Year: 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Resist AIM

PRESS CONTACT: Nancy Vann, 646-831-5811 resistaim@gmail.com

Montrose 9 Assert the “Necessity Defense” at Trial in Cortlandt, NY Nine community members arrested for blocking construction on Spectra Energy’s AIM pipeline expansion – known as the “Montrose 9″ – join the national debate over harms caused by fossil fuel infrastructure

Cortlandt, NY — The “Montrose 9” are nine community members arrested for disorderly conduct for allegedly blocking traffic near the access to a Spectra Energy construction yard used for the expansion of a high-pressure fracked-gas pipeline known as the AIM pipeline. Their trial, which resumed in Cortlandt, NY at 8:30 yesterday morning, has the potential to become a landmark case with national implications involving the “necessity defense.” Defense counsel Martin R. Stolar is a prominent social justice attorney who argues that the defendants’ actions were justified since they were undertaken to stop a greater harm and were carried out only after all other legal and regulatory options had been exhausted. At 3:00 PM yesterday afternoon, the court adjourned until July 15th at 1pm, when the other seven defendants are expected to testify regarding their reasons for taking direct action against the project.

While the necessity defense has been used in other types of cases, it is unusual in environmental litigation. One case occurred in May 2013 in Massachusetts when a small lobster boat managed to blockade a barge containing 40,000 tons of coal near the Brayton Point Power Plant. The charges of obstruction were dismissed and the presiding judge stated that the actions were morally justified. In a recent Seattle case, the “Delta 5” were found guilty of trespass for blocking an oil train but not guilty of obstruction. Jurors in that case cited sympathy for the activists and feeling of gratitude for their personal sacrifice for the good of all.

In questioning the prosecution’s police witnesses, Mr. Stolar also suggested a more traditional reason to dismiss the charges. He established that the defendants were not, in fact, causing the traffic jam on Route 9A as was charged. Rather, the Spectra workers caused the tie up when they obstructed the roadway with their cars. Police testified that once they began directing the workers to move, the congestion began to clear up even before the arrests took place. When asked how he determined that the cars belonged to pipeline workers, one officer replied that “there were a lot of out of state license plates.”

The greater harm to be prevented: Defense witnesses, Cortlandt Councilman Seth Freach and two nuclear experts, testified to the dangers posed by the AIM pipeline. Councilman Freach discussed his own, and the Town Board’s, concerns about public health and safety and described letters that were sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other regulatory agencies expressing those concerns. Among the materials Cortlandt submitted to FERC was a report from an independent study that the Town had commissioned. Councilman Freach

noted that, based on the Board’s thorough evaluation of the project, members had voted unanimously in opposition to the pipeline. Paul Blanch, an engineer with over 50 years of nuclear experience, stated that there were “very significant unaccounted for risks” with the AIM pipeline and “an unacceptable probability” of a serious or catastrophic accident due to the pipeline’s close proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plant. He also provided details of his efforts opposing the pipeline at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Physicist Paul Moskowitz described the radioactive materials, including lead 210 and polonium 210, that result from decay of the radon in fracked gas. He went on to discuss regulatory filings he’d submitted detailing his concerns about radioactive emissions from the AIM pipeline and their impacts on human health. He testified that FERC’s response to his concerns were “a total fabrication” that “ignored over 50 years of established science.” When asked about what process would be used to deal with these dangerous substances, he responded that since FERC denies the existence of those known radioactive materials in pipelines there is no process in place for dealing with them.

Two defendants explain their actions: Only two of the Montrose 9 defendants were able to testify before court concluded for the day. Both told their own individual stories of why they had stepped up to protest in such a compelling way. Although members of the community have been working through regulatory channels, their efforts have been met with delays and legal maneuvers, leaving them no recourse but to pursue more direct actions. Linda Snider testified that since all of the regulatory agencies had ignored the issues, she felt she needed to stop AIM construction herself. She stated, “I wanted to stop the Spectra trucks and stop them from putting in this pipeline. We’ve just got to stop this.”

Defendant Susan Rutman, a landscape photographer who lives next to the Hudson River, was the final witness for the day. She explained she had sought to stop the work through writing to officials. “My intention was to stop the pipeline, because I knew it would prevent a far greater harm.” she said.

Find out more information about the AIM Pipeline and ongoing resistance here:

Online: http://www.resistaim.wordpress.com
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/resistaim
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ResistAIM

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Questioning Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Air Policy Director  N. Jonathan Peress  in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last Tuesday, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming had a few choice words about Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE).

What did the senator find so “troubling?”

Recently, Wyoming has been in the news regarding the negative health impacts of fracking on people in the state. In April, for example, scientists found dangerous levels of chemicals in the groundwater of Pavillion, a town in central Wyoming. The scientists reported that the town’s 230 residents were drinking water that contained levels of benzene 50 times above the allowable limit. The source of this contamination–fracking. Similarly, just last week, the Coming Clean coalition released a report showing how volatile organic compounds from fracking near Pavillion have been absorbed by residents.

But the harm from fracking to residents in his state wasn’t what drew Sen. Barrasso’s ire last Tuesday. Nor was it the questionable connections between the EDF air policy director he was questioning and NRG Energy. Recently, DeSmog Blog published an article revealing how contractors hired by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review a new Spectra fracked gas pipeline worked for Spectra on a related project, and therefore had a stake in its approval. This contractor was none other than NRG Energy, which, according to EDF’s website, was a former employer of current EDF Air Policy Director N. Jonathan Peress. More specifically, Peress was NRG’s  director of environmental services. Now, he represents EDF in environmental proceedings before FERC. Given the fossil fuel industry’s reliance on incestuous relationships with the government, the private sector, and in this case, the nonprofit sector as well, it’s no wonder that a former employee of NRG now represents an “environmental group” at proceedings before FERC . But Senator Barrasso wasn’t commenting on that either.

Instead, it was Beyond Extreme Energy’s efforts to end the deadly practices of the fracking industry that caused Sen. Barrasso alarm. More specifically, he was disturbed by the group’s willingness to hold the government accountable for its disregard of human life.

Over the last several months, Beyond Extreme Energy has sought to circumvent FERC’s purposeful intransigence to the needs, wants, and rights of the people. This has meant bringing their nonviolent campaign to the homes of the FERC commissioners. In February, for example, members of the group sent Valentine’s Day cards to the commissioners at their homes. Then, in May, the group held dinners and vigils on the sidewalks in front of the commissioners’ houses in Washington, DC.

When pressed by a reporter to respond to Sen. Barrasso’s concern about the safety of the FERC commissioners, and particularly the group’s responsibility in putting the commissioners’ addresses out into the world, BXE responded with the following statement:

“The addresses of the commissioners were easy to find using an online search, so by asking folks to send Valentine’s Day cards to their houses, we were not in fact exposing anything that wasn’t already out there.

“The greatest danger, however, lies in not using every nonviolent means available to stop the permitting, building, and use of fossil fuel infrastructure. Holding potlucks at the commissioners’ homes and sending them Valentine’s Day cards is not dangerous. Approving fracked-gas infrastructure is, however, and puts millions of lives on the line.

“If we lose the fight to stop FERC’s rubber-stamp machine, the physics of climate change will take devastating revenge. The FERC commissioners are responsible for the rubber-stamp machine, and their actions threaten our lives and livelihoods. It is perfectly acceptable, using purely nonviolent means, to defend ourselves. In fact, due to the extreme danger FERC puts us in, anything less than strong, bold, nonviolent action is immoral.”

Just days after Sen. Barrasso made his statement about BXE, the group held another event outside the Washington, DC, home of FERC Chairman Norman Bay. BXE called it “Potlucks, Not Pipelines.”

According to the Facebook page where the event was advertised, the potluck was held “because he (Norman Bay) and the agency he stands at the helm of have ignored the deadly consequences of their corrupt, industry-driven practices for far too long.” It went on to explain the purpose of the event.

“FERC hurts communities across the United States by working for the oil and gas industries that fund them! They rubber stamp fracked gas infrastructure and put millions of lives (present and future) on the line due the horrific consequences of climate pollution. In response to a growing public rebellion against their horrific practices, FERC commissioners have been dismissive. Perhaps their complicity in so much suffering and death has led to denial. We’re hosting a peaceful dinner to talk about this and other issues related to FERC. You’re invited, and so is Norman Bay.”

Pennsylvania organic farmer Maggie Henry talks about the potluck as others enjoy the food she prepared:

Armando Diello from the DC area, who contributed chips and hummus, explains his motivations for attending the potluck:

Greg Yost, a high school math teacher from North Carolina,  talks about FERC, Barrasso, and his need for answers:

You can also watch Steve Norris’s testimony here, and Don Weightman’s testimony here.

Last Thursday, ten members of Beyond Extreme Energy visited the Washington, DC, office of Sen. Barrasso to formally respond to his misguided statements. The group spoke to Sen. Barrasso’s Legislative Director, Bryn Stewart.

Here, Cathy Strickler of Harrisonburg, Virginia reads the letter she wrote to Sen. Barrasso on behalf of Beyond Extreme Energy:

Clarke Herbert, a member of Beyond Extreme Energy from Arlington, VA, told the legislative director why the group goes to the FERC commissioners’ homes.

Maggie Henry, the PA farmer, responds to Sen. Barrasso’s slanderous statements by telling Stewart how fracking has destroyed her life:

Charlie Strickler of Harrisonburg, VA, and Steve Norris of Asheville, NC, explain that BXE comes from a place of deep love:

Bryn Stewart was quite dismissive of the potential negative health harms of fracking and other forms of extreme energy on the people of his state.

Stewart responded to members of BXE, in part, by referencing a number of his friends who have lost jobs to a declining coal industry in Wyoming.

Several days after BXE’s visit to Barrasso’s office, an article appeared in the New York Times called “As Wind Power Lifts Wyoming’s Fortunes, Coal Miners Are Left in the Dust.” The article highlights the devastating effect of a declining industry on working class families in a rapidly changing energy environment.

The article quotes Jillian Balow, the Wyoming superintendent of public instruction. She was speaking before a crowd of hundreds at a public hearing held by the Interior Department to collect input on the current halt to new coal mining on public land. Reading the article, one could imagine the weight of this moment in history present in her voice.

“We have reached the point where the restrictions and regulations for the industry are past our ability to adapt. It has put thousands of hard-working people out of work and is devastating families. Give us a chance.”

This reality presents a challenge to groups like BXE that are seeking to transform the world into a better, more just place. Without working with labor to address challenges like this, the fossil fuel abolition movement will have to climb an even steeper hill.

In her letter to Sen. Barrasso on behalf of Beyond Extreme Energy, Cathy Strickler, equating the work of getting off fossil fuels to a form of surgery,  put it well:

“With Wyoming’s vast majority of jobs connected to fossil fuels, this surgery will not be easy but in good hands can be successful. Right now the fossil fuel lobby continues to break more climate bones. These fractures are difficult and take a very long time to heal. Complications from these fractures are painful and deadly for millions of people.”

Will Beyond Extreme Energy and the movement it’s a part of be able to catalyze this surgery with justice and love for all, including workers in the fossil fuel industry? To facilitate such a drastic shift, isn’t everyone needed, including the workers?

Time will tell, but it grows short. And to tragic consequence.

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Beyond Extreme Energy’s Letter to Senator Barrasso

Dear Senator Barrasso:

As a former member of the American Medical Association Council for Ethics and Judicial Affairs, we are sure that you hold ethics is high esteem.  We do, too; it is a strong value we share with you. Medical ethics would lead one to embrace the best possible health of all citizens which comes with a stable climate, not one that is destroyed by fossil fuels.

As an experienced orthopedic surgeon you are used to fixing that which is broken. Orthopedic surgery is difficult and can only be done by the most skilled, educated, and experienced people. Now we have an energy system that is broken and will require people to fix it that are also skilled, experienced and educated. With Wyoming’s vast majority of jobs connected to fossil fuels, this surgery will not be easy but in good hands can be successful. Right now the fossil fuel lobby continues to break more climate bones. These fractures are difficult and take a very long time to heal. Complications from these fractures are painful and deadly for millions of people.

We call on you to live up to your professional medical ethics and preserve life.

We call on you to understand that BXE is trying to heal the broken bones of our climate and our energy system.

Beyond extreme energy is a group of concerned people – engineers, college professors, nurses, teachers, a farmer, a dentist, and young educated professionals who care enough to be involved and believe that we, as individuals, can make change happen to help people much less fortunate than ourselves.

We call on you to support our efforts and to thoughtfully consider the consequences of your extremely important position in the United States Senate.

Sincerely,

Concerned members of Beyond Extreme Energy

Our friends in Virginia fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline send a message of support to BXE:

“In response to Senator John Barrasso’s request to denounce Beyond Extreme Energy #BXE and his attempts to villify our fam in the resistance against ecological destruction.

No, we will not denounce BXE’s tactics or their actions. They are justified. They are escalating because FERC continues to ignore the voices of those saying no to fossil fuel projects. BXE is our extended family and we support… their choices. No more divide and conquer.

There are surely nonprofit orgs out there who claim to be fighting for our futures, but who will continue to distance themselves from groups like BXE and No ACP because these non-profits often have competing interests, as well as financial or philanthropic ties to the same corporations that are killing us. They do so even without request, for fear of ruffling one financial feather or another. We hope that will change very soon.

We hope the nonprofit world, a.k.a Big Green, will see that they are on the wrong side, and that these corporations and the institutions that uphold them are toxic. We hope the staff and directors of these groups realize the dedication of those who do this work without compensation, those who engage out of love and out of necessity. We hope they realize the political climate is really shifted by grassroots organizations, who take risk and direct action, that force them to react. Power to the people. BXE you have our love.”

Activists from Beyond Extreme Energy interrupted the Virginia Energy Policy Forum in Hampton today to dramatize forcefully our conviction that current policies of the U.S. government, the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Dominion Resources and others represented at the event are wrong-headed and dangerous.

As U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was addressing the forum, BXEers Steve Norris and Lee Stewart walked in front of the stage carrying a banner that said: “NO LNG EXPORTS.” and “Guys, we ain’t asking … Clean Energy Now.”

“We are here to say ‘NO to LNG exports,’ ” Norris called out. “No to fracked gas. No to the climate change that they will produce. We are here to save Cove Point, which has one of the largest LNG facilities in the East Coast [and] is being built by Dominion Resources. We are sorry to interrupt you, Secretary Moniz, but this is a message that does not seem to be being heard well here.”

As they were led out, others shouted “No fracked gas, Save Cove Point. Renewable Energy now.”

In a fliers distributed outside the forum, BXE also said:

These government agencies and private corporations are uprooting, damaging and endangering numerous communities in Virginia where fracked-gas pipelines, compressor stations and an LNG export terminal are being built. At the same time, they are threatening the planet and all human civilization and animal life through the release of greenhouse gases that could cause runaway climate change.

We are here to demand now that, as caretakers for Virginia’s climate and environment, DOE, FERC and Dominion immediately: ban liquefied fracked-gas exports from Cove Point and elsewhere;  stop  the permitting and build-out of fracked-gas infrastructure; and adopt policies consistent with the immediate installation of clean, renewable energy infrastructure, including wind, solar and energy efficiency. Only through policies such as these can the United States and Virginia meet their obligations under the 2015 Climate Conference in Paris.

DOE, FERC and Dominion have embraced the misguided notion that fracked gas is a bridge fuel to renewables because it burns cleaner than coal and emits less carbon dioxide. Yet during extraction, transport, and liquefaction, fracked gas leaks by design or by accident huge amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. Even though the United States has recently seen a drop in carbon dioxide emissions, a more potent greenhouse gas, methane, has been increasing dramatically, as fracked gas has become much more readily available.

Fracked gas is not a bridge fuel. It is a gangplank to catastrophe.

Clean, renewable energy must be adopted now, in Virginia, the United States and around the world.

NO LNG EXPORTS

CLEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY NOW

http://www.beyondextremeenergy.org

 

Words from the field: 350 Plattsburgh in New York!

“Part of Beyond Extreme Energy’s #RUBBERSTAMPREBELLION – a local action targeting FERC and the Saranac Power Partners Liquid Petroleum Cogeneration Power Plant in Plattsburgh New York. To the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) We demand: No NEW Fossil Fuel Permits and 100% Prioritization of Renewable Energy i.e. wind, solar and other renewables and demand to end the fossil fuel regime. This is the #RubberStampRebellion!

Two separate actions on two separate days in Plattsburgh, New York. Banner drop at City Hall in downtown Plattsburgh and a photo opportunity and bike mass at the Saranac Power Partners power plant outside the city limits of Plattsburgh. This power plant is not only a presence within the community of Plattsburgh, but it also is a symbol of the expansion of natural gas infrastructure and markets into the Adirondacks of New York.

 

Therefore it is a symbol of infrastructure and markets citizens must end from growing. 350 Plattsburgh demands to #KEEPITINTHEGROUND and asks FERC to approve #NONEWPERMITS. This is part of the week of actions that are occurring across the United States.

The symbol also tells a story of the combination of dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure that reside across the continent from California to Maine. This power plant resides directly next to a rail line that carries Bakken Crude Oil to the Port of Albany in Albany, New York. Two hours from this location was an explosion from a Bakken Crude Oil train in Lac Megantic, Quebec that echoes a foreboding warning that if we do not stop burning fossil fuels and approving pipelines/fossil fuel infrastructure, our communities are in danger in the context of not only one fossil fuel, but from entertaining risk of a multiple triggered event. The rails skid close to a fracked gas power plant whose explosive power could multiply a catastrophe, a triggered explosive event of fossil fuel proportions, where two separate fuel sources could set off a crisis with their combined explosive force.

If a derailment of Bakken Crude Oil were to derail into this power plant, nestled in a poor but quiet neighborhood, directly next to power lines, the New York State Thruway (interstate), directly beside a wetland this could create a social, environmental and political crisis the Adirondack region never could have seen.

We do not want fossil fuels, the costs outweigh any benefit in our eyes. We want safe renewable sustainable energy that does not threaten our livelihoods, pollute our air and poison our children, families and planet. We joined together over these two days to say #FERC #NONEWFOSSILFUELPERMITS #YESRENEWABLES #ENDTHEFOSSILFUELREGIME.

Today we stand together.”

350 Plattsburgh

On Day 4, the #RubberStampRebellion held an open, very public meeting on the sidewalk in front of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on First Street, NE.

Barred from FERC’s monthly meeting, activists held banners and large cardboard rubber stamps, chanted and beat drums, and listened to speakers and singer Luci Murphy. Several stood on a small wooden platform to say the few words they would have said to commissioners – if they had been allowed into the meeting.

Just 16 hours earlier, FERC commissioners decided its meeting would “open to the public via webcast only.” In other words, closed.

We envisioned industry reps languishing in the so-called overflow room (where activists known to FERC are typically sent), watching the live webcam along with the public. But when Toma from Philadelphia approached the building in hopes of watching from the overflow room, Homeland Security officers explained that the building was closed to all but government employees and “invited guests.” AKA industry representatives.

Sure enough, among the “invited guests” visible on the webcam was Bret Lane, chief operating officer of SoCalGas, part of a panel speaking about “preparations for Los Angeles basin gas-electric reliability and market impacts.” Included was discussion of the Aliso Canyon gas leak disaster and aging infrastructure.

So, FERC excluded only the public from the meeting. Security officials told Toma, who didn’t want to disclose her full name, that she could have pre-registered – but then she would have had to know in advance that FERC commissioners were closing the meeting to all but the pre-registered and invited.

“This is our government,” she said, in tears, afterward. “It’s so frightening – what all this means.” Her family lives near Greensburg, PA, the site of a recent fracked-gas pipeline explosion and hellish fire.

“The decision to conduct this open meeting by webcast only was not made lightly,” FERC Chairman Norman Bay said at the meeting. “It was made after consultation with law enforcement and our security staff. And the primary concern was preserving the safety of the public and commission staff.”

The only threat to safety, however, has been from security officers sometimes brusquely removing outspoken Beyond Extreme Energy activists and other citizens from the room.

Also stopped from speaking was Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, which played a critical role in defeating the Keystone XL pipeline and is now working with people in other states to fight fossil fuel projects. Kleeb said she had planned to talk about the need to end the use of eminent domain at the federal and state levels. “FERC should stop using eminent domain for private gain and [for] giving that power to pipeline companies,” she said. “If pipeline companies didn’t have eminent domain powers, none of these projects would be built.” She also wanted to call for a “climate test” on pipelines, a reason President Obama cited in stopping the KXL.  “If our land [in Nebraska] was important enough to use a climate test, then everybody else’s land is important as well.”

Of FERC’s decision to close the meeting, she said: “On the one hand, it’s a victory for citizens. It shows they are nervous about citizen action and they are feeling some public pressure. But on the other hand, our government is supposed to be for the people, by the people, and they just shut the people out.”

On the sidewalk, the people’s meeting was at times festive but mostly serious.

“We’re here for a new world and FERC is trying to stop the new world. FERC is stuck in the fossil fuel economy of the 19^th and 20^th centuries,” said Ted Glick of BXE.

“The folks inside are losing,” said the Rev. Lennox Yearwood after highlighting several defeated fossil fuel projects and the fracking ban in New York. “We are winning and winning and won’t stop winning. We’ve got to win for the next generation,” he said. He criticized the climate movement for too easily giving the role of climate leader to politicians. “Jerry Brown can’t discuss renewables on Monday and discuss fracking on Wednesday and still be called a climate leader. Justin Trudeau can’t discuss renewables on Tuesday and be an oil baron on Monday and still be a climate hero. President Obama can’t talk about stopping drilling in the Atlantic and still talk about drilling in the Arctic and Gulf [of Mexico] and still be a leader,” he said. “They are not climate leaders until they realize we must transition to 100 percent renewable energy.”

Mary Wildfire from West Virginia said coal, oil and gas pollute in different ways but have global climate change in common. For some officials, she said, “there will be documentation about how they permitted all this stuff well into the 20-teens, when it was blindingly obvious what was being done was destroying the planet, destroying the food and hundreds of years of evolution —  because we don’t want to change our habits, because there was some money in it, because the corporations ruled the world.”

“The more I find out about this criminal agency that masquerades as an arm of our government, [the more] I have to step up and put my body on the line,” said Nancy Vann from Westchester, NY, who is fighting the AIM pipeline that will run under the Hudson River and 105 feet from the aging Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Mike Tidwell, executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, blasted Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s support for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. After CCAN gave the governor an F for his climate efforts, McAuliffe planted a tree on Earth Day.  “A million trees will be wiped out by those pipelines,” he said. “The time for green-washing and planting trees is over.”

In mid-afternoon, the #RubberStampRebellion headed for the neighborhood of FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable. While Commissioner Tony Clark called these visits acts of “uncivility,” at least one pipeline fighter offered via twitter: “I’ll trade you #RubberStampRebellion protesters for massive Spectra pipeline. Deal?”

With faux pipeline and eminent domain papers at the ready, rubber-stamp rebels set up banners and handed out fliers at a nearby intersection because the neighborhood was posted as private property. Plans were underway to serve up the eminent domain papers via a pizza delivery.

The #RubberStampRebellion concludes its week of actions today. In at least 20 communities, allies organized local #rebellious actions. FERC, we’ll be back. #ResistanceIsEverywhere.

On Day 3 of the #RubberStampRebellion, during a free-to-the-community dinner party in front of FERC Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur’s apartment building, we received startling news: FERC has decided that its monthly open meeting planned for tomorrow will instead be open-with-air-quotes. “Open.” In other words, closed. Turned into a tv show. We can watch the livestream.

In a notice linked in a Twitter post, FERC said:

“Upon the affirmative votes of Chairman Norman C. Bay and Commissioners Cheryl A. LaFleur, Tony Clark, and Colette D. Honorable, the status of the Commission’s May 19, 2016 public meeting is open to the public via webcast only.”

“It’s an outrage,” said Steve Norris, a Beyond Extreme Energy activist from Asheville, NC. “We live in a democracy. We have an open meeting. And then they cancel it. Of course, it has never really been open, but now we can’t even be in the room with them.” People traveled from as far as Nebraska to attend the meeting, he said. “And they pulled the rug out from under them. What kind of democracy is that? It shows what we are up against.”

The #RubberStampRebellion rally outside FERC will go on as scheduled Thursday, starting at 8 a.m, with speakers Jane Kleeb from Bold Nebraska, the Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, singer Luci Murphy, and Mike Tidwell executive director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

“We are considering other options consistent with our commitment to non-violence and our commitment to getting FERC to prioritize a rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy to protect the lives and health of current and future generations,” said Melinda Tuhus of BXE media.

For 18 months, BXE has attended each of FERC’s monthly meetings, calling attention to FERC’s rubber-stamping ways on behalf of the oil and fracked-gas industry. Each month, a few people have spoken out, been ushered quickly from the room – and barred from meetings. Forever. FERC has called these interruptions “a situation.” Many of those trying to speak to commissioners have traveled from communities fighting fracked-gas projects under FERC’s purview and feeling decidedly unheard.

During the #RubberStampRebellion, BXE has continued to call on FERC to stop granting permits that expand fracked-gas infrastructure and, instead, to prioritize wind, solar and other clean and renewable energy sources. The health of communities and the planet depends on making energy generation and distribution locally sourced, democratically controlled, and greenhouse gas-free.

Earlier the day, the #RubberStampRebellion participated in a #FlushTheTPP protest decrying the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (US ITC) report about that corporate power-grabbing agreement.  The ITC’s Economic Impact Report applauds the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and actively fails to mention the significant economic impacts of the climate crisis, which the TPP will worsen.  TPP Resisters have issued People’s Economic Statement.

On the morning of Day 3, the #RubberStampRebellion delivered an order of eminent domain for a pipeline at the home of FERC Chairman Norman Bay. Just like the many similar orders resulting from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permits for fracked-gas pipelines, compressors, export plants or storage facilities.

 

https://twitter.com/jimseng/status/732893044375228416

To ensure the profits of Spectra or Williams or Dominion or Duke or Kinder Morgan and the rest of the industry, FERC always decides that the pipeline must come through, a community must move aside, fossil fuels must flow and burn, the trees must fall, the children must fall sick, the climate must fall apart, the air must fill with pollution, the land must be disturbed, the water must be spoiled, the woodland critters must scatter, the fracking must continue. In fact, FERC routinely says that the effects from fracking are outside its scope or unforeseeable.

While FERC insulates itself from dissent and expands the fracking industry’s reach with each permit, outrage and resistance grows. Beyond Extreme Energy is one of countless groups and communities pushing back against FERC’s rubber-stamp machine. The #RubberStampRebellion goes on.

Donate to the ‪#‎RubberStampRebellion here: bit.ly/BXE-RSR-Fund

Follow updates on Facebook

.@popresistance #RubberStampRebellion hosts anti-#communicide peace dinner outside @NormanBayFERC @FERC home in #DC pic.twitter.com/isKrAzkmDM

— BeyondExtremeEnergy (@BXEAction) May 17, 2016

On the evening of Day 2, the #RubberStampRebellion dined al fresco — on the sidewalk in front of FERC Chairman Norman Bay’s house near Dupont Circle. Attire advice for the 25 or so in attendance: Rain gear. On the menu from Seeds of Peace: spicy tacos with beans, rice and cabbage and an apple dessert cake.

Visiting the commissioner at his home is a step not lightly taken. The chairman has expressed disdain and impatience regarding Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) activists’ repeated interruptions at monthly meetings of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These speakers are promptly ushered out. He and other commissioners don’t attend hearings in communities in the way of fracked-gas pipelines, storage facilities, liquefaction and export facilities, and compressor stations, instead sending staff. His agency advises industry about a “successful” strategy that “greatly increases the chances that a project will proceed in a timely, efficient and credible manner.” And FERC disregards the countless carefully submitted objections to the fracked-gas industry’s plans for communities.

The commissioners are not listening. They are instead determined to expand fracked-gas infrastructure (while denying any role in fracking), tethering the economy to yet another climate-disrupting fossil fuel for decades to come.

So, as part of BXE’s #RubberStampRebellion actions this week, activists are spending one night on the sidewalk in front of the house of each of the four commissioners. On the first night, activists posted a notice of eminent domain on the front door of Commissioner Tony Clark’s house. They also taped wanted-style posters in the park across the street, letting neighbors know about his job as serial community- and climate-wrecker.

Tonight, Norman Bay’s neighbors were learning the same about him. Posters wheat-pasted on street lights include a photo with the message:

Your neighbor @NormanBayFERC permits deadly #fracking projects exclusively 4 #natgas industry #RubberStampRebellion pic.twitter.com/EF8waPG0fe

— BeyondExtremeEnergy (@BXEAction) May 17, 2016

Chairman Norman Bay, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Rubber stamps fracked gas projects for the oil and gas industries, Complicit in the deaths of 100 million people which the World Health Organization says may die by 2030 due to climate change.

They also brought giant yellow cardboard rubber-stamps with images of families harmed by FERC’s decisions, and a banner announcing: #RubberStampRebellion Your neighbor Norman Bay and FERC Destroy communities and the climate

Kendall Hale from Asheville, NC, said many passersby accepted the #RubberStampRebellion pamphlets. She said one friendly neighbor revealed that Bay had told neighbors he was leaving town and warned that people were coming to harass them and knock on their doors. “We aren’t disrupting anyone. We are very polite. It’s FERC that’s disrupting communities,” Hale said.

Another neighbor took a pamphlet and said “great cause. Keep doing what you’re doing,” said BXE activist Melinda Tuhus from New Haven, CT.

“Chairman Norman Bay rubber stamps fracked gas infrastructure projects despite knowing that each permit issued is another nail in the coffin,” said BXE activist Lee Stewart of Greenbelt, MD. “The World Health Organization says 100 million people could die by 2030 as a result of climate change. The commissioners at FERC know the horrific consequences of burning fossil fuels, yet they continue to work on behalf of the industry by approving permit after permit. They are willfully complicit in these deaths. The story of their unwillingness to break the mold and do what needs to be done is the story of our unwillingness to break the mold and do what needs to be done. It’s time to break free.”

As night fell, a lighted sign declared: NO GAS. CLEAN ENERGY NOW!

#RubberStampRebellion light display at #FERC commissioner Bay home in protest of permits for fracked gas pipelines. pic.twitter.com/FMgr4C2qPF

— DCMediaGroup (@DCMediaGroup) May 18, 2016

During the day, #RubberStampRebellion activists went to Capitol Hill on behalf of local communities who are fighting FERC projects. They visited offices of Florida Sen. Ben Nelson, asking him to oppose several projects moving through the FERC approval process, including Spectra’s Sabal Trail pipeline; New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, asking them to speak out against the Spectra AIM pipeline; and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, calling on him to oppose a fracked-gas liquefaction facility proposed at Fields Point in South Providence.

.@SenWhitehouse no #frackedgas #liquefaction #NoGasPlant @RIFuture @FossilFreeRI @EJLeague #RubberStampRebellion pic.twitter.com/wdnJSEF9Uj

— BeyondExtremeEnergy (@BXEAction) May 17, 2016

Peter Nightingale, a member of Fossil Free Rhode Island and a professor of physics at the University of Rhode Island, described a “respectful conversation” with Senator Whitehouse’s staff. He invited the senator to FERC’s monthly meeting on Thursday, asked him to use his influence to stop the LNG facility in Providence from being built, and continued an ongoing discussion about the dangers of methane for the climate. “He ignores that methane is worse for the climate than coal and oil,” Nightingale said. “We offered him a free lesson about the physics of that.”

The #RubberStampRebellion continues through the week – and beyond.

Donate to the ‪#‎RubberStampRebellion here: bit.ly/BXE-RSR-Fund

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On the first day of the #RubberStampRebellion, seven climate activists were arrested while forming a human blockade at the exit of the underground parking garage at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC.

“My grandchildren and all future grandchildren thank you,” Steve Norris, an organizer with Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE), called out as Homeland Security agents handcuffed the seven and led them away. “Thank you for standing up to this corrupt rubberstamp machine that is destroying communities and whose policies are destroying the planet.”

Those arrested were Ellen Taylor of Washington, DC; Peter Nightingale of Kingston, RI; Claude Guillemard of Baltimore; Don Weightman of Philadelphia; Clarke Herbert of Virginia; Linda Reik of Upper Delaware River, NY; and Melinda Tuhus of New Haven, CT. They were released shortly after 10 p.m.

While blocking the entrance, the activists as well as others from the #RubberStampRebellion called out chants and sang songs, such as “Fighting for our health, we shall not be moved” and “Fighting for our children, we shall not be moved.”

All week, BXE is carrying out creative, non-violent actions throughout the Washington, D.C., area, targeting FERC and the fossil fuel industry whose projects that rogue agency approves.

During the blockade and at an action in the morning, #RubberStampRebellion activists distributed a small pamphlet to passersby that explained the rationale for the rebellion actions planned for this week:

For too long, this invisible federal agency has caused community destruction and climate devastation with every permit it issues.  

For too long, FERC has rubber-stamped fracked-gas pipelines, compressor stations and export facilities.  

For too long, FERC has guided the fracked-gas industry through the permit process and offered advice on handling community opposition.   

For too long, FERC has insisted that it can’t take into consideration climate change caused by fracking and other fracked-gas infrastructure.   

For too long, FERC has insulated itself from community dissent, sending aides to local hearings while forbidding comment at its monthly public meetings in Washington, DC. Those who speak out are hauled from the room and barred from ever returning.    

BXE is calling for an end to the Fracked-gas Expansion Rubber-stamp Commission, an end to the FERC that promotes fracking and fossil fuel infrastructure that makes wealthy corporations more powerful while sacrificing communities, our health and our Earth. BXE calls for a swift, just transition to a renewable-energy economy. 

On the first night of the RubberStampRebellion, six climate activists visited the Ashburn, VA., home of FERC commissioner Tony Clark.

Although the activists didn’t bring toxic and climate-wrecking air and water pollutants that FERC permits, they taped wanted-style posters in a park across from the Clark townhouse that included a photo and notified neighbors:

Tony Clark, Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Rubber stamps fracked gas projects for the oil and gas industries; Complicit in the deaths of 100 million people which the World Health Organization says may die by 2030 due to climate change.

They also posted on his front door a notice of eminent domain, similar to the orders used to seize land for pipelines for transporting fracked gas. In March, BXE had a #PancakesNotPipelines action at FERC to protest maple trees razed under an eminent domain seizure for the proposed Constitution pipeline in Pennsylvania and New York, even though all state permits had not been granted. With Josh Fox and Tim DeChristopher acting as pancake chefs, landowner Megan Holleran served up the last drops of syrup from her trees at the event.  A week after the Holleran family’s maple trees we cut down, New York said it would not issue permits needed for the pipeline. Read about that action here.

Among those visiting the Clark residence for the #RubberStampRebellion was Wes Eastridge from Marshall, Va., who said: “We’re fighting against the continued development and reliance on methane–because it’s totally unnecessary. FERC allows companies to destroy people’s property with eminent domain and that methane is obtained by an extremely destructive process known as fracking.”

Donate to the ‪#‎RubberStampRebellion here: bit.ly/BXE-RSR-Fund

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The #RubberStampRebellion marches on around @FERC to #breakfree2016 check out @politico @Morning_Energy for previews pic.twitter.com/N1CZG8yKEg

— Environmental Action (@EnviroAction) May 16, 2016