Thursday, December 1, 11 a.m., Village Green
— from Bob Phalan —
On December 1st, 2016 at 11 a.m. community members on Orcas Island who support the Standing Rock Movement will walk out of their schools, jobs, and homes to show their support and solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux and their fight to keep the Dakota Access Pipeline from threatening millions of people’s drinking water if the pipeline were ever to leak.
They will meet on the Village Green, showcase select speakers who will share their stories and messages from their experience at Standing Rock. There will be information available for those who wish to continue their involvement with the movement. After the speakers the group will march through Eastsound with their signs and spirits, ending at the public school.
On November 22, 2016 The US Commission on Civil Rights issued an official news release outlining the major issues regarding the Standing Rock Movement, and has asked the US Army Corps of Engineers to stop pipeline production on behalf of the Department of Justice, The Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior. The environmental Protection Agency, Department of Interior, and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation have also called for additional environmental studies, and the USCCR supports these efforts.
There is an overwhelming history of pipelines breaking and leaking and the DAPL is no different. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Indigenous People’s have fought for their treaty rights for hundreds of years to no avail. It’s time to honor the treaties, focus on sustainable energies, and work together in our communities to come together and create solutions that push us forward into a more sustainable future for our children, and theirs.
If you have students that you wish to bring along, PLEASE make sure you inform the school and respect their protocol in regards to attendance policies. It’s totally fine, just please sign them out, and make sure they have proper permissions. This direct action is not intended to cause problems and we do not wish to encourage students to disrespect the school’s protocol. (And we can’t wait to see you there!)
And… if I weren’t my own boss, I’d definitely give my employer a heads up too- or maybe, if it feels right– encourage them to shut down for an hour and join us! <3
I think this present trend of encouraging students to leave school, any time their parents or others in the community are upset about something that is going on in the world, is doing the students a great disservice and setting a terrible precedent. If the students want to make a statement and express their concern, it could be better shown by giving up some of their free time outside of school hours to have a rally. Taking a day off school to go to a party on the village green is not a meaningful commitment.
Ed, it seems that you missed the point. As it is, Oil and Gas Pipelines cross this country, North, South ,East and West as well as off the East and West Coasts. There are breaks all the time, polluting our waters and land. Maps are available on the NET. This is the World the young are inheriting from us, their Elders. They have every right to leave school for an hour to stand in Solidarity with their Elders for Justice, for the Rights of the Native People and to say “No” to more rape of our Earth Mother. I am proud of the young people who Stand in Solidarity with the Standing Rock Lakota People and all of their supporters. Our government has brought shame upon us all by allowing this corporate rapist to continue its’ abuse of the People at Standing Rock. This is why our Veterans , who took the Oath to Protect the people from All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic are heading for Standing Rock this week to Stand with the People against corporate abuse of power! The children need to see their Elders stand up for them, their future, the Earth Mother, and the Indigenous People! Aho! Spirit Eagle
I do not think of this gathering as a party.
I see this as a very valuable experience whereby all ages come together to acknowledge at least two major issues.
One, to address the very old grievances of our indigenous people, and begin to make right, wrongs .of decades.
And, two, it is a time to come together to recognize amongst all that we are in a transformative process from industrial age….gradually shifting priority to sustainable energy sources. We cannot support oil industry as destructive as it is
Yes, for those of you who have missed the headlines, this fight is for nothing less than the survival of the human race, and also the viability of the major ecological systems of this planet. This is an ecological war, and the outcome will determine whether humanity will be able to continue to live on Earth in our vast numbers. A dying biosphere is not going to help your children get a job, or even survive.
It now obvious that humanity is causing a sixth mass-extinction on Earth, and that our own specie is predicted to suffer a massive “population overshoot” or “die-off”, that will likely prematurely wipe out billions of humans beings in this century alone. Why? Because we have destroyed much of the world’s natural ecological functions. The bio-sphere is breaking down. We have almost sucked our host planet dry of the food we need to live on! We are destroying the Web-Of-Life! We cannot live without this Web. Wake up People! This is a fight for the human race, and All Life on this Planet! Your children are not going to live to be 100 on an ecologically destroyed world. Is there a wake up call?! This is it. Get up, save humanities’ future. The time is Now!!!
What is happening at Standing Rock is the visible war being waged for the ecological survival of humanity and the Earth. It is coming to a head, and being made visible by these brave souls who face off against the international corporate hydra that wants destroy and then rule this world. A power structure that can has the power to commandeer public law enforcement from neighboring states, just to try and put down this protest for a Sustainable World! We are at War. Believe it! This is the war for the Earth, and Humanity. It is between the people who care about Life, and the people who’s master is greed. These latter are willing to kill off and destroy entire sections of this planet in search for more power, more money, more greed. It is disgusting, and it is time to choose which side you are on in this Holy War for Life on Earth. This is for Humanity’s Future. This is for the future of ALL Life on this Planet. This is FOR the Children! First Save yourselves first from deadly apathy and ignorance, and then help us Save this Planet. You can do it, we believe in you ALL! AH-HO!!! You Can Do It!
Love, Domenic Verbano.
I have no doubt that those involved feel it is a good & worthy cause. However I have difficulty believing it is the most vital cause in the world today. I could probably come up with a hundred issues that are just as threatening, or more so. Should students be encouraged to take a day off for each one of them? To those that are really concerned, it is not a party. To many students it will just be an excuse to take off of school, and it is disruptive of school. As I said, if some are seriously concerned it would say a lot more about their dedication to the cause if they gave up some of their free time instead. It is not a good precedent for every “good cause” to be a reason to encourage students to walk out of school to show their support. (note: I have read the articles, and have trouble believing that completion of this pipeline will mean the human race will not survive)
I can see the rally as an educational experience if its focus is a rational discussion of the pro’s and con’s of the issue. I have difficulty seeing it that way if it is a Hyped-up emotional appeal to “STOP THE PIPELINE AT ALL COSTS”, without addressing the impact of that action.
Basically, the purpose of the pipeline is to get oil from Point A, where it is available, to Point B, where it is needed. My first question is – what is the objective? Is it to keep the people who need the oil at Point B from getting it, or just to make them get it some other way?
If the objective is to keep them from getting oil, we need to explore how their survival needs can be met (in the real world – not just hypothetically, with technology that is not going to be available on that large a scale for many years).
If the objective is just to keep them from getting it through that pipeline, what are the alternatives (trucks, trains, ships, pack horses?) and how do the safety issues, and energy consumption requirements, of these alternatives compare to the planned pipeline?
I have not seen the plans for the pipeline, but in this age I would be very surprised if it did not at least contain the following features (if it doesn’t it should be stopped until it does):
a. Much more robust than the current 50 to 100 year old pipelines.
b. Designed to withstand attack from the environment though which it travels.
c. Have an extensive system of sensors and containment devices to deal with any leaks, if they do occur.
d. Have quick acting shut-down and section isolation capability to limit detected leakage until repairs can be made.
We may discover that a pipeline with these features is much cleaner and safer than any of the alternatives, and shutting it down would be “shooting ourselves in the foot” (the survival of the human race may be shortened even more).
…this thread reads like a timely reminder of the value of free speech in these uncertain, troubled times…
Draw a line in the sand on global warming/climate change!