becausewemustdotorg:

UPDATE: Leah’s date has been pushed back. It is no longer tomorrow (8/30). Details coming soon.

A statement from Leah-Lynn Plante on her refusal to testify before the grand jury

August 28, 2012

My name is Leah-Lynn Plante, and I am one of the people who has been subpoenaed to a secret grand jury, meeting in Seattle on August 30.

This will be the second time I have appeared before the grand jury, and the second time I have refused to testify. The first time was on August 2. I appeared, as ordered, and I identified myself. Then the US Attorney asked if I would be willing to answer her questions. I said, No, and was issued another subpoena, this time for the 30th.

A month later, my answer is still the same. No, I will not answer their questions. I believe that these hearings are politically motivated. The government wants to use them to collect information that it can use in a campaign of repression. I refuse to have any part of it.

It is likely that the government will put me in jail for that refusal.

I hate the very idea of prison. But I know, if I am sent there, I will not be alone. I can only speak for myself, but I have every faith that the others subpoenaed to these hearings will likewise refuse. And I know that hundreds of people have called the US Attorney demanding that they end this tribunal. Hundreds of organizations, representing thousands of people, signed onto a statement expressing solidarity with those of us under attack and demanding an end to this sort of repression.

I know that those people will continue to support me, and the others subpoenaed, and the targets of the investigation. That spirit of solidarity is exactly what the state fears. It is the source of our strength, yours and mine. And that strength shows itself in every act of resistance.

(via burningheartsmedia)

squarelyinthered:

Student Action in the Pacific Northwest

March 11, 2012
800 Stewart St, Seattle 

Plans are in motion to export 170 million tons of coal annually from Wyoming and Montana to Asia, using railroads and waters in Cascadia to do it.

Here is a brief overview of the export terminals proposed for construction in Washington and Oregon, including the estimated number of jobs to be made available, the number of trains running daily, and the current status of each project.

To the multinational corporations pushing for more coal exports (including Kinder Morgan, Peabody Energy, SSA Marine, Ambre Energy, Arch Coal, BNSF Railway, and Union Pacific), the proposed construction of 6 export terminals in Washington and Oregon and concomitant upgrades to railroads in the region would mean profiting from Asia’s increasing demand for coal. To Paul Lumley, a citizen of the Yakama Nation tribe and executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the construction of Ambre Energy’s proposed Morrow Pacific Project would mean the permanent destruction of tribal fishing sites that he has frequented all his life. To mint farmer Mike Seely, it would mean the end of his family’s farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. To Sloan Nelson, a city councilman and business owner in Rainier, Oregon, the 1,400 railroad cars that would run every day to Kinder Morgan’s proposed Port Westward Project would mean a decline in the local economy, one, he says, the town can’t afford.

According to data compiled by Coal Train Facts, a non-profit organization based in Bellingham, Washington, increased coal shipments through Whatcom County to SSA Marine’s proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal would negatively affect public health, marine life, property values, as well as jobs and local business in the area. A report by the grassroots organization Communitywise Bellingham states that an export terminal in Whatcom County could put other economic growths at risk, resulting in a net loss of jobs.   

Additionally, The Western Organization of Resource Councils recently published a study claiming that railroad traffic would increase by tenfold in order to get coal to the coast, tying up rail lines and requiring taxpayers to fund infrastructure, such as overpasses, in order to mitigate congestion. Such an increase in rail traffic would be significant considering that “a 2007 national freight rail study put the [Columbia River] gorge, Portland-Vancouver and Puget Sound in the top 3 percent of congested lines.”

View the possible coal train routes and export terminals here.

Watch this video to see what it’s like to live near passing coal trains.

The following groups and are mobilizing for action on this issue.
Power Past Coal (All Cascadia)          
Community Alliance Against Coal (Portland)
Coal Export Action (Montana)  

Answer Oregon Public Broadcasting’s call for information on how the proposed coal terminals might affect you here.

Image courtesy of Julie Coop. View more images of the coal train she photographed in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area here.

On October 6th, 2011 thousands of people marched through the streets of Portland, Oregon.

Hundreds then established an autonomous zone over two, sometimes three, city blocks and remained there for 38 days, living according to the abilities and needs of each person. Communes were also established in Olympia, Tacoma, Bellingham, Seattle, Eugene, and other cities throughout the Cascadian bioregion. All expressed solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City.

It is now the summer of 2012. Most Occupy encampments have been destroyed by police. Yet many people still work towards social, economic, and environmental justice. Often this work is being done out of sight of corporate media, in neighborhoods and communities across the region. 

To more effectively share news from the struggles that happen daily in Cascadia, this space and its curator(s) will not identify solely as a part of the Occupy Movement, but as a part of the broader movement for global liberation. We write (and fight) in solidarity with all beings.