Send a message to Chevron about their human rights and environmental abuses.
Sign a letter to Chevron’s CEO calling on Chevron to stop paying, transporting and housing the Nigerian military and police forces who shoot, injure and kill innocent unarmed protesters in Nigeria. Sign Letter!
“No REDD Papers, Volume I is a must read for all who seek to know the truth about this mercantilist tool called REDD. It is also highly recommended for those who believe that policies to fight the current climate chaos must see the people and Mother Earth, and not merely see trees as commodities for cash and carbon speculation.”
—Nnimmo Bassey, Alternative Nobel Prize Laureate, Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Chair of Friends of the Earth International and poet
Global Justice Ecology Project has just published the No REDD Papers, Volume 1. To download it, click on one of the links above. The top link will download the booklet with one page per sheet of paper; the bottom link will download the booklet with 2 pages, side by side, per piece of paper.
Your future, our climate and Indigenous Peoples are threatened by a devious false solution to climate change called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). Unfortunately, industrialized countries, oil companies and other climate criminals that are trashing the planet have absolutely no intention of drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions which is necessary to truly address climate change.
Instead, along with the World Bank and the United Nations, they are concocting this REDD scheme to take over the forests of the world as supposed sponges for their pollution. In the process, they are evicting the very people who have conserved those forests for millennia. REDD may be the biggest land grab of all time, cause genocide and replace real forests with massive industrial tree plantations that could even include genetically engineered trees. Read this book so together we can resist this new form of colonialism and privatization of the air we breathe, and defend the trees and forests that we love.
OCCUPY PROTESTS: WE’LL BACK NIGERIANS, SAYS FoEI
Lagos : Nigeria | Nov 17, 2011
Re-posted from AkanimoReports
FRIENDS of the Earth International (FOEI), a global federation of environmental rights advocacy groups, has said that they will stand by the Nigerian people to protest against any form of continued socio-economic, political and environmental injustice inline with the Occupy protests in some parts of the world. The global group which is Chaired by Nigeria’s Nnimmo Bassey, told AkanimoReports on Thursday in a telephone interview that they will rally around citizen groups anywhere in the world rising against any form of injustice. He was spoke just as the group in a statement pointed out that they were in support of the Occupy protests and called for environmental activists and organizations around the world to join the movement to demand radical system change.
FoEI with member groups in 76 countries, said at a time when many of the camps are being shut down by police, ”we offer our solidarity and our support, and we join this movement wholeheartedly”, adding, ”to save our communities and our environment, we stand united in calling for a profound transformation of the current globalized political economic system”.
The grassroots organization believes that tackling excessive corporate power and promoting economic justice are key to solving the environmental crisis, including the climate crisis.
According to Bassey, ”we are one with those who are raising and will raise their voices against corporate greed and who are speaking and will speak out for social equity and real solutions to the crises we face”
photo: Nnimmo Bassey, Chair Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth International from Radio Nederland Wereldomroep’s photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnw/4190503174/sizes/z/in/photostream/
November 2, 2011 — It’s unlikely there will be “an equitable outcome” from the COP17 climate talks, to be held in Durban in December 2011, but it will be “a great moment to intensify campaigns against the business-as-usual manner” in which climate negotiations have been conducted so far, Friends of the Earth International’s Nnimmo Bassey told Pambazuka News.
* * *
Pambazuka News: What role will Environmental Rights Action (ERA) and Friends of the Earth International be playing at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP17) in Durban? What will you be pushing for?
Nnimmo Bassey: While there is a generally low level of expectation from the Durban Conference of the Parties (COP17), we see it as a great moment to stand with impacted peoples and the environmental justice movement and call for a climate tackling regime that understands the depth of the crises and the fact that the impacts are already manifesting. We will push for polluting countries to cut emissions at the source and not through offsets and related market mechanisms that help polluters profit from the damage they do. We will push for legally binding emissions reduction targets to ensure that temperature increase is kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. ERA will demand the recognition and payment of the accumulated climate debt due to centuries of exploitation and colonisation of the atmosphere.
Friends of the Earth International will particularly bring to light the negative impacts of carbon markets, dirty energy, dams, agrofuels, plantations/industrial agriculture – all funded or potentially fundable through the carbon markets. We will also highlight land grabs and related issues. Details of our full focus are still being fine-tuned. As you know, we have member groups in 76 countries and each of these is autonomous so we invest time and energy in consultations. You will hear of our detailed plans once they are ready.
Judging from the outcome of the COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico, obtaining a multilateral agreement through which those most to blame for causing climate change take responsibility for the damage they are causing to those most affected by climate change, is unlikely to happen at COP17 in Durban, South Africa. But even though this is expected to be the case, why is the Durban event still important for climate justice activists?
You are right to say that we may not expect an equitable outcome from Durban. Nevertheless, Durban will be a great moment to intensify campaigns against the business-as-usual manner [in which] the negotiations have been conducted. Durban has a rich history that will inspire the climate justice movement to get stronger. Remember that Gandhi’s non-violent resistance was more or less birthed in Durban. Some of the most intense organising against apartheid also occurred in Durban. Currently, Durban is the hub of the environmental justice activism in South Africa. This has not occurred accidentally. Durban has some of the most polluted neighbourhoods in the country, with highly polluting refineries and chemical factories located there.
The building rage on the streets of Durban will inspire the climate justice movement. For me, the need to resist the planned offshore exploration for crude oil off the coast of Durban, an act that is bound to rub salt in raw injuries, holds an additional pull.
Hypothetically speaking, what in your mind would be the key aspects of a just global climate deal and why?
Getting polluters to accept to cut emissions at source and to the extent required by science to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius. A regime of voluntary targets would simply translate to roasting Africa and sinking the small island states.
JINN is supportive of the Move Your Money campaign that has encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to shift their funds out of big banks to an institution that supports the local community. If you didn’t do it before November 5th, don’t worry, every day is a good day to move your money! After hearing a lot of people in the Bay Area recommending Mechanics Bank as a possible alternative, we realized that we needed to share with you why JINN closed its account at Mechanics in 2009.
You may remember there was a multiyear dispute between residents who live near the Richmond refinery and Chevron which wanted to expand its expand its facility to refine heavier dirtier crude oil, which would further pollute an area where the local community already suffers disproportionately high rates of asthma, cancer and other illnesses. Eventually, the local residents and the community groups that support them won their case when two judges sided with them. However, while the dispute was still raging, Mechanics Bank sent its clients a letter in support of Chevron, which it also published as an open letter. We’re posting the contents and linking to a copy of it here so that you can make a fully informed decision when you think about moving your money in the Bay Area.
August 5, 2009
~ Mechanics Bank
Commitment That Lasts Generations
An Open Letter to Chevron and the City of Richmond
From Mechanics Bank
For almost 100 years, Mechanics Bank has proudly called Richmond its home. As an organization that is committed to helping build prosperous communities as their trusted financial partner, we have always supported Richmond’s businesses, non-profits, and provide employment to many of its residents. In the spirit of that commitment, we add our voice today to the growing chorus of those calling for an end to the impasse over Chevron’s refinery upgrade project. Richmond, which calls itself the “City of Pride and Purpose,” is in danger of losing both if it cannot find a way to reach a swift and equitable agreement that allows it to move forward.
With the city’s unemployment at its highest level since the Great Depression – estimated to exceed 17% -and the state’s financial difficulties about to lead to a loss of millions from its redevelopment funds, Richmond is facing one of its greatest challenges. By bringing the refinery project to a halt, Communities for a Better Environment and its allies may think they have won the day, but from our viewpoint, it appears to be a hollow victory. A century of serving this community has taught us that opportunities such as that posed by the Chevron plant upgrade don’t come along very often–and they are especially rare in a time of recession. A failure to find a compromise that is fair to all would squander a chance to revive Richmond’s struggling economy, and likely would eliminate future jobs and prosperity, too. Because no agreement was reached, more than 1100 local workers have lost their jobs. Their families have lost healthcare and other benefits. The city itself stands to lose over $61 million in promised community benefits to support a variety of much-needed programs. From job training for low-skill workers to funding that bolsters desperately needed police and fire services, from support for free and subsidized health services to construction of the missing link of the Bay Trail, and much, much more, Richmond comes out a loser.
Worst of all, the reason given for opposing Chevron’s plant upgrade doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Despite opponents’ claims of environmental degradation, the City of Richmond, the State Attorney General’s office, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District concluded after four years of review that the refinery upgrade would actually reduce emissions!
We did not speak with Chevron prior to preparing this letter, nor did they request that we take a position on the dispute. But given our deep roots in this community we felt it was imperative to speak out. Richmond has been a big part of the growth and success of Mechanics Bank, for which we will always be grateful. Together, we’ve survived the Great Depression and a dozen other boom-and-bust cycles. We have always believed in a bright future for this city, but if the naysayers kill this opportunity, it may well be decades before Richmond makes up what it will have lost.
It is imperative for our community that all parties reach a swift, reasonable resolution so that Richmond and its citizens can get back to work quickly.
Sincerely
Steven K. Buster
President and Chief Executive Office
cc:
Mike Coyle
Manager
Chevron Richmond Refinery
Chevron Corporation
P. O. Box 6076
San Ramon
CA 94583
Gayle McLaughlin
Mayor
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center
Richmond
CA 94804
Judy Morgan
President
Richmond Chamber
of Commerce
3925 Macdonald Ave.
Richmond
CA 94805
Bill Gallegos, Executive Director
Nile Malloy, NorCal Program Director
Communities for a Better Environment
Oakland Office
1440 Broadway, Suite 701
Oakland, CA 94612
Hilltop Office
3170 Hilltop Mati Road• Richmond, (A 94806
1.800.797.6324 PHONE’ www.mechbank.com
Chevron’s Richmond refinery, seen from Nichol Hill. The company argues that it has paid too much in property taxes on the facility. (photo by: Robert Rogers)
Chevron will present its case for a $58 million tax refund before an appeals board on Monday, as the company seeks to prove that it overpaid property taxes on its Richmond refinery between 2007 and 2009.
The hearing before the County’s Assessment Appeals Board – which listens to the cases of property owners who believe that the county has overvalued their land and thus charged too much in taxes — represents the next step in a four-year battle. Chevron believes the county has overvalued its Richmond refinery by nearly $2 billion per year, a company spokesperson said in an email.
If the company succeeds in its appeal, it would create a “brutal situation” for the county and cities, Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said.
“The city of Richmond stands to lose millions of dollars if this appeal is approved,” McLaughlin said, adding that the city would have to cut services to pay back the money.
County Assessor Gus Kramer, who has held the position since 1995, called the case a “phenomenon.”
“It is record setting,” he said. “It’s the largest appeal we’ve ever had.”
GPS Coordinates: Blocked bridge – Elev:9m, N 05°11.657’’, E006°29.574’’ and Well 2 site – Elev:4m, N 05°11.655’’, E 006°29.574’’
Shell has not been fair to the community in terms of amenities says the leaders of the JK4 community, even though so much wealth is pumped out from our community soil daily. We have been drinking from the Taylor Creek that has often been polluted by crude oil spills from the company’s failed oil facilities. ERA/FoEN heard of a protest by women in the community and promptly visited the community.
JK4, otherwise known as Edagberi/Betterland community is a community in Ahaoda West local government area of Rivers State, Nigeria. It is located along the Taylor Creek, sharing boundaries with Biseni and Ikarama communities in Yenagoa local government area of Bayelsa State. Over forty oil wells operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company [SPDC], several crude oil pipelines and Shell’s Adibawa Flow Station are located within the community. Community leaders have complained in the past that Shell has not been fair to the community in terms of amenities, even though so much wealth is pumped out from the community soil daily. Without pipe borne water the people have been drinking from the Taylor Creek that has often been polluted by crude oil spills. ERA/FoEN heard of a protest by women in the community (10 October 2011) and promptly visited the community.
