#StopOilTrains in Idaho Week of Action Report

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Candlelight vigil and march to honor Lac-Mégantic oil train victims, led by Wild Idaho Rising Tide from Farmin Park, Sandpoint, on Tuesday evening, July 12, 2016

Candlelight vigil and march to honor Lac-Mégantic oil train victims, led by Wild Idaho Rising Tide from Farmin Park, Sandpoint, on Tuesday evening, July 12, 2016

On July 9 to 12, three north Idaho climate activist groups staged four events for the #StopOilTrains in Idaho Week of Action, joining thousands of people in continent-wide commemorations of the three-year anniversary of 47 lives lost to a Bakken crude oil train derailment, explosive fire, and lake spill in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013 [1 photos, 2-6]. Their successful actions encouraged and enhanced frontline vigilance and resistance to volatile, climate-wrecking oil trains traversing the Idaho Panhandle on Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Union Pacific rail lines, from the Alberta tar sands and fracked Bakken shale fields to West Coast refineries, power plants, and ports.

Under rainy skies on Saturday morning, July 9, seven community members attended a social gathering hosted by 350Sandpoint in City Beach Park in Sandpoint. Participants stood around a table under a pavilion tent, networked, and distributed relevant information about climate change issues addressed by various, allied, local groups.  Focused on education, organizers welcomed everyone to suggest public events that they could coordinate.

At Moscow Farmers Market on the same Saturday, Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition (PESC) members talked with dozens of visitors of their outreach table at Friendship Square in Moscow, where they circulated fliers about the Lac-Mégantic disaster and displayed a poster with the written memories of local 2103 Tar Sands Healing Walk participants hearing about the tragedy while attending the First Nations ceremonies in Alberta. Moscow activists also gathered signatures for a petition to Governor Otter asking for his support of “all efforts to prevent oil and coal trains from passing through the state of Idaho” for health and safety reasons.

Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) offered a Skyped oil train watch workshop, presented by Matt Landon of Vancouver Action Network in Washington, on Saturday afternoon, July 9, at the East Bonner County Library in Sandpoint. Seven regional citizens learned methods for widespread, track-side monitoring, documenting, and reporting of Northwest oil train passage during Matt’s third interactive training session in the inland Northwest.  Two Occupy activists traveled 75 miles to participate in the workshop, and may provide a fourth session for their Spokane comrades.

To honor the 47 Lac-Mégantic oil train victims, WIRT and 350Sandpoint held a candlelight vigil and march with protest signs through downtown Sandpoint, from Farmin Park to the BNSF rail line near the Amtrak station, on Tuesday evening, July 12. Despite the solemn spirit of the hour-long demonstration, city and railroad police dogged the seven concerned residents of the vulnerable, rural Idaho, oil train corridor throughout the event.  After walking the quiet streets and sharing personal stories and reflections, half of the participants did not finish at the tracks.

350Sandpoint, PESC, and WIRT are deeply grateful for the friends, neighbors, and partner organizations who together contributed their efforts toward the #StopOilTrains in Idaho Week of Action. In appreciation of them, the victims of catastrophic oil train derailments, fires, and spills in Lac-Mégantic Quebec, Mosier Oregon, and dozens of other impacted communities, and the 15,500-plus residents of the mile-wide, Bonner County, Idaho oil train route “blast zones,” we are calling on Idaho government officials to end all coal and oil train transportation through the state [7-10]. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Lac-Megantic Tragedy Commemorations, Quinault Oil Terminal Demonstration, #StopOilTrains Week of Action, BLM Lease Auction Protest 7-13-16

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The Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) features news about three-year anniversary commemorations of the Lac-Megantic oil train tragedy, the Quinault Indian Nation’s demonstration against Grays Harbor oil terminals, #StopOilTrains Week of Action protests throughout the Northwest, and upcoming resistance to a BLM oil and gas lease auction and nuclear waste in southern Idaho.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm PDT, live at 90.3 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide climate activism and community opposition to extreme energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

8 pm Tuesday, July 12: #StopOilTrains Candlelight Vigil & March in Sandpoint

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PLEASE JOIN US on Tuesday, July 12, at 8 pm, starting from the Farmin Park clock in Sandpoint, for a candlelight vigil and march commemorating the 47 lives lost to a fiery oil train derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013 [1-3].  Regional climate activist groups Wild Idaho Rising Tide, 350Sandpoint, and allies encourage you and hundreds of concerned area citizens to participate and bring candles (we can provide some), protest signs, ideas for creative street theater, and reports and reflections on life in a vulnerable, rural, Northwest oil train corridor.

“The Week of Action includes events in dozens of cities and towns. In Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, residents gathered on Saturday, July 9, to honor the 47 people who perished in the fire.  ‘These are solemn events,’ says Marilaine Savard, a resident of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.  ‘Once an oil train derails and catches fire, you and your town will never fully recover.’” [4, 5]

In Bonner County, Idaho, over 15,500 people live in oil train “blast zones,” under the increasing threat of potential derailments, spills, explosions, and fires of mile-long crude oil trains hauled by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) and Union Pacific Railway from the Alberta tar sands and Bakken shale oil fields to Pacific Rim refineries and ports [6-8]. Currently, 8,419 people reside within one half-mile of the tracks, and another 7,087 people live between one half-mile and one mile of the rail lines in the county.  #StopOilTrains in Idaho Week of Action events emphasize and seek to resolve this environmental injustice.

We will report soon on #StopOilTrains Week of Action demonstrations in Lac-Mégantic, the Northwest, and Idaho, as the movement against fossil fuel exacerbation of climate change grows. The Quinault Indian Nation hosted the likely largest anti-oil train gathering during the last week, on Friday, July 8, when more than 600 tribal members, neighbors, and regional allies attended [9].  Together, they boated, marched, and rallied to call on the City of Hoquiam to reject proposed crude oil terminals in Grays Harbor, Washington.

Hoping to see you on Tuesday evening: Thanks! Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: #StopOilTrains Week of Action, City Bans of Oil Trains & Coal Ports 7-6-16

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The Wednesday, July 6, 2016 Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) features news about #StopOilTrains Week of Action events and upcoming, summer, indigenous and climate activism, city bans of Northwest crude oil trains and an Oakland coal export facility, and other topics.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm PDT, live at 90.3 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide climate activism and community opposition to extreme energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

Stop Oil Trains in Idaho Week of Action

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Stop Oil Trains in Idaho Week of Action Flyer

Groups stage week of action to #StopOilTrains in Idaho

Continent-wide demonstrations mark three-year anniversary of Lac-Mégantic explosion

North Idaho activists invite the public to join them at four events on July 9 and 12 commemorating the 47 lives lost to a Bakken crude oil train derailment and explosion in downtown Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013. During the three years since this tragedy, dozens of similar, fiery accidents have risked and wrecked public and environmental health and safety and the global climate – more than in the previous four decades – including the Union Pacific oil train derailment, spill, and fire in the Columbia River Gorge town of Mosier, Oregon, on June 3, 2016.

In response, Sandpoint and Moscow groups 350Sandpoint, Palouse Environmental Sustainability Coalition, and Wild Idaho Rising Tide are participating with thousands of people across North America in the July 6 to 12 ‪#‎StopOilTrains Week of Action.* Partner organizations providing event support around the continent include 350.org, Credo, Sierra Club, Sightline Institute, Oil Change International, and Waterkeeper. Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: NW Oil Train Moratorium Requests, EFSEC Oil Terminal Hearings, Payette County Oil Discovery, Gulf of Mexico Fracking Permits 6-29-16

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The Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) features news about government, tribal, and public calls for a moratorium on Northwest oil trains and Washington EFSEC hearing denial of the proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver, discovery of oil in the Payette County, Idaho Willow gas field, Obama administration approval of over 1500 fracking permits in the Gulf of Mexico, and other topics.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm PDT, live at 90.3 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide climate activism and community opposition to extreme energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

WIRT & Allied Summer Events

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Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) recently updated the WIRT Events Calendar, posting dozens of summer, climate and indigenous activism events on the WIRT website [1].  Please visit this page often for links to further information and descriptions of upcoming events involving you in grassroots resistance to the root causes of climate change.  We will soon announce plans discussed with allies for the Stop Oil Trains in Idaho Week of Action, including a Skyped train monitoring workshop and demonstrations against Northwest oil trains and terminals.

During this summer 2016 season, we are advancing ongoing WIRT and allied mobilization of regional residents for coordinated, region-wide actions and agency hearings on Northwest coal, oil, gas, and tar sands leases, wells, processing plants, refineries, terminals, and trains.  We are grateful to provide trainspotting and kayaktivist trainings, direct action workshops, educational presentations, peaceful protests, informal convergences, and other activities that expand the Northwest movement against extreme energy and for a livable future.

Please participate in WIRT’s twice-monthly potluck/pub meetings at 7 pm every first Wednesday at The Attic, up the back stairs of 314 E. Second Street in Moscow, Idaho, and at 7 pm every third Wednesday at Eichardt’s Pub upstairs game room, 212 Cedar Street in Sandpoint, Idaho.  Call 208-301-8039 for agendas, carpools, and directions for these gatherings and other events across the region.

To keep WIRT activists informed about anti-fossil fuel campaigns, we host the weekly Climate Justice Forum radio program on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm Pacific time, live at 90.3 FM and online [2, 3].  The show covers continent-wide climate and indigenous activism and community opposition to dirty energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

Opportunities for your creative resistance to climate change perpetrators call for your participation: Continue reading →

Climate Justice Forum: Oil Train Blockade & Moratorium Requests, Utah Tar Sands Mine Arrests, Spokane Healthy Climate Citizens Initiative 6-22-16

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The Wednesday, June 22, 2016 Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) features news about the June 18 Vancouver, Washington oil train tracks blockade, calls for a nationwide moratorium on oil trains by Oregon government officials and agencies, arrests at the June 11 field studies and June 19 reclamation actions at the Utah tar sands mine, and a Spokane physician’s filing of a healthy climate citizen rights initiative amending the city charter.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm PDT, live at 90.3 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide climate activism and community opposition to extreme energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

Climate Justice Forum: Mosier Mayor, Residents, & Activist, Union Pacific Snafus & Grants, Millennium Bulk Terminals Public Input 6-15-16

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The Wednesday, June 15, 2016 Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) features June 9 conversations with Mosier, Oregon Mayor Arlene Burns, Mosier residents Silas Bleakley and Brent Foster, and Peter Cornelison of Friends of the Columbia Gorge, about the June 3 Union Pacific oil train derailment, explosion, and fire in the Columbia River Gorge.  Other topics include Union Pacific rail operation violations in Oregon and grants to Sandpoint area organizations and Millennium Bulk Terminals public comments and hearings on the last proposed Northwest coal export facility.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Wednesday between 1:30 and 3 pm PDT, live at 90.3 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide climate activism and community opposition to extreme energy projects, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as her KRFP DJ.

Comments Due June 13 on Last, Largest Coal Terminal

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With the May 9 victory of the Lummi Nation over the proposed Gateway Pacific coal export terminal at Cherry Point, Washington, the Millennium Bulk Terminals coal port in Longview, Washington, 460 miles from Sandpoint, Idaho, could become the largest such facility in North America. Please speak out against the many direct impacts that its eight additional, fully-loaded, daily coal trains would impose on Idaho public and environmental health, by sending your written comments to Washington officials before the 11:59 pm PDT June 13 deadline.  Reference the attached Power Past Coal Millennium Bulk Terminals DEIS Talking Points and the previous Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) action alert [1].

Thanks to ongoing, inspiring work by a diverse spectrum of grassroots climate activists to mainstream environmental groups, thousands of regional residents participated and testified at three public hearings on the draft environmental impact statement for this last of six proposed coal export terminals in the Northwest [2, 3]. Three cheers for the dozens of die-hard, anti-coal organizers from across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, who coordinated participation and arranged carpools for these hopefully historically last public hearings and rallies against Northwest coal trains and ports.

Community members including WIRT representatives attended a 4 pm rally and expressed valid concerns about fossil fuel impacts through their testimony between 1 and 9 pm at the Thursday, May 26 hearing at the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Washington [4]. Bravo to Jacob Johns and other event participants from Spokane and northern Idaho, who blasted the basics of the folly of approving, permitting, building, and operating the Millennium carbon bomb [5]!  We enjoyed sharing the adventure of fossil fuel resistance with co-workers and friends in Spokane, during and after the public proceedings, especially while learning that Arch Coal withdrew its interest in this coal port project [6]:

“The second largest coal company in America and last big name in the coal export game…handed over its 38 percent share in the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals in Longview, Washington, to the project’s last remaining supporter, Lighthouse Resources – a company that used to be called Ambre Energy North America…Arch itself declared bankruptcy in January…Given the dismal outlook for coal exports, the bankrupt company simply couldn’t bear the ongoing cost of keeping the project alive…Arch’s exit leaves precisely one player in the coal export game in Washington and Oregon: Lighthouse Resources, which now stands as the only backer of Millennium and which also hopes to resuscitate its nearly-defunct Morrow Pacific project in Oregon. Lighthouse owns a pair of struggling coal mines, one in Wyoming and the other in Montana, and its entire business model hinges on exporting coal into seaborne markets that are now badly oversupplied with cheap coal.” Continue reading →