Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE): Speaking Out, Being Heard, Demanding Action

It’s been a busy week for us at ClimateMama, speaking out, being seen and being heard.

On Sunday, May 17th, our Climate Mama, Harriet spoke at the Teaneck, New Jersey “Ban the Oil Trains Rally and March.” On Monday, May 18th, 2015 Harriet was once again in New Jersey, this time speaking out from the steps of the New Jersey State House in Trenton. Harriet was part of the line up of speakers for the New Jersey Mama Summit; one of many Mama Summits taking place in State Houses around the country. Take a moment and listen as Harriet puts NJ State Legislators on notice.

Today, on “Do Something Wednesday,” Climate Mamas and Papas will be in Tarrytown, New York at a public meeting of the Nuclear Regulator Commission, calling for some “reality” regarding the approval of a 42 inch natural gas line, a stone’s throw away from Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. Also, today in Reading, NY 16 mothers – part of the citizens group We Are Senaca Lake – will be in court as a result of their arrests just before Mothers Day 2015, defending their children’s rights to clean air, clean water, and a livable future.

All week long, and committed to being heard for “as long as it takes” Climate Papas and Mamas, many of whom are being called, “Kayaktists, are rallying, speaking out and being seen in Seattle, Washington, protesting Shell and it’s unsustainable and incredibly dangerous plans to drill for fossil fuels in our fragile Arctic, using Seattle as a staging ground.

Also, beginning Thursday, May 21st through May 29th, Climate Mamas and Papas will be gathering in Washington, DC to bring to light the hypocrisies and dubious dealings of the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC), an “independent” government agency tasked with regulating the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. Given it’s mandate, one would assume that understanding and connecting the dots between this role and climate impacts would be of paramount importance. But instead FERC is pushing forward the vast expansion of fracked gas and it’s infrastructure, with no regard for the ongoing and compounding damages to our and our children’s health as well as the very real probability that their actions will push us over the “climate cliff” which scientists tell us we are fast approaching. As FERC senior staff have stated numerous times, “climate change impacts are NOT part of our considerations.”

One of our favorite Climate Mama’s Linda, said it well when she told us: “The mandate and reach of FERC must be revisited and revised by Congress. We must connect the dots at all levels and jump into the future now, there is no bridge, there is only a cliff. There is no Planet B.” Linda goes on to say that: “This wasn’t part of our plans when we put down roots in our communities and birthed our children. But this is where we find ourselves now; experts on technical topics we never imagined. We have discovered that there is no one minding the store. We are still your mothers, your sisters, your neighbors, your coworkers and your friends. But we also see what’s at stake and we are standing up, speaking out and fighting back. Our children know this and they are watching.”

As Ted Glick, one of the organizers of the Beyond Extreme Energy campaign explained in a May 18, 2015 EcoWatch article: “Many of us who had never heard of FERC, now understand that it is [has become] a rubber stamp for the fossil fuel industry. A month ago a story, Employees negotiate for industry jobs under agency’s eye, published by E&E’s Greenwire reported on the corrupt, internal FERC culture which explains FERC’s rubber-stamping ways.”

If this makes you mad, sad and wondering what you can do, please join us in Washington DC from May 21-29th, as part of the Beyond Extreme Energy actions. We will be joining other Climate Mamas and Papas from around the country – families from frontline communities. All of us are “frontline communities” in the fight against climate change. If we hope to slow down climate change and create a livable future for our children, we must demand a “time out” on fossil fuel expansion, and all it’s infrastructure. We will be calling on Cheryl Lafluer – former FERC Chair, and FERC Commissioner – herself a mother, to reconsider her narrow interpretation of FERC’s mandate, and stand with us, as we stand up for our children’s future and now. Our children our watching.

Are you planning to or already marching, rallying and calling for action in your neighborhood? Send us your pictures and your stories. Let us share them with our ClimateMama family for you!

Yours,

Climate Mama