters wrote that “Citi employees were alerted on Thursday to anticipate ‘significant protest’ activity on Friday.” The previous day, Bloomberg reported that our “protracted campaign is beginning to wear on employees and executives alike.”

We aren’t deterred by all the arrests. Our resolve is only hardened: we will make our demand to end fossil fuels impossible to ignore by continuing disruptive, nonviolent civil disobedience.

That’s why we’ve been shutting down Citi’s HQ since early June – and why we’ll continue to be back week after week.

To sustain this fight, we need your help. Donate here to our legal and jail support fund. Every cent raised will support the courageous activists risking arrest week after week here in New York.

Again, any amount is helps! Thank you for reading this far and please know how much you’re appreciated. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Lake Charles Methanol plant

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and then take a quick action on behalf of a frontline community. This week, we’re focusing on the people of Lake Charles, Louisiana, who are facing yet another proposed plant in an area that, according to the EPA, already has some of the worst air pollution in the country. But before I get into that I wanted to quickly update you on a previous action on behalf of people in Louisiana. I’m happy to report that The Vessel Project reached its $25,000 fundraising goal after their office was damaged by a tornado two+ weeks ago, and they are now back at work providing mutual aid, disaster relief, and environmental justice in their community. Yay!

Today’s post info comes from Healthy Gulf (highlighted here before) and this is the info I received via email:

In October 2023, Lake Charles Methanol (LCM) submitted a new application for an air operating permit to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). This plant was previously given authorization in 2016, but despite the fact that they have yet to break ground, this polluting project is still being pushed on Lake Charles communities.

If given approval for this permit, LCM would be able to produce up to 10,000 metric tons of methanol per day, resulting in over 350 tons of toxic emissions per year.

This project is proposed for the heart of Southwest Louisiana, where many community members have been experiencing the effects of toxic industry buildout in their backyards. Many disenfranchised communities, as well as communities of color continue to be targeted and impacted by this buildout.

The deadline to submit comments has been extended to Wednesday, May 1. Please take action today and tell LDEQ to reject Lake Charles Methanol II’s request for an air operating permit.

For a healthy Gulf, 
Breon Robinson
——————————————–

I debated whether to make writing a comment today’s ask since we’re not living in that community, but then thought about how I’d appreciate people from other parts of the country speaking out in solidarity for my community’s health and well-being.  And to be clear, the people in those communities are being sacrificed on the altar of capitalism and consumerism. That’s where industries concentrate their toxic and hazardous plants and factories, and the people there are the first to suffer the effects of those pollutants AND the extreme weather caused by climate change. It’s not acceptable.

I personalized my letter to acknowledge that I don’t live in the community, but would not want those toxic chemicals in my community. Also? When I went to the Louisiana Tourism site and saw this quote at the top of the page: We have the best food, music, and culture in the world, but it’s our people that make Louisiana such a special place to visit!, I had another talking point: if Louisiana really considers their people the most important asset, then they should be protecting ALL citizens from toxic chemicals and poor health. It’s not necessary to personalize your letter, but it will carry more weight if you do.

Thank you for reading this far and taking action on behalf of people who are already dealing with a toxic environment that degrades public health and the environment. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: protecting the Gulf

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I discuss all things climate and frequently highlight a frontline community enduring the worst effects of the climate crisis, along with a request to take action on their behalf. Today we’re focusing on the communities along the Gulf of Mexico, people and places that are treated as sacrifice zones due to extractive energy practices. They do not want more oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Rather, they want a just transition to renewable energy sources that will provide safe, good-paying jobs while also protecting the water, air, and land where they live.

Fire that resulted from the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
US Coast Guard / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Today’s quick action is to personalize a letter to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, demanding that Biden keep his campaign promise for no new oil and gas leases on federal land. The White House is about to release the “five-year plan” for oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. The following is fromHealthyGulf.org

The “five year plan” is the guiding document for how the Federal government leases offshore areas to private companies to explore and drill for oil and gas. With climate change accelerating and the clean energy revolution upon us, we can’t afford to expand drilling in the Gulf. The people of the Gulf Coast want President Biden to honor his campaign pledge of no expansion of oil and gas drilling. Tell President Biden we need a five year plan with no new leases!

 

Access the letter here and personalize with your own outlook and experiences following the hottest summer in recorded history. When the scientific community tells us over and over and over again that in order to have a livable planet we must keep all fossil fuels in the ground, we must act. When people and communities tell us over and over and over again that they are negatively impacted by extractive energy practices, we must act.

(NOTE: To learn more about the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in 2010 which surpassed the Exxon Valdez tragedy of 1989, go here.)

SOME UPDATES:

Yesterday, an estimated 75,000 people took to the streets in New York City* to demand an end to fossil fuels. Here’s a segment from DemocracyNow that includes a speech from Sharon Lavigne of Rise St. James. (Rise St. James is a faith-based grassroots organization fighting for environmental justice as it works to defeat the proliferation of petrochemical industries in St. James Parish, Louisiana.) Sharon and her community would be very happy to know we’re sending letters that demand no new oil and gas leases in the Gulf!
*There were corresponding climate actions to #EndFossilFuels on all 7 continents!

Today, Sunrise Movement and 50+ organizations signed onto a letter to Biden asking him to use his Executive Order to establish a Civilian Climate Corps akin to the CCC during the New Deal. This modern CCC would offer good-paying, safe jobs to young people who’d be working to combat the climate crisis. The idea is a win/win. And speaking as someone who, pre-pandemic, spent a lot of time as a young-at-heart member of Sunrise, a CCC would go a long ways toward easing their acute anxiety about their futures on this planet. PLEASE feel free to contact your Senators and Representative to ask that they push Biden to establish a modern CCC. 🙂

Thank you for reading this far. Please let me know if you were able to attend a climate action near you this past week. (There was nothing in Denver (!) but there were other rallies in other cities throughout Colorado.) We’re heading out for a couple nights of camping tomorrow and I look forward to a dose of Nature. Wishing you and yours a good week. Solidarity!  ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: in support of Healthy Gulf

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Today is the 17th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the 1-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida. These devastating storms destroyed Gulf communities that are still struggling to rebuild. The storms were climate-induced, but the negligent government response was 100% man-made. [Note: Below is a Twitter thread re Katrina along with an article that includes profiles of people in Louisiana coastal parishes fighting to rebuild after Ida. I highly recommend reading both.]

Photo by Jerry Brown (HUD) aerial view of impact of Hurricane Katrina 9/12/2005

Healthy Gulf is a coalition of five states along the Gulf of Mexico. Their core values include Environmental Health: We believe that supporting the environmental health and ecosystem richness of the Gulf region is necessary to secure quality of life, sense of place, economic vitality, and social justice within all Gulf communities.

Today’s climate action is to send a letter demanding no new oil and gas leases in the Gulf. As always, the template is there for you to send as-is, or personalize. The most important thing is to lend your name and voice to this fight.

Here’s the link to some background information and the petition.

Thank you in advance for standing in solidarity with coastal communities. We can and must protect them from further needless pollution and catastrophe. ✊🏽

READ BELOW for eye-opening & heart-breaking personal accounts of living through Hurricanes Katrina and Ida.

https://southerlymag.org/2022/08/29/they-want-us-gone-black-louisianans-fight-to-rebuild-a-year-after-ida/