Feature Archives

EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival highlights films about crucial ecological issues, provides a venue for independent filmmakers from around the world and inspires people to get involved in creating positive change for the planet. EarthVision and the Sustainability Club of Cabrillo College screened the EarthVision 2007 – Director’s Pick at the Cabrillo College Cafeteria on December 5th.

On December 2, dozens of supporters marked the one-year anniversary of the tree sits at the Memorial Grove in Berkeley. Bands played, Circus Pandemonium performed, free food was served and protesters marched.

On November 20th, UC Berkeley completed the construction of a second barbed-wire fence around the Memorial Oak Grove. The fencing was built to enclose approximately ten tree-sitters inside and has cost an estimated $115,000. The University has announced it can fine or arrest anyone acting "in concert" with the tree-sitters.

Thousands of fish are stranded on Prospect Island, located on the northern section of Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, due to the draining of the island by a contractor hired by the Bureau of Reclamation. As of November 21st, striped bass make up the vast majority of the fish seen stranded on the island. Endangered and threatened species, including Delta smelt, salmon and steelhead, are expected to perish soon unless a fish rescue is conducted.

November 20th: UC Berkeley has completed the construction of a second barbed-wire fence around the Memorial Oak Grove, costing $80,000, enclosing approximately ten tree-sitters inside, and can fine or arrest anyone acting "in concert" with the tree-sitters. Oak supporters are calling for an 11am Thanksgiving Day gathering at the Grove. A group of mothers will bring holiday pies to feed the sitters, and a “Thanksgiving Turkey” will walk up to the grove with food for the tree defenders as well.

The people of Santa Cruz continue to show their support for activists who have taken to the trees in opposition of UCSC's Long Range Development Plan. Santa Cruz community members have come to observe, to bring supplies and to thank the tree-sitters for taking a stand against UCSC's plan to add 4,500 new students and destroy 120 acres of forest. Among the visitors were Mayor Emily Reilly, who called the site "inspirational," and said that she would donate food from her bakery to the activists.

On Saturday, November 10th, hundreds of people marched on Chevron's Richmond Refinery to oppose the company's proposal to process dirtier, sulfur-heavy oils in the city of Richmond.

The November 7th spill of bunker fuel from the Cosco Busan, South Korea-bound container ship, is shaping up to be much more serious than early reports indicated and appears to be the worst ship-related spill in more than a decade. The Coast Guard estimates that over 58,000 gallons of fuel were spilled from the accident. Only a fraction of those gallons of fuel have been contained thus far. San Francisco Baykeeper is investigating why initial reports underestimated the size of the spill and why the Coast Guard failed to immediately coordinate its response with the Office of Spill Prevention and Response.