Feature Archives

On July 21, more than 50 tribal nations peacefully took control of the Marine Life Protection Act’s Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg. The group of more than 300 stood together to protest the implications of the act on their traditional tribal activities on the North Coast. For thousands of years, these tribes have sustainably gathered coastal resources in their ancestral territory.

On July 22nd, San Francisco's Submission Gallery will host a benefit for Marie Mason, a long-time activist in the environmental and labor movements from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2008, Marie was arrested on federal charges of property destruction and later sentenced to almost 22 years in prison, the longest term of any "Green Scare" prisoner. Activists and former prisoners Linda Evans, Jeff Luers, and Karen Pickett will share their experiences and perspectives on Marie’s case.

Activists concerned about the close ties between Big Oil and Big Banks protested at a branch of JP Morgan/Chase Bank in Palo Alto on June 26th. Demonstrators encouraged customers to move their money to community banks or credit unions, telling passersby that not only did Chase take bailout money as a "too big to fail" institution, but that it is the chief depository bank for British Petroleum.

Since the April 20th BP oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico, a number of related protests have been held across the country and locally. On June 11th, a group of bikers blocked entrances at a BP owned ARCO gas station at Fell and Divisadero in San Francisco. The demonstrators were protesting the environmental outrage in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as a dangerous bike lane that is perennially blocked by cars lining up to enter the station.

GARBERVILLE, Calif.- The Environmental Protection Information Center and the Center for Biological Diversity vowed an all out legal challenge against a highway-widening project that not only threatens the ancient redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park, but could also change the rural character of Humboldt County.

On Wednesday, May 12th, Seize BP held a protest in front of the BP offices on New Montgomery Street in San Francisco, to demand that the U.S. government seize BP and all of its assets. BP is involved in a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is still leaking 5 to 25 thousand barrels of oil daily into surrounding waters. Other corporations involved include Transocean and Halliburton. On Friday, May 14th, Act Against Oil demonstrated in Berkeley at the site of a new BP building under construction next to the UCB campus.

In an unprecedented victory for community and environmental groups, the California State Court of Appeals has upheld the majority of findings in a lower court decision that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the expansion of Chevron's refinery in Richmond violated state environmental law. Community members have been campaigning to fight the proposed switch to refining dirtier, heavier oil for several years, and last year, a lower court issued an injunction stopping further work on the refinery expansion.