This summer Rising Tide North America in collaboration with other organizations hosted a number of regional Convergences for Climate Action to create a space of collective empowerment to resist the fossil fuel empire and fight for climate justice.

The action took place in conjunction with Climate Camps in Quebec, the UK, Germany, Australia and elsewhere around the world. Check out www.climateconvergence.org for more info or read on!

On one hand, there was the official conference representing a corporate- and market-driven system being propped up by governments responsible for this crisis. On the other, there were the thousands that gathered from across the globe to protest false solutions and promote real ones. The road to Copenhagen for many activists began on September 18, 2008 when over 100 people from 21 countries came together to discuss mobilizing for Copenhagen. Over the next year, meetings were held in Poznan, Poland (2008 UN Climate Conference), in Belém, Brazil during the 2009 World Social Forum, and in Copenhagen. Somewhere in the midst of those meetings, Climate Justice Action was formed and became the major network for organizing the demonstrations in Copenhagen. Other Danish organizations pulled together the alternative Peoples’ Summit Klimaforum09, which featured workshops, debates, art, and serious discussions that a new world was not only possible, but necessary. An estimated 10,000 people took part each day in Klimaforum09 activities.

The Negotiations

Outrage, confusion, and disgust were the reactions around the Bella Center when Barack Obama waltzed into the main plenary of the UN climate talks on December 18 to announce that the U.S. had struck an accord with the governments of China, Brazil, South Africa, and India. Accord? What happened to the official process?

In typical U.S. fashion, after years of global negotiations to bring all of the countries of the world into a consensus on how to combat climate change as part of the second round of commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, the imperial U.S. bypassed the Kyoto Protocol and its legally-binding commitments to reduce emissions. In his speech, Obama stated, “Here is the bottom line: We can embrace this accord, take a substantial step forward, and continue to refine it and build upon its foundation…. Or we can choose delay, falling back into the same divisions that have stood in the way of action for years….”

Fidel Castro criticized the undemocratic process of Obama et al., stating, “[This] was an antidemocratic and practically clandestine initiative that disregarded the thousands of representatives of social movements, scientific and religious institutions and other participants in the Summit.”

After the Copenhagen Accord was announced—the result of the private meetings of 26 unnamed countries—the push was on to get the rest of the countries to agree to it so that they could claim success. There was outrage among the excluded countries. “After keeping us waiting for hours, after several leaders from developed countries have told the media an agreement has been reached when we haven’t even been given a text, you throw the paper on the table and try to leave the room,” stated Venezuelan delegate Claudia Caldera.

Hugo Chavez explained what was at stake: “In Copenhagen, from the beginning, the cards were on the table for all to see. On the one hand, the cards of brutal meanness and stupidity of capitalism, which did not budge in defense of its logic: the logic of capital, which leaves only death and destruction in its wake at an increasingly rapid pace. On the other hand, the cards of the peoples demanding human dignity, the salvation of the planet, and for a radical change, not of the climate, but of a world system that has brought us to the brink of unprecedented ecological and social catastrophe.”

It required significant arm-twisting and blackmail of developing countries to try to get them in line. The government of Lesotho, head of the Least Developed Countries, was told that decisions on extending $7 million in aid would be decided depending on its cooperation with the Accord. Likewise, Palau was told negotiations on a funding package with the U.S. would be decided soon, so it should support the U.S.’s emissions reduction target. Meanwhile, the UK told Bolivia its eligibility for funding could be determined by its cooperation, and it told Bangladesh that money for adaptation was dependent on its agreement to financing going through the World Bank.

Media crowds around television in the Bella Center to watch President Obama address the high level plenary session. Only a small pool of the 3,500 accredited media present was allowed in.

Accredited UN observers blocked by police while on their way to the Peoples Assembly during the Reclaim Power protest

An accredited UN observer is shoved off the bridge during the Reclaim Power action after he and others marched out of the Bella Center

An estimated 50,000 to 100,000 people took to the streets in Copenhagen on December 12, an international day of action for the climate. There were over 900 arrests.

African groups march through the conference chanting, “Two Degrees is Suicide,” “One Africa, One Degree,” and “No to Climate Colonialism,” in response to a leaked secret proposal between rich countries

Clayton Thomas-Muller, from the Indigenous Environmental Network, chants and drums while attempting to leave the Bella Center for the Reclaim Power action

Despite these strong-arm tactics, the U.S., UK, and EU did not get the outcome they wanted. The exact text of the final agreement was as follows: “The Conference of the Parties takes note [emphasis added] of the Copenhagen Accord of December 18, 2009.” With the refusal of Venezuela and Sudan to knuckle under to U.S. pressure, the COP was unable to “adopt” the flawed Accord—and was relegated to “taking note” of it. In other words, there was no agreement in Copenhagen.

Earlier in the week, some text leaked from secret meetings held by the Danish government, initially dubbed the Copenhagen Agreement, led to a spontaneous protest by the African delegations. They marched through the Bella Center on December 8 chanting, “Two degrees is suicide. One Africa, one degree.” This referred to a section of the leaked text that would allow for a global temperature rise of two degrees Celsius. The Copenhagen Accord cabal responded, and on December 15, French President Sarkozy organized a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles. After this meeting and a phone call from President Obama, Meles announced that he was speaking for all of Africa when he agreed to the U.S./EU position.

Mithika Mwenda, of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), responded, “The IPCC science is clear—2 degrees globally means 3.5 degrees in Africa. This is death to millions of Africans. If Prime Minister Meles wants to sell out the lives and hopes of Africans for a pittance, he is welcome to, but that is not Africa’s position. Every other African country has committed to policy based on the science. That means at least 45 percent cuts by rich countries by 2020 and it means $400 billion fast-track finance, not $10 billion.”

The language in the Copenhagen Accord guarantees continued runaway climate change. It contains no legally binding targets for emissions reductions, which are selected by each country independently. In the U.S., for example, the target being bandied about in the Senate is for 17 percent emission cuts below 2005 levels by 2020. This translates to less than 4 percent emissions cuts below 1990 levels by 2020. (By comparison, even the grossly inadequate Kyoto Protocol called for 5.2 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2012.) On top of that, there are many provisions for allowing use of forests and soils as carbon offsets and the introduction of new market mechanisms to create the appearance of emissions cuts. The UNFCCC Secretariat has calculated that the Accord’s provisions will lead to a 3-degree rise in temperatures and CO2 levels of 550 ppm. In addition, the Accord calls for a pathetically small $10 billion per year for 3 years for adaptation and mitigation actions in developing countries. There are no references to Indigenous Peoples’ Rights or the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The media made a lot of the announcement by Hillary Clinton at the COP on December 15 of a plan for the U.S. to contribute $100 billion toward adaptation and mitigation for developing countries. As usual, they didn’t listen very well. What Clinton actually said was that the U.S. would participate in raising $100 billion per year by 2020 from a variety of sources—including the carbon market and even World Bank loans. Developing countries, meanwhile are calling for $400 billion in public funding (outside of the World Bank) to begin immediately.

The inclusion of forests in the carbon market under the Accord will greatly intensify forest carbon projects and speculation, which critics charge will undoubtedly lead to land grabs, increased violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and human rights in general, including forced displacements. It will also result in the rapid expansion of monoculture tree plantations (including genetically-engineered trees) as so-called carbon sinks.

In a bitter irony, on December 11 in the midst of the climate conference, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the Obama administration had approved Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for oil off Alaska’s northwest coast as early as next summer, endorsing drilling for fossil fuels in the climate-effected ecosystems of the Arctic, where global warming already impacts Alaska natives and entire villages are in danger of losing their lands and ways of life.

The Anti-Empire Strikes Back

While it is doubtful anyone predicted the Obama administration would so blatantly throw out the UN process, Climate Justice Action had wisely mobilized around the understanding that the talks would not, and could not, come up with any real, effective, or just solutions to the climate crisis. They mobilized to expose COP15 for the profit-driven, trade-focused sham that it had become. For Climate Justice Action, “no deal is better than a bad deal,” a sentiment echoed by climate scientist James Hansen.

Even prior to the Copenhagen Accord, after the first week of the talks, disgust over the behavior of rich countries spilled over into the streets. On Saturday, December 12, an estimated 100,000 people marched the 6 kilometers in the bitter cold to the Bella Center in support of effective action on climate change. Climate Justice activists formed a bloc called “Change the System, Not the Climate.” The only incident of the day occurred when police vans swooped in suddenly to surround several hundred black bloc marchers. They were corralled on the frozen street for several hours before being taken to jail. This was not the first pre-emptive arrest, however. Police had already raided several of the meeting and sleeping spaces of Climate Justice Action. By the end of the two weeks, approximately 2,000 people had been arrested—nearly all of them having committed no crime.

Four days later, thousands of people again marched through the streets of Copenhagen to the Bella Center, this time as part of the “Reclaim Power” protest organized by Climate Justice Action and Climate Justice Now! (networks that encompass organizations, social movements, farmers, and Indigenous Peoples from both the global North and the global South). Also, between 200 and 300 COP15 delegates marched out of the Bella Center to join the protests outside. The objective was not to close down the summit, but rather, for one day, to open a space for a People’s Assembly where real solutions to the climate crisis and ways to expand the global climate justice movement could be discussed. When the group from inside attempted to cross a footbridge to meet their thousands of compatriots on the outside, however, they were met by police swinging truncheons. Accredited UN observers were beaten while chanting, “We’re non-violent, why aren’t you?”

Stine Gry Jonassen, a spokesperson for Climate Justice Action, explained, “We have no more time to waste. If governments won’t solve the problem, then it’s time for our diverse people’s movements to unite and reclaim the power to shape our future. We are beginning this process with the people’s assembly. We will join together all the voices that have been excluded—both within the process and outside of it.” Stine and Tannie Nyboe, another Reclaim Power organizer, were brutally attacked by police while speaking from a sound truck. They were thrown off the truck and arrested.

Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) accredited Stine for the UN climate talks. She and another organizer, Dr. Tadzio Mueller, participated in a GJEP press conference the day before the action took place. Upon leaving the UN building, Mueller was grabbed by three plainclothes police, arrested pre-emptively, and taken back into the Bella Center to await transport to jail. He was released four days later.

Indigenous Environmental Network Director Tom Goldtooth explained why Indigenous Peoples led the march out of the Bella Center: “It’s a sad situation that world leaders representing industrialized society have lost their understanding of the sacredness of Mother Earth. Before we can achieve global action, there needs to be international awareness of why we are really here. We marched out in support of our brother, President Evo Morales of Bolivia, and his demand that the rights of Mother Earth be recognized in the negotiating text here in Copenhagen.”

Hundreds of UNFCCC-accredited observers were denied access to the Bella Center on the day of the Reclaim Power action, including the entire Friends of the Earth International and Via Campesina delegations. Anyone who participated in the Reclaim Power action was also banned from the Bella Center. In the days following the action, the exhibition and side event space where many of the NGOs had congregated was eerily quiet and empty. Many of the NGO booths were stripped of their materials and had simple white print outs posted that read “Civil Society Has Been Excluded From The Negotiations.”

Climate Justice Now! issued a statement after Copenhagen which reads in part: “The only discussions of real solutions in Copenhagen took place in social movements. Climate Justice Now!, Climate Justice Action and Klimaforum09 articulated many creative ideas and attempted to deliver those ideas to the UN Climate Change Conference through the Klimaforum09 People’s Declaration and the Reclaim Power People’s Assembly. While Copenhagen has been a disaster for just and equitable climate solutions, it has been an inspiring watershed moment in the battle for climate justice. The governments of the elite have no solutions to offer, but the climate justice movement has provided strong vision and clear alternatives. Copenhagen will be remembered as an historic event for global social movements. It will be remembered, along with Seattle and Cancun, as a critical moment when the diverse agendas of many social movements coalesced and became stronger, asking in one voice for system change, not climate change.”

What Are The Next Steps?

In response to the Copenhagen fiasco, Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that a world conference of social movements would take place in Bolivia on April 22, 2010—the International Day of Mother Earth. In Detroit, Michigan this summer, climate justice and other activists will come together for the U.S. Social Forum. Many hope that social movements in the U.S. will unite as an alternative to the farcical “democracy” in this country and work together to find real and just solutions to the climate crisis.

Despite the heavy handed and violent repression of the Reclaim Power action, participants considered it a tremendous success. “The solidarity we experienced today in the face of police intimidation and repression shows that people across the world are standing together to expose the failure of the COP to address the real causes of the climate crisis, and our determination to work together to bring about the changes needed to tackle climate change. The people feel strong together and we will go back home to build the movement for climate justice and for real solutions,” said Kingkorn Narintarakul of the Thai Working Group for Climate Justice.

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Anne Petermann is executive director of Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP). Orin Langelle is the co-director/strategist of GJEP. They took the photos in this article. GJEP co-founded Climate Justice Now! in 2007 in Bali, Indonesia and Climate Justice Action in 2008 in Copenhagen. GJEP has its main office in Hinesburg, Vermont with desks in Berkeley, California and Porto Alegre, Brazil. GJEP is the North American Focal Point for the Global Forest Coalition.

They set up camp in the shadow of a controversial carbon emitter – such as Drax coal-fired power station – living as sustainably as possible before making a high-profile demonstration.

Drax, Heathrow and Kingsnorth [1] are now synonymous with climate change [2], in part due to the success of the protest camps of the past three years. But where did this powerful new movement come from?

Early inspiration

The Stirling Eco Village at the G8 summit in 2005 was the first in this wave of climate camp protests. Although much more of a formal arrangement than later ones, with the site chosen in agreement with Stirling Council, the camp and related direct action efforts provided the model for future protests.

‘[after Stirling] We had a sense that we were capable of doing much more than just reacting to the calendar of events,’ remembers Climate Camp protester Kevin Smith. ‘We could set our own agenda now.’

It was the following August of 2006 when the camp-and-protest model met its first big test. By all accounts the police were caught by surprise as protestors attempted to break into the UK’s biggest carbon polluter, the Drax coal-fired power station in West Yorkshire.

The decision in 2007 to set up camp next to Heathrow airport in protest at plans to build a third runway was seen as an inspired move. More than 2,000 people joined the week-long protest, and were duly followed by a large contingent of broadcast, online and print media that ensured round-the-clock coverage of the action.

Police response

However, the high-profile nature of both the Drax and Heathrow protests saw the police react with a much more hostile response to the Kingsnorth protest in August 2008.

‘At Drax the police were somewhat confused, but by Heathrow they had become much more strategic and at Kingsnorth they took that to a new level,’ said Kevin Smith.

That new level saw what even the police later called a ‘disproportionate’ response by Kent officers, including widespread stop and search, intimidation and sleep deprivation tactics.

Responding to criticism at the time, Police Minister Vernon Coaker claimed 70 officers had been injured tackling protesters but it later turned out that this figure was made up of entirely unrelated injuries including sunstroke and a suspected wasp sting.

In addition, a freedom of information request by the MP David Howarth found the police had confiscated items including blankets, balloons and a walking stick.

Kevin Smith believes the police scare tactics at Kingsnorth and G20 [3] earlier this year ultimately helped their cause.

‘The police actions had the effect of radicalising some otherwise mild-mannered activists. It inspired people to realise that sometimes you do have to stand up to the repressive police tactics like that,’ he said.

Limitations of protest

While Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other campaign groups have welcomed the success of the Climate Camp protests, even going as far as organising talks at the Camps, they are more guarded about its direct action tactics.

‘Friends of the Earth supports people’s right to peaceful protest and believes that protests should be non-violent,’ is the official line from Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s Head of Climate Change.

Groups such as the Campaign Against Climate Change (CACC) worry that direct action marginalises the impact of the protest and the movement in general.*

CACC National coordinator Phil Thornhill said although the Camp benefited from respected individuals like MP Norman Baker turning up in support, its anarchist minority could lose it widespread support.

‘It is not so much that it is illegal but that at the heart of an anarchy-based philosophy is one that doesn’t admit the relevance of government. And a lot of people would think that government is the only body that can ultimately tackle climate change,’ he said.

Camp protestors say the majority of them are far from being against the political system.

‘When people come to climate camp the biggest thing they realise is that it’s full of ordinary people, with ordinary jobs who are not against the political system at all. Just frustrated by it,’ said Jess Gold, Friends of the Earth Campaigner and Camp protestor.

Global future

This year’s protest is set to be the biggest yet with more than 60 camps taking place around the world. As well as one in London, camps are being planned in Ireland, Wales and as far away as India and Brazil.

Earlier this week, around 150 people set up the Scotland camp near the site of a planned open-cast coal mine in Mainshill Wood in South Lanarkshire.

But even as it reaches global scale, organisers are already thinking beyond the camp protest idea.

‘The idea of climate camp is not to hold camps but to develop a social movement in this country. The most important thing is that we’re effective,’ said Kevin Smith.

by Tom Levitt

© 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited

The phrase direct action has been invoked in many ways for many movements. Often, in the climate movement it is used to describe non-violent civil disobedience that directly confront and seek to physically halt fossil fuel development projects, such as lock-downs to equipment and road blockades. At this year’s West Coast Convergence for Climate Action, we spoke of direct action as not only taking action against dirty fossil fuel projects, but also taking action for community solutions and sustainability!

The week led up to a day of civil disobedience on Monday, which consisted of two major acts of disruption, street theater and rallies. It was awesome to learn about the details of proposed dirty energy projects, then hear the personal stories from impacted communities fighting them, and then finally organize and take action in the efforts to stop them.

The first action targeted the I-5 expansion due to proposed increase individual car and truck traffic, which would increase negative health issue in surrounding areas, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and drive dependency on oil. Maya, who learned her climbing skills at the convergence, climbed across a prominent Portland bridge dropping a banner that read, “6 more lanes = more sick people, no I-5 expansion”. Below her, convergence attendees performed theater involving huge cardboard bummers, as well as heroic bicyclists.

The rally then moved along the waterfront to the headquarters of Northwest Natural Gas Co., a company who would own and operate new pipelines proposed through Oregon associated with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). In front of the building three young women locked themselves to each other, blocking the entrance to the building while leading chants. The group sang, “Palomar is No Solution, LNG is New Pollution” as well as, “You can’t Fool us, We’ve been Watching: No More Greenwashing”.

The Convergence was co-sponsored by Rising Tide North America, Global Exchange and Rainforest Action Network, as well as local groups including: Energy Options, Friends of Living Oregon Waters, Columbia River Clean Energy Coalition and Cascadia Earth First!

Overall it pumped me up, gave me some new ideas, and fueled me to work harder and have more fun in our fight for a better future!

Here are a few trinkets about the week:

-One of the most popular workshops was led by a community member directly impacted by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development in Washington. Not only did she come to speak about LNG, but she led a workshop about canning, drying and freezing fruits and vegetables in preparation for decreasing food availability due to fuel prices and climate change.

-The NW Natural action was organized as a women’s action. We chose to do this for a few reasons, including because we were finding that the “sexy” roles were often being taken by young men in the group, while women were doing a lot of support and behind the scenes organizing. As we organized we came up with ways to make the action super fun, including by covering ourselves and our lock-boxes with glitter and heart-shaped stickers. One of our banner’s read, “Pipeline thru my heart” with a map of Oregon with a drawn pipeline through it. This actions was awesome, inspiring and fun!

-All of our keynote speakers were amazing! Including: Louise Benally-an Indigenous Matriarch and Black Mesa Resister, Jane Williams with California Communities Against Toxins and John Sundquist with River’s Turn Farm.

Here are some videos, and more coverage (including a hilarious right-wing blog interpretation) to learn more:

youtube video of Post Convergence ACTIONS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4cR-8sJHQU

Oregonian Video of No I-5 Expansion banner hang:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/08/protesters_climb_onto_morrison.html

General Coverage of Climate Convergence:
http://www.kval.com/news/26195294.html
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=125947&sid=4&fid=1
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At Massey Energy, a notorious coal company involved in mountaintop removal coal mining, activists surrounded the entrance and yelled, “Hands off our mountains!.” The group then moved on to the Department of Environmental Quality which recently rubber stamped Dominion’s dirty coal plant in Wise County, VA. Next the group brought the party to Dominion, who is building the aforementioned coal plant as well as proposing a new nuke plant in Louisa County, VA. Chanting “No coal, no nukes, we won’t stop until you do!” the activists attempted to take over Dominion’s plaza but were repelled by police on horses. In a show of interspecies solidarity one horse bucked a cop off its back.

To wrap things up for the day, the crowd moved on to the the towering Bank of America building, one of the largest funders of the coal industry. In impressive feat of stealth two activists manage to infiltrate the beefed up security at the building and locked to a sign outside of the customer entrance. Marchers supported the lockdown with a die in on the sidewalk. Police eventually cut free the two that were locked down and charged them with trespassing.

All in all it was a great day. While the police may have foiled our original plans they couldn’t stop us altogether. Pretty much every building in Richmond connected to a climate criminal had cops staked out at it and several activists cars were followed anywhere they went. Despite this we had a successful march and lockdown. Lets continue the struggle for climate justice in the southeast!

In all 25 people occupied the visitors center for 2 hours until police came in to remove them. The protestors wore shirts that read “Nukes not Welcome” and chanted and sang. “We chose to take non-violent direct action because Dominion and the federal government have completely failed to address the climate crisis,” said Paxus Calta who lives twenty miles from the plant. The protesters also gave their own version of a tour for visitors revealing the true nature of the nuclear industry. In all 6 people were arrested for refusing to leave the building and were escorted out in handcuffs to the cheers of their friends.

The nuclear power industry is attempting to pose itself as our savior for the climate crisis. This is simply not possible. The only thing that the nuclear industry can promise us is a life of radioactive waste, poisoned water, and cancer. Nuclear energy has no place in our transition away from fossil fuels. Since the action, police have set up check points around the convergence, following cars leaving the area, and pulling people over and running ID’s.

We will continue to fight for climate justice in the southeast. More action to come! The convergence runs through August 11th so come on out! Todays action was planned by Nuclear Watch South, Blue Ridge Earth First!, and Rising Tide North America. www.climateconvergence.org/southeast

Between August 8th-14th, 400+ people gathered for the West Coast Convergence for Climate Action. Participants took part in nearly 100 workshops, as well as lots of games and performances.

The event took place in Skamokawa, Washington in close proximity to a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Bradwood, Oregon. The Columbia River divides Oregon and Washington, and participants in the Convergence learned about attempts to sustain the local economy of the Lower Columbia River while resisting massive fossil fuel developments in the area.

On Monday, August 13th, Convergence participants were joined by dozens of local activists opposing the Bradwood LNG terminal. The group gathered on the Washington shore of the Columbia River, where hundreds of people live in close proximity to the Bradwood LNG proposal. Using fishing boats, sailboats, kayaks, and an umiak, participants in the action crossed the Columbia River and occupied the beach at Bradwood where NorthernStar Natural Gas intends to construct a large LNG terminal.

On Tuesday, August 14th activists locked down in front of the PacifiCorp (aka Pacific Power) building in Portland, Oregon to demand that the company shut down the four dams it operates on the Klamath river and stop developing coal fire power plants. The protesters were joined by a rally of several dozen supporters, many of whom wore hazmat suits painted with fake blood to draw attention to the poisonous conditions on the Klamath River.

No one was arrested at either action; it was generally concluded that the companies targeted wanted to avoid drawing the additional media attention that arrests would bring.

Monday’s action also featured a banner hang hung on a cliff adjacent to the Bradwood site, showing a target symbol and the words “Another LNG Disaster – What’s Your Number?” The “number” refers to recently released clasified pictures obtained anonymously showing that NorthernStar, developer of the LNG terminal, has numbered every structure within two miles. Local LNG opponents first exposed this disturbing mapping project during Clatsop County land use hearings, with one resident asking, “If we’re not going to be impacted at all, then why is there a number on my roof in this picture?”

The global impacts of the LNG industry were also a focus of the Climate Convergence, where participants learned that LNG is up to 40 percent more carbon intensive than natural gas due to its long supply chain (LNG must be extracted as natural gas, liquefied, shipped huge distances, and ultimately re-gasified). Recent studies show that LNG is comparable to gasified coal (aka “Clean Coal,” a true oxymoron – see post about SE Convergence!) in its carbon impacts. Furthermore, local LNG opponents shared what they had learned about the global LNG industry, having communicated with opponents of LNG producing facilities in Indonesia and Russia. In these places, the severe economic, environmental and human rights impacts of LNG development are multiplied many times over in comparison to the experience of rural Oregon and Washington.

Beyond climate change issues, the West Coast Convergence used the carbon trail of various energy sources to put the environmental, human rights, and labor practices of the fossil fuel industry on display. Speakers addressed a huge variety of issues pertaining to coal, natural gas, and hydropower issues while others used the event to demonstrate skills and sustainability practices that can preclude the need for destructive fossil fuels and hydropower.

The Convergence was met with strong local support — nearly 100 people from the surrounding rural counties in Oregon and Washington participated — and important exchanges between those fighting fossil fuel development on local, regional and global scales. Participants came from as far south as Southern California and as far north as Alberta and Vancouver Island.

August 13, 2007

More photos available at Asheville Indymedia

***5 arrested protesting Bank of America’s investments in coal and climate change***

As a culmination of the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action, activists took a bold direct action against Bank of America over concerns regarding their investment throughout the coal cycle and their promotion of climate injustice. Although there was much speculation regarding a protest action at the Progress Energy Skyland coal-fired power plant, protestors surprised the downtown office of Bank of America.

Two activists locked down inside the main lobby and other activists blockaded the entrance to the downtown branch of Bank of America. The protest included a large, lively group of concerned citizens dressed as canaries and polar bears. Activists carried signs and banners that read: “Bank of America Stop Funding Climate Change,” “Bank of America Stop Mountaintop Removal,” “No Coal, No Nukes, No Kidding” “Bank of America Climate Criminal.”

Bank of America has lent hundreds of millions of dollars to companies that run and are planning to build new power plants, such as Florida Power and Light. Between 2005 and 2007, Bank of America facilitated nearly $1 billion in loans to Massey Energy and Arch Coal, two of the largest companies responsible for the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. This form of mining literally blasts the tops off of mountains to get at thin seems of coal that lay beneath. Mountaintop removal coal mining has permanently destroyed over 500 square miles of mountains and buried over 1,200 miles of streams in West Virginia alone.

As of 2005, Progress Energy’s Skyland was the fifth largest purchaser of Massey Energy’s coal. Progress Energy’s Skyland plant is a purchaser and burner of mountaintop removal coal as well as the largest point source of pollution in Buncombe County.

The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action aimed to promote a just, rapid, nuclear-free transition away from fossil fuels; to promote environmental justice by supporting communities that are fighting dirty energy developments in their backyards; and to encourage direct actions as a means for challenging corporate power and empowering movements to stop climate change.

“I attended the convergence to build my skills for organizing and taking action on climate change,” said Joey Littleton, a convergence participant. “This is a great place to network-there are activists from all over the southeast region with a wide breadth of experience on environment and social justice issues. I enjoyed the strategy sessions; I came here to get involved with the movement to stop climate change.”

The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action is happening simultaneously with a Climate Convergence on the west coast focused on fighting liquefied natural gas terminals, and in conjunction with the UK Camp for Climate Action taking place at London’s Heathrow airport.

“Globally and locally, change will come from communities, not from benign politicians and corporations who hope to profit off the climate crisis with feel-good ‘solutions’ that do nothing to challenge a fundamentally unjust and unsustainable system,” said Mary Olson, director of the Southeast office of Nuclear Information and Resource Service and co-organizer of the convergence.

Today a massive police operation was deployed in Buncombe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties to prevent activists from protesting a dirty power plant responsible for climate change. Dozens of uniformed and undercover cops surrounded the site of the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action as a police helicopter hovered over the site.

In addition, dozens more police were deployed at Progress Energy’s Skyland coal power plant to prevent legitimate protest against dirty energy and climate change. “This shows which side of the climate debate the government is on. They have spent tens of thousands of dollars to protect the coal industry today. Clearly if the government wanted to address climate change, they would be sending the police in to arrest the heads of Progress Energy for perpetuating the greatest threat humanity has ever faced – climate change,” an anonymous polar bear said.###

CORRECTION

We would like to clarify statements that were made about the Asheville Police Department (APD) using tazers against participants in the action against climate change and mountaintop removal at Bank of America yesterday.

The Climate Convergence sent out a press release saying that people locked down inside the bank were subject to electrocution shocks from tazers, based on the accounts of witnesses inside the bank. Now that the protestors are out of jail, we have learned that this was an inaccurate conclusion based on reasonable suspicion. One protester was heard screaming while pinned down by large group of officers and subjected to excruciating pain compliance holds right after the police were heard yelling back and forth to each asking “Who has a tazer? Get a tazer!” Many of the officers on the scene were equipped with electrocution devises, along with rubber bullets, chemical weapons, dogs, and training in torture techniques. In addition, a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who attempted to check on the safety of the protesters after hearing shouts from officers about tazers was not allowed to do so.

The APD has a history of using tazers, widely recognized as a form of torture and the cause of several deaths around the country, on nonviolent protesters. In light of increased use of paramilitary tactics by local police forces in civilian situations, such conclusions are to be expected. We reported information we thought to be accurate at the time; in light of new information, we apologize for any inaccuracies we reported.

In Defense of a Living Planet,

###
Additionally, the Southeast Convergence for Climate Action made the following statement:

List of Demands

Recognizing that climate change is already here, we hold corporations and governments accountable for the effects on communities, people and the living earth. Therefore, we demand:

1. That Bank of America completely divest from the coal industry and other dirty, climate-changing energy companies.
2. A 90% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
3. An immediate halt to any plans for new nuclear and coal power plants and a complete redirection of research and development money toward conservation, efficiency and clean, renewable energy projects.
4. An immediate end to mountaintop removal coal mining and other forms of strip mining.
5. A just, rapid transition away from fossil fuels and nuclear power by 2020.
6. A shift to community controlled, small-scale systems of energy production, transportation, and food production and distribution.
7. An end to the privatization of the atmosphere through market-based mechanisms such as carbon trading.
8. Climate Justice Now!

From: The Southeast Convergence for Climate Action

On Dirty Energy and solutions to Climate Chaos
The Convergence for Climate Action is committed to Earth-centered, community-based solutions to the climate crisis that foster local autonomy and self-sufficiency. We see corporate led, business friendly “solutions” to the climate crisis as inherently opposed to this vision. We do not accept alternative energy sources that externalize their costs onto human and natural communities in the name of reducing carbon emissions. This includes but is not limited to nuclear power, “clean” coal, large scale ethanol and biofuels, carbon sequestration, trading, or offsets, and large dams.

These technologies have social and environmental costs that far outweigh any benefits they provide in regards to fighting climate change. We firmly believe that any conversation on alternative energy must address the issue of consumption: no future form of energy can be considered sustainable without drastic reductions in our energy and resource consumption.

Anti-Oppression Policy

The organizers of the Convergence for Climate Action believe that anti-oppression work is vital to community organizing and to building a movement to eliminate the exploitation of people and the planet. The Convergence for Climate Action will have anti-oppression workshops and participants will be strongly encouraged to participate.

In order to create a safe and productive environment for activism and community, we will not be tolerating behavior that demeans, marginalizes, or threatens people. Examples are offensive remarks about person’s gender, age, sexual orientation, race, mental health, culture, general appearances, income status, being a parent or a child, employed or unemployed, level of experience in activism, etc….

Any type of sexual, verbal, or physical assault will be taken especially seriously by the convergence organizers. On account of the short nature of the event and limited resources, convergence participants may be asked to immediately leave the event should they be accused of oppressive behavior.

We thank everyone for helping to make the convergence a safe, comfortable, productive and super fun environment!