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Howdy!

With so much going on with the climate emergency we’re in, I appreciated Mary Annaïse Heglar’s post on Twitter earlier this month:

“If you’re worried that it’s too late to do anything about climate change and we should all just give up, I have great news for you: that day is not coming in your lifetime. As long as you have breath in your body, you will have work to do.” Yes indeed!!

Save the date! September 8, Appalachian Resistance Coming to DC!

On September 8, frontline fossil fuel fighters from Appalachia and elsewhere are coming to DC to tell Congress and President Biden: NO MORE DEALS with the fossil fuel industry that sacrifice communities to more pollution and climate disasters! More information coming soon that I will share next week. You can follow Protect our Water, Heritage Rights (POWHR), 7 Directions of Service, Appalachian Voices, and People vs Fossil Fuels, the main organizers, for updates.

TODAY!! August 18, Environmental Justice Perspectives: API Permit Reform

1 pm, online

The “API Permitting Reform Bill” will permanently erode important tools for democratizing federal projects in communities of color and areas of low income while prolonging our reliance on fossil fuels. Draft permit reform text, from Senator Manchin’s side deal, was leaked with watermarks from the American Petroleum Institute (API). Join us for an important conversation about the impacts of the API Permitting Reform Bill on communities vulnerable to the effects of environmental racism and climate change and why it needs to be stopped. Register here.

This conversation will be moderated by Dana Johnson from WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Panelists include:
Dr. Crystal Cavalier, 7 Directions of Service
Dallas Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
Grace Tuttle, Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR)
Raul Garcia, EarthJustice

August 25, No MVP Art Build and Drum Session

6-9 pm, Paperhand Puppet Intervention Studio, 6079 Saxapahaw Swepsonville Rd., Saxapahaw

Join us as we make NO MVP artwork for the event happening Sept 8 in DC. Drummers are welcome too, so we can go over some chants and songs. Our art and visuals can tell our story to those who see us through media, make our actions more powerful, lift spirits and hold our space. It’s also a good way to involve folks, build momentum and have fun! More info here.

ACTIONS to take to help STOP Manchin’s side deal and STOP the MVP

Tell your Representative: Stop Manchin’s Dirty Deal!

As part of the deal to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Senators Manchin and Schumer are introducing a separate piece of legislation that would fast-track permit approvals for dangerous fossil fuel projects in September. Write to your Members of Congress here to pledge right now to block any efforts to dish out new fossil fuel handouts! The permitting reforms proposed solely benefit the fossil fuel industry. Unacceptable!

Another opportunity! Your voice is needed to STOP MVP and oppose the fossil fuel permitting “wish list” here.

Defund the Mountain Valley Pipeline Send a message to the banks funding the pipeline, telling them that continuing to fund the MVP is unacceptable here!

If you haven’t already, we are continuing to encourage President Biden to Choose People over Fossil Fuels and Declare a Climate Emergency here!

Protect our Forests and Communities from the Extractive and Polluting Wood Pellet Industry!

The public hearing in Ahoskie was held Tuesday night regarding the permit application to expand production at the Enviva wood pellet facility in Ahoskie, NC. You still have time to make comments by email or phone call. Comments can be submitted by email to [email protected] with the subject line “Enviva Ahoskie.20B” or by leaving a voicemail at 919-707-8430. Comments are due by 5 pm on Friday, August 19. See this Handout and Talking Points for details and more information about Enviva’s plans to increase production and the destructive impact of the wood pellet industry.

Governor Cooper and NC DEQ: Stop the expansion of the wood pellet industry!

Stop the Enviva Expansion in Ahoskie, deny this permit, halt any further expansion of the biomass wood pellet industry in the state of NC, and conduct a full review of the harm this industry is having on NC communities! Sign here.

MORE EVENTS!

Paperhand Puppet’s 22nd annual show The Meanwhile Clock and other Impossible Dances
Opened August 12 and runs every weekend from August 12 to September 25, with shows at both the Forest Theatre in Chapel Hill and the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh. Check out the show calendar here to buy tickets. 350 Triangle LOVES having the Paperhand Puppets participate in our events and their new show is GREAT!

August 21, Indigenous History Teach-In

7-8:30 pm, Durham Central Park (The Leaf Pavilion), 501 Foster St, Durham

Hosted by 7 Directions of Service, part of the monthly Indigenous History Teach-In Series, bringing to light the true and often untold history of the land we are on, and to center Indigenous perspectives. Bring your lawn chairs. Register here.

August 23, Carbon Plan Virtual Public Hearing

1:30 and 6:30 pm

The four in person public hearings took place last month. Next week the virtual hearings take place. The deadline to sign up to speak has already passed, but there may be a waiting list. We will be able to listen to comments by others by livestream online on the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) website. More information here. There is still time to submit written comments on the carbon plan here. Be sure to use Docket No. E 100, Sub 179. Remember the NCUC will be the one who will craft the final carbon plan, so we need to let them know what WE want that plan to look like! You can check out Fossil Free NC’s “Does Duke Energy’s Draft Carbon Plan Make the Grade? A Report Card” here, published by the People Power NC coalition, for ideas for comments.

August 25 and September 8, Wild & Scenic Film Festival

Chapel Hill and Greensboro showings

Join the Haw River Assembly for an in person screening of the nationally recognized Wild & Scenic Film Festival at the The Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill on August 25 or at the Weatherspoon Art Museum on UNCG’s Campus on September 8. The festival focuses on environmental and adventure films that depict the beauty of the natural world, the challenges facing our planet, and the work communities are doing to protect the environment. More information on the films and registration here.

September 11, Call to Farms: A Conversation About Localism, Nonviolence, and Creating a Peaceable Economy

12-1:30 pm, online

Join Slow Money founder Woody Tasch and a roundtable of leading farmers and financiers for a special online event celebrating the print release of A Call To Farms: Some Thoughts on Food, Money and Nonviolence in Honor of Wendell Berry. Register here.

September 24, Fermentation Festival

1-5 pm, Botanist & Barrel, 105 Persimmon Hill Lane, Cedar Grove

This unique food and beverage festival explores all things fermented. It’s a fun afternoon of demonstrations, presentations, hands-on workshops, food tastings, wood-fired pizza, break out sessions, and a vendors market! More information here.

Fall Pollinator Garden Tours

Fall tours of North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden in Pittsboro start in September. The garden features over 225 species of perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses, with 85% of them native to North Carolina. The tours are led by Chatham County Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos. Visit the Pollinator Garden Tour web page for a listing of tour dates and times and links to register.

Save-the-Date

October 3, Vote for Climate Action, Amen
5 pm, Raleigh
2nd Annual Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle Prayer Chain for the Earth

ARTICLES

Landmark US climate bill will do more harm than good, groups say by Nina Lakhani here. “This new bill is genocide, there is no other way to put it. This is a life or death situation and the longer we act as though the world isn’t on fire around us, the worse our burns will be. Biden has the power to prevent this, to mitigate the damage.” Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, and People vs Fossil Fuel coalition member.

Congress is about to pass a historic climate bill. So why are oil companies pleased? by Kate Aronoff here.

Climate Justice Alliance’s statement on the Inflation Reduction Act The Inflation Reduction Act is not a climate justice bill. Also an excellent analysis were they compiled the threats, weaknesses, missed opportunities, and the strengths here.

An important, but heartbreaking article by Joseph Winters. How climate change is muting nature’s symphony “From warbling loons to chirping toads, rising temperatures threaten some of the Earth’s most iconic sounds.”

Revealed: how climate breakdown is supercharging toll of extreme weather written by Damian Carrington. “The analysis of hundreds of scientific studies – the most comprehensive compilation to date – demonstrates beyond any doubt how humanity’s vast carbon emissions are forcing the climate to disastrous new extremes.”

Thanks for reading, sharing, and taking action! Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen