No Tar Sands Port in Portland!

Figured I'd share a quick update with you about today's action in Portland.   I'd say at least 1300 people were there from all over the Northeast, with lots of wonderful banners, flags, chants (and a giant rolling drum!) and lots of high energy despite the rather brutal cold!  We marched through Portland and ended at a pier (some of my friends half-joked about it being a trap, like the end of the movie "300" - but we survived - and I'm sure the areal photos they will be quite powerful).  

These fossil fuel companies are going to have a hard time piping their dirty product through this port!  Even the Mayor of Portland (who spoke at the rally) is apparently acting to stop the tar sands.  Pretty exciting!

Here's some great news coverage of the protest and the issue, in general.  I'm rather impressed with it.  I'm also favoring this particular coverage because I used my trick for getting interviewed by the media - thank them for covering the story -  and it worked!   You'll hear/see me in the video included with this story :-0

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/229043/2/Hundreds-of-protestors-rally-for-an-end-to-tar-sands-oil-extraction-

If you're bummed about missing the largest Tar Sands protest the Northeast has ever seen, you should join me for the largest that D.C. has ever seen!  20K+ of us will be descending on D.C. this Presidents' Day. We are going to stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline, but to do so we need as much people power as we can muster!  Obama is putting off his decision until at least March.  So let's give him a strong reminder who he works for!

Signup/details here: http://act.350.org/signup/presidentsday  There will be buses going down there from Western MA (and all over)!

Settler in Support of #IdleNoMore

And for those who are not aware, #IdleNoMore is a recent iteration of indigenous resistance to colonialist exploitation of Mother Earth and Her people. First Nations of Canada are the most heavily impacted by the Tar Sands operations (ie. poisoned bodies and land). Indigenous populations have been the on the frontline of resistance to the tar sands and I am proud to stand with them as a "Settler in Solidarity."  Together we can stop this travesty!

This beautiful (and mobile!) drum kept the heartbeat of the march.

Exciting Update re: indigenous resistance to the Tar Sands!!!~

International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects
Signed on January 25th 2013

The representatives from sovereign Indigenous Nations, tribes, and governments, participating in the Gathering to Protect the Sacred on January 23 – 25, 2013, on the 150 year anniversary of the Treaty Between the Pawnee and Yankton Sioux, have gathered on the Ihanktonwan homelands, and have resolved by our free, prior, and informed consent to enter into a treaty to be forever respected and protected. We agreed upon the following articles...

 http://www.protectthesacred.org/international_treaty