From the open publishing newswire: Protesters from Occupy Portland and Portland Rising Tide confront Bank of America with a dance off in the lobby of their corporate office tower in downtown Portland. Thirty five protesters entered the building and kicked off a rowdy dance party in the lobby, playing on bucket drums and rhythm sticks. The Bank of America branch immediately locked its doors, preventing protesters from bringing the dance party inside. As this debauchery disrupted business as usual in the tower lobby and the bank branch and mortgage center, a small group of individuals took the elevator to the seventeenth floor to deliver letters to corporate employees demanding that Bank of America cease and desist its funding of coal mining across the country and coal export projects in the northwest.

Climate activists have been targeting Bank of America branches over the past year in Portland and beyond for the company's financing of coal. Proposed coal export terminals threaten the Northwest in Longview and Bellingham, Wahington, as well as St. Helens and Coos Bay, Oregon. These terminals seek to export up to 80 million tons of domestic coal annually to growing Asian markets, in stark contrast to the recent achievements Oregonians have made in moving away from dirty coal fired power plants. While Bank of America gets the profits off of their investment in the world's most dirty energy source, the rest of the world gets the devastating side effects such as natural disasters fueled by climate change, health problems from living near coal plants, rail-lines or export facilities, and forced removal from our homes and land to allow for coal mining.

 http://www.portlandrisingtide.org

From the open publishing newswire: Portland Rising Tide dropped an anti-tar sands banner today from the Burnside Bridge. The group is acting in solidarity with communities, organizations and individuals resisting tar sands development across North America. Rising Tide's action comes on the heels of the 2-week Tar Sands Action campaign in Washington DC. 1,253 American's were arrested in an act of civil disobedience at the White House to send a message to President Obama, asking him to stand up to Big Oil and deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline permits.

The Keystone XL pipeline is required for Big Oil to profit off of the social and environmental disaster that is the Alberta tar sands. Current tar sands mining has brought increased cancer rates, polluted water, and mass die-offs of birds and fish in the largely First Nation communities of northern Alberta.

Tar Sands Action organizers have put a call out for activists to hold the date October 7th for further action. This is the final Congressional hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline. Regionally, people are encouraged to visit their local Obama 2012 headquarters and inform staffers that you will withhold your support in the upcoming presidential elections until the pipeline is stopped.

For more information:
www.tarsandsaction.com
www.risingtidenorthamerica.org
www.facebook.com/PortlandRisingTide
homepage:  http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org

From the open publishing newswire: The Alberta Tar Sands Project has devastated a vast swath of North America, and its proposed extension, the Keystone XL Pipeline, would further crisscross the entire continent, transporting oil to refineries in Texas to then be Canadian tar oil project distributed beyond.

An environmental nightmare that has permanently destroyed an expanse of Canada's boreal forests the size of England, the Alberta Tar Sands project is a staggering expression of the industrial growth consciousness that values profit over life itself. The Keystone XL pipeline would exponentially compound this destruction and greatly hasten the rate of climate change.

Please take action on Thursday Sept. 1 in Portland, in solidarity with Tar Sands Activists from across the country.

TAR SANDS ACTION: Thurs. Sept. 1 in Portland
Hawthorne Bridge 7:30-9:00 am (westbound)
and 4-6 pm (eastbound)

livingearthgatherings.org

From the open publishing newswire: This information was broadcast this 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.
......................................

 http://kboo.fm/presswatch

From the open publishing newswire: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Early on Friday morning, August 26, over one hundred and fifty people blocked a 414,000-pound, 208-foot long tar sands processing plant module at a major Moscow, Idaho, intersection for up to 45 minutes. While a half dozen protesters sat in the Third and Washington street crosswalk in front of the massive ExxonMobil/Imperial Oil shipment, scores of community members and newly returned college students stood in the streets, angrily chanting and waving signs. Protesters who stopped the shipment also expressed solidarity with Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipeline permitting opponents in the Plains states, British Columbia, and at daily, ongoing sit-ins at the White House gates in Washington DC.

Last October, thirty-four modules up to thirty feet high had been shipped and barged to the Port of Lewiston, where they were stranded and reduced in size after a series of four lawsuits diverted movement of the locally-termed "megaloads" away from ExxonMobil's nominally preferred route, the Highway 12 wild and scenic river corridor. Last night proved one more instance of ever more meaningful and effective rallies in the Northwest that work to divest our dependence on the dirty oil derived from tar sands development.

Other news about the protest:
(From activists:) Idaho Residents Arrested Blocking Tar Sands Megaloads Bound for Alberta
(From local media:) Four arrested at megaload protest in Moscow Moscow Pullman Daily News, August 26, 2011

wirisingtide.wordpress.com

From the open publishing newswire: Tuesday morning, the Oregon state Senate passed HB 2700, the bill that allows a company to apply for and receive removal/fill permits on private property without landowner knowledge or consent. This is a bad bill. The passage of this bill infringes on private property rights by allowing companies building LNG-related pipelines to begin the state permitting process without landowners having a say about proposed activities on their property. For three years, we have called this the "LNG fast-track bill." The bill already passed the House, so it now sits on Governor Kitzhaber's desk awaiting his signature.

If you are a landowner along the pipeline route and you receive notice from LNG companies or the Department of State Lands that they issued a permit for your property, please let us know immediately.

The Good News: We can still stop LNG projects in southern Oregon! Yes votes on this bill do not represent a yes vote on LNG. Many legislators believe that this bill is needed for municipalities and incorrectly believe that it does not impact LNG, that LNG is no longer a threat to Oregon or that the LNG proposals are already dead. While it is unfortunate that some of the legislators are misinformed, that does not mean they support the LNG projects....stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to weigh in on the federal level with respect to LNG pipeline impacts to public lands and rivers in southern Oregon.

 http://www.kswild.org

From the open publishing newswire: 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.

Link to 7 minute video:  link to blip.tv [blip.tv/bmediacollective/rising-tide-international-day-of-action-oregon-happenings-5203275]

[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.]

Enjoy.

homepage:  http://www.bmediacollective.org

From the open publishing newswire: Winona La Duke, noted Native American activist and author, speaking recently at the Native American Center at Portland State University. Winona spoke for about ? an hour about the Alberta Tar Sands and also about the large oil extraction equipment being shipped from South Korea through Portland and along narrow highways though Idaho and Montana.
Winona La Duke, Speaking About Tar Sands and the Heavy Haul

After a few brief introductory comments, Winona says that "we are these people at this moment in time; we are the one's who are here...........and as you look around you've got the shot to do something great. You've got the shot to keep them from blowing off the top of a mountain, you got the shot to keep them from combusting the planet to oblivion; you've got the shot to keep them from opening another uranium mine, or gold mine for some jewelry that you don't need; shot to take down a dam in a river; and you've got the shot to stop the Tar Sands. And I feel that it's a great spiritual moment where you have the ability to do something great spiritually." Winona says that we must keep up the battle, because the other side has a 50 year plan. "Exxon has a 50 year plan for their Tar Sands and for all of us.....you have to be prepared for a long haul, because these things don't get fixed in 48 minutes when you watch tv. A little character development, a little solution and we're done." "We need to step outside our arena of comfort and do something." La Duke speaks at length about the Alberta Tar Sands, and the plans to transport enormous equipment from South Korea through Portland and along small roads and fragile ecosystems in Idaho and Montana. This has been dubbed the Heavy Haul, and there are numerous groups resisting this invasion:

From the open publishing newswire: Join Bark in a Day of Action to Protect Mt. Hood from NW Natural's plans to resurrect the Palomar Pipeline. This Day of Action coincides with the annual NW Natural Shareholders Meeting where we've had a presence for the past three years. This year we'll have all day on-line actions at bark-out.org.

Help Bark on Thursday, May 26th to send NW Natural the message that we will never allow this pipeline to go through Mt. Hood! Mark your calendars and get ready to take a stand for Mt. Hood on Thursday, May 26th! To plug in to our in-person actions contact Olivia (olivia@bark-out.org), otherwise just visit bark-out.org on May 26th.

In March of this year Palomar withdrew its application to construct the 220-mile pipeline through Oregon, but NW Natural is scheming to bring the project back as early as next year including its 40-mile long clearcut through Mt. Hood National Forest. Visit this link to learn more about NW Naturals plans to resurrect Palomar.

www.bark-out.org

From the open publishing newswire: Please join Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and our partners at Heart of America Northwest in protecting our communities from 12,000 truckloads of extremely radioactive waste, which would go through Portland and Spokane to Hanford under a US Department of Energy proposal.

 http://action.psr.org/site/R?i=rwg9a67i0O55BI3f9VlKBw

Attend and speak out at next week's public hearing on the US Department of Energy's proposal to use Hanford Nuclear Reservation as a national radioactive waste dump for extremely radioactive (GTCC) waste.

When: Thursday, May 19th beginning at 6:30PM*
Where: Doubletree Hotel, Lloyd Center (1000 NE Multnomah Street) in Portland

*Pre-hearing workshop at 5:45 PM in the Ross Island Room, 1st Floor

To learn more:  http://www.hoanw.org
 http://www.OregonPSR.org

From the open publishing newswire: Headsup. There is going to be an International Oil Spill Conference here next week sponsored by the oil lobby group API. Cant find much about it online. Any action on this?

API is right now trying to bribe Congress not to cut its tax subsidies. "At a briefing Monday, a senior tax adviser for the American Petroleum Institute (API), the industry's main lobbying arm, said efforts to repeal the oil and gas tax breaks were a "vindictive use of the tax code." Johnson said oil and gas companies were being singled out by lawmakers because gasoline prices were high. He noted the industry would be willing to support changes to the tax code, as long as the changes were done in the context of comprehensive reform and applied to all industry sectors."

[COMMENTS:
**It's on May 22. A four-day conference.
 http://www.api.org/meetings/calendar/
 https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/American_Petroleum_Institute

**try this for info:  http://www.environmental-expert.com/events/international-oil-spill-conference-2011-10526 ]

From the open publishing newswire:

This Friday at 2:30, People will gather in pioneer square to protest the proposed coal export terminal in Longview Washington. At 3, a coal train will proceed to visit some of the banks that fund companies like Arch Coal.

Stand in solidarity with the people of Longview who face the real environmental hazards of the coal exports. Do not allow the Northwest to be a resource colony for Chinese power plants. Stand up for Climate Justice!

More Information about the proposed coal export terminal

www.earthjustice.org

From the open publishing newswire: The spirit of resistance is being kept alive and well in the tradition of Cascadia's rich history of meeting greed with passion for life. In Olympia, Washington, Olympia Rising Tide won the campaign against a proposed biomass incinerator planned to be built at the Evergreen State College, and one of two biomass incinerators proposed in Shelton, WA! Our victory shows the effectiveness of collaborative organizing, a diversity of tactics and persistence in the face of corporate power. However, biomass incineration is still a very real threat all over the world, and now is a crucial time to step it up and stop it from destroying our forests, air and health. The tides are beginning to turn, now is the time to fight for climate justice!