Howdy!
SOOO upsetting and heartbreaking to start the week with terrible news that the Willow Oil Drilling Project on the North Slope in Alaska has been approved by the Biden administration!
Statement from People vs Fossil Fuels Coalition here: “Approving a massive new oil drilling project that is estimated to release 280 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses when we are already in a climate emergency is signing away our future.”
Statement from SILA on the frontline of the toxic project here. “The Biden administration’s approval makes it clear that its call for climate action and the protection of biodiversity is talk, not action.”
Statement from Center for Biological Diversity here. “Even one new oil well in the Arctic is one well too many. If Biden wants to protect the Arctic, he needs to protect all of it. This project is on weak legal ground, and we’re gearing up for action.”
Statement from Dr Crystal Cavalier Keck from 7 Directions of Service here. “Today, not only do I feel that the Biden Administration is tokenizing Indigenous people in his administration, but taking advantage of them.”
Please continue making phone calls and let them know you are outraged to hear that the president approved the Willow Master Development Project, after millions of people called and wrote in telling Biden to STOP WILLOW! At this point in the climate emergency, ANY new fossil fuel project is a betrayal of his promises and will drive us further into assured climate destruction. The president has the power to REJECT Willow and all fossil fuel projects. He MUST use that power immediately to STOP fossil fuel expansion!
Call the White House: 202-456-1111 (lines open Tuesday-Thursday 11 am-3pm)
Call the Interior Department: 202-208-1923
Watch a recording of the awesome rally on March 3rd in DC with Alaskan Indigenous leaders urging President Biden and the Department of Interior to STOP the Willow Project here to learn why this must be stopped!
Third Act’s Stop the Dirty Banks Day of Action is fast approaching on March 21 next week!
If you bank with Chase, Citi Bank, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo, then they’re using YOUR money to fund projects (like Willow and MVP!) that destroy our climate! Join us for this national day of action to tell them to cut it out or we’ll cut up our cards. Together we will demand banks stop funding climate chaos. You don’t need to be a cardholder or a Third Actor to participate––we need people of all ages, races, and means to make visible the connection between cash and carbon. So far there are five actions taking place in NC in Durham, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Asheville, and Charlotte! There will be music, art, speakers, and more. Details here about the Day of Action. Great link here to help you find a better bank and credit card to make the switch!
The Rev. Dr. Jim Antel will be one of the speakers at the Durham action on 9th St from 3-5 pm. He will also be speaking and sharing that night from the just released, revised. and updated edition of his book, “Climate Church, Climate World” at United Church Chapel Hill, located at 1321 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd at 7 pm on March 21. The book offers countless examples of what we can and must do to leave a fair and stable planet for our kids and grandkids and all future generations.
TONIGHT!! To learn more about the Day of Action, join the fun Third Act hype call on March 14 at 8 pm with Bill McKibben, Jane Fonda and others. Register here.
If you haven’t signed the Banking on our Future Pledge yet, (“If Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo are still funding climate-destroying fossil fuel projects in March 2023, I pledge to close my account and cut up my credit card. If I don’t bank at these institutions now, I pledge I won’t do so in the future.”) you can sign here!
More events
TONIGHT March 14, NC Utilities Commission Hearing in Raleigh on Duke Energy Progress Rate Hike Proposal. Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building, 430 N Salisbury,
6 pm gathering, NCUC hearing 7 pm
Hearing Room 2115, Dobbs Building, 430 N Salisbury St, Raleigh
Duke Energy is asking the NC Utilities Commission to allow it to raise customer rates AGAIN! By 2026 the average residential electric bill would be $306.06 higher than it is today. Unacceptable! Talking points here from Appalachian Voices and here from NC Conservation Network. If you attend the hearing, wear black if you can, to remind Duke and the NCUC about the holiday blackouts. You can also submit written comments online here and include Docket #E-2 SUB 1300.
Sign a petition urging the NC Utilities Commission to Reject Duke Energy’s proposed three-year rate hike increase to fund dirty energy projects here.
TODAY March 14, People’s Rally at the Capitol
11 am, North Carolina State Capitol, 1 E. Edenton Street, Raleigh
On March 14th, the NC Supreme Court will consider whether to give politicians in Raleigh a second chance to restrict our votes. Join A People’s Coalition, a coalition of pro-democracy advocacy groups from across the state, for the People’s Rally at the Capitol to sound the alarm about our state in emergency. Register here.
March 15, Cancer Alley Action Party
7 pm, online
Join us for an hour of solidarity and action with frontline activists seeking justice in one of the most fossil fuel-polluted communities in the nation with Sharon Lavigne and Robert Taylor, moderated by William Barber III. Register here.
March 15, Defunding Environmental Racism in the Gulf South
8 pm, online
Big banks threaten to lock us into polluting LNG terminals for decades. This would hurt frontline communities already hit hard by climate impacts. Hosted by Stop the Money Pipeline, hear from leaders of the Gulf frontlines —John Beard from Texas, Roishetta Ozane from Louisiana, and more — about their experiences of environmental racism and take digital action in solidarity with them. Register here.
March 16, Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board
6 pm, online or in-person, Green Square Training Room, 217 West Jones Street, Raleigh
The Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board will hold a special meeting on Cumulative Impacts. There will be a public comment period starting at 7 pm. To comment in-person or online, fill out this speaker sign-up form by 12 pm on March 16.
To attend via WebEx: https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?MTID=md8baf1466ca30556aee9bd7516e11e8a
Phone: +1-415-655-0003
Meeting Number (access code): 2430 348 3224
Webinar Password: EJEAB (35322 from phones)
March 16, Environmental Justice for All Act Info Session
6:30 pm, online
6:30 pm, online
Hosted by POWHR, Appalachian Voices, and 7 Directions of Service. Following the Dirty Deal victories in 2022, there are many Republican and Democratic attempts to deregulate existing environmental and community protections. This is a chance to learn about a positive vision for what environmental justice looks like, to discuss the Donald A. McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act and what it would do, how it came about and ways to support the Act as it is being reintroduced March 22, 2023. With Dr. Crystal Cavalier Keck, Jess Simms, Anthony Rogers-Wright and more. More info and register here.
March 20, A Service of Solidarity before the Day of Action
8:30 pm, online
In preparing for Third Act’s national Day of Action on 3.21.23, join the Faith Working Group for a virtual interfaith gathering the evening before. More info and register here.
April 6, NC BREATHE 2023
8 am – 5 pm, online & 3646 Central Ave., Charlotte
Clean Aire NC’s annual conference brings together a diverse group of North Carolina stakeholders, including health professionals, researchers, students, frontline communities, and policymakers, to learn about current issues at the intersection of health, equity, and climate change. More info and register here.
Save-the-dates!
April 22, Earth Day
April 28 – May 6, Missing Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) NC Virtual Event
The MMIW NC Coalition Virtual event is a race at your own pace and place. You can run, walk, bike, hike, canoe, kayak, basically, any movement anywhere. Our mission of this virtual race is to raise awareness, bring solidarity with Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirits, Relatives, victims, grieving families, and individuals working on the frontlines to end this problem of violence against our Indigenous relatives. The proceeds from this year’s event will go to MMIW Coalition of NC. More information and registration here.
April 29, Missing Murdered Indigenous Women NC Conference and Rally
10 an -5 pm, Chapel Hill
Sponsored by MMIW NC, with keynote speaker GGM Mary Lyons and artists and activists Norm Sands and Teyana Viscarra. Learn what is happening and how we can move forward together as a community. Some panels will include: Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking, Talking Circle or down time walking outside getting grounded, Survival Panel with families, Trauma Informed Communities, and more. We also have a space for tribal leaders, community organizers, and activists to come together and discuss the next steps as we move the legislative agenda forward. We will conclude the event with a small rally. Registration and more information here.
May 27, Paddle on the Dan No MVP Southgate
9 am -3 pm, Dan River Access Boat Launch, 763 S Fieldcrest Rd, Eden, NC
Hosted by 7 Directions of Service, gather to raise awareness about the MVP Southgate and FERC Certificate, which will expire on June 20, 2023. Location to be determined, and information is forth coming. Register here.
TAKE ACTION!!
Tell Congress: Don’t roll back environmental protections! There are several energy and infrastructure bills currently being considered in the House of Representatives that weaken crucial environmental laws. Ask your members of Congress to oppose bills that gut community environmental protections here.
Tell the NC General Assembly: The People Want Rights of Nature!
Nature has the right to exist, thrive, regenerate, and be restored. Our communities and all species have the right to a healthy environment. 7 Directions of Service is leading a campaign for Rights of Nature for the Haw River, a new kind of conservation law rooted in Indigenous values, which recognizes ecosystems as having legally enforceable rights. Sign the petition here.
MMIW NC Task Force Join the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women of NC Coalition to petition the NC General Assembly to create a task force. Violence against Native women and girls is an under-reported problem throughout the U.S., and cases are often misclassified or there is confusion about jurisdiction. Accurate data protocols are needed to improve data collection and tracking information. Sign here.
Tell the EPA and Norfolk Southern: Stop burning toxic chemicals from East Palestine train derailment in our community. Demand that the EPA stop shipments of toxic waste from the train derailment to the Heritage Thermal incinerator in East Liverpool here.
Stop Cop City and Defend the Weelaunee Forest
Great information from Climate Justice Alliance with what is going on in Atlanta, “Our Fights against White Supremacy, Police Violence and the Climate Crisis Are Interconnected” here.
People vs Fossil Fuels Condemns Welaunee Forest Destruction and Cop City here.
“Dispatch from the Movement to Stop Cop City in Atlanta” from 350.org here and video about week of action here.
Info about the Atlanta Solidarity Fund here.
Tell corporations to cut ties with Cop City! Send a message to the corporations and donors who are funding Cop City, urging them to rescind their commitment to funding Cop City immediately here.
Call officials in Georgia to drop the politically motivated “domestic terrorism” charges against Stop Cop City activists. Names and contact information for the relevant officials, and sample phone call script and letter template, are here.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is planning the second-largest methane gas infrastructure buildout of any utility in the country, starting with a massive gas plant and 32-mile pipeline in Middle Tennessee. Tell the Army Corps of Engineers: No Pipeline in Middle Tennessee here!
Forest Defense is Climate Defense! Protecting forests is one of the best ways to mitigate the climate crisis. Tell Congress we need strong, lasting policies that protect forests. Demand that Congress defend communities on the frontlines of the logging industry here.
Articles and videos
“Fossil fuels kill more people than Covid. Why are we so blind to the harms of oil and gas?” by Rebecca Solnit here.
Excellent update from Jessica Sims Mountain Valley Pipeline: Risky, ruinous and roadblocked.
The US town swallowed by Big Oil’s ‘chemical soup’. An excellent short video featuring activists and residents along the Gulf Coast working to stop LNG plants here.
Thanks for reading and for taking action! Make those phone calls to the White House please!
Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen