Category Archives: Peaceful resistance

US High Schoolers Launch Green New Deal for ‘Our Schools and Our Futures’

“Public schools belong to us, and we know we deserve better,” said a Sunrise Movement organizer and the youngest school board member in Idaho.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 9-25-2023 by Common Dreams

Young organizers hold up a banner celebrating the “Green New Deal for Schools Summer Camp 2023.” (Photo: Sunrise Movement)

In the face of right-wing attacks on public schools—including climate education—more than 50 high schools nationwide launched the Green New Deals for Schools campaign Monday.

The campaign, organized by the youth-led Sunrise Movement, is demanding that school boards and districts act to provide buildings powered with renewable energy; free, healthy, local, and sustainable meals; support for finding well-paying, unionized green careers; plans for extreme weather events; and instruction about the climate crisis.

Continue reading →

Demanding an End to ‘Deadly Fossil Fuels,’ Tens of Thousands Take the Streets in NYC

Leave a reply

“It’s time for Biden to declare a climate emergency and phase out the fossil fuels killing people and wildlife around the world.”

By Jake Johnson. Published 9-17-2023 by Common Dreams

Thousands of activists, indigenous groups, students, and others take to the streets of New York City for the March to End Fossil Fuels on September 17, 2023. Photo: Mollie Heckerling/X

Tens of thousands poured into the streets of New York City on Sunday for the largest climate mobilization in the U.S. in years, with organizers and marchers telling President Joe Biden to stop approving planet-wrecking fossil fuel projects and start doing everything in his power to accelerate the nation’s renewable energy transition.

Campaigners expressed outrage that Biden has refused to declare a national climate emergency and is planning to skip United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday.

Continue reading →

Actions Across US Urge Biden to End ‘Cruel’ Immigration Detention and Deportations

Leave a reply

“Our tax dollars need to be used to strengthen our families and communities and uphold our human rights, not for the militarization of our beloved borderlands,” said one activist.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 9-15-2023 by Common Dreams

Migrant rights advocates rally outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on September 15, 2023. Photo: SBCC/Twitter

A coalition of over 80 advocacy groups on Friday co-sponsored demonstrations in eight U.S. states and Washington, D.C. as part of a national day of action demanding the Biden administration close all federal immigration detention centers, release all migrants in custody, and end deportations.

Throughout his campaign, President Joe Biden “pledged to create an immigration system that is just and humane, including ending for-profit immigration detention,” the coalition—which is organizing under the Defund Hate and Communities Not Cages banners—said in a statement.

Continue reading →

400+ Actions to End Fossil Fuels Planned Around the World for Sept. 15-17

Leave a reply

“When we the people use our collective power we can win,” said one campaigner.

By Julia Conley. Published 9-11-2023 by Common Dreams

“September 15-17, 2023. Everywhere.”

Those are the dates and location of the international mobilization against fossil fuels set to take place this coming weekend, and the last word is hardly an exaggeration as organizers with the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels report that more than 400 actions, marches, rallies, and other events have already been registered around the world.

More than 780 organizations have endorsed the day of action—up from 500 less than a week ago—and millions of participants are expected to rally from Cape Town, South Africa to Manila, Philippines and Lahore, Pakistan, as well as in dozens of cities and towns across the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in history.

Continue reading →

‘Furious’ at Army Corps, Tribe Calls for Public Support to Shut Down Dakota Access Pipeline

Leave a reply

“The Corps’ covering for the pipeline company’s outrageous safety record and the reviewer’s serious conflict of interest have now resulted in a failed effort,” said Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Alkire. “They need to start over with adult supervision.”

By Jon Queally. Published 9-10-2023 by Common Dreams

Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline hold a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Oct. 25, 2016. (Photo: Fibonacci Blue/flickr/cc)

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Alkire is leading a fresh demand that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throw out an ongoing environmental review process of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline and start again from scratch alongside a superseding call for the pipeline to be shuttered completely.

Following Friday’s release of a revised Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), ordered by a federal court, the tribe said the document reveals the entire process has been a failure and that the pipeline—currently operating across their land without consent in what they consider an “illegal” manner by the Energy Transfer company—should be shut down once and for all.

Continue reading →

US Billboard Campaign Blasts Fossil Fuel Giants for Causing Extreme Heat

Leave a reply

“From Alaska to Maui, our communities are struggling to survive the rapidly worsening impacts of the climate crisis, all the while, Big Oil is raking in billions at our expense.”

By Julia Conley. Published 8-24-2023 by Common Dreams

A billboard in Austin, Texas shows a U.S. map with high temperatures across the nation. (Photo: Fossil Free Media)

As about 111 million people in nearly two dozen states continued to face heat advisories, with temperatures reaching as high at 115°F in some cities, the nonprofit media lab Fossil Free Media unveiled a multicity campaign with one simple goal: ensuring that all Americans understand that the intense heatwaves across much of the country this summer have not been a natural phenomenon, but the result of continued fossil fuel extraction.

Starting Thursday drivers along stretches of highway in Phoenix, Arizona; Austin, Texas; and Fresno, California will pass by prominent billboards displaying a map of record-breaking temperatures that have been recorded across the U.S. this summer.

Continue reading →

Dumping of Radioactive Waste into Hudson River Banned After Advocacy by New Yorkers

Leave a reply

“Communities have spoken loud and clear that it is unacceptable to use the Hudson River as a dumping ground,” said one campaigner.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-19-2023 by Common Dreams

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. Photo: Tony Fischer/flickr/CC

Public health advocates in New York celebrated what one organizer called “the power of our communities over corporations” after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation passed two months ago into law, barring companies from dumping nuclear wastewater into the Hudson River.

The Democratic governor’s decision to sign the Save the Hudson Bill (A.7208/S.6893) came weeks before Holtec International was planning to begin discharging 45,000 gallons of wastewater from pools that were used to cool spent nuclear reactor fuel at the former Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Continue reading →

Arkansas Schools Will Teach AP African American Studies, Defying GOP Law

Leave a reply

Educators will teach the course despite the fact that the law also weakens rules protecting them against unjust dismissals.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-17-2023 by Common Dreams

Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaking with attendees at the 2019 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

Despite a threat this week by the Arkansas Department of Education that it would not allow students to receive credit for Advanced Placement African American Studies, every public high school in Arkansas that previously offered the course announced that it will remain on their schedules for the coming school year.

The Arkansas Education Association, which represents unionized teachers across the state, applauded the Little Rock School District’s decision on Wednesday to continue offering the AP course in defiance of Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature law banning so-called “indoctrination” in public schools.

Continue reading →

‘This Is Huge’: Judge Sides With Montana Youths in Historic Climate Ruling

Leave a reply

“As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet,” said one attorney representing 16 young plaintiffs.

By Julia Conley. Published 8-14-2023 by Common Dreams

The plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana. Photo: Our Children’s Trust

Climate advocates on Monday expressed hope that an unprecedented ruling by a state judge in Montana, siding with 16 young residents who argued the state violated their constitutional rights by promoting fossil fuel extraction, will mark a sea change in the outcomes of climate lawsuits.

In Held v. State of Montana, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ruled that rights of the plaintiffs—who range in age from 5 to 22— have been violated by the Montana Environmental Policy Act because the law has prevented the state from assessing the climate impacts of mining projects.

Continue reading →

Fetterman Bill Would Ensure Striking Workers Can Receive Federal Food Aid

Leave a reply

“I’m proud to introduce this bill that will eliminate the need for workers to choose between fighting for fair working conditions and putting food on the table for their families,” said the Pennsylvania Democrat.

By Kenny Stancil. Published 7-27-2023 by Common Dreams

Senator John Fetterman. Photo: Governor Tom Wolf/flickr/CC

As multiple work stoppages continued across the United States, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Thursday introduced legislation that would enable striking workers to qualify for federal food aid.

Called the Food Secure Strikers Act of 2023, Fetterman’s bill would amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to ensure that striking workers aren’t excluded from receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. In addition, the bill would preserve food stamp eligibility for public sector workers who are fired for striking and clarify that any income-eligible household is entitled to SNAP benefits even if a member of that household is on strike.

Continue reading →

Occupy World Writes

The Movement Continues – Globally

Category Archives: Peaceful resistance