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California | Central Valley | North Coast | U.S. | Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice and Anti-CapitalismKlamath River Tribes and Fishermen Declare Mission Accomplished
Klamath River Basin tribal leaders, Native American activists, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and conservationists have just returned home to California and Oregon after disrupting Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend. Karuk Tribe · Yurok Tribe · Klamath Riverkeeper · Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermens’ Associations
P R E S S R E L E A S E For Immediate Release: May 2, 2008 For more information: Craig Tucker, Spokesperson Karuk Tribe (916) 207-8294 Regina Chichizola, Klamath Riverkeeper (541) 951-0126 Matt Mais, Yurok Tribe (707) 954-0976 Christina Haro, Media Contact (415) 453-0430 Klamath River Tribes and Fishermen Declare Mission Accomplished Groups succeed in disrupting Warren Buffett’s Woodstock of Capitalism Omaha, NE – Today, Klamath River Basin tribal leaders, native activists, and sport and commercial fishermen, and conservationists return home to the West Coast after spending the weekend disrupting the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. The group is demanding the removal of four Klamath River dams that kill salmon and create massive blooms of toxic algae. “We went to Omaha to send Warren Buffett and his executives a clear message that as long as there is no business as usual on the Klamath, there will be no business as usual for him, Mid American Energy, or PacifiCorp,” said Karuk Vice-Chair Leaf Hillman. Tribal members, commercial and sport fishers and Regina Chichizola of Klamath River Keeper, camped out in front of Omaha’s Qwest Center at 1 a.m. the night before in a cold rain. This allowed the group to get at the head of the cue to ask Buffett questions during a six-hour question and answer session in front of 30,000 shareholders. Karuk World Renewal Priest, or Fatawana, Chook-Chook Hillman spearheaded the strategy and was the third person to speak at the meeting. After introducing himself in his native tongue, Chook-Chook challenged Buffett by saying, “as a European-American you are the visitor in our country…will you not meet with the native people impacted by your fish killing dams. You say you want to address poverty and disease in the third world. But you are creating those same third world conditions right here in America. We want to meet and resolve the issue in a way that saves you money and saves our culture!” Chook-Chook then presented a dam removal agreement. As he spoke, Georgiana Myers and Annalia Norris of the Yurok Tribe unfurled a large banner that read “Klamath Dams Equal Cultural Genocide.” Before lunch two more questions came from the group, one from Klamath River Keeper Regina Chichizola focused on the toxic algae blooms in Buffett’s Klamath Reservoirs and another from Mike Polmateer of the Karuk Tribe. Each time Buffett passed the question off to Mid American CEO David Sokol and each time another banner was unfurled. One read, “Buffett’s Dams kill salmon, communities, and jobs.” Another read “Warren: Un-dam the Klamath - sign the agreement now!” Sokol answered each time by describing the issue as “complex” while security escorted the Tribal members from the building. There were no arrests. After the lunch break, Buffett announced that he would not field any more questions about the Klamath. Commercial salmon fishermen Dave Bitts, Karuk fisherman Ron Reed, and Karuk Medicine Woman Cathy McCovey where denied access to the microphones despite being next in the cue to speak. Bitts, who had to navigate around a snow storm in Denver to make the meeting was clearly disappointed. “I traveled over 3000 miles to be here and woke up at two o’clock in the morning to speak, then I was told I couldn’t speak. The story I have to tell is that of an out of work commercial fishermen,” said Bitts. “Buffett spent a lot of time today explaining what he couldn’t do for us. I wanted to ask the richest man on the planet what he could do for us.” “Now we return home having accomplished our mission. We sent a clear message to Buffett, Sokol and every other executive involved that as long as there is no justice on the Klamath, there will be no peace for them,” said Karuk Tribal Member Jess Mcloughlin who was involved in erecting the banners. Yurok council member Richard Myers said, “Everyone has had a chance to sit at the table and work with the tribes towards a resolution. There is one empty chair left. We are waiting for PacifiCorp to take a seat.” Pictures from this year’s protests are available from the Associated Press and will be posted online soon at http://www.klamathriver.org. Learn more about the Klamath Crisis on YouTube: Un-dam It Commercial: http://youtube.com/watch?v=pFoyzZvuXxs Klamath River Toxic Algae: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tDny8jvd950&feature=related Tribes and Fisherman at Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders meeting 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SasDF5b9rks For more information: http://www.berkshireshareholders.com http://www.salmonforsavings.org # # # S. Craig Tucker, Ph.D. Klamath Campaign Coordinator Karuk Tribe of California NEW NUMBER home office: 707-839-1982 Tribal office in Orleans: 530-627-3446 x3027 cell: 916-207-8294 ctucker [at] karuk.us http://www.karuk.us
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Monday May 5th, 2008 3:48 PM
Here's a link to a flyer about the dams and why they should come out:
http://www.pcffa.org/WhyWeWantTheDamsOut3.pdf
Monday May 5th, 2008 3:58 PM
Why The Klamath Dams Should Come Out
1- Fish need cold, clean water with lots of oxygen in it, but Iron Gate dam, Copco I dam, Copco II dam and J.C. Boyle dam heat up water in the Klamath River to lethal temperatures during the hottest parts of the year and deplete oxygen supplies fish need to survive. 2- Overheated and oxygen deficient waters provide prime conditions for toxic algae to bloom in the reservoirs behind the dams at levels now thousands of times higher than what the World Health Organization says is safe to ingest. Some of this algae, called microcystis aeruginosa, can cause severe liver damage and other serious health problems in both humans and fish. 3- Hundreds of miles of historic spawning grounds would be re- opened to Klamath River salmon whose numbers now run dangerously close to extinction. Klamath salmon runs were so small this year that regulators closed ocean fishing almost completely along 700 miles of coast, starving commercial fishing communities of an estimated $100 million and shorting Tribes of a resource traditionally used for both subsistence and ceremonies. Damage to salmon fisheries far outweighs any benefits of power production. Unless these dams are dealt with, more fishery closures are inevitable. 4- To survive, Tribes and other fishermen need fish, and the health of those fish depends on, cold clean water, healthy and well-connected habitat, and fewer turbines. Fish feed cultures and fill bellies. These fish would do much better with access to more of their old habitat. 5- The dams block the natural functions of the river, impoverish its spawning gravel for 50 miles downstream, and reduce the impact of natural flushing flows that in the past scoured out and reduced fish parasites and algae and kept riparian areas healthy. 6- The turbines on the dams in question can operate only at less than half capacity, and generate only 2 % of PacifiCorp’s overall power. The power ratepayers get from those turbines could be replaced using alternative energy sources such as wind and solar equipment. 7- California would never miss this lost power. The California Energy Commission analyzed the impact on California’s energy grid of the loss of this power and found that it was “insignificant.” 8- The Klamath dams that need to be removed are not used for irrigation and are not designed for flood control. Farmers will still get their water from behind Keno and Link dams, which are small enough barriers for fish to pass by using normal ladders. 9- Removing the dams from the river would go a long way towards restoring the Klamath River, restoring its fishing- dependent communities, and reversing decades of damage and disruption. WhyWeWantTheDamsOut3 (10/29/06)
Monday May 5th, 2008 4:23 PM
Hey Dan B, can you email me at: modanarcho[at]yahoo.com
Thanks
Monday May 5th, 2008 7:47 PM
He can't do anything for you!!! Maybe if you just listened to the answer you would go someone else where it mattered!!!! He said 3 times theres not a thing he can do. He's tied by contracts not to interfear with their business contracts!! People were annoyed with you not at all educated. You were rude disrespectful and annoying. I'm glad you couldn't ask anymore question because I was sick of hearing the same (perfectly exceptable) answer. Go stand it line to speak somewhere where something can actually be done. You going to the annual meeting to protest and be disruptive is like going to where Pacificorp banks and asking the bank president what he's going to do about the dams that his customer has. Its crazy. I guess you'll have to get more creative where you go next year because I know for sure its not going to be at that meeting unless you want to be arrested.
Tuesday May 6th, 2008 3:26 AM
I attended the meeting. Asking the same question with increasing stridency, not listening to the answer, shouting down other people asking questions ... you didn't do your cause any good in my book. I walked away not educated or sympathetic to your position but rather thinking "another group of extremists who think that the whole world should bend to their issue."
Tuesday May 6th, 2008 7:14 AM
I completely agree with you Doug. No good was done for anything that happened at that meeting. I think different approaches to this issue need to be explored. Not leaving Warren alone until something is done is just not going to work.
Tuesday May 6th, 2008 10:14 AM
I think one thing that can be gleamed from the comments of the people above is that they are totally right: Pacificorp and other corporations aren't swayed by logical arguments or tears, Peroian pie charts or even salmon puppets. What they are swayed by is making profits for their shareholders (ie, 'doing their jobs') a job that will continue to decimate the salmon population towards extinction, rivers, and the people who depend on them. This is how their system works.
I also find it interesting that a group of people who are facing the end to their way of life and the means of which to sustain themselves (not to mention the millions of rotting dead salmon) become 'extremists' when they are disruptive (in this case, it is more disruptive to ask questions during a meeting than to destroy rivers, life, and people - a strange evaluation). But then I guess, you are only a 'good indian' when you sit in a reservation and do nothing. If begging and protests are not enough, then actions and tactics need to switch accordingly. Working and oppressed people everywhere should learn that being on your knees in front of your enemies will bring us nothing. "The spectacle has labeled us monsters - we intend to be much worse." - Os Cangaceiros
Thursday May 8th, 2008 8:17 PM
If every corporation ceased operation because of a environmental or ethical issue then every company in the world shut down. Then the people that 'depend' on their operation would also be out of jobs. Things don't always have a simple solution. There are a billion problems in this world. They only ones anyone ever cares about is the ones they see and their narrow minds think that the issue that affects them should be attended to and solved immediately. No one said anthing about being 'good little indian'. The same reaction to the protesters would have came about from any group of people that act the way some people did at the meeting. It has nothing to who the people are, its their actions. Apparently ration and respect is a lot to ask these days. I could think of a million different ways to approach this particular issue that might actually make minimal progress. Thought, respect and a plan of action go a lot further in more ways than one.
Thursday May 29th, 2008 2:19 PM
There's other ways to obtain energy; try solar and wind instead of depending on these outdated Klamath dams! We also need to factor in how much cost goes into the regular maintenence of the dams themselves, included cleaning of the algae that gets stuck in the turbines and other problems..
Something people can do for energy stability is harnessing methane from biowaste, so much is wasted into the rivers and landfills, all decomposing biomaterial releases methane, that is the same natural gas that activist people in coastal Oregon are fighting in it's liquified form (LNG) coming in tanker ships.. What Warren Buffet is doing with Pacificorp's (owned by Berkshire Hathaway) lower four Klamath dams is milking this cash cow for as long as he's able to. There's plenty of tax breaks and energy subsidies being sucked up by Warren Buffet's bank account that makes it in his interest to keep the dams up. Not for energy independence or the common good, mostly for personal profit.. The urgency and coming "extremism" (believe me, if you think standing outside Berkshire Hathaway waving signs in salmon costumes is 'extreme', you ain't seen nothing yet!!) is a result of factual information that many species of salmon will become extinct from the Klamath and other rivers if the conditions of the rivers do not improve. Look to the positive example set by Butte Creek as they restored their salmon runs by removing needless obstructions (ie., dams) from their river. As happened in Butte Creek, we can also expect the salmon populations to increase exponentially in the years following the removal of the Klamath Dams.. http://www.buttecreek.org/ In addition to being a cultural resource for indigenous peoples, salmon are an "energy resource" in themselves, they have every nutrient needed by people, bears and other carnivores for health and surivival!! Why can't we factor the nutritional value of salmon for themselves, the ecosystem (bears, seals, osprey, etc..) and human society into the energy cost benefit equation?? |
