Stop Tar Sands - Global Exchange

As the temperature rises, so do we.

That is the tagline behind the Summer Heat actions taking place all over the country to challenge the fossil fuel industry. From the Pacific Northwest, to Texas, to Maine and many more in between, people are ready to fight against the industry that is wrecking our planet and our future.

Here in California, people of the Bay Area will rise up at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, CA on August 3rd. Just days before the one year anniversary of the Chevron Refinery explosion, we’ll join the Summer Heat Richmond coalition and say No to Chevron, No to Tar Sands Oil, Stop Climate Chaos and Yes to Green Energy.

August 3 will also mark just three months since Global Exchange honored the work of First Nations activist Crystal Lameman, for her work to stop the further expansion of tar sands into the traditional territory of the Beaver Lake Cree. It will also mark one month since I started my journey to Fort McMurray to participate in the Healing Walk – an annual First Nation and Metis event to focus on healing the environment and the people who are suffering from tar sands expansion.

It’s now time to turn local. Gathering at the Richmond BART station at 10AM, we’ll march to the entrance of the refinery and once we reach the gates with a children’s brigade at the lead, we’ll rally and hear from Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and climate champion Bill McKibben. The children’s brigade will start a little later (10:30AM), and meet at George Carroll (aka Washington) Park, Pt Richmond.

RSVP and march with us to call for:

NO more toxic hazards.
NO Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
NO dirty crude refining: including tar sands and fracking shale dirty crude.
YES to a just transition from dirty fossil fuels to union jobs in clean energy!

Putting together an action like this is a massive undertaking and brings together over 50 local and national organizations: the Richmond Progressive Alliance, Communities for a Better Environment, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, the California Nurses Association and many local unions, as well as national environmental networks and social justice organizations. So much to do! There are still lots of volunteer opportunities.

After the rally, affinity groups will carry out nonviolent direct actions, some involving sunflowers – known for their ability to absorb heavy metals from the soil. If you want to be part of these or develop your own creative, nonviolent actions, please attend a nonviolence training on Sunday July 28. These actions will be carried out peacefully and carefully separate from those who cannot or do not wish to risk arrest.

Hope to see you there!

For Summer Actions across the country, visit JoinSummerHeat.org.

A week of action to stop tar sands profiteers is planned for next month, and Global Exchange is proud to be sponsoring this call for action. Here’s more about it from Ramsey Sprague of tarsandsblockade.org.

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Join the Week of Action to Stop Tar Sands Profiteers

Last week I was arrested at a pipeline industry convention where TransCanada was lecturing on pipeline safety compliance. I chained myself to the loud speaker because I had a message to deliver!
The tar sands industry and its investors are spending billions on dangerous pipelines to open the Canadian tar sands to unbridled exploitation: the Keystone XL, the Northern Gateway, and the Trailbreaker, to name a few….but there’s one thing standing in their way: you. Yes, you!

Grassroots resistance begins with you, and together, we can send a message to TransCanada and their profiteers: Stop scheming to expand Alberta tar sands exploitation and bankrolling Keystone XL.

Investors are becoming uncertain about the future of Keystone XL and that’s why Tar Sands Blockade and our allies are calling for a Week of Action to Stop Tar Sands Profiteers, March 16 – 23.

The week of action is in solidarity with Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance’s direct action training camp to stop the KXL in Oklahoma thats happening at the same time.

From my indigenous brothers and sisters in Alberta most impacted by tar sands extraction to the environmental racism of refining in Houston’s toxic East End, TransCanada’s business as usual means death and destruction for the biosphere and our communities. Together we can confront these toxic profiteers by showing up at their offices, public events, and extraction sites to demonstrate that we won’t stop until they do. You don’t need to come to Texas or Oklahoma or go to DC to rise up and defend your home!

Find a TransCanada investor in your community and hold your own action.

Extreme energy extraction like mountain top removal, fracking, and tar sands exploitation are fueling climate chaos and disproportionally poisoning low income and communities of color at an alarming rate. Institutional avenues of change –corrupt politicians and regulators – have failed to protect our most impacted, vulnerable communities.

Tar Sands Blockade has done many things to stop KXL, from tree sits to locking ourselves to heavy machinery, and we’ve asked for help before. But to help us stop KXL now means we must go straight to the folks investing in the projects that are poisoning our friends and families and tell them enough is enough! Investing in Keystone XL is as toxic as the contents of their pipe!

To stop the most destructive project on Earth and preserve any hope of a liveable planet, we must put a end to “business as usual.” It’s time to act now and stop those working to poison our world and strip-mine our future. It’s time to take direct action to build the world we know is possible.

The Bay Area Turns Up the Heat!