We're in a climate emergency and we must resist. (Photo: Twitter/Greenpeace USA)
Why I'm Currently Blocking the Largest Oil Export Channel in the U.S.
"I don't want to see every single corner of this country be exploited for fossil fuels while communities are being torn apart by oil spills, chemical fires, and more extreme floods, fires, droughts, and storms."
Note: Twenty-two activist climbers from Greenpeace blockaded the Fred Hartmann Bridge in Baytown, Texas Thursday morning in order to shutdown what they called "the largest fossil fuel thoroughfare" in the country. The following is a letter from one of the activists on the bridge.
I'm currently blocking the Fred Hartman bridge in Houston, Texas as one of 22 Greenpeace climbers actively shutting down the largest petrochemical complex in the country. I gotta say--I'm nervous and anxious and scared, but today, we're taking the power back from Trump and the oil industry. I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I know what we're doing is brazen, but we're blocking the largest oil export shipping channel for some of the richest, most polluting oil companies in world like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell. And, with the next Democratic presidential debate happening tonight only miles from where we are in Houston, all eyes will be on us and our demand for urgent climate action.
See it for yourself:
Watch our livestream from Greenpeace's bridge blockade over the largest oil export channel in the U.S.--and share it with your friends now.
I can't say much because of where I am, but I don't want to see every single corner of this country be exploited for fossil fuels while communities are being torn apart by oil spills, chemical fires, and more extreme floods, fires, droughts, and storms. If we don't rise up and resist Trump and the oil industry right now, we'll soon be at the point of no return.
What's most infuriating about being here is that the refineries in the area have a major chemical incident EVERY 6 weeks--poisoning local black and brown people and low income communities who quite literally live all around this giant petrochemical complex.
This is why I'm up here--high enough to see the smokestacks, methane flares, cooling towers, and oil tankers of the "energy capital of America"--to send this loud and urgent demand: we deserve a world with millions of high-paying, union jobs that sustain families instead of poisoning them, where our shared climate, water, and air comes before the profits of oil executives.
Check out our livestream now, then share it far and wide so the whole the world sees.
We're in a climate emergency and we must resist,
For the planet, for the climate, for future.
-Piper
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Note: Twenty-two activist climbers from Greenpeace blockaded the Fred Hartmann Bridge in Baytown, Texas Thursday morning in order to shutdown what they called "the largest fossil fuel thoroughfare" in the country. The following is a letter from one of the activists on the bridge.
I'm currently blocking the Fred Hartman bridge in Houston, Texas as one of 22 Greenpeace climbers actively shutting down the largest petrochemical complex in the country. I gotta say--I'm nervous and anxious and scared, but today, we're taking the power back from Trump and the oil industry. I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I know what we're doing is brazen, but we're blocking the largest oil export shipping channel for some of the richest, most polluting oil companies in world like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell. And, with the next Democratic presidential debate happening tonight only miles from where we are in Houston, all eyes will be on us and our demand for urgent climate action.
See it for yourself:
Watch our livestream from Greenpeace's bridge blockade over the largest oil export channel in the U.S.--and share it with your friends now.
I can't say much because of where I am, but I don't want to see every single corner of this country be exploited for fossil fuels while communities are being torn apart by oil spills, chemical fires, and more extreme floods, fires, droughts, and storms. If we don't rise up and resist Trump and the oil industry right now, we'll soon be at the point of no return.
What's most infuriating about being here is that the refineries in the area have a major chemical incident EVERY 6 weeks--poisoning local black and brown people and low income communities who quite literally live all around this giant petrochemical complex.
This is why I'm up here--high enough to see the smokestacks, methane flares, cooling towers, and oil tankers of the "energy capital of America"--to send this loud and urgent demand: we deserve a world with millions of high-paying, union jobs that sustain families instead of poisoning them, where our shared climate, water, and air comes before the profits of oil executives.
Check out our livestream now, then share it far and wide so the whole the world sees.
We're in a climate emergency and we must resist,
For the planet, for the climate, for future.
-Piper
Note: Twenty-two activist climbers from Greenpeace blockaded the Fred Hartmann Bridge in Baytown, Texas Thursday morning in order to shutdown what they called "the largest fossil fuel thoroughfare" in the country. The following is a letter from one of the activists on the bridge.
I'm currently blocking the Fred Hartman bridge in Houston, Texas as one of 22 Greenpeace climbers actively shutting down the largest petrochemical complex in the country. I gotta say--I'm nervous and anxious and scared, but today, we're taking the power back from Trump and the oil industry. I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I'm not afraid to tell these bullies their time is up.
I know what we're doing is brazen, but we're blocking the largest oil export shipping channel for some of the richest, most polluting oil companies in world like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell. And, with the next Democratic presidential debate happening tonight only miles from where we are in Houston, all eyes will be on us and our demand for urgent climate action.
See it for yourself:
Watch our livestream from Greenpeace's bridge blockade over the largest oil export channel in the U.S.--and share it with your friends now.
I can't say much because of where I am, but I don't want to see every single corner of this country be exploited for fossil fuels while communities are being torn apart by oil spills, chemical fires, and more extreme floods, fires, droughts, and storms. If we don't rise up and resist Trump and the oil industry right now, we'll soon be at the point of no return.
What's most infuriating about being here is that the refineries in the area have a major chemical incident EVERY 6 weeks--poisoning local black and brown people and low income communities who quite literally live all around this giant petrochemical complex.
This is why I'm up here--high enough to see the smokestacks, methane flares, cooling towers, and oil tankers of the "energy capital of America"--to send this loud and urgent demand: we deserve a world with millions of high-paying, union jobs that sustain families instead of poisoning them, where our shared climate, water, and air comes before the profits of oil executives.
Check out our livestream now, then share it far and wide so the whole the world sees.
We're in a climate emergency and we must resist,
For the planet, for the climate, for future.
-Piper