Dirty Oil is Crude Worldwide and We Have Evidence!

From Nigeria to Peru to Baton Rouge Louisiana, Big Oil is polluting the planet and the people. Recently, Shell gasoline settled with the Ogoni People of Nigeria for $15.5 million. The Ogoni people accused Shell of playing a role in the execution of Tribal leaders who were running a non-violent campaign to get Shell oil mines out of their village. In South America there is an on-going campaign to protect the Amazon rainforest from oil and natural resource extraction by big companies like Chevron. Checktheweather.net sat down with filmmaker and activist Han Shan to discuss his thoughts on the Ogoni Settlement and to catch a trailer from his new award winning documentary "Crude" by Joe Berlinger

CRUDE - official trailer from Crude The Movie on Vimeo.

CTW: What was your initial reaction about the settlement:

Han Shan: There was an initial shock, A little bit of dissapointment that Shell is not going to be on trial but as it sank in more I realize that this is a victory. We have been working on this for a very long time. For a true victory Shell needs to change it's way of doing business all together.

CTW: what does this settlement mean for others fighting dirty oil around the world.

Han Shan: There are skeptics but by and large shell paid 15.5 million for crimes they say they didn't commit. There is no gag order on the plaintiffs and the lawyers. They were able to get the word out through media to show the collusion with Shell and the Nigerian military. I hope it will be inspiring to continue their fight and use legal mechanism. This case also broadened the use of the alien tort statute since Brian Anderson- Head of Shell Nigeria during Ogoni Massacre was brought to trial. It is also a powerful opportunity to look into who Ken-Saro Wiwa was. There are so many facets to this case

Ken Saro Wiwa's non-violent movement was successful in getting Shell out of Ogoni in 1993 there are still pipelines and illegal oil spills and even if they don't have oil fields in Ogoni they have a triple standard (Shell) the way they act in the Niger Delta, the way the act in poor areas of the US and then how they act in the Suburbs of Dallas, Texas. The way Shell acts in the Niger Delta is shameful.

CTW: What can people do to support:

Move towards a sustainable energy future. Until we end our addiction to oil we will always have violence. Conflict over resources is universal. We need a much more radical solution than what oil companies are willing to deal with. Oil companies are now taking away from investing in renewable energy and more into tar sands in Canada
The best thing is to keep spreading the word of what the true price of Oil is. We need a real solution that is going to support indigenous groups. we need to revisit free trade because we as americans play a huge role in what's going on in Peru and around the world. In Peru- Conoco-Phillips is the leading holder of exploratory license in Peru.

CTW: Now that this case is settled what's next?

Han Shan: This is a crime that you are never going to end with police. How do you lock up corporations?

CTW: What would bold climate legislation mean to you>>

Han Shan: We need to change up the economic incentives. there is no incentive to investing into renewable energies. Groups are working on a report to showcase that Shell is one of the prime players in weakening the Waxman-Markey bill. it's more cost -effective for these groups to invest in tar sands than renewable energy technology.

We need a Manhattan Project for renewable energy. I'm dissapointed that Obama has not used those funds to really re-imagine our country like the Manhattan Project or Marshall Plan. With the kind of technology that we have I am shocked we are not doing more.

One of the most important facets is local democratic control.There is a corruption that comes when you have big international companies coming in vying for control.

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Native Women Get "Bout It" and Call out Bank Exec's Wifey

Itsgettinghotinhere.org contributer, Joshua Kahn Russell reported today that two Indigenous Canadian women – Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, and Heather Milton-Lightening – scaled flagpoles in front of the main entrance of Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC’s) headquarters in Toronto, dropping a banner reading “Please Help Us Mrs. Nixon.com”. On the streets below, they were joined by dozens of Toronto RAN activists, swarming entrances to ensure every RBC employee heard our appeal Mrs. Janet Nixon, the wife of RBC CEO Gordon Nixon, to lend her strong and influential voice to those fighting to protect Canada’s clean water and respect Indigenous rights by pushing RBC to phase out its massive investments in Alberta tar sands projects.

Check out this video featuring Rainforest Action Network's Michael Brune trying to holla at the Bank Exec's wifey.

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60 Second Activism Free Leonard Peltier!

Today American Native Leonard Peltier and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) will face the parole board that will decide his fate. Don't know who this guy is? Well here's what Wikipedia had to say about the man:

"Leonard Peltier is an American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who was convicted and sentenced in 1977 to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who were killed during a 1975 shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. There is considerable debate over Peltier’s guilt and the fairness of his trial. Some supporters and organizations consider him to be a political prisoner. Amnesty International has stated that "Although he has not been adopted as a prisoner of conscience, there is concern about the fairness of the proceedings leading to his conviction and it is believed that political factors may have influenced the way the case was prosecuted."[1] Numerous lawsuits have been filed on his behalf but none have succeeded. Peltier was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg in Pennsylvania until January, 2009, when he was moved to Canaan Federal Penitentiary in Waymart, Pennsylvania. He was sent back to Lewisburg after he was severely beaten by other inmates in Canaan...."

Back in the day, The AIM movement was seen as being just as much of a threat as the Black Panthers by the Federal Government. Much like the Black Panthers, Counter Intelligence from the FBI placed undercover agents and paid informants to break up their movement to bring justice to Native people.

Want to help make sure Peltier is free? Call the White House Comment Line at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1112 until you get through. Be persistent this man's life is at stake!

For more information visit http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/index1.htm

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New Music Tuesday Female Rapper Talks 350.org and Climate Change

Today is dedicated to where the wonky world of politics meets things people actually care about. Never heard of the word "wonky" well it's a term of endearment for people who are all into the policy and science side of life. For instance, we can get real wonky talking about climate change but at the end of the day most people just want the summary and the real deal. i.e. "how much is this going to cost me" or "how will this possibly screw me over".

So check out this song from Valida Prentice called the 350.org rap. 350 is an international organization working to get real science based solutions to climate change. It can be difficult breaking down the concept behind the number 350 but Valida takes a good stab at it.

Take a listen:

350.org rap from Valida Prentice on Vimeo.

Wanna know more about how to get "wonky with it" check out thewonkroom.com

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Navajo Nation Wins Green Job Victory!

Whohoo!

Big victories happen this week for native groups in Arizona. Wahleah Johns Co-director of the Black Mesa Water Coalition sent this out yesterday:
"...On July 21 2009, the 21st members of the Navajo Nation Council supported the Navajo Green Economy legislation, at 62 in favor and 1 oppose!

What this legislation does, is it creates a "Navajo Green Economy Commission" who will be tasked to support local community and family based Green projects and implement Green jobs on the Navajo Nation, from weatherization programs to supporting weavers co-ops. And yesterday the Navajo Nation also approved the "Navajo Green Economy Fund" which is an account for any future money raised for Navajo Green Jobs will be housed. The only thing that is needed to finalize this legislation is Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley's signature."

Let's hope President Joe Shirley doesn't front on Green Jobs and signs this piece ASAP. In the meantime check out this video of all the work the Navajo Green Jobs Coalition has been doing to bring green jobs to the Res'.

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The Congressional Black Caucus' Green Agenda

Yesterday The Congressional Black Caucus gathered together Black business leaders, scholars, scientist and activists for the first CBC Green Roundtable.
As part of the event, CBC members Bobby Rush of Illinois (Chicago), Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Barbara Lee of California (Bay Area) and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
Broke down climate change and the revisions that were added to Waxman Markey that made them support the Waxman- Markey Bill.

Check out a clip of Bobby Rush's breakdown of Climate Change



Congressman Butterfield stated that the bill was a very complicated piece of legislation and most Americans don't understand the over 1000 pages that make up the Waxman-Markey Bill. Rush went on to say that when initial supporters of the bill came to the CBC "they tried to sell the bill as a 'Green Jobs Bill' but as we got more involved and went to more meetings we saw that everything was on the table except the Green Jobs." In order to change this the CBC worked to add specific revisions to make sure that Low-income communities and people of Color are not shafted by the Climate Bill.

Here are some of the revisions that were made:

$10 billion in the first year will go in the pockets of low-income workers
Green Centers of Excellence will be established at Historically Black Colleges and Universities as well as predominately black institutions

Provide support to community based organizations that have written agreements with such qualified apprenticeship or other training programs to participate in identifying or recruiting targeted workers

Provide financing to minority entrepreneurs and businesses that improve energy efficiency;identify and develop alternative, renewable and distributed energy supplies;provide technical assistance and promote job and business opportunities for low-income residence; and increase energy conservation in low-income , rural and urban communities.

However, The Congressmembers warned that all of the provisions that were added during the house vote on the bill can be easily taken out during the Senate review process that is going on right now.

They urge all Americans to call their local senator and let them know DON'T Mess with the CBC provisions and make sure ya'll STRENGTHEN the Bill.

For more information visit thecongressionalblackcaucus.com

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Join the Mobilization for Climate Justice

The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a network of organizations and people, from both coasts, working to get a solid climate justice voice in the Copenhagen talks this December. There will be a mass action on climate change led by MCJ on November 30th. Here on the West Coast, we're starting on August 15th, with a rally&festival against the Chevron expansion in Richmond, CA.

Check out their website for more information: www.actforclimatejustice.org

Here's their open letter, explaining their mission:

MOBILIZATION FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

OPEN LETTER TO GRASSROOTS

Help Organize for Urgent Action on Climate Change


The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a North America-based network of organizations and activists who have joined together to build a North American climate justice movement that emphasizes non-violent direct action and public education to mobilize for effective and just solutions to the climate crisis. The Mobilization for Climate Justice invites communities, organizations and activists across North America to join us in organizing mass action on climate change on November 30, 2009 (N30). N30 is significant because it both immediately precedes the upcoming UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15) and is the ten-year anniversary of the successful shut down of the WTO in Seattle, when activists worldwide came together to demonstrate the power of collective action. The Copenhagen climate meetings will be a major focus for international mass actions this November and December, and the MCJ is linked to these efforts as well.


Urgent action is needed around the Copenhagen climate talks because this is where governments around the world plan to finalize the international climate regime that will take effect when the Kyoto Protocol climate agreement expires in 2012. So far it appears that the new climate agreement will be nothing more than business as usual-sacrificing real action on climate change in favor of market-based approaches that enhance corporate profits, while delaying urgent measures to forestall catastrophic global heating.

A Radical Change in Direction is Urgently Needed

The MCJ invites you to inspire and organize a radical change in direction to put climate justice, ecological integrity and people’s rights at the center of international climate negotiations.

Market-based approaches to climate change dominate the UN climate talks. Carbon-trading and carbon offset projects have allowed polluters to avoid cutting emissions and accelerated the corporate take-over of the natural world at the expense of local and Indigenous communities. Those most immediately threatened by climate change and its false solutions – Indigenous Peoples, people of color, women, peasant and family farmers, fisherfolk, forest dependent communities, youth, and marginalized communities have been systematically excluded from the negotiations.

The climate crisis is directly linked to the financial crisis, the food crisis and the extinction crisis, as well as to militarism and war. They are rooted in an economic system dedicated to economic growth at any cost. We are uniting to challenge this system that puts profits over people or the earth. Urgent action to solve the climate crisis must include a complete transformation away from the dominant economic model of incessant and unsustainable growth, oppression and injustice.
We must highlight real, effective and just solutions to climate change
Join us in promoting solutions to climate change that are locally controlled, decentralized, bioregionally appropriate and socially just. Thousands of these solutions already exist and need to be promoted and supported with public funds.

Help ensure that large-scale, destructive corporate-controlled false solutions to climate change are eliminated. This includes so-called “clean coal,” agrofuels (industrial scale biofuels), nuclear power, and large-scale hydropower. It also includes REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)-the UN and World Bank initiative that offers incentives for countries to sell off their forests, expel Indigenous and peasant communities, and transform biodiverse and carbon-rich forests into industrial timber plantations.

Some key solutions to climate change include:

o Drastically reducing emissions without resorting to carbon trading and offsetting or other false solutions such as nuclear energy, agrofuels, or “clean coal”, while protecting the rights of those affected by the transition;
o Keeping fossil fuels in the ground;
o Re-localization of production and consumption, prioritizing local markets and cooperative economies;
o Decentralized utility systems and community controlled clean renewable energy;
o Rights based resource conservation that enforces indigenous land rights and ends corporate control over energy, forests, seeds, land and water;
o Ending deforestation and its underlying causes, imposing international sanctions and wood tariffs, coupled with a massive forest restoration effort, managed primarily by indigenous forest-dwelling peoples;
o Ending excessive consumption in the North and by elites in the South;
o Repayment of ecological debts owed by northern governments and resource extracting corporations to peoples in the Global South

The goals of the Mobilization for Climate Justice are:

1) To build a global movement for climate justice that encourages urgent action to avoid catastrophic climate change, and which addresses the root social, ecological, political and economic causes of the climate crisis toward a total systemic transformation of our society.
2) To promote and strengthen the rights and voices of Indigenous and other affected peoples, (including workers in energy-intensive industries) in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
3) To expose the consequences of false and market-based climate “solutions” as well as corporate domination of climate negotiations, while advancing alternatives that can provide real and just solutions and which protect biodiversity.

Join Us in Taking Action!

Please join us in our national effort to organize educational events and non-violent direct actions at key locations in the U.S. on November 30, 2009. We welcome the active involvement of organizations that are united with us in our goals above, in our opposition to market-based false solutions to climate change, and in support of real, effective and just solutions to climate change.
We encourage local groups to create proposals for action on N30. We hope to have direct actions on climate change in locations across the U.S.

We also endorse and support a global call for action on October 12, 2009 the International Day of Action in Defense of Mother Earth and in Support of Indigenous Rights.

Please get involved and take action for climate justice.

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