SumOfUs: Good news on Standing Rock

This update from SumOfUs:

Huge news! Yesterday, Bank DNB announced it is going to sell its assets in the Dakota Access Pipeline project!

It’s clear our message is having an impact. On Tuesday, we delivered hundreds of thousands of signatures right to the Bank’s offices in Norway, and thousands of us flooded its Facebook page with messages in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation. 

Two days later, we won. 

The Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council sent us this note:

We are pleased that Bank DNB is weakening its ties to DAPL. It was a wise decision, especially given Energy Transfer Partners’ continuous disregard for our land, water, and sovereignty. Recent comments by Energy Transfer Partners CEO indicate the company seems intent on ramping up aggression, which is why it is of the utmost importance that other banks follow the example of DNB.

This major milestone could only happen because all around the world, people like you stood in support of the Standing Rock Sioux and the courageous water defenders on the ground right now in North Dakota. And they need our support more than ever with the incoming Trump administration. 

But our fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline is not over yet -- we have plans to force other banks to pull out of DAPL, and we promise we won’t stop until we win.

 Thank you for everything you’ve done to support this campaign so far. Can you please share this great news with your friends and family now? 

(Tip: More of your friends will see what you share if you include a comment or tag their names!)

Also, check out the photos of the delivery! You can click on the pictures to see coverage in the Norwegian press. 

Greenpeace Norway delivering the petition:

Greenpeace Norway and its allies outside, standing in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation:

People all around the world flooding Bank DNB's Facebook page:

Thanks for all you are doing in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux,

Angus, Paul, Nicole, Emma, Eoin, and the rest of the team at SumOfUs

Norway's Largest Bank Sells Assets in Dakota Access Pipeline Company

As reported by Democracy Now! during its news headlines section:

The largest bank in Norway, DNB, has sold its assets in the companies behind the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, and it’s considering whether to terminate three separate loans the bank has made to finance the project. The sold assets were worth $3 million. The loans under consideration finance up to 10 percent of the pipeline’s construction. Norway’s DNB is not connected to DNB First, which is based in Pennsylvania and is not involved in the Dakota Access pipeline. This comes as Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline, is almost certain to miss the January 1, 2017, deadline by which it had promised oil companies it would have completed construction, opening up the possibility the pipeline company may lose its contracts with oil companies. In recent court documents, Energy Transfer Partners acknowledged that if the Army Corps of Engineers does grant the final permit to drill underneath the Missouri River, it would still take the company between three and four months to finish the project. It’s still not clear whether the permit will ever be granted. Even if it is granted, missing the January 1 deadline means oil companies will have the right to renegotiate or even cancel their contracts to have oil shipped through the Dakota Access pipeline. These cancellations are likely, given that Bakken oil production has fallen by 20 percent since its peak in December 2014—the same year the contracts were first signed. Energy Transfer Partners has acknowledged in court filings "loss of shippers to the project could effectively result in project cancellation."

Today's Midwest Energy News headlines/links re: DAPL resistance

PIPELINES:
• The U.S. considers gathering more input from tribes as agencies contemplate projects like the Dakota Access pipeline going forward. (Reuters)
• A North Dakota judge throws out felony charges against several Dakota Access protesters in a case that could foreshadow how others are adjudicated. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Protesters close down streets in Bismarck, North Dakota while demonstrating against the Dakota Access pipeline in front of a bank and a federal building. (Bismarck Tribune)
• Native American tribal leaders’ biennial address to North Dakota lawmakers is cancelled due to concerns that there wouldn’t be enough security presence because of pipeline protests. (Associated Press)

Power Shift Network: stopping pipelines: our next move

This action alert from Akilah Sanders-Reed, Oil Free Organizer, Power Shift Network:

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of us took to the streets as part of hundreds of actions from California to Ireland to say #NoDAPL.

My heart is so full of gratitude as I write this. It’s been an intense and challenging week for everyone, and yet so many people found the strength and defiance to take their grief, resilience, and inspiration to the streets to make it clear: we are not backing down. We are fighting harder than ever.

After Tuesday’s incredible #noDAPL actions, are you ready to plan what’s next? Click here to RSVP for a digital town hall to talk about how we keep fighting fossil fuel infrastructure in the Trump era.

(A scene from Tuesday's #noDAPL solidarity action in San Francisco. Photo: 350.org)

2016 has permanently changed what it means to be fighting for a livable future. Pipeline resistance, grounded in indigenous rights and youth leadership, has leapt into the public consciousness in an unprecedented and inspiring way. Simultaneously, we’re facing the daunting prospect of four years with a bigoted, sexist, racist man controlling the Oval Office. It’s never been more critical for us to reach across the miles, and strategize together for what Trump-era resistance to the oil industry will look like.

We now live in a political reality where the federal government is diametrically opposed to protecting our communities, resources, and liberties. That makes it all the more critical for our movement to organize at the local level to win where we can in our regions and communities.

That local organizing starts now. Working in our communities to take on oil companies like Energy Transfer Partners and Enbridge is more important than ever.

That’s why I’m facilitating 12 digital town halls between November 30 and December 15 to plan what’s next. Click here to RSVP for a town hall for your region!

Each digital town hall will bring together young people, community members, and leaders in local pipeline and oil infrastructure resistance movements to identify the most urgent battles, build resilient networks based in relationships, and brainstorm strategies to defend our rights and beliefs against a Trump administration.

I won’t sugarcoat it: it’s going to be a tough four years. We will need to hold each other, our communities, and our work with as much love, defiance, determination, and courage as we can muster. We are bold and beautiful beyond measure, and a Trump presidency is going to test that in a way most of us have been scared to imagine.

We will need to more strength and unity than ever—and we have it. We are strong enough to make it through this together.

Now is the moment to reach out to one another and build the communities and alliances that will ultimately triumph against hate, greed, and bigotry. Click here to join an upcoming digital town hall for your region and chart a path forward together.

With love,

Akilah Sanders-Reed
Oil Free Organizer
Power Shift Network

PS: Want to be a part of critical organizing conversations over the next few weeks?. If you aren’t on the Power Shift Network’s Slack—an online communication platform that is the hub where we’re building a huge, connected network of climate justice activists—you should be. Click here to join the network on Slack, and be sure to join the #pipeline-resistance channel once you’re there!

As the planet warms, Trump sends a chill through Marrakech

Op-ed by Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, as reported at Democracy Now!