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The Rubber Stamp Rebellion is starting. Check out the report on yesterday's anti-fracking action at FERC, where Gasland filmmaker Josh Fox was arrested along with impacted landowners, then sign up to join or support us in May for a massive week of action!
Friend,
Yesterday Gasland filmmaker Josh Fox, Megan Holleran and five others were arrested in the driveway of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).1 They came in peace - in fact they were waiting for FERC staff and commissioners to join them for pancakes topped with the last drops of maple syrup from Holleran's family farm in New Milford, Pa. But instead of coming to meet them, FERC stayed locked inside, away from the public view and avoiding a conversation about how their rubber stamped permit approved clear-cutting of a wide swath of maple trees at the Holleran farm.
“Everyone I know is fighting a pipeline or a compressor station or a power plant that is in front of FERC for approval,” said Fox, wearing an apron that said “Pancakes not Pipelines.” “It is clear to me that FERC has to be the most destructive agency in the United States right now. They are faceless, nameless, unelected and ignore citizen input. I think of FERC as the Phantom Menace. The agency’s commissioners have been rubber-stamping fracking infrastructure all over country that threatens local communities and the planet by accelerating climate change.”2
That's why we're proud to support Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) and help support the "Rubber Stamp Rebellion" planned for this May. But BXE needs your help to get the word out about yesterday's action, and to stand up for the Hollerans and all the frontline activists impacted by fracked gas infrastructure. Click here to read more about yesterday's action, and then click here to get more information about the Rubber Stamp Rebellion in May.
BXE has always been about confronting FERC with the stories, face and lives of the people impacted by fracked gas infrastructure - and encouraging them to reconsider their otherwise unaccountable behavior. FERC approved a plan to clear trees on the Holleran's land before the pipeline company had even received all the required permits. “We followed all the rules. We asked them to wait before doing irreparable harm to our farm. This could happen to anyone,” she said.2
And she's right, joining Megan yesterday were activists from New York and Pennsylvania who are all fighting pipelines and fracked gas infrastructure. Some activists were worried about Spectra Energy’s Alqonquin Incremental Market (AIM), which is planned to pass 105 feet from the volatile Indian Point nuclear power plant and two earthquake fault lines. Others raised concerns about the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline, which is routed through sacred burial sites, or the Northeast Direct Pipeline (NED), which is threatening to cut trees on land New England activists have preserved over generations.2
Our friends at BXE organized yesterday's protest, as they have many actions at FERC, to demand an end FERC permits for new pipelines and other projects that allow the expansion of the fracked-gas industry. BXE has made this demand in an escalating series of protests at FERC beginning in 2014 and including disruptions at the monthly FERC meetings which were recently covered in the New York Times article “Environmental Activists Take to Local Protests for Global Results.”3
What's more, it's actually starting to work! Earlier this month FERC actually denied the application for a big pipeline and export terminal in Oregon4 -- the first time they've EVER denied such an application. But even that victory may be short lived since FERC only denied the project because they didn't have a buyer lined up for the fracked gas they want to export. A new contract has since emerged and the company is expected to re-submit it's application soon.5
And that's exactly why BXE needs our support to continue its actions at FERC during the Rubber Stamp Rebellion from May 15 to 22. The plan is for a big mobilization uniting pipeline fighters from coast to coast for a week of actions that will demand FERC Stop rubber-stamping gas industry permit applications and prioritize the emergence of wind, solar and other renewables. If you're ready to say: No New Permits! Click here to learn more about the Rubber Stamp Rebellion and be a part of it!
Thanks,
Drew and the pipeline fighting crew at Environmental Action
1 - Shefali Kapadia, Pancakes not pipelines: DC protest ends in arrests, RT America, March 24, 2016
2 - Beyond Extreme Energy, Filmmaker Josh Fox and six others arrested at pancake-cooking action at FERC, March 24, 2016
3 - John Schwartz, Environmental Activists Take to Local Protests for Global Results, The New York Times, March 19, 2016
4 - Geoffrey Riley, FERC Denies Permits For Jordan Cove, LNG Pipeline, Jefferson Public Radio, March 11, 2016
5 - Dan Healing, Veresen signs Jordan Cove LNG buyer but FERC approvals still not certain, Calgary Herald, March 22, 2016
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