Earth First! & Allies Target Chevron: Bay Area Banner Hanging, Rally, Civil Disobedience

19 April 2024

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by Jan Lundberg

13 August 2009

Culture Change interviewed Scupper, a spokesman for the banner hangers treating the San Francisco Bay Area's Richmond Bridge car commuters to this message: Hey Chevron: No Jobs On a Dead Planet! In solidarity with Mobilization for Climate Justice and its Saturday rally and march to the nearby Chevron refinery, the banner was hung on Thursday afternoon at the top of nearby Red Rock Island.

It's 1,000 feet from bridge to the southwest. Using an outboard dingy, the activists beached and scaled 200 steep feet to the height of the bridge. The eco-terrorist Chevron, known for causing deaths of protesters in Nigeria and for defending its corporate-acquisition Texaco's massive pollution of the Andean Amazon, is going to be treated to more than a march to its Richmond refinery on Saturday, Aug. 15th as part of this series of actions that began with today's banner. From the rally at Richmond BART at 11:30 AM on Saturday, the protesters walk to the refinery for a 1 PM civil disobedience action there.

Scupper discussed the broad coalition behind these actions, the Mobilization for Climate Justice. Scupper said it is comprised of 25 groups "who have never worked together before: Earth First!, West County Toxics Coalition, Global Exchange, various antiwar groups, Rising Tide," and more.

It's a bit ironic to Culture Change that car drivers, complicit in oil wars and the heating of the planet, are the audience for the banner's message. Are the commuters supposed to buy some other brand's gasoline, which may have been obtained in a trade from Chevron or some other sleazebag corporation such as Exxon or Shell? The jobs issue is not really clear, but jobs are at the root of the deeper problem. When a person is turned into a wage slave, divorced from natural systems and cooperative arrangements, the hold on a worker is in part accomplished through propaganda that claims jobs are what's needed for society and the individual. It's important to not play into the notion of more or better jobs. For this props up the system hard wired for more global warming and exploitation of peoples. It's better to have a "green" job than work in a refinery, but many "green" jobs may be unattainable or unsustainable.

Here is the press release:

Media Advisory
August 13, 2009
Contacts:
“Scupper,” Earth First! (510) 499-1496 (cell phone on site for action information) For campaign and mobilization information: Jen Angel, media team, Mobilization for Climate Justice (510) 910-5627 jen "at" aidandabet "dot" org
Earth First! Targets Chevron:
EF! Drops Banner Next To Richmond Bridge, As Broad Coalition Prepares For August 15th Protest.
What: Banner targeting Chevron and the connection of their industry to climate change is hung off island next to Richmond/ San Rafael Bridge, in advance of August 15 Mass March Protest at Chevron Richmond Refinery.
When: Thursday, August 13th, 2009 at 4pm.
Where: Red Rock Island, on South side of the Richmond Bridge (close to the Richmond side).
Who: Earth First!, as part coalition of the Mobilization for Climate
Justice-West: west.actforclimatejustice.org
Why: As part of an Earth First! revival in the Bay Area, Chevron is being targeted as a false propagandist who tries to promulgate a “Jobs vs. the Environment” controversy, when in fact Chevron is a gross polluter of Richmond and the world. This action is in solidarity with the Mobilization for Climate Justice –West, and in support of August 15th Mass Festival, March, and Protest at Chevron Richmond Refinery.
The banner’s large letters say “Hey Chevron: No Jobs on a Dead Planet!”

Members of the Mobilization for Climate Justice are a diverse network of over 25 organizations and concerned community members demanding clean air and appropriate green jobs for Richmond, and climate justice for all. Visit: west.actforclimatejustice.org for more background.
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To support the Earth First!ers in need of more banner materials, climbing gear, etc., contact Scupper (see above).

Additional information of Saturday's anti-Chevron activities from the Bay Localize email alert:

This Saturday, August 15, join Bay Localize and our allies for the Mobilization for Climate Justice at the Richmond BART station. Take a stand on behalf of the people of Richmond in their struggle against Chevron's oil refinery pollution and for healthy communities and green jobs.
Mobilization for Climate Justice!
CLEAN AIR FOR RICHMOND & THE BAY; STOP OIL REFINERY EXPANSIONS; CORPORATIONS OUT OF COPENHAGEN CLIMATE TALKS!
WHEN: Saturday, August 15th, 11:30 am (festival/rally), 1 pm (march on Chevron refinery), followed by nonviolent civil disobedience
WHERE: Richmond BART, 16th St. & Macdonald Ave., Richmond
More info: 510 550 2836, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: west.actforclimatejustice.org
In solidarity with Richmond community groups, the Bay Area will come together THIS SATURDAY to fight for healthy communities and healthy jobs in Richmond and other communities around the world. This action marks the launch of the Mobilization for Climate Justice West (MCJ-West) whose goal is to empower community-based activists and networks to lead a global movement in confronting the root causes of climate change at home, while defining self-determination pathways for a new energy economy.
We will gather at the Richmond BART station for a festival/rally of inspirational live performances, speakers, live art and food. At 1pm, we will march towards the Chevron oil refinery, where there will be an orchestrated non-violent civil disobedience against the refinery. JOIN US!!!
FEATURING:
A Welcome by Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin
Dr. Henry Clark (West County Toxics Coalition)
Ana Orozco (Communities for a Better Environment)
Torm Nompraseurt (Laotian Organizing Project - APEN)
Jeff Ritterman (Richmond City Council)
& MORE And revolutionary PERFORMERS:
Deuce Eclipse & Bangdata (http://www.myspace.com/bangdata)
Kiwi (www.illafonte.com)
Teatro Familias Unidas of Somos Mayfair (www.somosmayfair.org)
Virtuous(www.myspace.com/vturf)
Brass Liberation Orchestra (www.brassliberation.org)
& Spoken Word Artists (TBD)
Please come prepared for the march! Bring water and prepare for sun. Transportation alternatives will be provided for those in need.
Join us to support:
- Clean air and good jobs for Richmond! Cap the Crude!
- Rather than retool the refinery to burn dirtier, more polluting crude oil - Chevron should maintain the current slate of lighter, less polluting crude and make the refinery cleaner and safer for the community and its workers.
- Corporations Out of Copenhagen!
- People, not corporations, should drive the critical climate talks in Copenhagen. We want Chevron and all corporate lobbyists banned from these talks, while amplifying the voices of frontline communities.
- Environmental, Labor and Economic Justice!
- Chevron is trying to drive a wedge between community interests of jobs and public health - in a community needing BOTH. For the long-term resilience of our communities, we need a clean, safe energy economy that creates local, family-supporting jobs in Richmond.
What You Can Do:
- Help paint and make signs, flags and banner for Aug 15 at our next art build!
- Thursday, Aug 13, 5-8pm at 326 Clifton Street, Oakland (off the South end of College Ave, just before it runs into Broadway - just a few blocks from Rockridge BART) Please bring friends to paint and snacks/drinks to share.
- Become a volunteer to help on Aug 15! Interested?: Email Joseph at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Volunteer check-in at 10am on Saturday.
- Questions?: David 510 967-7377