movement mondays

Climate Movement Monday: Juliana v United States

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate! This will be a quick post with a call to action as I’m finishing up what I hope is the final round of revisions on my middle grade novel (so that it may go out on submission YAY) before tomorrow morning’s major dental procedure that will put me out of commission for a bit (not so YAY 😦 ).

Today’s post revisits Juliana v United States which, as I wrote about just over a year ago, is the youth-led climate lawsuit charging that the federal government’s actions which knowingly cause climate change are in violation of our constitutional rights. I often write about frontline communities (those facing the worst effects of climate change) and want to highlight my belief that every single young person belongs to a frontline community, in that the climate crisis was not of their making but they will bear the consequences of their elders’ actions. As someone in my third act on this planet, I feel deeply for the young people who are facing an unlivable planet. This knowledge keeps me awake at night and it’s imperative to step up in support of their future. My ask is to personalize the linked email template that will then be delivered to the Biden administration and Department of Justice (DOJ).

Photo by Robin Erino/pexels.com

The info below comes from an email from People Vs Fossil Fuels coalition:

In 2015, 21 young Americans filed a constitutional climate lawsuit against the U.S: Juliana v. United States. In the nearly nine years since the case was filed, the DOJ has made twenty-two attempts to kill Juliana and silence the Juliana youth. No other case in history has faced this kind of government persecution.

NOW, the Juliana youth have to fight to be heard once more and it’s on all of us to rally around them.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Just weeks ago, the Juliana 21 were headed to trial. But now, the DOJ is abusing emergency government powers to rip the case out of the normal legal process. Out of 40,000+ cases in front of the DOJ, these extreme legal tactics are only being used against ONE case: Juliana. The DOJ will try anything to stop America’s youth from protecting all of our futures.

If the DOJ succeeds, the Juliana youth won’t be heard in open court. If we succeed, the Juliana 21 will go to trial and they will win—and force the United States, the BIGGEST contributor to climate change in the world, to make systemic change and phase out fossil fuels. President Biden and the DOJ have a matter of weeks to pull back their attack.

You can help us—your voice is needed NOW.

Tell the Biden Administration and the DOJ: We demand the Juliana 21 be heard at trial. The People vs. Fossil Fuels coalition, in coordination with Our Children’s Trust, is once again joining the Juliana youth by hosting an action to directly email them.

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

  1. Directly Email the Biden Administration and the DOJ with just a few clicks!
  2. Then, amplify the #SaveJuliana campaign, urging friends and family and your networks to take action, too, by using the Partner and Supporter Toolkit! *We have a short turnaround. Help us reach a goal of 10,000 emails sent to Biden and the DOJ by early March!
  3. For more ways to show your support for the Juliana 21, visit the #SaveJuliana campaign page!

Don’t let the DOJ silence youth voices.

Thank you for taking action to support the Juliana youth!

In Solidarity,

Liz Lee on behalf of the People vs. Fossil Fuels organizing team and #SaveJuliana coalition

If you’ve read this far, thank you! I appreciate your engagement and support for the young people. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Gaza + militarized response to peaceful protest

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate-related. I didn’t post the last two weeks due to “reality overwhelm,” but am back today to share some info and offer a few quick actions. Thank you for being here with me. 🙂

Embroidery by @hibstitches on Instagram

These actions are requested from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and I’m including them today because as I wrote earlier, in addition to Israel genociding Palestinians, the “emissions from Israel’s war in Gaza have immense effect on climate catastrophe.” Everyone and everything on the planet is connected. The asks from JVP:

As always, personalized messages are the most powerful. These actions come from JVP’s article Rafah: The penultimate step in Israel’s march of genocide and you may read that here.

Thank you for taking action on behalf of Palestinians and the entire planet! ❤️💚

**********
Now, I’d like to share an illuminating article by Adam Federman which was produced in partnership with Grist and Type Investigations: How the US government began its decade-long campaign against the anti-pipeline movement. The subheading: Newly released documents show the FBI monitoring anti-Keystone protesters much earlier than previously known. Young Native activists were among its first targets.

I encourage you to read the entire article, but here are a few key paragraphs:

Environmental activists and attorneys who reviewed the new documents told Grist and Type Investigations that law enforcement’s approach to the Keystone XL campaign looked like a template for the increasingly militarized response to subsequent environmental and social justice campaigns — from efforts to block the Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock to the ongoing protests against the police training center dubbed “Cop City” in Atlanta, Georgia, which would require razing at least 85 acres of urban forest. 

I’ve written about Cop City here, here, here, here, and connected the dots here.

Hundreds of pages of FBI and State Department files released through the Freedom of Information Act over the last decade highlight an increasingly close relationship between law enforcement agencies and the fossil fuel industry.

The police exist to protect capital and property, not the people or planet. And they don’t even feel the need to hide that connection between cops and capital, as pointed out in this paragraph:

“…starting in late 2012, TransCanada began delivering its own briefing to local law enforcement agencies along the proposed pipeline route. The PowerPoint presentations, which included profiles of organizers at 350.org, Rainforest Action Network, and Tar Sands Blockade, encouraged law enforcement to pursue federal anti-terrorism charges in conjunction with the FBI.”

And near the article’s end is this “…however, actions targeting fossil fuel infrastructure continue to pop up across the country.” 

Things will continue to escalate as the powerful elite try to ram more fossil fuel projects through. But, there are more of us than them and we’re on the right side in this fight to defend the wellbeing of people and planet.

If you’ve read this far, thank you. Solidarity!

Climate Movement Monday: good news + quick action

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays where we focus on climate-related issues. This is going to be very brief as Zippy had a major medical issue over the weekend. He’s home and doing well now (YAY!), but my energy is depleted. However, I really wanted to share some good news on issues discussed here in the past because I want to celebrate the wins when we get them!

Photo by Jill Wellington/ pexels.com

  • Last May I posted about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway which would allow oil trains to travel along 200 miles of the twisty, turny Colorado River.  A stupendously horrible idea! Guess what? The Forest Service withdrew approval for the project! 
  • In November, I posted about 20 proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals along the Gulf Coast and earlier this month wrote about a planned sit-in for February outside the Energy Department in opposition to CP2 and other proposed LNG terminals. Those terminals are another incredibly horrible idea that would effectively cancel out all U.S. carbon and methane progress made since 2005. Well, Biden put a temporary pause on approval of those projects. I didn’t use an exclamation point because climate activists understand that these pauses can be un-paused. The Energy Department is now updating the process to include climate and economic considerations. This is definitely good news that reflects the impact climate activists are making. (Here are responses from some frontline community organizations). But we’re wise to keep a close watch as we remember that Biden’s poll numbers are in the toilet due to his climate record (see Willow) and his facilitation of genocide in Gaza. He could very easily be dangling this “pause” as a way to earn support and then turn around and un-pause the permits. We need a permanent pause on ALL new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Okay, here’s info from Stop the Money Pipeline and the QUICK ACTION:

After the news [Biden’s LNG pause] broke, the stocks of one of the top owners of oil and gas in the region dramatically dropped! It’s a major blow to the oil and gas industry, which will certainly be banging down the White House doors to get the President to reverse his decision.

Right now is a critical time for banks to consider walking away from these fossil fuel projects, too. Send an email to top Wall Street executives: the White House just pressed pause on LNG in the Gulf South, it’s time you did, too.

In October, the climate case for stopping new LNG was strengthened by a new analysis from Cornell that showed that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from LNG made it *dirtier* than coal. This new announcement halts nearly 20 LNG terminals representing emissions equivalent to those of 675 coal-fired power plants.

If Wall Street banks were to join the White House and press pause on all financing for toxic projects in the Gulf South, it would be a gamechanger.

Make no mistake, these proposed projects are only possible because of the structural environmental racism baked into the approval of these projects that considers predominantly Black & Latino communities in the Gulf South – as well as Indigenous nations – entirely disposable for corporate profits.

Email the biggest Wall Street banks now to urge them to stop financing LNG!

Me, again. Please remember that it’s fine to send the letter as-is, but it will carry more impact if you take a moment to personalize it.

There is, of course, tremendous satisfaction in such egregious projects losing support, but I’d rather we were celebrating good stuff happening rather than bad stuff not happening.  But, we’ve got to play defense as well as offense. So, HOORAY!!!!!

Take good care of yourselves. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Costco & Citibank

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and take action on behalf of people and planet. This week’s post will be quick because we’re heading out to rally and march in support of Palestinians as part of the Global Strike for Gaza this week, January 21-28. (Palestinian journalist Bisan has called for a weeklong global strike to disrupt economic movement and stop the genocide in Gaza. You can participate by not spending money all week, staying home from work/school, or protesting and disrupting. PLEASE read this from Bisan, posted yesterday. You can also follow her Instagram).

Okay, this week we’re focusing on Costco and their affiliate credit card provider: Citibank. (Note: I’m including info gathered from Bill McKibben/Third Act and Stop the Money Pipeline). I am a Costco member and have been for many years. There’s a good chance you are, too, as Costco is the third largest retail outlet (after Walmart and Amazon). BUT EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT A MEMBER, YOU CAN STILL TAKE ACTION.  Unlike those two companies, Costco treats employees well by paying above-average wages and providing decent benefits. So, what’s the issue with Costco? The Citibank credit card.

Citibank is the second largest funder of fossil fuel projects . . . in the world. (Here’s a guide to credit cards and fossil fuel involvement.)  The good news is that 40,000 people signed a petition to Costco demanding they put pressure on Citi to stop funding fossil fuel projects and, if they don’t, to cut ties with Citi and find a greener credit card.

The following is from an email from Stop the Money Pipeline (note: Ron Vachris is Costco’s new CEO, but his first job at Costco was as a forklift driver!):

On January 17th, a small delegation of activists visited Costco headquarters outside of Seattle in Issaquah, WA to deliver our petition in person and congratulate Ron on his new role as CEO. We even brought a celebratory card and cake! We were able to successfully deliver the petition to the front desk of Costco’s HQ to be passed along to leadership.

Then, on Thursday January 18th at Costco’s shareholder meeting, a group of shareholders asked Costco to address their relationship with Citi and Costco’s CEO, Ron Vachris, responded:

“Citi is indeed a key partner for Costco Wholesale, and we are aware of those petitions that were signed. We are going to continue moving forward with our climate action plan, and have been in discussions with Citi about their carbon reduction plans in the future. We’re going to focus on our efforts, and we’ll stay close to Citi and their efforts as well.”

Yay for the acknowledgement, but Ron still needs to feel the pressure! Per Stop the Money Pipeline: Help us make sure Ron’s top priority as the new CEO is putting pressure on Citi to stop expanding fossil fuels. 

They’ve drafted a letter for us to send but, as always, our messages make a bigger impact when we personalize the letter. (ACK! It doesn’t seem we’re allowed to personalize the letter. 😦  ) Please go here to send your letter in support of those 40,000 signatures. I’m not thrilled Costco will receive the same letter over and over, BUT it does mean this action can be completed in a matter of seconds. 🙂

Okay, that’s it for this week. Thank you for reading and taking action on behalf of people and planet. I appreciate you and wish you a good week.

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: MLK and mutuality

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays as we honor the formidable Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a trailblazer in terms of justice and equality, and clearly articulated the threats of racism, capitalism, materialism, and militarism, so it’s sometimes hard to believe he was only 39 years old when murdered. Fortunately, he left us the legacy of his words and actions.

World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico.    November 6, 1964

Today, I want to focus on this passage from MLK’s final Christmas sermon delivered in 1967: “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. … We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.”

Those words can be applied to justice and equality, the environment, and the current genocide in Gaza. While it might feel tempting to avert our gaze from the many, many bad things currently being done to people and planet, that’s not a viable path forward because violence against one is violence against all. All life is interrelated.

In that spirit, I’d like to offer some info, starting with a way to help Palestinians communicate (note: yesterday was Day 100 of Israel’s campaign of annihilation). Israel has imposed a blackout on communication and internet access, but eSIMs allow Palestinians to stay connected to friends, family, and the outside world.
The donation process is easy:
1) go to esim.holafly.com
2) select either Israel or Egypt as country (you can buy for 5 days up to 20 days)
3) use promocode HOLACNG for 5% discount
4) Screenshot the QR code (you will receive an email after making purchase)
5) Send that screenshot to gazaesims@gmail.com
6) know that you are helping fellow humans who are enduring terrifying circumstances (here is the full exchange)

And now I’ll share a bit of info about the fight to force the Department of Energy (DOE) to pause the permits for new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminals. In case you need an LNG refresher, I wrote about them in early November 2023. The next facility up for approval is CP2 on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana. Per Bill McKibben, if approved, CP2 “will produce 20 times more emissions than the controversial Willow oil complex over its lifetime. If the industry gets everything they’ve asked for, US LNG exports will produce more greenhouse gas emissions than…Europe. All of it. This is the biggest fossil fuel expansion project currently underway on planet earth.” (Highly recommend reading his entire piece here.)

A huge coalition of environmental and climate justice groups will stage a sit-in outside the DOE building in Washington, D.C., on February 6-8th. 

Go here to sign a petition that tells Biden and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to Stop New LNG exports AND sign-up for the sit-in AND read the full invitation from the coalition. I’m guessing many of us won’t be able to travel to D.C., but we’re still invited to attend virtual trainings on nonviolent protest because it’s good information to have as we face intensified climate collapse.  Go here for info on trainings (January 18; January 25; February 1). NOTE: There are supposedly other actions around the country in support of the big D.C. sit-in and I will share info on those when I find it. 🙂

There are two bits of good news about these LNG terminals.
One, per Healthy Gulf: “The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR) has announced that it will not grant a Coastal Use Permit to Venture Global for its CP Express pipeline, associated with the proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) methane gas export facility, until the company responds to comments submitted by Healthy Gulf and partners. Read the decision letter from LDNR here.”
Two, per Politico on January 8: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is “reviewing whether it is properly accounting for the climate impacts from a proposed project as well as the national security and the domestic economic consequences.”

And this is precisely why the big February action in D.C. is so important: to keep putting pressure on Biden to live up to his promises to transition off fossil fuels.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for being here! I appreciate your friendship and engagement in these very dark days. I’ll end with one last quote from MLK: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

May we all continue showing up and speaking out. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: protect mature trees

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. Today I’m returning to an issue I highlighted in March of 2023 when I asked for personalized letters in support of old-growth forests. There’s good news: on December 19, 2023, the Biden administration put out a press release First-of-its Kind National Forest Plan Amendment to Conserve and Steward Old Growth Forests, stating that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a proposal to amend all 128 forest land management plans to conserve and steward old-growth forest conditions on national forests and grasslands nationwide.”

That’s a very good start. But we need to keep applying pressure to also protect mature trees and forests. Per Earthjustice: The proposed plan could protect old-growth trees in national forests from most logging. But the Forest Service also needs to issue strong protections for mature trees, which are our future old-growth forests and exist in much greater numbers than old-growth.

Photo by Zetong Li

Protecting mature trees and forests on federal lands should be a no-brainer as we face climate collapse. Big, old trees do so much for us. They store carbon! They provide habitat for wildlife! They help clean the air and water! They stabilize soil during floods! Also? Big, old trees are beautiful and balm for our stressed-out souls.   

Earthjustice has provided a letter template for us to get our comments to the Forest Service. Remember, we don’t have to write a whole lot of words and the most effective letter is one that shows why the issue matters to us. I know there are many tree-loving readers here. 🙂 Please, take a moment in support of mature trees and forests!

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: highlighting a climate win in 2023

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. I had aspirations for writing a round-up of climate wins from 2023, but didn’t summon the energy in time to create such a post.  🙂 However, I do want to shine a light on one issue we haven’t yet discussed here: factory farming.

As a lifelong vegetarian, I’m opposed to factory farming but wasn’t aware of what had happened in Oregon this past year until I did a search for “best climate wins in 2023.” Up popped an article written by Nick Englefried for Waging Nonviolence, a nonprofit media organization: A major win against factory farming points to a powerful new direction for the climate movement. The sub-headline reads Small farmers in Oregon, backed by a coalition of animal rights and climate activists, secured a big legislative victory over industrial factory farms, providing inspiration for wider action.

Here’s an introductory explanation of factory farming: “As animal agriculture became more concentrated and centralized during the last century, huge swaths of the country saw family farmers be displaced by factory farms, often called Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. Notorious for their environmental impacts and cruel treatment of animals, CAFOs confine hundreds or thousands of livestock in small spaces where they are fed artificial diets with the goal of maximizing profit. The tons of manure produced by CAFOs are frequently over-applied to agricultural fields, or stored in huge artificial holding ponds called “lagoons.” The facilities are also water-intensive, with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimating 20 percent of freshwater used by humans worldwide is going to animal feed production.”

The article goes on to explain the carbon footprint of CAFOs. Spoiler alert: all that methane is very bad!

But here’s the good news: “In July, Gov. Tina Kotek signed Oregon Senate Bill 85, which places a moratorium on factory farms’ ability to use unlimited amounts of groundwater. While some advocates consider the bill to be a diluted compromise, it has potential to significantly limit the destructive activities of CAFOs in a state where a healthy remnant of the family farming economy still thrives. On a national level, it represents the first major state legislative victory against factory farming in the U.S. in years.”

The long-term goal of the Oregon coalition (animal rights groups, environmental and climate organizations, and small farmers) is to pass a full moratorium on new factory farming in Oregon.

More good news: “Since the bill’s passage, three proposed factory farms — the Easterday mega-dairy in Morrow County and two industrial poultry farms in the Willamette Valley — have been abandoned by their developers. This is good news for the climate and also small farming communities who will not face local competition from these massive projects.” I would add that it’s also very good news for the cows and chickens who now won’t be brutally mistreated in those facilities.

I recommend reading the full article here because it discusses the historical shift in climate advocacy from changing personal habits to forcing systemic change, highlighting the wildly successful campaign to push back against George W. Bush’s plan to build 150 new coal plants. “By 2010, almost every proposed new coal plant in the U.S. was defeated, allowing climate activists to turn their attention to retiring existing plants.” 

I don’t know about you, but it energizes me to learn about successful efforts on behalf of people, animals, and planet! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this (for instance, are there feed lots or factory farms near where you live?) so please share in the comments.

Until next week, solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. Today, I’m reverting to the original format in which I share information on a frontline community being adversely affected by climate change/fossil fuels and then offer a quick action you can take on behalf of that community. Note: this comment deadline is December 13, two days from now.

Today, we’re focusing on the Dakota Access Pipeline. The following info is the result of collaboration between People vs Fossil Fuels, NDN Collective, and the Sierra Club. (Full document HERE) First off, what is DAPL and why is the Army Corps of Engineers accepting public comment? (click on image to enlarge).

Some of my courageous friends were there, resisting the project as they fought to protect the water. Unfortunately, the pipeline was built. But we have the opportunity to support the Cheyenne River Tribe’s legal efforts by submitting comments. And what is the Cheyenne River Tribe’s recommendation for our comments?

The Army Corps needs to hear that the Draft EIS is not adequate and that the best alternatives are the ones that shut DAPL down. [Specifically, Alternative 2]

What options (“alternatives”) is the Army Corps considering?
1. Deny an easement under Lake Oahe and require restoration of federal lands to pre-pipeline conditions, including removal of the pipeline
2. Deny an easement under Lake Oahe and abandon the pipeline in place
3. Grant an easement under Lake Oahe as it was previously granted when DAPL was built
4. Grant an easement under Lake Oahe but with more conditions
5. Deny an easement under Lake Oahe, with the pipeline rebuilt in a different location TBD, such as further north and near Bismarck, and the existing pipeline abandoned

What should you write in your email? Here are five basic tips for writing testimony:
• Any length is OK – a few sentences are fine, or longer if you like. There is no length limit.
• Keep it unique – link to a personal story, talk about a topic that matters to you in your own words – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may consider very similar comments as duplicates and not weigh them as heavily. Do not just read talking points.
• Specifically address the adequacy of the Draft EIS – it is not adequate
• Specifically address the proposed alternatives – the Army Corps should select No Action Alternative 2
• Specifically address the risks of the section of pipe that runs under Lake Oahe

EMAIL ADDRESS for your public comments: NWO-DAPL-EIS@usace.army.mil
SUBJECT LINE: Comments on the DAPL DEIS

I was on a letter-writing call last week in which we heard from two young Standing Rock Sioux leaders, Maya and Memphis. They’ve been in the DAPL struggle since they were in their teens and are so grateful for the support of our letters. They emphasized the importance of not getting tripped up with worries about what our letters say, but to focus on the personal connection you have with this issue and to make our letters UNIQUE so they stand out. After Maya explained that even a pinhole leak in the pipeline would result in 11,000 barrels of oil spillage per day, I wrote about my gratitude for a clean water supply and how I couldn’t imagine living with the daily traumatic threat of an oil spill in my drinking water. Because it’s not a matter of if there’s a spill, it’s only a question of when the pipeline will break. The pipeline runs under the water, so once it ruptures, it’s already too late. In my letter, I also pointed out DAPL flies in the face of Biden’s climate reduction goals and that scientists have made it very clear we must keep fossils fuels in the ground if we are to have a livable planet.

The most important thing is to write a letter today and submit it by the December 13 deadline. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT PERFECTION! Again, here is the full document with further information.

Thank you in advance for standing with the people for clean water and against the polluting Dakota Access Pipeline. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: COP28

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. In these posts, I share information and typically offer an action you can take on behalf of people and planet, with a focus on frontline communities that are enduring the worst effects of the climate crisis. Today, I’m not offering an action but am sharing information that’s just as much for me as my readers. The topic is “COP28” which I’ve been avoiding learning about because the particulars make my head want to explode. We’ll get into those specifics, but first: what is COP28?

The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are the world’s highest decision-making body on climate issues and one of the largest international meetings in the world. The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP28) is happening right now, hosted by be the UAE (United Arab Emirates).

Okay, I mentioned avoiding this whole topic because it stressed/angered me. Why? Well, as climate writer Emily Atkin points out [COP28 is ] “being run by a literal fossil fuel baron: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), which also happens to have one of the biggest oil and gas expansion plans in the world.”

Atkin further writes: “. . . Al Jaber’s self-proclaimed “game-changing plan” to achieve progress at COP28 is to give oil and gas companies more influence over the climate change summit, despite warnings from the U.N.’s former climate chief that the approach is “dangerous” and “a direct threat to the survival of vulnerable nations.”

Atkin shares other more damning conflicts of interest and I encourage you to read the entire piece from Atkin: COP28 sucks. Pay attention anyway. The fossil fuel interests attempting to corrupt the high-stakes summit would love nothing more than for us to look away.

Why should we pay attention? Because whenever we avert our gaze from the climate crisis, it most dramatically affects those in the Global South. People living in that part of the world have been facing the effects of climate change for decades already and they cannot afford to look away –think low-lying islands and rising sea levels– and their very survival depends on what’s decided at COP28. As Atkin writes: “For the nations most threatened by that future, negotiations over how to structure a Loss and Damage fund to compensate for damages, as well as negotiations over how to mend previously broken climate finance pledges by the Global North, are too consequential to be ignored.” Go here for the opening plenary statement delivered by the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus.

International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change Opening Elder Ceremony. Photo by Willi White for NDN Collective.

It might not feel meaningful to learn about COP28 via Atkin’s piece or this by Bill McKibben, but knowledge is power. Even if there’s no direct action connected to our reading, by educating ourselves we’re forging a connection with the planet’s most vulnerable populations. We’re acknowledging their worth and implying our solidarity with their struggles.

Thank you for being here. I appreciate and welcome all thoughts, so please share in the comments. Until then, solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Mondays: support on Giving Tuesday

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. Many of these weekly posts have focused on frontline communities experiencing the worst effects of climate change and today I’d like to offer a list of organizations working to protect their specific communities as well as the environment in general. Tomorrow is “Giving Tuesday,” which began in 2012, and “reimagines a world built upon shared humanity and generosity.” Every donation is appreciated!

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Below, in no particular order, are six groups fighting for people and planet. I thank you in advance for checking them out and donating as you can. Remember, no donation is too small! Also, if you have a group you’d like me to include, please let me know in the comments! Thank you and solidarity! ✊🏽

NDN Collective
The NDN Collective Climate Justice Campaign builds power throughout Indigenous communities in order to tackle the climate crisis. Our team runs and supports campaigns aimed at ending extraction, contamination, and violence in our territories. We advance policy changes, coalition building, and advocacy, while supporting the solutions-based work happening across our nations that utilizes traditional ecological knowledge in order to develop climate adaptive solutions that reflect our values of living with respect for all sources of life.
Donate HERE

Healthy Gulf
Healthy Gulf’s purpose is to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources. (They have a blog that offers a snapshot of what they’re facing in their communities.) I’ve written about them here and here.
Donate HERE 

Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR)
Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) is an interstate coalition representing individuals and groups from Virginia and West Virginia dedicated to protecting water, land, and communities from harms caused by the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, including the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). (They also have a blog.) NOTE: I’ve written about MVP here and here and here.
Donate HERE

Appalachian Legal Defense Fund
Support the Appalachian Legal Defense Fund for community members being targeted for protecting their communities and land.  All funds will be used for the costs of bail, legal defense and defendant support. NOTE: I wrote about the increased criminalization against those fighting to protect people, land, and water here.
Donate HERE

Climate Defiance
This group takes direct, non-violent action, targeting those in power.
Donate HERE

Third Act
We are building a community of experienced Americans over the age of sixty determined to change the world for the better. Together, we use our life experience, skills and resources to build better tomorrow. NOTE: They’ve established a “No Time To Waste” Fund, with the goal of raising $500,000 by December 31. The No Time to Waste Fund will help ramp up our organizing work to support 60,000+ Third Actors plus allies coast to coast—from staffing and training, to events and digital support.
Donate HERE

Climate Movement Monday: Connecting the dots

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Welcome back to another Movement Monday in which we discuss all things climate. Typically, I focus on a frontline community most directly affected by the ravages of climate change and then offer an action we can take on their behalf. But today this post will be dedicated to offering information that helps connect the dots between climate activism, police response, and anti-protest legislation.

I’ve written in the past about the Weelaunee Forest and the Atlanta citizens’ efforts to stop the $90 million militarized police training center (known as Cop City) from being built there. THIS post will get you up to speed and THIS post provided an update on the Georgia Attorney General filing Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) and “domestic terrorism” charges against 61 people involved in the efforts to Stop Cop City. Reminder: RICO was implemented in the 70s to go after organized crime.

Okay, so why am I writing about Cop City today? Because after the people of Atlanta testified over and over again in opposition to Cop City but were ignored by the mayor and city council, they took the “civic” route and gathered 116,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot so that people could vote YES or NO to Cop City. Well, the powers-that-be threw up legal challenges and successfully kept the referendum off the ballot last week. There’s a chance it’ll be on the March 2024 ballot, but in the meanwhile, people gathered this morning at Weelaunee Forest today to defend the forest. And who was there to greet them? Heavily militarized police with armored vehicles, riot gear, projectiles, and tear gas.

Yes, that dog is wearing goggles. Why? Because . . . tear gas.

Note: images from X/Twitter

So, here are some dots in need of connecting:

DOT: We’ve got local citizens who followed the process and showed up by the hundreds to testify against a militarized police training center, only to be ignored. Those citizens then went the referendum route, gathering 116,000 signatures in a very short time, only to be sabotaged in those efforts. Now, they show up in person to defend the largest green space in the city from being clear-cut, and they’re gassed by the police.

DOT: Those same police want the training center built so that they can learn from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Yes, the very same IDF currently maiming and killing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank (with a dose of harassment/imprisonment for any Jewish person who dares to speak out against them). As stated by the American Friends Service Committee: Cop City will allow police not just from Atlanta, but globally, to learn repressive tactics, so that protests and rebellions can be easily crushed. According to the original proposal, 43% of the training at Cop City will be for officers outside of Atlanta, including military training with the infamous Israeli Defense Forces.  

DOT: All around the globe, we’re watching our climate in collapse. Wildfires, floods, polluted air and water, droughts, hurricanes, etc. While we’re facing an existential threat, those in power are busy squeezing out the last dollars they can get from fossil fuel extraction despite climate scientists saying NO NEW FOSSIL FUEL PROJECTS.

DOT: As the climate worsens and our very survival is threatened, more and more people will take to the streets in order to force action from the powerful elite. After the murder of George Floyd, MANY people protested and marched, which gave the elites a glimpse of what’s to come. So how are they reacting? Putting more and more money into police budgets. Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” (also known as the “Covid-19 Stimulus Package”) put $10 billion into police departments.

DOT: There’s a growing push to criminalize protest here in the U.S. and around the world. Fossil fuel companies in the U.S. have contributed more than $5 million to state anti-protest bill sponsors (Dollars vs Democracy 2023, p 5). For example: “North Carolina’s enacted law (S 58) is particularly extreme. It carries felony penalties with up to 19 years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines for attempting to “obstruct, impede, or impair the services of transmissions of an energy facility.” Under the new law, trespassing on energy facilities is also classified as a felony with up to two years in prison. The bill was primarily sponsored by Sen. Paul Newton, who worked at Duke Energy for 25 years and was the company’s state president.” (Dollars vs Democracy 2023, p 54)

Fossil fuel companies also use strategic lawsuits against public participation (otherwise known as SLAPP) to intimidate and prevent protest (Dollars vs Democracy 2023, p 6). “As a result of criminalization and judicial harassment (such as SLAPPs), individuals can be saddled with legal fees, prevented from earning a stable living, socially stigmatized, and displaced. Organizations can be bankrupted, ruptured, or forcibly dissolved. Criminalization and judicial harassment also threaten to chill free speech and dissent.” (Dollars vs Democracy, p 55)

There are more dots to connect (notably white supremacy and imperialism), but I hope this basic overview helps point out what we’re facing. The powerful are systematically trying to separate we-the-people from the issues in desperate need of sustainable solutions, and the police will play a huge role in the ensuing struggle. Which is why after my run today, I put on my STOP COP CITY shirt in solidarity with the Atlanta Forest Defenders and wrote this post.

If you’ve read this far, I thank you very much and welcome any and all thoughts on this. In the meanwhile, even though I said I wouldn’t ask for an action, I do want to include the Stop Cop City Solidarity site that includes actions we can take plus links to where we can donate to the legal fund for those facing RICO and terrorism charges AND a fund for the family of Tortuguita (who was murdered by police while they defended the forest).

Please take good care of yourself in these hard, hard days. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Mondays: just say NO to more LNG terminals

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate, often with a focus on a frontline community enduring the worst effects of the climate crisis. Today’s post focuses on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and a looming decision by the Department of Energy that will most directly affect those living in the Gulf region, but will have ramifications for everyone on the planet.

Environmental justice champion Roishetta Ozane with the Westlake Chemical plant behind her home. They’re already enduring so much and do not want LNG terminals!

This information about the possibility of 20 new LNG terminals in the Gulf comes via Third Act and rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I’m going to copy the full email I received from Third Act founder, Bill McKibben. Spoiler alert: you’ll be asked to handwrite a short letter and I’ve included mine as a sample.

Dear Friends,

As this hottest year in human history winds towards its close, I’m writing to ask for your help with what may be the single biggest climate fight left on planet Earth. And it’s right here at home.

The US is planning to quadruple the export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the Gulf of Mexico over the next few years—there are plans for 20 huge export terminals to add to the seven that already exist. If they are built, the emissions associated with them will be as large as all the emissions from every home, factory, and car in the EU. The emissions associated with them will wipe out every bit of progress the U.S. has made on reducing carbon and methane since 2005.

And along the way it will hurt not only the people who have to live and breathe near these monstrosities, but also all American consumers—because exporting gas abroad drives up the price at home.

If you want a short primer, here is something I wrote this week, and another piece I wrote for the New Yorker.

Happily, we have a realistic chance at stopping this. Which is why I hope you’ll break out your stationery box and roll of stamps. The final decision will be made by the Department of Energy, which can grant or deny export licenses to these companies depending on whether they’re in the public interest.

Please please please write a letter this week to:

The Honorable Jennifer Granholm
Secretary of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585

Here are some key points you can include in your letter:

  1. These plants are carbon and methane bombs. In the hottest year of human history it’s obscene to be putting up more of them.
  2. We’re already the biggest gas exporter on earth, and have more than enough capacity to meet the needs of the Europeans in the wake of the Ukrainian war.
  3. When we export all this gas, we drive up the price for those Americans who still rely on it for cooking and heating. Rejecting this project will fight inflation, which will help get the president re-elected.
  4. It’s an environmental justice travesty—as usual, these projects are set for poor communities of color.
  5. They’re planned for smack in the middle of the worst hurricane belt in the hemisphere.
  6. So rewrite the criteria (they’re currently using a Trump-era formula) for figuring out if such plans are in the national interest.

If you thought you were getting off without one high-tech task, though, you’re wrong. Could you also take a picture of the letter on your smartphone and email it to takingaction@thirdact.org, so we can keep track of what’s happening.

Remember, the penmanship you learned long ago is a secret weapon. Bureaucrats are used to getting email petitions; they’re not used to getting old-school letters. They know it takes effort, and they pay attention.

I think we can win this fight, and if we do it will be the biggest win on the climate front since we sunk the Keystone pipeline. But we can only do it if we act right now.

Thank you,

Bill McKibben
Founder, Third Act

P.S. As I was writing this, the first snow of the season started to fall in Vermont. That’s got to be a good sign!

In case you’re feeling stuck or intimidated about writing a letter, please check out my letter. What matters most is writing from your experience and including your concerns. My letter is probably longer than necessary, so please feel free to only write one short paragraph. As Bill says, just the fact that we’re taking the time to handwrite and mail a letter shows a big commitment that’s much harder to ignore.

Please holler if you have any questions. Also, I’d love to hear the focus of your letter so feel free to share in the comments. As always, thank you for reading this far.

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: carbon capture & storage

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Climate Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate. Today I want to share info regarding carbon capture and storage which is touted as a viable “solution” to climate catastrophe. But before I get into that, I want to state that Israel’s current “collective punishment” bombing campaign against the Palestinian people is not only an act of genocide, but also an attack on a frontline community already enduring massive drought as a result the climate crisis. Per Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network Coordinator, Abeer Butmeh: “We will see these effects on soil, water, marine habitat, air and, most importantly, on human health. Currently, Israel has cut off the water resources in Gaza and Gaza has run out of drinkable water. Palestinians live under two threats: Israeli occupation and climate change.”

PLEASE continue to call and email Biden plus your two Senators and one Representative, demanding a CeasefireNOW if you object to your tax dollars funding a genocide.

This post is about educating ourselves on carbon capture and storage (CCS) which I don’t know much about but keeps showing up for me lately. For instance, I just learned there was a proposed $3.5 billion, 1,300-mile CO2 pipeline to transport[ing] CO2 from ethanol and fertilizer plants to be sequestered underground in Illinois.” The project was named Heartland Greenway and would span “parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Grassroots opposition to these projects has been intense, with farmers, landowners and environmentalists raising questions about their feasibility and safety.”  Last week, Navigator CO2 Ventures announced it was cancelling the project due to regulatory processes in South Dakota and Iowa. I’d venture a guess that opposition from those groups made it more difficult to continue. Here’s a press release from Food & Water Watch regarding the cancellation: “While the federal government keeps trying to waste billions of dollars to promote these massive carbon pipelines, grassroots organizing is winning the fight to stop these egregious handouts to corporate polluters. These carbon pipelines will not reduce emissions – they are dangerous, wasteful schemes to prolong and expand polluting industries. Instead of throwing away money supporting polluters, the government should invest in proven clean energy solutions, not carbon capture pipe dreams.”

I also learned there’s an organization called PipelineFighters.org and they have a map showing proposed pipelines around the country. Go HERE for an interactive map.

If you’re interested in learning about CCS, Yale Climate Connections published an article by Cameron Oglesby earlier this month: “What’s the deal with carbon capture and storage?” It’s lengthy, but well worth the read. The one issue that jumps out at me is that CCS requires a lot of water, so it seems incredibly unwise to pin hopes on a process that will further deplete our already scarce groundwater.

Thank you for reading this far. I know there’s lot of info out there on CCS so if you come across other articles and perspectives, please share in the comments. Also, if you take a look at that Pipeline Fighters map and see a proposed project in your state, I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. In the meanwhile, take care. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: clean energy for schools

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

Welcome back to Climate Movement Mondays! I hope you’re staying safe and healthy during these difficult days of climate chaos. It was rough seeing those photos and videos of flooding in New York, knowing this is our new reality. Fortunately, we have the technology to turn this ship around and we have people organizing to enact change in their communities. Today I want to bring attention to the nationwide efforts to “Create resilient schools with electrified buildings and transportation powered by clean energy” via an organization I just learned about: Generation180. “We are supporting K-12 schools to electrify their buildings and vehicles, power them with clean energy, and create energy resilient hubs for their communities.”

Image from Generation180

Their website is vast and there are many resources available. I’d like to highlight a few things I found:

  • The application window to apply for the EPA Clean School Bus Rebate opened on September 28th and schools can apply through January 31, 2024. You can access all related info, resources, and application documents HERE. If, like me, you no longer have children in school or never had children in school, you might feel removed from this issue. But, schools are a great place to push for climate/pollution action and I’m going to contact my local school district to make sure they have the links and info to apply for the EPA Clean School Bus Rebate.
  • The group’s Alliance for Electric School Buses can be found HERE. Scroll down on that page to find a U.S. map showing states with active campaigns. A group called Moms Clean Air Force seems particularly active and here’s a snippet from their 9.28.23 press release re the EPA’s announced round of $500 million for the Clean School Bus Rebates: “Every day, millions of children across America ride school buses. Nearly all of the 500,000 buses in our nation’s school bus fleet are diesel-powered, spewing harmful tailpipe pollution into the air with every ride to school. But thanks to important investments like the Clean School Bus Program, we’re making critical progress. More and more school buses are becoming cleaner as polluting diesel vehicles are replaced by safer zero-emission buses.” It’s also pointed out that not only do children suffer the ill-effects of diesel vehicles, but also the drivers!
  • The Clean Energy Help Desk for Schools has tons of info including state resources, financing info, and success stories. That and more can be found HERE.
  • A webcast series that helps schools access federal funding can be found HERE.
  • Here’s a fun thing to do: scroll down to look at a map showing U.S. schools with solar. (Note: Colorado, which loves to tout its high number of sunshine-days, has only 129 schools with solar installations, while my home state of Wisconsin has 241 solar-powered schools! But the Colorado middle school my sons attended years ago now has solar. Yay!)

Thank you for reading and I hope you’ll pass along these resources to families with school-age children. We need to utilize the positive aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act and that means accessing federal funding to clean up our communities and make them more resilient to the effects of climate change. Until next time, stay safe. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Mondays: Green New Deal for Public Schools

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

Hey, welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I typically highlight a frontline community hit hardest by the effects of the climate crisis and then offer a quick action you can take on their behalf. Before I get to that, though, I wanted to share some good news:

Last week in the days following the massive March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City, (coincidence? I think not!) Biden announced the formation of the American Climate Corps which is a reboot of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)  of the Great Depression. Per the White House press release, “The American Climate Corps will focus on equity and environmental justice – prioritizing communities traditionally left behind, including energy communities that powered our nation for generations,…” The program aims to put 20,000 young people to work which is a number far short of what’s needed, but it’s a start. And hopefully, the program will be expanded after it gets going. You can read an article about it here and sign up at the American Climate Corps website to specify your areas of interest and learn more.

Okay, let’s get to the Green New Deal for Public Schools! This legislation is sponsored by Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Sen. Ed Markey and “would invest $1.6 trillion over 10 years to fund green upgrades that remove all health harms and carbon pollution from every public school in the nation while taking on environmental and racial inequities. It will unleash the potential of safe and inspiring public education for 50 million K-12 students in every neighborhood across the country. And, it will add essential staff to vulnerable schools, create 1.3 million good paying jobs annually, and reduce carbon emissions by 78 million metric tons each year— that’s the same as taking 17 million gas-powered cars off the road!”

About 150 high schoolers from across the US gathered in Illinois for a summer camp to hone their activism. Photograph: Heather Chen/Courtesy of Sunrise Movement

I’m excited about this legislation for a whole bunch of reasons, including that it would upgrade HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) which we should already have done during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic! Good air quality is essential to good health and good learning. WHOA! In the time since I began writing this post, the number of co-sponsors for the legislation has risen from 48 to 54!

Want to make that number climb? Go here (scroll down) to personalize a short message to your representative and two senators, asking them to sign on as co-sponsors. That’s it!

Thank you for reading and adding your voice to these efforts. 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: good news + updates + March to End Fossil Fuels

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate-related! I’m happy to share some good news today: last week, Biden cancelled the seven remaining oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Image from Wikimedia. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

From pbs.org: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1.5-million-acre (600,000-hectare) coastal plain, which lies along the Beaufort Sea on Alaska’s northeastern edge, is seen as sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in because it is where caribou they rely on migrate and come to give birth. The plain is marked by hills, rivers and small lakes and tundra. Migratory birds and caribou pass through the plain, which provides habitat for wildlife including polar bears and wolves.

Note: While living in Alaska, I spent many hours collection signatures to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling, and once had a run-in with then Senator Ted Stevens. Needless to say, last week’s announcement was a long time coming! However, a 2017 tax law included a provision that there be two lease sales in the region in 2024. Biden needs to repeal the oil and gas program and permanently protect the Arctic Refuge on behalf of the Gwich-in. Also? Biden must cancel the Willow Project!

In less happy news, here are some updates on the Weelaunee Forest and Cop City in Atlanta:

  • Last week, the Republican Attorney General in Georgia filed RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges against 61 people while Democrats (Atlanta Mayor, Atlanta City Council members, and Senators Warnock and Ossoff) remain silent. In the document, the AG included a section on the “Anarchy background of Defend the Atlanta Forest,” which includes this: “Some of the major ideas that anarchists promote include collectivism, mutualism/mutual aid, and social solidarity, and these same ideas are frequently seen in the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement.” (see p 25). Guess what? I sign off each of these Movement Monday posts with “Solidarity!” and a raised fist. Also? Zippy and I deliver food boxes to people via the Rocky Mountain Mutual Aid Network. The state of Georgia is trying to criminalize people for taking care of other people. And on p 28 of the document, they decry “zines.” Oops, I’m also guilty of zine-making! My point here is that these are dangerous and oppressive charges meant to crush a movement and scare people away from action.
  • Today, organizers in Atlanta delivered 116,000 signatures in support of a Stop Cop City referendum to the city clerk. (Note: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was elected in November 2021 with 44,655 votes). Organizers were told the city would accept the signatures but NOT begin the verification process because of a legal injunction. This is an anti-democratic stalling tactic, as is their promise to use the same signature verification process the Democrats (rightfully) sued over in 2019 with the charge that signature verification disenfranchises marginalized communities. Again, prominent Democrats have remained silent on this hypocrisy. (Remember: in 2020, people all around the country rallied to support Warnock and Ossoff in their Senate races in order to beat back the Republicans’ fascism, only to see authoritarianism on full display over Cop City.)
  • You may wonder why so many around the world are rallying in support of #StopCopCity and that’s because this affects us all. Allowing them to build that urban warfare training center in Atlanta (to better learn how to crush movements such as the climate movement) will embolden the further militarization of the police. Already, there are plans to build a Cop City in Colorado Springs and Baltimore (like Atlanta, both cities have Black Democrat mayors) and another in Ohio. Plainly put, it’s vital for our collective survival to #StopCopCity.

Last week, I wrote about the potential for a UAW strike and today want to share an article from The Lever (“New At 6:30: Anti-Union Propaganda“) about the media coverage of the looming strike. Adam H. Johnson lays bare the bias in the media reports, including the conflict of interest between  NBCUniversal and General Motors. It’s a quick read and offers insights into how we as viewers can be manipulated by the deliberate framing of stories in the news.

Finally, I want to remind everyone that the March to End Fossil Fuels is happening in NYC on September 17th. There are also events happening all around the world (September 15-17th) as people gather to demand an immediate transition off the fossil fuels that are literally killing us with extreme heat, wildfires, flooding, pollution, etc. Check out this map to find an event near you.

If you read this far, thank you so much! I send wishes for a good week that includes moderate weather and temperatures. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday/Labor Day: solidarity with UAW

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

Happy Labor Day on this Movement Monday! While the climate crisis continues to intensify, there is much to celebrate as workers organize and strike for better pay and working conditions. Here’s a great round-up on recent and upcoming union activity from Joshua P. Hill. Today I want to focus on the United Auto Workers (UAW) which is a great example of what a “just transition” should look like as we transition off fossil fuels to renewable energy. It’s important to remember the intersection between climate justice and worker justice. Today I’m asking you to make one quick phone call in solidarity with the auto workers (scroll down for details)

This is a complex issue and I’m nowhere near an expert on what’s happening, but it boils down this: Electric Vehicles (EV) are changing the UAW landscape and the workers need protections as the Big 3 automakers (Ford, Stellantis, General Motors) pivot to EV production. The following is an excerpt from An Open Letter to Big 3 Auto CEOs: The Climate Movement Stands with UAW!

Within the next few years — the span of this next contract — lies humanity’s last chance to navigate a transition away from fossil fuels, including away from combustion engines. With that shift comes an opportunity for workers in the United States to benefit from a revival of new manufacturing, including electric vehicles (EVs) and collective transportation like buses and trains, as a part of the renewable energy revolution. This transition must center workers and communities, especially those who have powered our economy through the fossil fuel era, and be a vehicle for economic and racial justice. We are putting you on notice: Corporate greed and shareholder profits must never again be put before safe, good-paying union jobs, clean air and water, and a liveable future.

I’d already decided today’s post would be an informational piece about the 150,000 UAW workers poised to strike and then was thrilled to receive an action alert from Climate Mobilization Project this morning. PLEASE take one minute to leave a message for the billionaire-CEOs of the Big 3 auto companies in support of the autoworkers. Here are the specifics:

When you call 318-300-1249, you’ll hear a brief intro about the contract negotiations from UAW. At the beep, just leave your message. That’s it!

Some points that you can bring up include:

  • The EV transition cannot be a “race to the bottom” that further exploits workers.
  • Workers deserve to benefit from the revival of new EV manufacturing. They deserve good union jobs with fair wages, job security, and dignified working conditions.
  • In recent months, workers and their communities have experienced unprecedented extreme heat, smoke pollution, flooding, and other disasters.
  • The leaders of auto companies have historically made decisions that exacerbated both of these crises over the past few decades — driving further inequality and increasing pollution.
  • Auto manufacturers can either do right by the workers who have sacrificed to keep companies profitable, or can face a united labor, environmental, and climate movement that is ready to fight side by side with UAW workers to win their demands.

The info you’ll hear before leaving your messages includes the fact that the Big 3 made a combined $21 billion in profits in just the first six months of this year . . . so a simple “Share the wealth” message is very appropriate!

Bonus: Here’s a short video clip of Shawn Fain, UAW President, on the gap between workers and billionaires. Gotta love it!

Thank you in advance for reading and taking action! These are scary times, but also exhilarating as we witness workers standing together for the collective good. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: STOP utility shut-offs during extreme heat

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I typically highlight a frontline community enduring the worst of the climate crisis and then offer a quick action you can take on their behalf. Today’s frontline communities are the elderly and low-income households, especially people of color. I’m amplifying a message received from 198methods.org regarding utility companies shutting off people’s power despite the extreme heat still slamming much of the country.

Image by Claudia Engel from Pixabay

The following background info is from an email received from 198methods.org but if you’re pressed for time, click HERE to personalize a letter to your two Senators and one Representative, asking them to use their power to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). If we can send billions of dollars to fight a proxy war in the Ukraine, we can certainly afford to make sure people don’t die due to the combination of extreme heat and heartless utility companies shutting off their AC.

Please take two minutes to click HERE to personalize a letter to your two Senators and one Representative, asking them to use their power to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Thank you for reading and taking action! Please, if you or someone you know is  suffering extreme heat and have had the power turned off, reach out via my contact form and I will get you some help.

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: declaring a climate emergency + good news

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I write about  climate-related issues along with quick actions you can take on behalf of people and planet. I won’t lie, it was tempting to not post anything today so that I could avoid thinking about what’s happening all across the globe. Here in the Denver metro region, the wind’s been blowing hard across the dry land while multiple wildfires burn in the southwest portion of the state. A new report says over 300,000 Colorado homes are at risk of burning in wildfires, second only to California.  In Lahaina, Maui, 114 people are confirmed dead and another 1,000 are missing (including many unhoused people), while yesterday in southern California, residents faced torrential rain and flooding due to Tropical Storm Hilary PLUS a 5.1 magnitude earthquake. As I write this, the National Hurricane center is warning that “continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding” is expected over portions of the southwestern U.S., along with “record breaking” rainfall and potential flooding in states as far north as Oregon and Idaho.

That’s (some of) the bad news. The good news is that the calls for Biden to declare a climate emergency via the National Emergencies Act are growing louder. A quick online search turned up “How Bad Do Things Have to Get for Joe Biden to Declare a Climate Emergency?” and “Editorial: Biden says he’s ‘practically’ declared a climate emergency. Why won’t he do it for real?” and “Biden faces calls to declare climate emergency as he heads to Maui.” 

Associated Press-Lynn Sladky // Students cheer during a protest organized by the U.S. Youth Climate Strike outside of Miami Beach City Hall, as part of a global day of climate action, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019.

Declaring a climate emergency would unlock powers allowing Biden to implement drastic measures to address the climate crisis. July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on the planet, and we the people need to make our wishes known so that Biden uses his power for good.  Please, take two minutes to contact the White House.

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Call the WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414 and ask to be connected to the COMMENT LINE. Leave a brief message with the volunteer operator: “Please declare a climate emergency via the National Emergencies Act to unlock your powers to combat this climate crisis. No new fossil fuel projects!”
You may also send an email.
Repeat as necessary. 😉

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GOOD NEWS

“Ecuadorians reject oil drilling in the Amazon, ending operations in protected area”

A landmark climate ruling in Montana: A judge last week ruled the young plaintiffs have the right to a clean environment – and experts say this changed the climate litigation landscape

The Inflation Reduction Act is fueling a factory frenzy. Here’s the latest tally.

** Remember, on September 17th, the March to End Fossil Fuels will be held in New York City from 1p – 4pm. The march will coincide with the UN Climate Action Summit and is being organized by a coalition of local and national organizations. There’s tons of info here, including links to volunteer (including making phone calls & sending texts) and/or donate in support of the march. The GET INVOLVED page has more info, including “hubs” (both by interest AND region) that you can join. This is a massive and exciting effort that has huge potential to shift climate policy.

Thank you for reading this far and I invite you to leave a comment about conditions where you live, feelings around climate change, or to share some good news. In the meanwhile,  I send wishes for moderate weather wherever you are, raising my fist in solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Lahaina/Maui + good news

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I highlight a frontline community that’s bearing the brunt of climate change. Today I’m focusing on Maui and the town of Lahaina. The current death toll is 96, but officials believe that number will increase as the search continues for the estimated 1,000 missing persons.

Maui Fire Relief + Off-Grid Shelter Setup donations here
Maui Community Power Recover Fund donations here

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 8, 2023. // Matthew Thayer/ | The Maui News | AP

Wildfires are not a natural force in Hawaii’s islands and used to be a rare occurrence. “Hawaii’s ecosystem is not adapted to fire. It is destroyed by fire,” says Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization. “So we don’t have good fire and bad  fire. We have bad fire, period.” That quote comes from the WIRED article “The Scary Science of Maui’s Wildfires” that also includes background on the invasive grass species introduced by European settlers, grasses that have spread across the island and are intensely fire-prone.

Emily Atkin wrote in her HEATED newsletter (“Lahaina used to be a wetland: Nature didn’t turn the historic Hawaiian community into a tinderbox. People did.”) how the fire that decimated Lahaina wasn’t entirely due to climate change. Colonialism played a huge role in what happened there, specifically European colonizers who illegally diverted the water for their sugar crops, turning a former wetlands into a tinderbox susceptible to the deadly combination of fire and high winds.

Maui Fire Relief + Off-Grid Shelter Setup donations here
Maui Community Power Recover Fund donations here

There’s huge concern that disaster capitalists will use this tragedy to further enrich themselves while driving Indigenous people from their lands. Realtors and investors are already calling families that have lost their homes to the fire, offering to buy the land. Oprah Winfrey owns 2,000 acres on Maui where she lives part-time, and there are calls for her to donate that acreage back to the Indigenous community. The Landback Movement to get Indigenous lands back in Indigenous hands is gaining exposure and momentum in the wake of the fire.

The people of Maui are going to need much more than thoughts and prayers as they rebuild their communities. Thank you in advance for helping out as you can. I send wishes for a good and safe week, wherever you are! Solidarity! ✊🏽

P.S. — here’s a bit of GOOD NEWS: “Judge rules in favor of Montana youths in landmark climate decision”

Climate Movement Monday: power plant rules + March to End Fossil Fuels

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays! I hope wherever you are, the weather is moderate. I’m grateful for cooler temperatures and some rainfall yesterday in this part of Colorado, although I’d like to share that bounty with other regions not faring so well (for instance, southwest Colorado where my son who is a server keeps dropping his daytime patio shifts because the heat is too much for him). Climate change is accelerating even more rapidly than predicted, but there’s so much we can do right now to avert the worst. In that spirit, today I’m asking for you to personalize a BRIEF LETTER to the EPA and Biden regarding power plant rules. Comments are due tomorrow (August 8) and we need the people’s voices so that the utility companies don’t dominate the conversation.

Image by Peter H from Pixabay

Per 198methods.org: President Biden’s EPA has proposed new rules to limit global warming pollution from power plants, and if done right, they could eliminate up to 90% of global warming pollution from the electric sector! 

President Biden promised to cut global warming pollution 50% by 2030, and to eliminate all global warming pollution from the electricity sector by 2035. But because of a prior Supreme Court ruling, the EPA can’t tell utilities what fuel to use (like solar instead of fossil fuels) in order to provide that electricity. So, instead, the draft rules from the EPA focus on how much air pollution, including global warming pollution, that power plants can emit.

The draft rules are a big step in the right direction, requiring 90-100% reductions in emissions. But there are three big loopholes that the EPA needs to fix:

1. The new rules need to start immediately and require full compliance with the rule by 2030, not 2035.

2. The EPA must make sure the rule applies to plants that produce 85-100MW, down from 300MW, so that smaller gas plants are covered.

3. Biden needs to stop supporting false solutions like hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

Those three key points are already laid out in the comment template, so all you need to do is personalize with a line or two about the air quality or extreme weather you experience. If you want to learn more, Drew from 198methods put together a more detailed explanation & video about this EPA process (which goes back to 2015 and Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” that was one of his major goals for the Paris Climate Agreement.) Spoiler alert: the Supreme Court’s dirty hands are all over this.

Thank you in advance for taking three minutes to submit your comment to the EPA and Biden!
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One last note: I want to put September 17th on your radar. The March to End Fossil Fuels will be held in New York City from 1p – 4pm that day. The march will coincide with the UN Climate Action Summit and is being organized by a coalition of local and national organizations. There’s tons of info here, including links to volunteer (including making phone calls & sending texts) and/or donate in support of the march. The GET INVOLVED page has more info, including “hubs” (both by interest AND region) that you can join. This is a massive and exciting effort that has huge potential to shift climate policy.

Thank you for reading this far! Remember, there’s so much worth fighting for and together we can create a livable future. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: hope + determination

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays! Last week I was out in nature, refilling my well as we camped in Pike National Forest. We hiked the West Jefferson Trail through many lodgepole pines, marveling at the way the trees worked in community to support each other. Massive trees leaning on smaller trees that continue to grow as they support the weight of others. Witnessing that felt sacred and brought tears to my eyes.

July 25, 2023

Our trip was a much-needed respite from the realities of our quickly changing climate and today I’d like to offer some thoughts and hope from the frontlines of the fight for a stable climate and just transition off fossil fuels to renewable energies. The good news is that we have the answers and technology, and only lack the political will. Also? Many, many people are speaking up and more are joining the fight each day. But we need people to understand that we do, indeed, have the power to avert the worst of the climate crisis. As Rebecca Solnit tweeted: We spent a lot of time trying to convince people climate is real and urgent; that has mostly been accomplished. Now we have to convince people that we can do something about it, that we have the solutions, that most people already take climate seriously and support action, that doing what the climate demands could produce an era of abundance, not austerity, that the main obstacles are political, that civil society has overthrown regimes and status quo and changed the world before and can again.

The status quo is not permanent! However, the powers-that-be want to normalize this extreme weather and are feeding us headlines like this:

We must not buy into this narrative that wants us to accept an unlivable planet and future. Instead, let’s center this sentiment:
And this:
There are more of us than them and at the forefront are young people who are literally fighting for a livable future. Elise Joshi, executive director of Gen Z for Change, interrupted Biden’s press secretary at the Voters of Tomorrow’s summit last week to confront the Biden administration over its climate policy. Newsweek wrote about it and you can watch the video here. (See how brave, young Elise takes a steadying breath before she begins speaking.)
                                                                                                                                                                                                   On a final note, I think it’s helpful to remember that we’re raised in this country to pride ourselves on our individualism. We’re told to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps rather than accept “handouts.” But humans are social beings and we need each other–socially, emotionally, and physically. We are better and stronger together, and our survival depends on each other. So, I invite you to step into this moment and join the fight. Make your voice heard! I’d love to connect with you and hear what’s happening in your corner of the world, so please leave a comment. (And don’t think your comment has to be in agreement with what’s here–my intent is to start a conversation and find some common ground. Any and all thoughts are welcome!) Let’s be like lodgepole pines and lean on each other!
                                                                                                                                                                                                   Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: Declare a Climate Emergency + flood relief

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Hello, again! Before going any farther, I want to ask you to PLEASE keep up the pressure on Biden to declare a Climate Emergency under the National Emergencies Act (which unlocks all sorts of executive powers–scroll down for specifics). Personally, I cannot get a call through to the White House Comment Line (202 456 1111) so I email Biden and now have a daily plan to call my two Senators and one Representative to implore that they use ALL their power to pressure Biden to declare a climate emergency. If you don’t know your Senators, look here. To find your Representative, look here. Personalize your communication by letting them know what climate-induced extreme weather you’re experiencing. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! 

Okay, so it’s another Movement Monday post in which I typically highlight a frontline community enduring the immediate effects of the climate crisis then offer ways to support that community. Today my focus is on helping those impacted by flooding, specifically in the northeastern U.S. (However, horrific flooding is also happening all around the globe while deadly heat waves affect other regions. For instance, a region in northwest China just hit a record-breaking 126 degrees.)

The GOOD NEWS is that China is leading the world in taking aggressive climate action to implement renewable energy. The link to Kyle’s twitter thread with its many articles on what China is accomplishing can be found here. Read it and expand your vision of what is possible! There’s plenty of reason for hope!

 

Related to that good news, while Texas endures weeks of deadly temperatures that strain its power grid, solar power and battery storage played a huge roll in preventing blackouts. (See what’s possible?) You can read about that here.

Okay, now here are some organizations helping out those in the northeast.

NEW YORK & VERMONT:

  • Team Rubicon is a veteran-led humanitarian organization that serves global communities before, during, and after disasters and humanitarian crises. They’re on the ground in New York and Vermont, and are accepting donations for their annual fundraising goal of $120,000. Donate here.

VERMONT:

  • Vermont Public is partnering with the Vermont Community Foundation to collect donations for the Vermont Flood Response & Recovery Fund 2023 today (7.17.23) through midnight on Sunday, July 23rd
    Donate here OR donate directly to Vermont Community Foundation here.

There was also flooding in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts (and possibly other places I’m missing?), but I’ve been unable to find organizations accepting donations. PLEASE let me know if you come across any reputable places to donate and I will update this post.

Thank you for reading and caring for others in their time of need. We’re all in this together and collective action is what will save us! 

Solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: resources

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays! Today’s post isn’t focused on a specific frontline community, but is instead a collection of resources you might be interested in perusing. The intensifying climate-related weather around the world made me feel a bit wobbly about my role on the planet this morning, so I’ve been reading the excellent LET THIS RADICALIZE YOU: ORGANIZING AND THE REVOLUTION OF RECIPROCAL CARE by Kelly Hayes & Mariame Kaba.

The title comes from something Mariame Kaba has said over the years, “Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair,” a sentiment that resonates deeply with me. The book is about building community and organizing for the collective good. Here’s one snippet that made me feel a whole lot less wobbly this morning:

That quote is a good reminder that the smallest action can be revolutionary. The example that came to mind as I read was masking. Every time I wear a mask I’m saying “Our govt may not care about us, but I refuse to abandon you or you or you.” 

I admire both authors immensely, not only for their ongoing efforts on behalf of people and planet, but for their graciousness in welcoming others into the fight. Let This Radicalize You isn’t only for aspiring organizers, but also for anyone wanting stronger connections in their communities, along with those who might need a little pep talk to get them out of bed in the morning.  🙂  Haymarket Books is offering the book for 40% off right now (only $10.77 for the paperback!) and you can get that here.

My second resource recommendation is also new to me and I wanted to share while it’s on my radar. INHERITED is a storytelling podcast about young climate activists from around the world. They’ve produced two seasons of episodes and Season 3 will drop later this month.  You can access episodes here.

Third, an op-ed from Christiana Figueres who is a Costa Rican diplomat who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010-2016. The title of her piece: I thought fossil fuel firms could change. I was wrong. The piece opens with this:

“More than most members of the climate community, I have for years held space for the oil and gas industry to finally wake up and stand up to its critical responsibility in history.

I have done so because I was convinced the global economy could not be decarbonised without their constructive participation and I was therefore willing to support the transformation of their business model.

But what the industry is doing with its unprecedented profits over the past 12 months has changed my mind.

Let’s remember what the industry could and should be doing with those trillions of dollars: stepping away from any new oil and gas exploration, investing heavily into renewable energies and accelerating carbon capture and storage technologies to clean up existing fossil fuel use. Also, cutting methane emissions from the entire production line, abating emissions along their value chain and facilitating access to renewable energy for those still without electricity who number in their millions.

Instead, what we see is international oil companies cutting back, slowing down or, at best, painfully maintaining their decarbonisation commitments, paying higher dividends to shareholders, buying back more shares and – in some countries – lobbying governments to reverse clean energy policies while paying lip service to change.

On top of that, the industry as a whole is making plans to explore new sources of polluting fossil fuels and, in the United States, intimidating stakeholders who have been moving towards environmental, social and governance responsibility.”

You can read the piece in its entirety here. I wasn’t aware of Christiana Figueres or her willingness to give fossil fuel corporations the benefit of the doubt, but I’m glad she’s seen the light and is now using her substantial platform to voice her opinion. Good news!

As always, I’d love to hear what’s happening in your part of the world + any good news/bad news + book/article/podcast recommendations you might have. Basically, I want to feel more connected with YOU.

Solidarity! ✊🏽