September 23, 2019

After Historic Climate Strikes, Week of Powerful Local Actions Follow 

For immediate release

September 23 2019

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Thanu Yakupitiyage, US Communications, [email protected]; 413-687-5160

Monica Mohapatra, US Communications, [email protected]

Coalitions of partners, youth, workers, parents, and more to participate in direct actions throughout the country.
  • Following the biggest distributed climate mobilization ever seen, where half a million people took to the streets in cities like New York City, Washington D.C., Miami, Minneapolis, Portland, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Seattle and more, a powerful week of action is to follow. For numbers on the global climate strikes, go here.
  • A week of escalated actions are planned the week preceding the global strikes from September 23rd – 27th, with local actions planned in Washington, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the Bay Area.
  • In DC on Monday 9/23, a large coalition will shut down the city to stop business-as-usual and disrupt “workings of power.” This action has already received significant media attention and will be a powerful day for local communities demanding action on climate crisis.
  • Demonstrating that the fight for climate action is beyond one moment, these actions put a spotlight on key climate justice fights taking place throughout the United States.  Actions, vary from fossil fuel project shutdowns to demanding climate own halls to mass actions against fracking and fossil fuel finance, This takes place as NYC hosts Climate Week for the UN Climate Summit.
  • In cities like Seattle and San Francisco, indigenous-led actions will follow high profile strikes. Seattle will see over 900 Amazon workers walkout in support of climate justice, followed by a 4 day walk from the Tacoma LNG to the state Capitol, in a call for the state to restore the Salish Sea. In San Francisco, people will mobilize in the city’s financial district to demand divestment, in a day of action led by indigenous group Idle No More.
  • In Colorado, Thomas Lopez, International Indigenous Youth Council said “We are ensuring that Indigenous voices are being represented in the fight for Climate Justice. As marginalized communities we are disproportionately impacted by climate change and often excluded from the climate crisis discussions. We bring with us the teachings and prayers of our ancestors and the voices of those that were never heard. We are here to dismantle the beliefs systems that divide us to unite the people on all fronts. Every voice is important no matter how quiet. A’ho Mitakuye Oyasin / All My Relations.”
  • In New Hampshire, Barbara Peterson of Stratham says: “The fossil fuel industry doesn’t care about clean air, water, and soil. Their priority is profit. It’s our job to say no to coal and other unsustainable energy sources. If we don’t stand up, put our bodies in the way of them destroying our ability to live on this earth, who will?”
  • “The movement against Line 3 is much bigger than this specific project. It is about setting a new precedent for the energy infrastructure in this country. So a stance on Line 3 is more of a stance on whether candidates are ready to take the critical step away from fossil fuel infrastructure or whether they are still in the pockets of the fossil fuel industry.” said MN350 volunteer Margaret Breen, a member of the Youth Climate Intervenors group that has gained national prominence, pointed to Line 3 as a litmus test for candidates.
  • Community resilience depends upon local solutions. The escalated actions are focused on local and regional targets, that stand to have huge implications for the U.S. climate movement. From Line 3 to Suncor to calling out the companies that back ICE and invest in fossil fuels, activists are directly taking on the fossil fuel companies that have been poisoning their community and bringing environmental justice to the forefront. In cities like San Diego, these actions will carry forward momentum from ongoing local and regional campaigns; in others, they will launch a new phase of the local climate movement. The actions vary in scale and targets, but altogether show that the climate movement is as local as it is global.
  • For quotes, materials, link, and contacts, please take a look at the 350.org’s National Media Pack for the climate strikes.
List of Actions

[For schedule, see below]

  1. Duluth, Minnesota – Contact: Brett Benson, [email protected] & Margaret Breen, [email protected]
    Gichi-gami gathering: On Saturday, September 28th, hundreds from across the Midwest will gather on the shores of Gichi-gami — Lake Superior — to stand up against the proposed Enbridge Line 3 tar sands pipeline. They will rally, march and gather in a festival on the shores of Gichi-gami to send a clear message to the Governor, MN’s state agencies, and their elected representatives: “Minnesotans stand together to protect what we love and say STOP Line 3 and other pipelines that threaten our water, climate, and communities.”
  2. Portland, Oregon – Contact: Chris Palmer, [email protected], 971-712-4152
    Holding Our City Accountable – Act on Climate! – This is an action against Zenith Energy, a Houston-based company currently expanding an old asphalt facility in Portland’s industrial district into a tar sands crude import and storage facility. Communities in Portland are seeing quadruple the amount of oil “bomb” trains traveling through our City, putting all of us at risk. The City of Portland has the ability to legally stop Zenith’s expansion of tar sands crude imports, but is moving too slowly. We will target the City as the key decision makers, and put an end to the most dangerous and polluting form of energy on the planet from moving through our communities. There will be a vigil on September 24, and a mass action on September 27.
  3. San Diego, California – Contact: Peter Sloan, [email protected]
    There will be several actions in San Diego, where students have staged a die-in and now diverse youth and adult coalitions will convene in actions to escalate pressure on San Diego electeds. They will continue their our year-long Raise the Alarm campaign and focus on getting representatives to support a Green New Deal resolution in San Diego.
  4. Boston, Massachusetts – Contact: Vignesh Ramachandran, [email protected]
    In Boston, activists will kick off a week of escalated actions to resist and demand accountability for environmental injustice in the city and state. Governor Charlie Baker has repeatedly shown disregard for communities directly impacted by the climate crisis, approving the Weymouth Compressor Station and appointing staff who have direct ties to fossil fuel companies. Not only that, but he has not implemented Governor Patrick’s environmental justice executive order. His administration has had a hand in moving forward an electrical substation in East Boston, where a primarily Spanish-speaking community was given little change for public engagement on a station that would channel fossil fuel powered energy into an already overburdened communities. This is why Massachusetts activists are kicking off Charlie’s Climate Catastrophe Tour with a 9 foot tall puppet of the Governor, where “he” visits various sites where he and his administration have failed the public because they are beholden to the interests of the fossil fuel industry and corporations.
  5. Washington, D.C. – Contact: Kaela Bamberger, [email protected]
    On September 23rd, activists are going to shut down DC. They will block key infrastructure to stop business-as-usual, bringing the whole city to a gridlocked standstill. Parents, workers, college students, and everyone who is concerned about the climate crisis will skip work and school and put off their other responsibilities to take action on the climate crisis.Profile in the Guardian / Profile in Curbed DC
  6. Denver, Colorado – Contact: Julia Willliams, [email protected]
    There will be a series of actions after the 20th, including “Protect the Frontlines From Fracking” – On September 26th, activists in Colorado will shut down the Suncor oil refinery in Denver, a fossil fuel project which annually  spews 8.5 tons of hydrogen cynanide into low-income Denver neighborhoods.  On the 29th, there will be an action to protest how neighborhood fracking is plaguing Colorado communities. From dozens of explosions, polluted air, and devastating health impacts – directly impacted communities are ready to end fracking in Colorado.
  7. Seattle, Washington – Contact: Emily Johnston, [email protected]
    In Seattle, actions will highlight the fragility of the Salish Sea, with everything from a cruise ship protest to a 4-day walk. From September 20th to 24, the Walk to Protect & Restore the Salish Sea 2019 Climate Emergency will show people of the Salish Sea rising to protect the sacred. The 4-day walk will be to stand in solidarity with Salish Sea tribes to ensure their treaty rights are honored and respected and for other nations to have their unceded territories and natural laws honored and respected. A second Salish Sea protection action will take place on 9/26: Tribal, non-tribal, First Nations, Canadian, American, fishers, elders, children, families, youth, will show that while they may speak with many voices, they are of one mind when it comes to protecting their shared home.
  8. Bow, New Hampshire – Contact: Rebecca Beaulieu, [email protected]
    The last major coal-fired power plant in New England without a shut-down date is the Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire. On September 28th, after a week of climate action around the globe, a huge coalition of citizens will participate in nonviolent direct action to shut down the plant. Website / Watch their latest video here. / Read a blog from their practice action.
  9. Burlington, Vermont – Contact: Lily Jacobson, [email protected] & Julia Macuga, [email protected]
    One of Vermont’s top-earning lobbying firms, MMR, LLC, is making their money by destroying lives. Their clients includes Vermont Gas, ExxonMobil, CoreCivic, AstraZeneca, Procter and Gamble, Johnson&Johnson, Walmart– basically any business that supports systems of oppression and the destruction of lives, they lobby for. They’re complicit in helping the fossil fuel industry to intensify the climate crisis and drive mass migrations, then detaining migrants trying to escape the unstable conditions that the climate crisis has created. September 25th we’ll be at Vermont’s capital for a press event, demanding that MMR drops these clients.
  10. Bay Area (SF), California
    DISRUPT: CLIMATE DESTRUCTION IN THE SUITES – CREATE: SOLUTIONS IN THE STREETS will interrupt business as usual in the Downtown San Francisco financial district on September 25. Led by frontline groups such as Idle No More and 1000 Grandmothers, strikers will “name those responsible for destroying life as we know it.”  In addition to the action against fossil fuel finance, artists will paint 20 street murals envisioning climate justice. Media Advisory

Schedule:

Monday, Sept 23

Tuesday, Sept 24

Wednesday, Sept 25

Thursday, Sept 26

Friday, Sept 27

Saturday, Sept 28

Sunday, Sept 29

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