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FERC's trying to block our call to save water, land and our climate because they think it's a "turn off." Will you RSVP to call FERC next week and tell them, it's time to move beyond extreme energy?
Friend,
Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rescheduled their public meeting and barred dozens of affected citizens from even getting inside -- including some front line activists who had gotten up at 4 a.m. to address them. Three volunteers were even arrested on trumped up charges just for trying to enter the meeting.1
FERC is clearly trying to silence us and has labeled anyone who speaks out for people, the planet or the climate as a security threat.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” With fracked gas and climate change, we cannot remain silent. We must hold the people who cause and further our climate crisis accountable. That's why hundreds of people have signed up to participate in the Beyond Extreme Energy protests at FERC May 24-29.2 And we need your help:
When Federal Protective Services (FPS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, banned members of the public from FERC's public meeting, they crossed a line. FPS also banned the use of recording devices, arrested three protesters and held two of them overnight in jail. This comes on the heels of news that the Houston office of the FBI investigated protesters opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline, and shared confidential information with Transcanada, the company that wants to build the pipeline and mine the tar sands.3 And after denying our concerns, denying democracy, and denying us access, FERC Commissioner Norman Bay had the audacity to insult all of us by saying our protests were "a turn off" to important beltway bureaucrats like him.4
The message could not be more clear: If you speak out against fracking, tar sands, pipelines, export terminals or any piece of extreme energy, you're a target.
But we can't let FERC intimidate us into being silent. And what's more, we know that sustained public pressure can block fracking projects: At the same time FERC was locking out our front line friends, the New York City Council voted unanimously to opposed the Port Ambrose fracked gas terminal in New York.5
Communities are mobilizing from Georgia to Oregon to fight fracked gas and all its infrastructure. If we all stand together, this May could be a turning point for our society, moving us away from fracked gas and putting us on the path to a clean energy future. But we all need to show up and do our part to make it work.
Thanks,
Drew and the Beyond Extreme Energy team
PS - It's not too late to RSVP to join us in person next week! If you can make it down for a day, or the whole week, training starts this weekend and we'll have food, lodging and other logistics ready for you if you RSVP here to be part of Beyond Extreme Energy.
1 - Anne Meador and John Zangas, Dozens Denied Access to FERC Public Meeting, DC Media group, May 14, 2015
2 - Beyond Extreme Energy
3 - Paul Lewis and Adam Federman, Revealed: FBI violated its own rules while spying on Keystone XL opponents, The Guardian, May 12, 2015
4 - Rich Heidorn Jr., Another Meeting Day, Another Drama at FERC, RTO insider, May 15, 2015
5 - NY City Council Acts on Two Resolutions: Port Ambrose and Indian Point, Sane Energy Project May 15, 2015
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