This past Sunday, RAN Twin Cities joined with Macalester College students and Real Food Challenge participants for a festive leprechaun action! As Twin Cities activist Erick Boustead said, “Pristine rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia is being cut down for palm oil that ends up in the cereal we eat.” The Twin Cities based company General Mills sources unsustainable palm oil for their products such as Cheerios and Lucky Charms. On the afternoon of March 14, seventeen activists wearing green clothes gathered in the Midway Shopping Center of St. Paul, MN, to adorn themselves with face paint, hats, and patches with informative statements, such as “Lucky Charms cause rainforest destruction”, and “Lucky Charms: they’re magically destructive!” Other General Mills products were also under attack, but obviously leprechauns have a particular interest in Lucky Charms.

Leprechaun examines ingredient list during flash mob

As they moved to their first location, the grocery store Rainbow Foods, they were greeted at the door by police, an angry manager, and about 10 men who stood in front of the door to prevent them from entering the store. Apparently, the manager had heard about the action beforehand and recruited volunteers to help keep leprechauns out of the store. RAN activists were told they would be arrested by the St. Paul police if they entered, even though they had made clear that they did not want to interrupt the store’s business but instead promote awareness while having an enjoyable time. It can be frustrating to face limitations to free speech, but the activists were undeterred and cheerfully moved on to their next location.

The leprechaun team chose to move to a different set of stores on Lake Street in Minneapolis. At the Rainbow Foods and Cub Foods stores, the leprechauns filed into the produce and cereal aisles to freeze for several minutes, bringing the attention of store customers to their cause. They then danced out to flute music while handing out flyers about General Mills and palm oil. At Cub Foods, an angry manager came out to ask them to leave. A cop in front of Target prevented them from visiting that store, and so the flash mob was over.

The success of this action was a result of several characteristics of the participants involved. It was great that the activists adapted to the situation at hand! They made on-the-spot decisions including changing locations so that the mob could move forward effectively. This kind of flexibility is key for such actions.

In addition, for any kind of dancing action, it’s important to maintain a positive attitude! The police and managers at the store could have brought spirits down, but the flash mob participants maintained their focus and message. I am so proud of the fantastic Twin Cities activists who made this action work and celebrated a truly green St. Patrick’s Day.

Even though all the leprechauns had a great time and conveyed their message in a fun way, it seemed like store customers were still afraid of them. It is important for flash mob participants to appeal to the public, but it is also important to recognize that there will always be a fear of challenging authority and speaking powerfully against corporate power. I hope that we can continue to engage the public in ways that bring greater understanding of the problem with palm oil to a wide audience.

Indigenous Ecuadorean leader Emergildo Criollo travels from Amazon rainforest to California to deliver 325,000+ letters urging Chevron’s new CEO John Watson to clean up the oil giant’s toxic legacy. Photo by Jonathan McIntosh.

On March 2^nd, Emergildo Criollo, president of the Ecuadorian Cofan people, delivered 325,000 petitions from over 150 countries in support of his appeal to Chevron to clean up the toxic mess they had left in the Amazon over three decades ago.  He was met by Chevron’s  Public Relations Clean-Up Crew, who seemed more concerned with cleaning up Chevron’s image rather than addressing the 18 billion gallons of toxic sludge which the corporation deliberately dumped into the rainforest.

During this much anticipated visit, Emergildo attempted to personally deliver the petitions at the home of Chevron CEO, John Watson. Big surprise, Watson refused Emergildo’s visit. Instead, Emergildo was met by Chevron PR executives:  the Vice President for Policy, Government and Public Affairs; Manager for Global Issues and Policy; General Manager for Corporate Public Policy; and the Manager of External Communications. Rather than send their PR Dream Team, why didn’t Chevron send some of their decision makers who could address and take action over the 1,400 Ecuadoreans who have died because of Chevron’s negligence?

From 1964 to 1992, Texaco pumped oil in Ecuador in partnership with Petroecuador. During this time, Texaco left 17 million gallons of crude oil spills, 917 unlined crude pits, and deliberately dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic waste. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001, subsequently inheriting the lawsuit and has since avoided taking responsibility for the situation.

Emergildo told the Chevron Executives how he lost his two sons to the toxic waste since his family drank, bathed, and fished in one of the waterways that Chevron has refused to clean up. His story represented tens of thousands of similar stories from Ecuadorian locals who have suffered a wave of birth defects, illness, cancers, and death.

Chevron is feeling the pressure as they face a potential $27.3 billion pollution lawsuit in an Ecuadorean court for one of the largest environmental and public health disasters in the world. Yet, they have stayed strong and consistently state that the responsibility of the toxic mess should go to Petroecuador.

By March 4^th, Silvia Garrigo, Chevron’s Manager Global Issues and Policy, had posted a blog with the title, ““Important First Steps – Chevron and Rainforest Action Meet, Share Common Ground.” In the blog post, she wrote:

We can all agree that his personal story is moving and heartfelt.  And we can all agree that there are unacceptable environmental conditions in Ecuador’s Amazon.  While there may be many areas where we do not agree, it is important for us to listen to each other.  We believe RAN and Chevron can share common ground on some important points.  Thank you again for meeting with us.  We look forward to continuing a constructive dialogue.

This carefully executed message demonstrates Chevron’s refusal to take responsibility of the environmental devastation in Ecuador and their continued procrastination to take action on the issue. Constructive dialogue with Chevron has dragged the lawsuit on for over 16 years. The “common ground” RAN and Chevron share are universally acknowledged and undisputed. No one is arguing against the atrocity of Ecuador’s Amazon. The people in Ecuador not only deserve but demand action from Chevron. As public attention and outrage increase, Chevron’s publicity stunts and court appeals will no longer protect the company from the responsibility to the disaster created in Ecuador.

John Watson, we’re waiting for your next move.

Maybe I’m being a little too cynical…I just don’t think that Brad Pitt is saving the world. Bill Gates on the other hand, might be a different story

While a friend of a friend of mine has chosen to label Mr. Gates as a ’socialist’ (yes that’s right a socialist…America’s richest man, and corporate icon in the most capitalistic way possible) for his new stance on a different way of looking at energy, I see that Gates might actually be on the cutting edge of a new way of viewing what environmentalists have talked about for years.

In Gates’ most recent TED talk, entitled innovating to zero, the multimillionaire lays out energy and climate in a clear way through a simple balance equation: CO2=PxSxExC P: People S: Services E: Energy C: Carbon Dioxide/unit energy. He endeavours to help the poorest of the world live better lives, which is an honourable mission, however, one that doesn’t bode well for reducing emissions to stop what scientists call climate change. Naomi Klein talks about the concept of luxury emissions vs survival emissions, and the concept makes sense. In order to achieve Bill Gates’ goal of helping the poorest of the world live better lives, therefore, increasing ’survival’ emissions, richer societies will have to reduce their ‘luxury emissions’. Perhaps this means less of using Hummers to get groceries, and maybe even more local food production…Read the rest on Plug Out Tune In!

On March 3rd, more than 170 people gathered outside the RBC Annual General Shareholder Meeting in Toronto to protest the bank’s leading role in funding the contentious Alberta tar sands. People concerned with the impact of tar sands projects on First Nations, water quality and the climate came from every corner of Canada to ensure that the bank heard the message: ‘stop bankrolling the tar sands.’

Outside the shareholder meeting school children, bank customers of every age, First Nations community representatives and leading environmental groups rallied with brightly colored signs and chants. Inside the shareholder meeting, Chief Al Lameman of Beaver Lake First Nation of Alberta,Vice Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council of BC, and Hereditary Chief Warner Naziel of the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation of BC addressed RBC CEO Gordon Nixon directly about the way tar sands extraction projects have jeopardized their health and their rights.

Meanwhile protesters entered the building and disrupted the meeting carrying a sign that read “Dirty Ethics, Dirty Oil” and chanting loudly in an attempt to make their voices heard!

It was a whole day of action for the whole family! In the morning protesters gave out mock bank flyers pointing to RBC’s blatant disrespect of Indigenous and Environmental rights in their financing of the Alberta Tar Sands as well as their greenwashing tactics. At the same time a pirate radio station was set up and passing cars were asked to tune in to hear a clip speaking of the Tar Sands by affected community members.

The afternoon rally saw over 170 people show up from across Ontario with signs and banners to denounce and shame RBC! First Nations representatives Cheif Al Lameman of the Beaver Lake First Nation, Warner Naziel of the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation of BC,Vice Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council,Gitz Crazyboy of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, and Eriel Derranger of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation addressed the crowd and lead the 170 people in a March along Toronto’s financial district, shutting down the streets and taking us right to RBC headquaters! With the help of the booming rhythms of Samba Elegua another mini rally was held and came to an end with all proclaiming: ” “Native communities under attack! We won’t stop until you act!”

“RBC has a decision to make. They can continue to align themselves with the tar sands, a project that is single-handedly compromising the climate, drinking water and the health of First Nations,” said Brant Olson of the Rainforest Action Network, which has been running a campaign to clean up RBC since its shareholder meeting last year. “Or they can lead Canada’s economy toward clean energy and socially responsible development.”

RBC is clearly feeling the public pressure over their tar sands financing. Recently, the bank convened a high-level meeting with more than a dozen international banks for a “day of learning” about the reputational risks associated with the tar sands. In addition, according to information the bank provided to RAN during a February meeting in San Francisco, RBC is currently evaluating new lending criteria that would apply to the oil and gas sector, in particular to the tar sands. However, the bank has been reticent to include Free, Prior and Informed Consent in its policy, which would ensure that First Nations communities are respected in lending practices.

“RBC’s significant financial relationship with companies pursuing tar sands development activities within our traditional territory and without consent warrants close attention,” said Chief Al Lameman of Beaver Lake First Nation. “RBC should update their policies to include a recognition of Free, Prior and Informed consent for Indigenous communities; this globally recognized concept was adopted by TD Bank Financial Group in 2007 and is endorsed by Indigenous communities across the political spectrum.”

Internationally, tar sands financing is gaining tremendous negative  An increasingly vocal group of shareholders and environmentalists turned last month’s BP, Shell and Royal Bank of Scotland annual meetings into a referendum on the oil extraction projects.

“It is unacceptable that RBC is a major financier of the Alberta tar sands, one of the most environmentally destructive projects in the world,” said Maryam Adrangi, a member of Rainforest Action Network Toronto and a lead organizer of today’s rally. “We will not stop until RBC adopts a socially responsible banking policy that includes respect for Indigenous rights and the phasing out financing for dirty fossil fuels like the tar sands.”

According to Bloomberg, since 2007, RBC has backed $16.9 billion in loans to companies operating in the tar sands, and has earned more than $132 million in underwriting fees. As a result, RBC has enabled the production of the world’s dirtiest oil. Oil extraction from the tar sands generates three times the CO2 emissions as conventionally extracted oil, and will soon make Canada the biggest contributor to global warming.

Mining oil from tar sands requires churning up huge tracts of ancient boreal forest and polluting so much clean water with poisonous chemicals that the resulting waste ponds can be seen from outer space. The health impacts to Alberta’s First Nation communities are severe, with cancer rates up in some communities as much as 400 times its usual frequency. In addition, communities living near oil refineries face increased air and water pollution from tar sands oil, which contains 11 times more sulfur and nickel and five times more lead than conventional oil.

The Rainforest Action Network campaign to Clean Up RBC has been demanding that RBC take responsibility for its lending in the tar sands by meeting basic standards set by other leading banks on Indigenous rights, water and habitat impacts and climate change.

Pictures of the day by EcoSanity.org

Pictures by Allan Lissner

enjoying the snow in the tantalus mountains of Squamish, BC

I feel like I’m going to need some time to really process what I saw, experienced, and learned from our time abroad. But certainly one of the most important things I took away from the experience was hope. It is true that we experienced a lot of destruction but, as my group’s documentary (Perjalanan) discusses, we also met a lot of people who are working incredibly hard to turn things around. One of the things that struck me again and again while speaking with these individuals was the way that they never blamed anyone for the gross exploitation of their nation’s natural resources. When I asked what we, as North Americans, could do to help them in their struggle, I was never told “stop consuming,” or even “please consume a little less.” Instead of shifting the blame (however justified such a shift might be), these individuals were taking action, they were doing what they could.

Dr. Stan Lhota, working to save proboscis monkeys in the Bay of Balikpapan

So what can I do? What can we do? We can take local action and, like the many Indonesians our group met, address local problems head-on. But even if we are not asked to, we can also reduce our consumption of goods that require natural resources to produces (which, if we’re honest, is all goods).  If you need convincing, check out Chris Jordan, an artist who paints a staggering picture of consumption in the United States.

mining between the city of Samarinda and the Wehea Forest, East Kalimantan

In my hybrid “physics/astronomy/climatology/geology” class yesterday we were discussing the formation of stars and of solar systems from giant clouds of cosmic gas. As it turns out, all stars, solar systems, and plants are formed roughly the same way, and there are hundreds of thousands of billions of them out there. From an astronomer’s point of view, Earth is nothing special. But I think we all feel differently… now we need to start acting like it.

what's at stake: the Wehea Forest (among many things... like the rest of the world)

This is, I think, my last blog for RYSE. It’s been awesome sharing my thoughts with all of you who cared to read them. Keep on caring/thinking/being outraged and doing things about it!

For these last ten days of our expedition, we got on a boat and headed to paradise.  Literally.  The white sandy beaches, swaying palm trees and the warm turquoise waters of Maratua Island were much too picturesque to seem real.  As part of our stay here, we went in two groups to spend a night on nearby Sangalaki Island, previously an ecotourism venture for scuba diving, but now closed off to all except a small group of rangers who live on the island helping protect the sea turtles who come to lay their eggs.  The ecotourism program was closed to give the hatching turtles a more protected nesting beach, and the ranger program set up to monitor the hatching and keep data records of the laying and hatching.  While staying on the island, we noticed a few flaws with the system.  There was little monitoring of how many females were actually laying eggs, and large variations in what was done with the nests.  Some were dug up and kept in the hatchery while others were left on the beach and not counted when hatched.  The collected eggs were released at different times of the night, and at different days after birth.  These inconsistencies were most likely due to the general lack of knowledge of the best way to improve survival of infant sea turtles.  These inconsistencies came up in our readings of NGO efforts on Derawan Island and a local man we met on the other side of Maratua who had set up a hatchery pool in his own home to try and restore the local sea turtle populations.

This variation in methods reminded me that conservation is something we are still in the middle of figuring out, and got me thinking about the differences between preventative conservation and the idea of restoration or reforestation.  It seems to me, we don’t have all the answers yet for how to fix the world, so continuing to ruin it is increasingly dangerous.  Without a trusted ability to restore what we have destroyed, it seems ridiculous to continue on the same path that threatens our own existence with no solid plan or idea of how to turn it around.

Seeing these different contradicting sea turtle hatching methods was a strong reminder that conservationists are fighting the right fight, a strong reminder of just how important it is to stop destroying what little un-touched earth is left because of how unsure we all are of how to fix what we have ruined.  As we head back to North America and our lives as students and consumers, it will be important to remember this message, and help spread awareness, help others make the right choice with their consumer dollars and how to get involved.

Do you know a kid who loves the rainforest? Do you know a teacher who wants to help? Invite them to be a Rainforest Hero with RAN’s newly updated “Kid’s Action Toolkit.” It talks all about the world’s rainforests, their role in climate change, and what you can do to make a real difference to protect these places and help the people who depend on them. And it’s beautiful! Download the Kids Action Toolkit now!

Congrats to our friends, the Climate Change Crew, who just won First Place for their song “Change is Needed” in Green For All’s The Dream Reborn Story Contest!

Listen to the song here.

This group hails from the Twin Cities; they are Awesome. Here’s what they have to say about it:

We are high school students from Minneapolis and St. Paul. We represent the Twin Cities low-income communities of color, whose voices often go unheard when major decisions are made. We work through a lens of understanding that climate change is an “opportune crisis”. We believe that if decisions are made to address climate change with intent to also address current social problems, we can reshape and rebuild our communities so that they are sustainable, both socially and environmentally. In our day-to-day work we are informing our generation about climate change problems and solutions, and are working both to be, and strengthen, the voice for our communities on this important issue. We work on the ground to make our communities sustainable by organizing our neighborhoods around urban agriculture projects, providing people living in food deserts with access to fresh and nutritious foods.

We’re looking forward to working working with the Climate Change Crew, and having them represent on RYSE. Congratulations!

ocean of the coral triangle, island of maratua, indonesia

Destructive ocean resource extraction practices vary widely. While snorkeling amongst the vibrant corals and ridiculous fishes of Maratua, I witnessed the devastation of dynamite fishing. Dynamite is actually exploded underwater, stunning fish who float to the surface with simultaneously killing all coral in the vicinity. As far as I know, this technique has been abandoned on Maratua where they’re attempting to promote ecotourism, but it continues elsewhere. In the film Sharkwater, Rob Stewart explores the atrocities of the shark fining industry, and the documentary The Cove exposes the problems with tuna fisheries. And even where the methods themselves are not problematic, the shear quantities harvested are.

ocean of glacier bay, southeast alaska, USA

I often find it frustrating to try and live ethically. To recognize the consequences of my consumption and then to act responsibly. But after spending time communing with the underwater world and taking the time to more fully understand the dire straights of our oceans, I definitely plan on making a commitment to take more responsibility for my seafood consumption. Here’s how to get started.

You know what that means? That means that all the fines I accrued from participating in a direct action last June are due to the West Virginia magistrate… and then I’m free! I feel like this is a good time to reflect on that action, as it was a pretty amazing one.

Very early in the morning on June 18^th, 2009, fourteen activists, including myself, entered Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mining site near Twilight, West Virginia. We had one goal in sight: to stop all mountaintop removal operations on that site for as long as possible. The trek onto the site was difficult, to say the very least. What used to be a beautiful, tree-covered mountain had turned into a desolate moonscape. The roads we walked on were made up of dust and rubble and at times we had to climb up hills of loose rocks. Basically, it was one of the most terrifying and exciting things I’ve ever taken part in.

To stop mining operations on the site for the day, we aimed to board Massey Energy’s dragline machine. A few years ago, I wrote a thesis paper on mountaintop removal mining and described the dragline machines as such:

Once the rock has been loosened by the explosions, an enormous machine, known as a dragline, is used to remove the rock. Draglines are often as tall as a 20-story building and can cost up to $100 million. To put the size of this machine in perspective, the bucket on draglines can hold 26 Ford Escorts and can move 110 cubic yards of earth in a single scoop. Utilizing this machine increases efficiency in the mining process and cuts labor costs. The rock separated out by the draglines is then dumped into nearby valleys, a practice referred to as “valley fill.”

When we finally arrived at our destination – the beast of a machine – we were greeted by several workers who were not excited by our presence. Some of the people in our team quickly deployed a ground banner, while six of us continued on to the dragline. By some stroke of luck, the six of us managed to climb onto the machine. My adrenaline was pumping so much that I can barely even remember how it all happened. Once we got on the machine, four well-trained climbers ventured on to the crane portion of the machine to get to work deploying a 15×150 foot banner that read “Stop Mountaintop Removal.” My job, in the midst of all the madness, was to stand in front of the walkway that lead up the crane and to deter any miners from going after the climbers. It was pretty intense. There were about three miners that were on the machine with me and a couple of them really wanted to get past me. I tried to talk them down and explain that our climbers were well-trained and that it wouldn’t be safe to follow them. I attempted to explain why were there and that this protest wasn’t against them, it was against this terrible practice.

It took the police about an hour to show up to the site. Once they did, most of us were brought around the back of the dragline machine and handcuffed. We could no longer see the climbers and just had to wait to see what happened. As we waited, we looked around the lifeless land and realized how quiet it had become. Every single one of the trucks and bulldozers on the site had stopped working. We knew that no matter what happened with the banner deployment, our action had been successful.

Not many photos were released from this action, but this one is by far my favorite. All the bulldozers... stopped.

The banner deployment was seriously hindered due to some workers who climbed up onto the crane and ripped down portions of it at a time. Eventually, the climb team came down on their own terms. We had a videographer and photographer with us on site, but were arrested and had most of their footage confiscated.

Notice what it looks like behind and below her. A total moonscape.

We were all taken to a jail in Boone County, West Virginia while we waited for a meeting with the magistrate. One long, tiring afternoon later, and most of us were released on bail with charges of conspiracy and trespassing (the climbers got a few other charges, unfortunately). We went to court on September 3^rd, and plead no contest to the charges, which means we had to pay the maximum fines. Collectively, our “dragline 14” owed West Virginia over $23,000. Whew.

This video gives you a good look into what the site looked like and what were were up against:

Just as I finished up writing this post, I got an email confirming that Boone County, WV has received our fines. We’re officially done with this one… now on to the next! Big thanks to RAN, Climate Ground Zero, Mountain Justice, and all of the amazing activists involved in this action.