Fellow activists, friends, and supporters,

UPCOMING WIRT/ALLIED EVENTS

Fearless Summer is boldly unfolding as one of the most active seasons of direct actions against dirty energy in American history.  Join us in supporting, organizing, and staging some of the following initiatives instigated by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and our courageous comrades across the continent.  WIRT is coordinating regional carpools departing Moscow, Spokane, Boise, and Missoula for all of these events.  Because we will be traveling to these great convergences throughout July and August, please RSVP preferably by phone (208-301-8039) or email (wild.idaho.rising.tide@gmail.com).  Peruse our constantly updated Events Calendar page of the WIRT website and contribute what you can toward our ever-expanding and escalating resistance campaigns.

July 18: WIRT Monthly, Third Thursday Potluck Meeting (Thursday 7 pm, WIRT Activist House, Moscow, Idaho)

July 18-20: Rising Tide Continental Gathering (Thursday to Saturday, Green River, Utah)

July 24-29: (Utah Tar Sands) Canyon Country Action Camp (Wednesday to Monday, Green River, Utah) (facebook page)

July 26: Gutting the Heartland – Traveling Art Gallery (Friday 5:30 to 7:30 pm, Community/Saranac Building, 25-35 West Main Avenue, Spokane)

July 27: Summer Heat: Columbia River Climate Action (Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, Portland, Oregon, part of continent-wide 350.org Summer Heat) (facebook page)

July 31-August 5: Localize This! Artful Activism Organizer Training (Wednesday to Monday, Vashon Island, Washington)

August: Compassionate Earth Walk (Eastern Montana Keystone XL pipeline route)

August 23-25: Montana Moccasins on the Ground (Friday to Sunday, near Butte, Montana)

With mountain camping on beautiful private lands near the continental divide and Butte, the Montana Moccasins on the Ground nonviolent direct action camp, planned and prepared by Indian People’s Action and Montana environmental justice allies, will be led by Debra White Plume and Owe Aku.

September 15-16: September Showdown, Coal Export Action (Sunday and Monday, Helena, Montana) (sign-up)

September 17-October 17: Millennium Bulk (Coal Export) Terminals Longview Public Scoping Hearings (9/25 Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, 10/1 The Trac Center in Pasco)

October 19: Global Frackdown (Saturday, across Idaho, continent-wide)

TAR SANDS MEGALOADS & HEALING WALK

Forest Service Brakes on Megaload Request (June 22 Lewiston Tribune, with Rick Brazell letter)

The Megaload Corridor Was Just Sealed Shut (June 30 Lewiston Tribune)

ITD, National Forests Chief Discuss Future of Megaloads (July 9 Lewiston Tribune)

Kamiah: Bring on the Megaloads (July 11 Lewiston Tribune)

Second Tar Sands Solidarity Journey Results

One of three caravan vehicles successfully concluded the Second Tar Sands Solidarity Journey on Tuesday evening, July 9.  Doug, Helen, and John explored the Canadian Rockies while traveling to the Fourth Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk and documented the tar sands megaload route during return to Moscow.  Several miles after re-entering the U.S. in Glacier National Park, lightening surrounded/struck their vehicle.  They were blessed and energized by such great forces entering their unharmed lives.  Another two solidarity journey vehicles arrived in Moscow on Wednesday, July 10, bringing dog Annie, Dan, and Pat, Anne, James, and Patrick safely home.  Please see the WIRT facebook page for photos of nine Idaho and Nebraska tar sands activists commencing the trip to northeastern Alberta, after a pipe ceremony on Wednesday morning, July 3.

Returning from the healing walk along the Idaho/Montana/Alberta tar sands megaload route in reverse, participants spotted three megaloads parked without security by oil field hauler Entrec near Hannah, Alberta, on July 7.  The cylindrical modules appear suspiciously similar to two December 2012 Omega Morgan transports.  We suspect that their passage originated at a tar sands component manufacturing plant in Billings.  Beyond these few group and megaload photos on the WIRT facebook page, we will post photos of the journey, walk, and megaload route soon.  Plan to attend the Fifth Annual Tar Sands Healing Walk and third WIRT solidarity journey, to enjoy natural beauty along the way, by driving back roads, hiking, and camping.

Protecting the Sacred One Step at a Time – Tar Sands Healing Walk 2013 (Zack Embree video)

Healing Walk (Ben Powless photos)

BAKKEN SHALE OIL TRAINS

Trains carrying fracked Bakken shale oil have increasingly passed every day since last fall through Sandpoint and Spokane, bound for Northwest refineries and export terminals.  When (not if!) will an accident similar to the derailment/explosion in Quebec occur in our region, while mercenary companies plot ever more Northwest fossil fuel ports, and local news fails to mention the threats of oil transport?  (Renewable, alternative energy requires much less flammable, leakable gases, liquids, or solids.)  After the oil train disaster in Quebec, Port of Vancouver commissioners have decided to evaluate the public safety risks and dangers of Tesoro’s proposed massive Bakken shale oil terminal.  They will likely postpone their July 23 vote on its rejection/approval.

What You Can Do about Oil-by-Rail in the Northwest (June 26 Sightline Daily)

Oil Trains to Become Pipelines on Wheels? (July 3 Eugene Weekly)

Port of Vancouver Will Likely Postpone Vote on Massive Oil Terminal after Oil Train Disaster in Quebec (Columbia Riverkeeper)

Train Explosion in Quebec Stokes Debate about Oil Transport (July 8 Grist)

Lac-Megantic Train Disaster – Harper Government Ignoring Warnings on Oil Transport (July 8 Greenpeace Canada)

Mike Hudema, Greenpeace Canada: “The federal government’s own safety officials told them nine years ago that 80 percent of the rail tanker fleet in Canada is unsafe for carrying oil.  The general type of rail car used to move oil in Canada was flagged by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as having a ‘high incidence of tank failures during accidents’ and by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board as prone ‘to release product at derailment and impact.’  Despite these warnings, the Harper government has done nothing to fix the problem.  Instead, it is allowing oil companies to dramatically expand the amount of crude going through the hearts of our communities and simply ignoring the ongoing recommendations.  Whether it’s pipelines or railroads, we have a growing safety problem in this country, as the federal government continues to put oil profits ahead of public safety.”

Train Explosion in Quebec Highlights Inherent Dangers of Transporting Oil (July 9 Spokesman-Review)

IDAHO OIL & GAS

Otter Appoints Brand New Oil and Gas Commissioners (July 10 Idaho Statesman)

On Wednesday, before renewed oil and gas drilling in Idaho, Governor Otter appointed five members to the legislatively approved, restructured Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that “regulates the exploration, drilling, and production of oil and gas resources on private, state, and federal land in Idaho.”  Stakeholders replacing the five top elected state officials composing the Land Board, with staggered, four-year terms, represent water, geological, and oil and gas interests and landowners without mineral rights and with mineral rights in active oil and gas development areas.

A New Body to Oversee Idaho Oil, Gas? (October 30, 2012, Idaho Statesman)

Public Needs Seat at Table as Idaho Sets Drilling Rules (February 17 Spokesman-Review)

Smoke Ranch 7-9 to 7-12, 2013 (Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction video)

On Friday, July 12, Alta Mesa Services started drilling the Smoke Ranch natural gas well after having a small hydraulic rig in place for several days.  Because WIRT lacked enough timely notification to protest this rampage, we await opportunities to stage direct actions at other wells that crews are preparing for drilling and/or fracking.  Information sources in the southwest Idaho region have recently observed multitudes of hidden equipment, transport trailers, drill pipes, and well pads awaiting likely escalating utilization, as well as water for Smoke Ranch operations withdrawn from irrigation canals.

Idaho on Verge of Natural Gas Production (July 13 Idaho Statesman)

With equipment on-site, Alta Mesa Services has begun drilling the Smoke Ranch and soon the ML Investments “petroleum” wells and are seeking permits for a seven- to ten-mile pipeline connecting Payette County wells to the pipeline near Idaho Power Company’s Langley Gulch natural gas plant by New Plymouth.  The company sold condensate, a lucrative mix of petroleum liquids nearly as pure as jet fuel, derived from flaring/testing earlier this year, to a Salt Lake City refinery.  Supposedly without fracking, “drillers will use well treatment, a long-established process of sending liquids and sand down a well under high pressure to enhance gas flows.”  Although its website states otherwise, the Idaho Department of Lands is purportedly considering a third drilling permit.

Orphaned Frackwaste Finds Foster Home in Idaho! (July 12 No Fracking Way)

No flashlights needed on camping excursions in Idaho: the wilderness state glows in the dark with more radioactive waste every year!

Gasland II (Josh Fox film)

The world premiere of Gasland II, a sequel documentary about fracking hazards, aired on Monday evening, July 8, on HBO.  WIRT is searching for someone who could record the film from HBO, for a subsequent Moscow community screening and discussion about fracking in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon following this historic film.  If you could provide such a service, please see the HBO schedule for Gasland II, contact WIRT activist Rachel Clark through facebook, and/or suggest a local screening venue.  With Idaho Residents Against Extraction (IRAGE) colleagues, we are working to invite Josh Fox to Idaho soon.

NORTHWEST COAL EXPORT

Fearless Summer Escalating Week of Action Outcomes

News of our June 27 Coal Export Sacrifice Zone Uprising in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane reached activists nationwide through the Fearless Summer website.  Also check out the amazing, inaugural Fearless Summer actions of our friends in Missoula, Seattle, and Utah, as described at this internet site.  We are tracking the court cases of the two Spokane defendants cited for railroad trespassing at this action and will update you as information becomes available.

Boardman Coal Port Permit Comments and Protests

Returning belatedly to the region from the Tar Sands Healing Walk in Canada, WIRT activists did not participate in rallies and testimony at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) hearing in Hermiston, but many of our allies presented a strong show of force: THANKS!  WIRT did send comments on the draft DEQ air, water, and storm water permits for Ambre Energy’s Coyote Island coal export terminal on Friday, July 12.

Boardman Coal Port Hearing and Demonstration (July 5 Wild Idaho Rising Tide event notice)

Coal Hearing Draws Array of Comments (July 9 East Oregonian)

Supporters and Opponents Speak Out about Coal at Portland Hearing (July 9 Oregonian)

WIRT Comments on Draft Oregon DEQ Permits (July 12 Wild Idaho Rising Tide)

Federal Judge Authorizes Chevron’s Sweeping Subpoena of Activists’ Internet Data (July 10 ThinkProgress)

WIRT Needs YOUR Support!

Friends, WIRT is urgently requesting your donations to offset our hundreds of dollars of travel and operating costs and our participation in WIRT/allied protests of dirty energy projects in or near Boise, Spokane, Alberta, Utah, Portland, and eastern Montana.  We have been working hard for you for years and can only continue with your support.  Please pitch in soon!

Wild Idaho Rising Tide

P.O. Box 9817, Moscow, Idaho 83843

WildIdahoRisingTide.org & on facebook & Twitter

208-301-8039