Category Archives: Coal/Oil Trains/Ports

Four-State Coal Export Protests & Hearings

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Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-Day OutlawsAn empty eastbound coal train crosses over Lake Pend Oreille, where the bridge is over one mile long at Sandpoint, Idaho (Terry Grey photo).

FIRST UPDATE: On Friday and Saturday, January 4 and 5, Wild Idaho Rising Tide and Occupy Spokane are hosting coal export direct action training, brainstorming, and planning sessions in Moscow and Spokane, with a preview screening of the British climate activism film Just Do It: A Tale of Modern-Day Outlaws, to organize a multi-state, concurrent action on Saturday, January 12.  We anticipate train track/roadside coal protests in Missoula, Moscow, Sandpoint, Spokane, and perhaps other Montana cities, against the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal coal port at Cherry Point near Bellingham, associated coal mining and railroad transport and subsequent devastation of land, water, air, and human and wildlife health, and an environmental impact scoping process that blatantly excludes Idaho, Montana, and eastern Washington concerns.  Join us at 7 pm on Friday evening, January 4, at The Attic, up the back stairs of 314 East Second Street in Moscow, and/or at noon on Saturday, June 5, in Room 1A of the Spokane Public Library, 906 West Main Street in Spokane.  We welcome all concerned activists at this discussion of demonstration strategies and legal protest rights followed by the movie screening.  Expect another update about protest logistics on Sunday, January 6, and please comment by Thursday, January 3, on Morrow Pacific project proponent Ambre Energy’s removal-fill permit application to the Oregon Department of State Lands, to build coal transfer facilities at Boardman, Oregon.  For more information, see WIRT member Nick Gier’s essay, Coal Trains Threaten Environment and Public Health, this WIRT website post, and the December 19 WIRT Newsletter: Solstice Party, Coal Export Comments, Hearings, & Other News. Continue reading →

Stand Up! Fight Back! Against Big Coal in the Northwest

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Stand Up! Fight Back! Against Big Coal in the Northwest: An information sharing, brainstorming, and direct action planning event in Spokane, Washington

Some of the biggest coal companies in the world plan to strip-mine more Montana and Wyoming prairie and transport coal on 50-plus trains per day through Montana’s largest towns, around remote northern Idaho lakes, through eastern Washington river valleys, to ports on the coasts of Oregon and Washington, en route to China.  In their quest for huge corporate profits from these exports, the coal and rail industries disregard their multiple impacts on regional residents and businesses, our quality of life, and our beautiful Pacific and Inland Northwest.

What do communities do when our environment is attacked?  STAND UP!  FIGHT BACK!

Please join activists from Bellingham, Missoula, Moscow, northern Idaho, Portland, Seattle, and Spokane on Saturday, November 3, in Spokane, Washington, as we share experiences, brainstorm, and develop strategies to protect our health and environment by standing up and fighting back against Big Coal.  This event hosted by Occupy Spokane and Wild Idaho Rising Tide for concerned citizens throughout the region and facebook groups Cascadians Against Coal, Coal Port Resistance Solidarity Network, Free Cascadia!, and Stand Up Fight Back Against Big Coal in the Northwest offers breakfast at 10:00 am, introductions at 11:00 am, and an inspiring day of discussions and presentations at 1824 E. Sprague Avenue, formerly the Rainbow Tavern.

For accommodations, further information, or to RSVP, contact the Occupy Spokane Clubhouse at 509-535-4040 or ocspch@gmail.com and join the facebook group Stand Up Fight Back Against Big Coal in the Northwest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/369381406473710/.  Spread the word about this gathering!

Dana Lyons’ Great Coal Train Tour in Moscow

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On Friday evening, October 19, performer and environmental educator Dana Lyons will bring his Great Coal Train Tour to Moscow.  Visiting communities from Billings to Bellingham and from Portland to Coos Bay along the route of proposed coal export trains through four Northwestern states, Dana’s fun, inspiring, and family-oriented concerts intermingled with informational sessions foster interest and understanding of this significant regional issue.  His tour provides accurate and intricate descriptions of coal export impacts, as it catalyzes public discussion, networking, and engagement with organizers opposing this regionally and globally detrimental scheme.

Singer and guitarist Dana Lyons hails from Bellingham, Washington – ground-zero of Northwest resistance to coal exports, near the largest proposed coal export facility in North America, SSA Marine’s Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point.  Best known for his comedy hit song Cows with Guns, Dana has recorded eight albums during his lifetime artistic career, including Circle the World and At Night They Howl at the Moon: Environmental Songs for Kids.  Working around the Earth to raise awareness, activism, and funds for environmental and social justice issues, Dana has collaborated with Dr. Jane Goodall and her environmental group Roots and Shoots. Continue reading →

Coal Export Action 8-18-12

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Thanks to the amazing work of Blue Skies Campaign and hundreds of our fellow climate activists from 16 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, the August 12 to 18 and 20 Coal Export Action raised awareness and staged multiple actions against coal extraction and export in Montana and across the Northwest.  Wild Idaho Rising Tide participated in a Helena Farmers Market demonstration, Montana Capitol teach-in and group photos, and Montana Rail Link coal train rally and photos on Saturday, August 18.  But this is only the beginning, King Coal…

(All photos by Steve Liptay except the first by Helen Yost)

U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon Not Likely to Oppose Coal Exports

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U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon Not Likely to Oppose Coal Exports between 30:08 and 29:00 on the Friday, August 17, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, More Cove-Mallard

Helena Coal Protests

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Coal Export Action between 21:07 and 20:12 on the Tuesday, August 14, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Dynamic Ad Signs, and Arch Coal Applies to Extract 1.5 Billion Tons of Powder River Coal between 14:52 and 11:57 on the Thursday, August 16, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, Helena Coal Protests

Northwest Extraction Resistance Workshop Introduction

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Participant Shannon Ross recorded the Northwest Resource Extraction Resistance Workshop Introduction in Spokane on Friday evening, June 8, when four Blues Skies Campaign colleagues and Portland Rising Tide trainer Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky presented slides and descriptions of coal export train issues from their respective Montana and Oregon perspectives.  Off-camera afterwards, Sierra Club organizer Walter Kloefkorn summarized Spokane and Washington coal train concerns and actions, and Wild Idaho Rising Tide activist Helen Yost talked and showed a video about Alberta tar sands operations and Idaho megaload resistance.

Flashpoints Interview of Nick Engelfried, Helen Yost, & Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky

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On Wednesday evening, June 6, Flashpoints radio show host Dennis Bernstein talked with Nick Engelfried of Blue Skies Campaign in Missoula, Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky of Portland Rising Tide and Columbia Riverkeeper in Portland, and Helen Yost of Wild Idaho Rising Tide in Moscow about the Northwest Extraction Resistance Workshop in Spokane on June 8 and 9 and about regional protests of coal export trains, tar sands megaloads, and natural gas fracking.  The program aired on KRFP Radio Free Moscow on the same night and can also be downloaded from KPFA Free Speech Radio in Berkeley.  Listen to between 21:31 and 36:50 of this nationally broadcast episode or to the 14-minute discussion excerpted and uploaded online by Tom Hansen of Moscow.  Thanks, Dennis, Tom, and KPFA!