In a diary posted at Daily Kos, Van Jones writes:

"We have been hearing a lot about scandals recently.

But if President Obama approves a pipeline equal to more than seven new coal-fired power plants? And does so just months after promising to act AGAINST climate change?

Now THAT'S a scandal.

President Obama said in his second inaugural address that failing to act on climate change would "betray future generations." Now, it looks like he will do exactly that by approving the Keystone XL pipeline."

Then after asking for help to spread the message in his video (above) he writes:

"If President Obama truly thinks this project is good for America, he should embrace it publicly. He should call it the "Obama Tar Sands Pipeline." He should show up at the ribbon cutting. If he refuses to do that and still approves Keystone XL, the first thing that pipeline will run over is his credibility on climate."

I think Mr. Jones put that very mildly, but agree with it all completely.

The Overpass Light Brigade has a new target: The Keystone XL pipeline. This video on that subject is the pièce de résistance.

It was created by Dusan Harminc, a Minnesota filmmaker and time-lapse animator. The brigade spent three long nights shooting at various locations in Wisconsin that are emblematic of either dirty energy (oil container units in the Port of Milwaukee) or clean alternatives (nearby wind turbines). The intention is to send President Obama a 'video letter' since he is soon to decide on the issue. Will President Obama make good on his electoral promises and enthusiasm for a new energy future, or will he capitulate to the power and greed of Dirty Oil?

On each of the three shoots, as the time-lapse progressed, the brigade's volunteer "Holders of the Lights" stood for three or more hours in the cold. It took about 12 hours of field work in addition to video production and transportation to create the one-minute video. Enjoy.

Watch the trailer for "Elemental."

Elemental tells the story of three individuals united by their deep connection with nature and driven to confront some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time.

The film follows Rajendra Singh, an Indian government official gone rogue, on a 40-day pilgrimage down India’s once pristine Ganges river, now polluted and dying. Facing community opposition and personal doubts, Singh works to shut down factories, halt construction of dams, and rouse the Indian public to treat their sacred “Mother Ganga” with respect. Across the globe in northern Canada, Eriel Deranger mounts her own “David and Goliath” struggle against the world’s largest industrial development, the Tar Sands, an oil deposit larger than the state of Florida. A young mother and native Denè, Deranger struggles with family challenges while campaigning tirelessly against the Tar Sands and its proposed 2,000-mile Keystone XL Pipeline, which are destroying Indigenous communities and threatening an entire continent.

And in Australia, inventor and entrepreneur Jay Harman searches for investors willing to risk millions on his conviction that nature’s own systems hold the key to our world’s ecological problems. Harman finds his inspiration in the natural world’s profound architecture and creates a revolutionary device that he believes can slow down global warming, but will it work?

Separated by continents yet sharing an unwavering commitment to protecting nature, the characters in this story are complex, flawed, postmodern heroes for whom stemming the tide of environmental destruction fades in and out of view – part mirage, part miracle.

Available in Select Theaters and iTunes May 2013.

"LOCKDOWN," is a ten minute documentary by Mutual Aid Media on the Tar Sands Blockade -- a group of activists and landowners in Texas who have built a campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. This short documentary follows activists as they plan an action camp, lead workshops, and execute a lockdown.

Last week, people converged in Nebraska to speak out about the Keystone XL Pipeline at the State Department's only public comment period. Farmers, ranchers, climate activists, and people of all stripes and colors spoke out in opposition to the pipeline.

Click here for videos covering the entire hearing, it was a really great crowd of passionate people who stood up to speak against the proposed tar sands pipeline. There were even families who were victims of the Exxon Pegasus pipeline rupture in Arkansas who traveled to the hearing to remind and warn others what happened to their community.

Via Heather Libby:

Moving oil is a dirty business, and never has that been more clear than this past month. Since March 11, the global oil industry has had 13 spills on three continents. In North and South America alone, they’ve spilled more than a million gallons of oil and toxic chemicals – enough to fill two olympic-sized swimming pools.

Continue reading »

Here's some new video footage of the protest at TransCanada's Massachusetts office that I wrote about on Monday. It captures the full mock funeral that the demonstrators held before the arrests begin.

They were there to hold TransCanada accountable for the degradation of our planet and the impoverishment of the future of the world's youth.

They were there to amplify the cries of the people in frontline communities, from indigenous peoples at the point of tar sands extraction, to the black and latina communities who live fence-line to the refineries where these toxic tar sands will be refined in the Gulf Coast.

They were there to pledge resistance to the Keystone XL Pipeline and all tar sands development.

More about this group here.

Video streaming by Ustream

On Monday morning, over 100 students and community members marched into TransCanada’s Westborough office and held a funeral mourning the loss of their future at the hands of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport the tar sands that climate scientists say will lock us into irreversible global warming. More than 25 protesters were arrested for refusing to leave the office in an act of civil disobedience.

From Funeral for Our Future:

On Monday, March 11, over 100 people representing a coalition of students, members of the Massachusetts Methodist clergy, mothers fighting for their children, and concerned community members marched into the Westborough, MA office of TransCanada Corporation and held a funeral mourning the loss of our future at the hands of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline will transport the tar sands that climate scientists say will lock us into irreversible global warming.

Of those 100 protesters, 25 of us locked themselves together with handcuffs and were arrested in an act of civil disobedience. Carrying a coffin emblazoned with the words “Our Future,” we held flowers and sang an elegy as we marched in procession.

Our action comes a week after a week after the US State Department released a widely criticized Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Keystone XL. While admitting that rejecting the pipeline would have little effect on jobs, the document minimizes claims about the pipeline’s impact on climate change and on communities who would be at risk for devastating pipeline spills like the 2010 Kalamazoo spill, from which the affected communities are still recovering. The impact assessment also makes the assumption that the Alberta tar sands will be developed regardless of whether Keystone XL goes forward—an assumption that we stand with indigenous communities, whose treaties the Canadian government is violating by allowing development of the tar sands, in rejecting.

“If the tar sands are extracted and burned, it will wipe out my future and the future of my entire generation,” said Will Pearl, a Tufts University freshman arrested in the action. “If President Obama will not reject the Keystone XL pipeline, we will stop it ourselves. We will rise up and resist -- from the backwoods of Texas, to corporate offices in Massachusetts, to the steps of the White House.”

For updates on this action, you can follow along on Twitter here.

H/T Brad Johnson

“The Occupy Wall Street movement may have faded from the headlines in the aftermath of the eviction of Zuccotti Park more than a year ago, but the issues that originally sparked it and the activism it inspired remain very much alive.”

This was the opening to a blog post called Who Were the 99 Percent? from co-authors of the recent study Changing The Subject: A Bottom-Up Account of Occupy Wall Street in New York City.

Regrettably, as reported by Allison Kilkenny in the Nation, many in the media have twisted the study’s findings regarding the makeup of OWS by dismissing the movement in an entirely new and spurious way: “this was a damned if they do, damned if they don’t moment for Occupy--they’re either poor, dirty hippies or the sons and daughters of the wealthy elite, but never, ever Americans exercising their First Amendment rights”.

Fortunately, we don’t need outside justification to know that ‘We Are the 99%’, and as the study depicts, nothing will extinguish the flame compelling us to speak out and inspiring us to act.

-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team

Occupy in the News

In other news, Stacia Georgi at Brooklyn Ink wrote quite the positive story about the People’s Recovery Summit held this past weekend. Check out occupier and photo-journalist Jenna Pope’s album of the summit for the play by play.

Stopmotionsolo.tv provides comprehensive coverage of the recent Citizens United wedding, including a brief history of the ruling and a discussion of his concerns about pushing for a constitutional amendment.

Professor Marcuse discusses options in responding to disasters like Sandy, including the wryly titled “Banker’s Socialism”--the “deprivatization of disaster response”--the Private Market Approach and the Equity Approach, which is “using public assistance to ameliorate the damage caused by disaster.”

Featured Occu-Project: Flip the Debt

Check out how Occupy Unveils a New Debt Clock that Shows How Much the 1 % Owe Us.

This campaign to ‘Flip the Debt’ aims to "flip the debate" over the national debt by shifting the focus to the global corporations and super wealthy actually responsible.

Your blood will boil as you watch the numbers tick up on their ingenious online 'Debt Clock' calculating the amount of taxes dodged by corporations every second. Moreover, each tick is reminder to the 1% that “It's time that you paid your damn taxes!”

Occupy These Actions & Events

Saturday, February 9th, 7-9pm
Discussion: Energy Extraction and the Keystone XL Pipeline
Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen Street
Leading mainstream scientist James Hansen has said if the Keystone XL pipeline proceeds it is “essentially game over for the climate.” Join us for a panel discussion about the Keystone XL pipeline and related energy extraction issues. We will skype in with activists down in Texas and Oklahoma, talk to an organizer who has been working at the Canadian Tar Sands oil extraction sight and with NYC Spectra Pipeline organizers. All proceeds from the night will go directly to the campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. With a continued fundraiser after-party in Brooklyn. Featuring Gay Panic and Glittered and Mauled.

Saturday, February 9th, 4:30PM - 6:30PM
Strategic research workshop
Organization of Staff Analysts, 220 East 23rd Street, Suite 707
Join members of NYC Radical Reference for the second in a series of strategic research workshops sponsored by the OWS Labor Outreach Committee. The workshops are open to all. In this event, we will explore what’s behind the legislation and policies that affect our lives as workers, as activists, and as citizens. We will see how to get the goods on candidates, lobbying, and political activity.

Sunday, February 10th, 1:00-4:00pm
Occupy the Subways
57th and 7th Avenue F Train Subway
In support of the workers at Golden Farm Market in Kensington Brooklyn, we will be Occupying the Subways beginning at 1pm and meeting the Boycott/Picket of Golden Farm at 2pm and staying there until 4pm.

Monday, February 11th, 6:30pm
Movement Mondays
Two Moon Art House and Cafe, 315 4th Avenue, Brooklyn
There are so many people and groups in the Occupy Wall Street ecosystem that are doing fantastic work. We learn about many of these projects as they’re happening or the day after. Let’s find out WHO is doing WHAT actions and events — well ahead of time! We can also serve as a focused incubation chamber for NEW ideas, strategize for the long term, and reflect upon our successes and failures so we can keep building and growing.

Thursday, February 14th, 8:30am-5:30pm
Justice for Dennis Flores - Rally at the Court
Brooklyn Criminal Court, 120 Schermerhorn Street
Dennis is a long-standing member of Occupy Sunset Park, as well as community organizer. Dennis Flores was arrested for defending one of the Rent Strikers against an attack by the slumlord’s hired goon. Hard to believe, but he’s actually being taken to trial on utterly ridiculous charges. Show brother Dennis your support! Turn out for a rally the morning of his trial!

Thursday, February 14th, 12:00pm-2:00pm
Valentines Day Message to Megabanks: Time to Break Up
NY Public Library, 42nd st. and 5th ave.
Join us to give HSBC, Bank of America and other megabanks Valentine’s Day Break Up Cards. Rally to call for a break up of the megabanks who are Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Jail and simply Too Big.

Saturday, February 16th, 6:30p.m-11:00p.m
Hot & Crusty Workers Victory Party
Brecht Forum, 451 West Street
The Hot and Crusty Workers Association invites you to a celebration with food, drink. dancing, live music and great conversation. Bring friends, coworkers, classmates. A voluntary $10 donation is suggested. For more information, call Rosanna at 347-652-5724 or Sándor at 917-520-5368

Saturday, February 16th, 7:00pm-10:00pm
Sandy Storyline Fundraiser
Cafe Dancer 96 Orchard Street, New York NY (b/w Broome & Delancey)
Join us for a party and benefit to help raise funds for Sandy Storyline, a participatory documentary project about Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, told through the experiences of community members and volunteers. We are raising money to help support Sandy Storyline's projects, providing media education, community exhibitions and storytelling events for residents in Hurricane Sandy affected areas.

Sunday, February 17th, Noon Rally in DC. Buses Leave NYC at 7am.
Forward on Climate Rally
The National Mall, DC - to the White House
Join Occupy Sandy, Occupy the Pipeline, YANA, Rockaway residents and groups from around country for the largest climate rally in the nation's capital. In November, we came together in New York and New Jersey to provide disaster relief. Now we come together to call for real action on Climate Change. The very first step is for President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Sign up here for a bus ticket (reduced fairs and scholarships available). http://f17nycbusbrigade.wordpress.com

Friday February 22nd, 17:30-21:00
Tidal 4 Release
20 Cooper Square
Tidal 4 is being released this Friday evening. Come and pick up your own free copy! It will include original, commissioned contributions from many organizers of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Sandy and Strike Debt, Collective pieces from the Tidal Team and friends and a Student Movement piece from Free University folks.

Saturday, March 1st and Sunday March 2nd, 12-6pm
Occupy Data Hackathon
Cuny Graduate Center, 365 5th Avenue
Data mining and visualization for the 99%. At the event, we’d like to focus on a few new data sets/projects. Occupy Sandy and Aaron Swartz’s work has come up, and generated a lot of interest. Any ideas, data resources you may know of or questions, please let us know: Occupy Data listserve or info@occupydata.nyc.

Sunday, March 10th, 2pm
Unorganized Workers Assembly
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South
Join the Occupy Your Workplace group for a discussion of strategy and tactics of workplace organizing. We'll have several folks present who have experience as workplace "salts" - workers who get jobs with the aim of organizing. Workers who are curious about organizing, experienced organizers and activists, union members, and all other workers and non workers welcome.

Video call to rally: On Sunday, February 17, thousands of Americans will head to Washington, D.C. to make Forward on Climate the largest climate rally in history.

During his inaugural address on January 21, President Obama made a big commitment when he said "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations." Now environmentalists expect him to live up to those words by putting a stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, the transcontinental conduit for tar sands fuel from Canada that many scientists say could expedite climate change.

Via:

"If he doesn't reject it," said Piedmont attorney Guy Saperstein, a former Sierra Club Foundation president and prominent liberal donor, "then I think it should be all out warfare for the next four years."

Environmentalists are drawing a line in the tar sands with a series of high-profile demonstrations planned this month in Washington.

The timing of the protests is crucial because sometime before April, Obama will receive the State Department's recommendation on whether to green-light the 1,700-mile Canada-to-Texas pipeline, forcing him to make a decision he delayed during last year's presidential campaign to avoid alienating his liberal base.

Liberals who bided their time through four years of little action from the White House on climate change, and who bit their tongues during the 2012 campaign, expect payback.

The Sierra Club, based in San Francisco, plans to participate in civil disobedience for the first time in its history to call attention to the issue which include a Feb. 17 demonstration on climate change that is expected to be the largest of its kind in U.S. history.

Leading environmentalists say this is Obama's chance to redeem himself to them:

"This is the purest test Obama is ever going to face," said Bill McKibben, a prominent environmentalist and writer who is helping organize the Feb. 17 demonstration as part of a climate-change awareness organization called 350.org. "He doesn't have to ask John Boehner. He doesn't have to ask Mitch McConnell. He just needs to do it."

During a recent pipeline protest, Ramsey Sprague, a "blockader," disrupted an oil and gas pipeline conference by chaining himself to sound equipment and delivered an impassioned speech to the crowd. Sprague described TransCanada’s horrific safety record, as well as its treatment of indigenous communities and others whose land and lives are being adversely affected by tar sands extraction.

Sprague described shoddy welding practices and dangerous corner-cutting throughout TransCanada's operations as exposed by whistleblowers like Evan Vokes, a metallurgic engineer who came forward in May 2012, leading to an investigation by Canada's National Energy Board. Sprague reminded attendees that TransCanada's first Keystone pipeline has already leaked over 30 times and that other industry leaders such as Enbridge are similarly negligent, with over 800 spills since 1999. He derided TransCanada for routing the KXL pipeline through ecologically sensitive areas and through communities like the one in Douglass, TX, where construction crews are actively laying pipe within sight of the Douglass public school.

Sprague also described how activists who blockaded themselves inside the actual KXL pipe on December 3rd, 2012 could see daylight through holes in welds connecting segments of pipe – and how Tar Sands Blockade has the pictures to prove it. That mile-long section of the pipe was laid in the ground on the same day; no additional welding or inspection occurred after the photos were taken.

The flawed welds inside KXL:

"This is among the first biggest tests of (Obama's) commitment to climate change and his willingness to stand up to the oil industry and their toadies in Congress," said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune.

"The president has not fully put his muscle behind the effort to combat climate change," Brune said. "That's what needs to change more than anything else."