On the 6th of November, an estimated 12,000 people surrounded the White House, all the way around and at least three deep, demanding that President Obama deny the permit for the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline to cross the US-Canadian border. Only twice since the April 16, 2000 IMF protests has the White House been fully surrounded by protesters. Once was an ANSWER rally years ago in the early days of the Iraq war, the other was today's protest against the Keystone XL pipeline. Read More | Video of tar sands protesters surrounding the White House

This information was broadcast [Thursday] morning on KBOO 90.7FM Portland "Press**Watch/The News You're Not Supposed to Know."

The North Anna nuclear plants 1 & 2 are facing a triple threat: a reactor trip due to the 5.8 earthquake, a loss of available coolant water in the adjoining Anna Lake, and the approaching Hurricane Irene. The water temperature in the Atlantic off Charleston, South Carolina, is at 93.7 and ranges in the mid-eighties nearby, according to the National Oceanographic data Center maintained by NOAA. This could bode poorly for the region and bring the possibility of sudden hurricane strengthening as Hurricane Irene approaches the US East Coast near South Carolina. As with any hurricane this year, the question is whether global warming will produce another monster. Current CO2 levels are at 392.39 as the hurricane approaches the region where nuclear power plants are still offline from the 5.8 magnitude earthquake earlier this week.

Read More | kboo.fm/presswatch | Image from wikipedia

By No Tar Sands to the open publishing newswire: Bryan Parras, Esteban Tovar and Cherri Foytlin have been arrested while in DC to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

"I would challenge President Obama to justify allowing this to happen, given he has just signed a Memo of Understanding with multiple federal agencies to specifically address environmental justice (EJ) issues. This pipeline will impact native communities, low income communities and communities of color. Those are EJ communities." - Bryan Parras, T.E.J.A.S. organizer from Houston, TX and Advisor to the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health

The Tar Sands action began on August 20th and will run through September 3rd. Organizers aim to persuade President Obama to say "no" to the proposed pipeline, which will run from Canada to Port Arthur, TX, pushing toxic tar sand crude through the heartland of the country.

Esteban Tovar, a concerned Houston resident, made the trek to DC to emphasis the need to rethink our national energy use. "If we raise fuel efficiency standards just two and a half miles per gallon, the pipeline wouldn't even be necessary. We need to look at ways to reduce our need for oil." Esteban Tovar, Houston Resident

More Coverage: DC-IMC: Hundreds arrested at the White House | Portland IMC: Solidarity Actions Prompt Six Arrests [in Idaho] | Tar Sands Action

People from across Cascadia and up north, from Canada, gathered on the banks of the Columbia to say NO to the shipment of heavy machinery bound for the Albert Tar Sands.

[On April 20th, 2011 Groups around the world commemorated the BP Deep Water Horizon Oil catastrophe with actions calling for an end destructive energy resource extraction. In Hood River, Oregon, members of the community, people from the Northwest and guests from Canada handed a resolution to the City Administration calling for a shipping ban on heavy machinery bound for the Alberta Tar Sands up the Columbia River. People gathered on the river banks to fly kites, enjoy kayaking, listen to music and talk about alternatives to our destructive addiction to oil.]

7 minute video (link to blip tv) | bmediacollective.org

Related: Video: Winiona La Duke, Speaking In Portland About Alberta Tar Sands

Japan's Chubu Electric Power Company will start shutting down its nuclear power plant in Hamaoka, approximately 100 miles southwest of Tokyo, this week. Last week Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made public his directive for the company to suspend its operation. His announcement came just hours before an anti-nuclear power demonstration of 10,000 people in Tokyo. On the same day, activists rallied in solidarity with their Japanese counterparts in front of the Japanese consulate in San Francisco.

Photos - Tokyo: 1 | 2 | | | San Francisco: 1 | 2 Videos

Related: Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed | International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba Statement | Helen Caldicott on Fukushima Disaster

From the Newswire: "Little Village, Chicago—At 11:00am today [April 20, 2011], six activists with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), Rising Tide North America, Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and the Backbone Campaign were arrested after climbing the fence to Midwest Generation’s controversial Crawford coal plant in Little Village. The activists unfurled a 7’ x 30’ banner atop a 20 foot tall sprawling coal pile that feeds the power plant, which reads: “Close Chicago’s Toxic Coal Plants.” Read more | Call for financial support of the Chicago 6

"The groups are demanding the closure of the plant just one day before the much-anticipated Clean Power Ordinance hearing, which could force the plant to undergo major modifications to upgrade their pollution controls. LVEJO, Rising Tide and RAN Chicago are calling for the closure of Chicago’s two toxic coal-fired power plants, the Crawford plant in Little Village and the Fisk plant in Pilsen [CITV video], both owned by Midwest Generation. These two plants are Chicago’s largest sources of particulate air pollution. In the last three years alone, these plants combined have spewed over 45,000 tons of pollution into the air, compromising the health of all Chicagoans."

Additonal Resources: Where's my 'Walderman'? #chicoal | PERRO: Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization | CITV Video: H.Kramer pollution in Pilsen | CITV Video: The Air We Breathe in Pilsen

On April 16th, over 300 people gathered for a protest at Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County. They called for the closure of nearby Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and insisted that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must halt PG&E's relicensing application process for the structure.

The group Mothers for Peace was behind the fight to stop the construction of the nuclear power plant in the 1970s and was the organizer of Saturday's rally as well. Jane Swanson, speaking on behalf of the anti-nuclear organization, said that her group spearheaded the rally in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. She commented from the podium, "Mothers for Peace said in 1973 a workable evacuation plan is not possible at Diablo Canyon and in 2011 this is still true. It is time to shut it down". The crowd raised their voices in agreement, shouting "Shut it Down!" over and over.

As the nuclear disaster in Japan continues and anti nuclear sentiment rises in the US, energy companies and the governments are sure to exploit this situation to push the need for hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale. Read More | Watch Video

The other night I attended the Gas Land screening and talk with film maker Josh Fox, and Senator Antoine Thompson. The movie shows ecological devastation from the industrial process of hydro-fracking. Some highlights were: death by brain tumors, complete ecocide of streams, hair loss of animals (cats, horses) from the water, lighting tap water on fire, nose bleeds from methane leaks, unsafe levels of benzene, nitrogen oxides, and tourelene in the air and water, violent explosions in all aspects of the drilling and extraction process, vomiting, headaches, stomachaches, unexplainable serious illness, indiscriminate dumping into our limited water ways of a cocktail of 596+ chemicals, deregulation of the industry by the government, a Senate hearing in which industry representatives denied all adverse effects, skillful double talk by the Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania and finally the acknowledgement of the benefits for the few on top of the multi billion dollar gas industry. read more

The hydraulic fracturing controversy reached its next but not final chapter late Saturday afternoon; at least for the administration of Governor David Patterson. After being besieged by armies of lobbyists, activists, farmers, scientists, and business people of every stripe, the governor deftly side-stepped the issue and passed the gas to Andrew Cuomo.

He vetoed legislation A11443-B which would have placed a moratorium on all natural gas exploration until May 15th of next year. He then issued an executive order that restricts horizontal drilling and fracking until July 2011. Vertical drilling is not affected. Nor the jobs or revenue connected with these operations. So the gas industry is somewhat placated. As noted, horizontal drilling is stopped until next July, therefore appeasing environmentalists opposed. read more by Grady Hawkins | Past Coverage: National Fuel Buffalo Protest

Photo from frackaction.com. See also fractracker.org

On December 14th, hundreds of PG&E customers, outraged about the health damage caused by wireless 'smart' meters, ramped up protests by testifying at county government meetings and shutting down payment centers in both Santa Cruz and Marin Counties to demand an immediate halt to the program. Protesters are also angry about PG&E's attempts to cover up the growing health scandal and recently revealed espionage carried out against their customers concerned with increasing reports of nausea, headaches, and bouts of dizziness from the meters. The protesters, backed by 22 local governments and an increasing number of scientists and medical professionals, are demanding that PG&E halt any further installation of smart meters.

Dozens of environmentalist and concerned citizens braved temperatures in the teens [last] Thursday afternoon to demonstrate against the controversial drilling technology known as Hydraulic fracturing. Lafayette square was the scene and national Fuel Gas Company was the focus of attention at 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon as downtown commuters began heading home.

There is much at stake: thousands of jobs, and millions of dollars in desperately needed revenue for cash-strapped families and governments across the Empire State. Balanced against this is a price that may be too high to pay. The destruction of thousands of acres of forest and the pollution of pristine water sources and aquifers could be the result. The source of this bonanza is trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, trapped a mile below the surface inside the massive Marcellus Shale. This middle-Devonian formation covers most of Pennsylvania and western New York. read more by Grady Hawkins

It’s the new gold rush; the stuff that dreams are made of. Get rich quick natural gas land-leases all across the Marcellus Shale. And there is money to be made. More than enough money to make that petroleum Prince of Darkness, Dick Cheney, smile. The U.S. geological survey estimates a cool trillion dollars to be taken. And it seems all too easy. Just sell the mineral and drilling rights to the smooth talking highest bidder then sit back and cash the checks. Jed Clampett’s dream come true.

It’s an example of the kind of paradox which is rampant in the mental health system. Thousands of Iraq war veterans are coming home with “Post-traumatic stress syndrome”. They are being treated — when they are treated at all by the Veteran’s Administration — as if they have medical problems rather than problems related to conscience. read more

Photo from DC-IMC: War Is The Obscenity - Anti-War Vets Banner Drop at Newseum

   Sarasota City is  currently negotiating a 30 year contract with Florida Power and Light (FPL), an national energy monopoly that controls the energy rights, environmental safety, and pockets of Sarasota Citizens. The following article is an synopsis presented by a concerned citizen and myself and a few general steps you can take to stop the city from selling your energy rights through hidden taxes. 

   "We do need FPL's energy umbrella, at least for now. But we can have their service without being tied to them with a franchise agreement that blocks the city's ability to acquire its own power grid. If the city opened up the energy markets in Sarasota after not signing the FPL contract, renewable energy options and green jobs would be allowed to spring up. In the meantime, without a franchise agreement, we would all save money on our power bills. read more