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This weekend, Gulf South activists and residents will declare, “Another Gulf is Possible,” kicking off a week of solidarity, resistance and love. Our friends from the Gulf are still short of their financial goal necessary to make this important week a success. Please donate to assist the people of the Gulf South’s climate resistance and resiliency efforts.
Friend,
I am perpetually amazed, awestruck and inspired by the resiliency, resolve and sheer power of the Gulf South region. Whether it’s massive oil blow outs or smaller, yet still damaging oil spills, disappearing land from reckless oil and gas drilling, or enduring the perpetual oppression delivered by climate change, the people of the Gulf South never back down -- in fact, they tend to Rise Up.
This past weekend, Louisiana fell victim to the impacts of another climate-fueled storm that took 11 lives and displaced tens of thousands of people.1 The storm was so bad, it prompted a law enforcement official to state, “We’ve been through Hurricane Gustav, Katrina, Isaac and Rita, but this without a doubt is the roughest we’ve ever had in this parish.”2
To make matters worse, the Gulf South is also fighting the Bureau of Energy Management (BOEM) who are preparing to lease large swaths of the Gulf of Mexico to Big Oil corporations. The leases would expose the region to even more catastrophic crude calamities, while exacerbating climate change as they account for nearly 200 million barrels of oil and 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas.3
Tomorrow, Gulf South activists, residents and their allies will declare, “Another Gulf is Possible,” and kick off a week of solidarity, resistance and love. Beginning with a massive march in New Orleans, the week will also include workshops and trainings led by a variety of local leaders to espouse the notion, “the Gulf will no longer be treated as a sacrifice zone by the Oil and Gas industry nor government agencies who are in their pockets.”
We’ve just learned that our friends are a little more than $10,000 off their goal to make this week a success. They still need funds for original art work, permits, and to bus in people to New Orleans from across the Gulf South. Can you please chip in $25 or more to help our friends with the funds they need?
I have spent this summer at various speaking events discussing the many challenges facing the Gulf South and the many forms of slow-violence, including climate disruption.4 Author Rob Nixon writes, “Casualties of slow-violence - human and environmental - are the casualties of most likely not to be seen, not to be counted.” In ways too many to count, Nixon’s words capture the treatment of the Gulf South and its citizens - as a sacrifice zone.
This weekend, the Gulf South rises in solidarity to declare they will no longer be treated as a sacrifice zone, they will stand in resistance to climate change and they will declare their Interdependence. That’s why it’s imperative we get as many to New Orleans as possible, as the last day of Another Gulf is Possible will include a massive action to resist BOEM’s lease plans.
Please click here to donate whatever you can to help our friends declare: Another Gulf is Possible.
Solidarity in Struggle,
Anthony and the Environmental Action Gulf South Solidarity Team
1. Bromwich, Jonah Engal. Flooding in the South looks a lot like Climate Change. New York Times. August 16, 2016.
2. Jarvie, Jenny. ‘Like Nothing We’ve Ever Seen’: Flood Danger is not over in Louisiana. Los Angeles Times. August 17, 2016.
3. The Maritime Executive: Internet Lease Sales Avoids Superdome Protests. July 24, 2016.
4. Rogers-Wright, Anthony. Climate Change’s Iniquitous Transmission of Urgency: The Gulf South. The LEAP. June 28, 2016.
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