I spent the past couple of days talking with a longtime movement friend of mine who has been organizing civil disobedience and mass mobilizations since the 1970’s. She told me about organizing a thousand person blockade at C.I.A. headquarters in 1987 as part of the Central American solidarity movement. In those days, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Oliver North and many other nasties made a bloody mess of things in the name of “liberty” and “democracy.” Good moral people from a wide spectrum responded by putting their bodies, livelihoods and reputations on the line. During that particular mobilization she said they trained out in the open in the middle of the Capital for a shutdown that resulted in over 600 arrests.

Many mobilizations have happened since then in places like Seattle (WTO 1999), San Francisco (anti-war shutdown, 2003), Washington D.C (too many times to count). Less so on the climate front.

It’s gotten me thinking about the different direct actions that have been going on around the world on coal and climate. As our parents and grandparents did in Langley 20 years ago, good moral people are now responding to the climate crisis and subsequent climate injustice by putting their bodies on the line as well.

Ben Block, reporter with Worldwatch Institute, just penned a great article about the growing protest and direct action movement around coal and climate. In it he cites the growing youth climate movement, the fact that over half of new coal fired power plants have been defeated through various legal, regulatory, political, community, and direct actions channels and the increasing use of civil disobedience.

“Climate activists worldwide are raising the stakes, with many turning to civil disobedience to make their voices heard. Actions in recent months have ranged from chaining themselves to coal conveyor belts in Sydney, to forming port blockades in the Netherlands, to scaling smokestacks in the United Kingdom.

The rise in activism reflects growing frustration against the continued, and expanding, use of coal as a source of energy. The fuel, while affordable, is directly linked to climate change and air pollution. “

We have an opening for this work. Luminaries such as Al Gore and climatologist James Hansen have advocated for greater use of civil disobedience by the climate movement. Mainstream media outlets like Time magazine have reported on the growing use of NVDA strategies as a moral response to global warming. Last week, the Sierra Club won a court case that puts new coal fired development on hold for a year or more.

Our friends in the U.K. and Australia have stepped up on the action front. In the U.K. six Greenpeace activists were acquitted after using a “necessity” defense arguing that global warming is such a threat to humanity that breaking the law is becoming the only alternative.

Now we’re seeing the U.S. coal and climate movement begin to step it up as well. Blue Ridge Earth First! and Rainforest Action Network have escalated the fight against the Dominion plant in solidarity with the residents of Wise, Virginia. Mountain Justice and various coalfield communities continue the struggle in Appalachia against mountaintop removal. Rising Tide and Earth First! groups put their bodies on the line from Florida to Washington State. Out of the coalfields, in the suburbs and cities, students, radicals and concerned citizens are pressuring the coal financiers, Bank of America and Citibank, to withdraw their capital from coal and carbon intensive industry.

The landscape is changing and we’re moving forward with our strategies and actions. It’s time to train, plan, mobilize and take action. Get together with your friends and community and take some action. No matter how big or how small, every action counts.

The big actions, like the one my friend’s worked on at the C.I.A., are coming on the climate front, it’s only a matter of time. Maybe sooner than we think as 350.org founder Bill McKibben says- “It’ll happen. Keep your eyes open in D.C.,“

On Nov 14, 2008, activists from the Coal River Valley, an area hard-hit by mountaintop removal coal extraction, took action against Citi in Beckley, WV.  They distributed fliers outside a Citi Financial office, informed Citi employees that their employer had a major role in destroying their communities, and handed fliers to customers entering the office.  Then they headed off to a meeting with an Appalachian region-wide effort to stop mountaintop removal.

Vernon Haltom, Coal River Mountain Watch

Last Friday, members of Rising Tide Boston set up “Green Coal” marketing tables outside branches of Bank of America and Citibank to highlight these banks’ high-risk investments in coal power and mining.

Emulating the coal industry’s marketing pitch of “clean coal”, activists handed out samples of “green coal” while informing fellow citizens not to expect green coal to be clean, safe, or affordable.

“Although we’ve spent a lot of time and resources researching ways to make coal environmentally friendly, or ‘clean and green’, the best way we found to do it is to paint it green,” said Chris Santorum, one of the Green Coal Salespeople.

To watch a video of this event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doWqvWDRDGM

Rising Tide Boston has been working with local housing and poverty advocacy groups to demand that the big banks stop gambling with the future of people and planet. Real solutions to the climate crisis, that are market-ready and viable, would both address economic equity for local communities and directly reduce the disproportionate burden of impacts that working class communities around the world face from fossil fuel industries such as coal.

Despite the coal lobby’s desperate schemes to sell the “clean coal” concept, coal power generation remains dirty, unsafe and unaffordable as the following facts confirm.

• The coal industry is responsible for nearly 40% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions
• Toxic emissions from coal power plants cause over 26 000 deaths per year in the US alone
• An average coal plant is responsible for externalized environmental and public health costs of over 300 million dollars per year.
• There are currently 110 coal power plants slated for development in the U.S. none of which have the ability to capture the carbon they would emit.

“Without the financial backing of big banks like Citi and Bank of America, the coal industry wouldn’t be able to build over 100 new coal plants. We need real solutions to the climate crisis, not more coal industry greenwash,” said Lulu Debarca of Rising Tide Boston.

Activists across North Carolina took action against Bank of America’s dirty coal financing.

In the early hours of commuter traffic, Raleigh commuters encountered banners at key thoroughfares – reminding them that “Coal Ain’t Clean”, and that Bank of America continues to finance the coal industry, including Mountaintop Removal coal mining and dirty coal power companies like Duke Energy.

Earth First & Rising Tide claimed responsibility for these banners.

Later in the day, folks in Wilmington joined Raleigh, as activists went around both cities shutting down dozens of Bank of America ATM machines with global warming crime scene tape.

Even Bank of America Headquarters in Charlotte were not spared on this day, as a group of activists left the bank a gift inside the HQ building – a banner suspended from scores of helium balloons, with the message “Stop Banking on Climate Change”.

A number of public interest groups around Charlotte, North Carolina, have been campaigning against Duke Energy’s plans to build an 800 MW Coal power expansion to their Cliffside facility. Bank of America is one of the primary financiers of Duke. Like many other swing states that turned color on Nov 4th, it appears the color of public opinion on coal in North Carolina may be turning as well.

Yesterday, actions against mining companies, utility companies, Citibank and Bank of America swept the nation from coast to coast. You can read the first roundup of report backs here.

RAN Flickr Site: Check here for lots of pics from yesterday.

Dr James Hansen said in support of the Day of Action: “The science is clear: a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants, and phase-out of existing coal plants, is essential if we want to preserve creation, the life on our planet, for young people and future generations.”

Today more actions are planned. Check out www.dirtymoney.org for details

Actions reporting back:
Syracuse, NY:”Fox’s main goal was to raise awareness, and she said she believes the protest was successful. She did not receive much support in numbers, but Fox said she was able to stop many passersby and drivers at stop lights to hand out flyers, stickers and give a speech on the dangers of coal and Bank of America’s role in coal financing.”
Beckley, WV:”They distributed fliers outside a Citi Financial office, informed Citi employees that their employer had a major role in destroying their communities, and handed fliers to customers entering the office. ”
Baltimore, MD:”Amid the flurries of our current political climate, a handful of Towson students sought to educate citizens of injustices taking place by national banking companies in Baltimore.” Read more here.
Washington D.C. II:”Saturday morning at 4-5:30am nine of us went to one Citibank location and one Bank of America location and put caution tape around the doors since the ATMs were inside. Then we chalked some bodies but it was raining so they didn’t all last the morning, but some remained when we came back at 8am to hand out flyers. Since the banks weren’t open on Saturday we found that our caution tape and signs we put up in the night were still there! At the Citibank it remained there till we after we left around noon. Unfortunately the police came to the Bank of America and took down the tape but allowed us to continue passing out flyers, of which the nine of us handed out 305! ”
University of Central Florida: Video here
College Park, MD:”More than 25 students formed a brigade outside the Bank of America on Route 1 Friday afternoon, laying down on the wet sidewalk and obstructing the entrance to protest the bank lending money to coal-mining companies.”
Sacramento, CA:”We had two then two more people show up for the demonstration outside the Bank of America at 1130 K St. on the K St. Mall in Sacramento. We passed out “Funding coal, Killing communities” flyers and garnered signatures for the “Tell Citi and Bank of America that Coal is Over and to Fund the Future” petition sheets. There were three Wackenhut guards who stayed in front of the main entrance of the bank. A few people were enthused about us being there.”
Las Vegas, NV:”On Friday RYSE Las Vegas had a table at Las Vegas Academy during lunch with stickers, information about Citi and Bank of America’s destructive coal finance, and a petition. We even recruited some enthusiastic new members!”
Ventura, CA: RAN Ventura- “Four determined activists braved the heat, smoke, and winds in Ventura to get the word out that B of A is destroying communities and the environment by funding coal. One of our group wore a black tophat and “diamonds” to show how B of A is making money while others are suffering. The rest of us handed out literature and approached people to sign our petitions. Even though we are now dehydrated and exhausted, we are very proud of our efforts and hope others will join us for our next event.”
Los Angeles:”It’s 92 degrees in LA today and there are brush fires burning out of control all over the place. Maybe that’s why people were so receptive to our message that Bank of America needs to stop investing in global warming. Our small band of activists talked to passersby and customers at the B of A just outside the UCLA campus and distributed over a hundred flyers and stickers. After I gave a sticker to one adorable little boy, his father told me that their whole house is about to go solar. When we asked another man to tell B of A to stop funding coal power, he said he already had – and that he’d closed all of his accounts. Overall, it was a fun afternoon spent in solidarity with activists across the country!”
Berkeley, CA: Activists flyered outside of the downtown Berkeley Bank of America
Rotterdam, Netherlands:90 arrested at Greenpeace coal action in Rotterdam.
Austin, TX:”We had a great action in Austin today! A solid crowd of no less than 40 and account closures totalling over $60,000! We also had a few good media folks turn out, including a guy from the #1 talk radio station here and both of the major print papers.” Video here.

San Francisco Video: Posted here.

At noon today, activists affiliated with the New York Action Network convened in midtown dressed in their finest business wear to apologize to the public on behalf of Citi for the bank’s role in the funding of coal, the climate crisis and the financial turmoil worldwide.  Citi recently received 25 billion dollars of US taxpayer money; we thought it was an appropriate moment to thank taxpayers and to apologize for not taking their future into consideration while we were carelessly making all those dirty investments.

Donning laminated name-tags signaling our official status as Citi representatives – Veronica Huffinpuff, Sally Smokestack, Nomar Mountains, Anita Inhaler, Ivanna Bailout, Seymour Solar, Vin Turbine and others- one team of activists entered through the building’s side door looking for Mr. Vikram Pandit to sign a pledge which read: Dear Taxpayer, Thanks for the 700 billion dollars. We apologize for our history of irresponsible investment and promise to do better. We pledge to immediately cease all investment in coal and declare a moratorium on home foreclosures. It’s time to change, the buck stops here!”

Unfortunately, Mr. Pandit was unavailable so we gathered at the front of the building where we apologized  for “the mess we made!” to as many pedestrians as we could engage, handing them an open letter from the Citi family that outlined in detail the company’s new commitments to a more sustainable and just future.  We also had placards that read, “Sorry About Climate Change – Our Bad”, “Sorry about those foreclosures”, “We promise – no more dirty investments”.

It was certainly a lighthearted and humorous approach to protest, with the public and the media reactions being incredibly positive; people were laughing and listening – not something one encounters every day on the sidewalks of New York City.

But here’s the thing; the reason we were there in the first place, why twenty five of us committed our Friday afternoon to standing in the drizzle in suits, are incredibly serious.  Our country is experiencing an economic crisis that is being compared to the 1920’s; thousands of families are losing their homes while taxpayer money is being poured into financial institutions that refuse to acknowledge the error of their ways.  The only thing this does is to avoid the more salient issue – a climate crisis whose risk involves the lives and communities of a billion displaced peoples. We have yet to see significant action that begins to remedy these issues in any real way. We are burning more coal than ever.

The irony of this gap between the facts and the reality was made all the more evident to me by the police presence we experienced today. Both the police and Citi’s private security were out in full force (we locked down at the same site on Fossils Fools Day and discovered they were expecting a repeat ) and not looking to make friends with us.  One security guard aggressively asked me to step back from the side walk and told me diminutively, “I know you think this is silly”.

Actually, I don’t think anything about this is silly. At all.

What I would like to say to him is – we know the system doesn’t care about us, but the real question is, do we care about each other? He’s is in no better shape than the rest of us who make up the majority of the population. Not amongst the upper echelon trying to buy their way out of this mess.  We are out there for his future as well as our own, for his children as well as our own, and I live for the day when, instead of apologizing for standing six inches too far into their “zone”, we can interact as human beings and treat each other with the respect that we both deserve in our united struggle for justice and future.

Lauren Valle

Today is the day, actions against mining companies, utility companies, and coal financier’s Citi and Bank of America are planned all over the U.S. and in parts of Canada.

And of course, it’s not too late to organize a quick and easy action. Just check out the resources at www.dirtymoney.org and let us know what you are doing.

Actions already reporting back:

Miami- RAN and Everglades Earth First! activists crashed Bank of America’s Energy Conference at the Key Biscayne Ritz-Carleton. “We used a megaphone to make the presentation that we had planned for the boat, outlining the reasons that Bank of America needs to move away from dirty energy and toward better energy solutions. Two of us held a banner reading “Captains of Industry: Rise Above Dirty Energy!” and we had a few others on hand to help negotiate with security officers and take pictures.”
UPDATE: Two activists were detained in the Ritz-Carleton kitchen by hotel employees and later police when they returned to flyer this morning.
Raleigh- Earth First! and Rising Tide activists unfurled three banners across the Raleigh area. “Duke Energy and Bank of America were among the climate criminals identified in the messages. Banners demanded Bank of America stop financing the coal industry and said ‘COAL AIN’T CLEAN’.”
San Francisco- Clandestine rebel advertisers hung banners reading “COAL IS OVER” and “DON’T FORECLOSE ON THE CLIMATE” at strategic points throughout SF’s financial district. Wheatpasting, postering and stickering were put up as well.

Knoxville, TN: Activists dropped a banner that said “No Clean Coal! Save our Money Mountains Air and Future! Invest in Renewable Energy!” and closed down many Bank of America and Citi ATMs.
Amherst, MA: Students rallying and petitioning on campus. “we are kicking coal’s ass in amherst!”
San Francisco II: This morning RAN and Greenpeace activists took to the streets of San Francisco and shutdown dozens of Bank of America and Citi ATMs under the noses of private security.
Citibank HQ; New York: RAN NYC engaged in “aggressive street theater” by infiltrating Citi’s mid-town headquarters dressed as Citi employees. Lots of police and media on the scene.

Seattle University:Dozens of students rallied and petitioned and are going to close their bank accounts.
Bank of America Headquarters; Charlotte, NC:Activists with Rising Tide released a balloon banner inside Bank of America headquarters in downtown Charlotte reading “Stop Banking on Climate Change. No New Coal.” The banner was floated to the ceiling of the headquarters with dozens of helium balloons in order to make it difficult to remove.
Washington D.C.: “We separated into around 8 or so teams. About three teams of around 4 people took Bank of America and the rest took Citi. We hit around 40 atm’s in d.c. Mostly in the heart of downtown. We had caution tape taped to the atm, with a temporarily out of order sign taped around it and the screen sheet covering the actual atm. Some people got pissed at some groups (as expected). We were doing this in the middle of the lunch rush. The good news is that we hit a ton of ATMs and some of them are still up and intact. Some folks had some dialogue with people that had their money in Bank of America and Citi and told them what this was all about. All and all, everything went well. ”
UNC-Wilmington, Wilmington, NC:”A dozen students gathering from 2-5 here outside of the BofA on a very visible road along campus. We were doing a Honk and Wave, but also did some theatre (dying by couging), had some sanitary masks and ash smudging, and have lots of signs and painted the banner you all sent us. We had over 300 honks when I left, and chatted with some patrons.”
Aiken, SC:”We had 6 volunteers at one point, mostly it was just 2 of us…not many people stopped and asked…we handed out fliers as we could…I closed my account!!!! The Aiken newspaper came and took photos, which was sweet!!!”
San Francisco III: On the “No Coal Tour of Shame,” over 30 RAN and Greenpeace activists marched through San Francisco’s Financial District occupying Bank of America and Citi bank branches chanting singing and coughing-in. The tour ended with a protest outside of California based utility company PG&E.
Boston: Rising Tide Boston satirically tabled outside of various Citi banks in downtown Boston, passing out pieces of “Green Coal.”
Check out Boston’s video.

Watch this space for more updates and pictures!

Today’s Press Release:

Thousands to Protest Citi and Bank of America’s Coal Investments

National Coal Day of Action to include demonstrations in more than 50 cities

SAN FRANCISCO – Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has recruited thousands of activists in more than 50 cities across the U.S. to protest Citi and Bank of America’s coal investments in a mass demonstration against coal and coal finance that will take place Nov. 14-15.

RAN and the thousands of citizens who plan to participate in the Day of Action are demanding that the top financiers of the coal industry, Citi and Bank of America, lead the transition to a 21st-century clean energy economy that will put people to work and avert catastrophic climate change.

“The science is clear: a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants, and phase-out of existing coal plants, is essential if we want to preserve creation, the life on our planet, for young people and future generations,” said James Hansen, the nation’s leading climate scientist in promoting the Day of Action.

The National Day of Action – organized by RAN, Rising Tide North America, Greenpeace and others – will feature marches, flyering at local bank branches, creative street theater, and non-violent direct actions at bank offices. Cities where actions will take place include Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and St. Louis.

“Investments made today by the world’s leading financial institutions will shape our climate and economy for decades to come,” said Rebecca Tarbotton, director of RAN’s Global Finance Campaign. “Just as risky bank investments mortgaged the economic future of millions of American families, gambling on coal will mortgage our climate unless banks immediately start funding renewable energies rather than dirty fossil fuels.”

Coal is responsible for nearly 40 percent of America’s global warming emissions. Citi is the nation’s largest coal financier, providing financial support to 45 companies that have proposed new coal power plants. Currently, 110 coal plants are still slated for development in the United States.

Bank of America is involved with eight of the U.S.’s top mountaintop removal coal-mining operators, which collectively produce more than 250 million tons of coal each year. Mountaintop removal flattens mountain ranges and transforms healthy mountain woodlands into toxic sludge that has clogged more than 700 miles of rivers and streams. The practice is a major threat to the existence of many Appalachian communities.

“Citi and Bank of America are the ATMs of the coal industry,” said Lauren Valle, an organizer of the New York actions. “I am participating in this Day of Action to tell Citi and Bank of America that their destructive investments are threatening our homes, our savings, and our climate. These banks must take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts of their financing.”

Four years ago, environmentalists in the U.S. raised concerns over plans to build 150 coal-fired power stations nationwide. Today, the growing national coal movement has defeated dozens of these plans and is actively opposing the rest. While Al Gore has called for young people to participate in civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal-fired power plants, urban and rural communities are demonstrating that it is a moral imperative to stop climate-killing coal plants in their tracks.

For more information, visit www.dirtymoney.org .

A few months back, when tomorrow’s day of action against coal and coal finance was already in our calendars, the Global Finance Campaign team discovered that Bank of America would be hosting a conference for the energy industry in Miami, Florida November 12th-14th. Executives from the oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy sectors would all be present. What a fabulous coincidence! We decided that it would be great to put some pressure on Bank of America to end their financing of dirty fossil fuels, including coal, and build a truly clean energy portfolio on the day before our day of action.

So off to Miami I went. I have to say that I wasn’t sad to pack my bathing suit and sunscreen and escape the beginnings of fall in San Francisco. The opportunity to come face to face with Bank of America on the eve of our day of action certainly added to the excitement. I met up with activists from Everglades Earth First! near Miami and we quickly cooked up what we were sure was a great plan, one that involved row-boating our way to the beach-front Ritz Carlton hotel where the conference is being held, and presenting Bank of America and energy sector executives with a winning performance outlining Bank of America’s transition to funding clean energy instead of false solutions.

Unfortunately, our clever plan fell apart once we realized that Bank of America’s beach-side cocktail party had been (suspiciously?) moved to the lawn further on the hotel campus. We quickly regrouped our crew of trouble-makers and decided to crash their cocktail party. We sadly ditched our boat and made our way to the lawn at the Ritz Carlton. We used a megaphone to make the presentation that we had planned for the boat, outlining the reasons that Bank of America needs to move away from dirty energy and toward better energy solutions. Two of us held a banner reading “Captains of Industry: Rise Above Dirty Energy!” and we had a few others on hand to help negotiate with security officers and take pictures.

What happened next was truly unexpected – before security could even get to us and tell us to leave, the group of energy executives assembled fell into two groups, the first curiously watching and listening our presentation, and the second group angrily and aggressively attacking us! I think the cocktail party must have been going on for a bit, because one conference-goer ran at our banner and grabbed it and tried to wrestle it away from the guys holding it, while another poured his beer on one of the banner-holders and a third angrily yelled in our faces as we spoke into the megaphone. Wow. Seems like they are a bit defensive, maybe they should look for another line of work? By the time security asked us to leave, we were ready to scram, and I just wanted to get out of there without someone getting punched.

So, we successfully brought a message demanding clean energy to the conference, and we disrupted their cocktail party, but I have to say I never expected the reaction that we got.

-Annie

Thanks to the good work of the Sierra Club and a large coalition of western and Utah organizations, the phrase ‘No New Coal’ may have gone WAY out of style today. The Environmental Appeals Board of the EPA just ruled that the EPA has the authority to establish a Best Available Control Technology (BACT) limit for carbon dioxide.

Up until now the EPA has gone out of it’s way to avoid, duck, shirk and otherwise weasel it’s way out of treating C02 as a pollutant and regulating it as such, but this ruling decrees that every argument it has used so far to avoid doing so is legally insufficient. The decision is binding for all EPA-issued air quality permits, so best case scenario – this could affect every single air quality permit for a new coal plant in the country.

Which means……that we may see the stalling of all coal-fired power plant permits under consideration for a year or so while the EPA figures out what ‘Best Available Control Technology’ means in this context. I repeat: no more new coal-plants. Then, the sound of scurrying feet as the coal industry scrambles to fast-track the ever-mythical Carbon Capture and Sequestration technology and finally the gradual movement of all the energy that has been built up around stopping NEW coal plants towards dealing with the 500 existing plants.

This has been a week of emails and blogs about how we can’t rest on our laurels just because Obama got elected. The same holds true for this EAB ruling — it may really stop new coal-fired power plants, and for that we can all be enormously relieved.

We won’t be moving in the wrong direction any more. Now the challenge is to start moving in the right one – towards no coal whatsoever.

UPDATE: The ruling will also cover oil refineries and other major sources of CO2 pollution. Score one for the climate!!

Over the past year, thousands of people have been part of the anti-coal movement taking action against the coal and coal finance sectors.

AND the struggle continues.

On Nov. 14-15, We need all of you to join RAN, Greenpeace, Rising Tide, Southern Energy Network, Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC), Heartwood, Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Mountain Justice, Coop America and thousands of others during the National Day of Action against Coal and Coal Finance in confronting mining companies, utilities, and the biggest funders of the coal industry: Citi and Bank of America.

If we’re going to avert the worst effects of climate change, we need to stop investing in coal and make an immediate transition to renewable energies. This is only going to happen if we can show the world that people everywhere care about the climate and want action now!

Already actions are planned in more than 50 cities across the United States.

All you have to do is show up and add your voice; the power of these actions depends on your participation.

Check here for a map of actions.

Can’t find one but want to do something? You can still sign up here to round up some friends and organize your own action.

See you in the streets!

UPDATE: Here’s a link to the hundreds of actions that happened in 2007 and through 2008.