Photo by Sam Churchill from . Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon, to block Shell Oil's icebreaker from heading to the Arctic. Story on page 4. Mabon 2015 Prick up your ears, young wolf, and listen to the long- of our readers feel warm and fuzzy (if only privately, in awaited self-destruction of industrial capitalism taking the depths of your curmudgeony hearts). And of course, place all around us. Crouch low on haunches taut with the "News from the Eco-Wars" is packed with coverage of pent-up desire for vengeance, and listen as the crumbling bold acts of resistance from around the world, ranging death-wail of the Machine grows ever louder and more from civil disobedience to militant direct action and un­ frenzied! Howl in anticipation of victory, silhouetted in compromising, ferocious annihilation. Our "Blast from front of a full moon; grasp a rusty monkey wrench in the Past" section features the story of Indigenous St'at'imc your jaws (as uncomfortable as it may initially seem), and peoples defending their land from the suffocating clutch­ run with the shadows of the night in the company of es of industrial development—and winning. owls, foxes, and other charismatic non-humans! Meanwhile, in Germany, land defenders in the Tongue-in-cheek references to movement rhetoric ancient Hambach Forest are still risking their lives to aside, let's be realistic: Industrial collapse is something stop construction of an open-cast lignite mine, despite that radical environmentalists have a tendency to constant harassment from police. And there's the story of romanticize ad nauseam—cue images of long-abandoned a Finnish Rising Tide group organizing an anti-nuclear infrastructure, crumbling and choked in the victorious occupation, a story that is at once disheartening and clutches of Nature embodied by creeping vines, plunging awe-inspiring, and one that explores the subjective and roots, and dense, verdant canopies. dynamic nature of "victory." It's also a great example And it makes sense: This mythology seems to be reflec­ of an effective campaign expanding beyond the "eco- tive of a specific subcultures shared desire for something anarchist" subculture. Similarly, "Fighting the Leviathan" other than the grim reality of inevitable climate disaster; follows activists who put their bodies on the line to stop of isolation and disempowerment in the face of pervasive Shell from drilling in the Arctic—and are successful, state-sponsored terror; of endless, impassive expanses of temporarily. development creeping steadily onward. In other words, You might find some lighthearted distraction in our it's a way to frame a particular brand of resistance—albeit "Eco-Terrorist Watch List," the "Wolves & Poodles" an over-simplified and cheesy one. section, and our greenwashing-themed crossword, all of But we don't have to escape to or long for an imagined which point fingers at a few of the leading names in the future. What's actually happening in the present (and has Earth-destruction business. been happening, arguably, since the birth of industrial This issue also addresses the recurring problem of capitalism itself) is far more complicated—more inspiring, racism and exclusion within the Earth First! movement. gut-wrenching, nuanced, violent—than anything Utopia A reportback from the 2015 Rendezvous in Vermont (or fetishized dystopia) could ever offer: The tail-end of a includes a list of ideas for confronting these oppressive protracted, excruciating process of industrial breakdown, patterns, and we at the Journal hope that those who want economic disintegration, and systemic rot, all while state to build a broader, more inclusive, and more effective repression rises to clash with the monumental swell of movement will consider this problem seriously and global resistance movements. continue to challenge each other. Within these pages is an array of narratives that speak And it should be a challenge. Taking action against to this growing momentum and urgency. You'll read cov­ the relentless desecration of the Earth, and the lives of the erage of two recent cases of animal rights activists being non-humans and humans who live here, is an infinitely indicted under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and complex and immensely onerous undertaking—one that a piece about coping with post-incarceration post trau­ cannot be expected to be glamorous and straightforward. matic stress disorder that was originally published as part Some of the perspectives in this issue are in harmony with of the After Prison zine project. one another, and some are in conflict. Take what you can But as always, there's opportunity for inspiration. Take from them, and bring them back to your efforts for a the story of a four-year-old with a burgeoning passion for wilder Earth. eco-defense—in fact, I'm pretty sure "No Cutting Trees In defense of all that we've been losing! Down March" will make even the most curmudgeony —Raz EARTH FIRST: JOURNAL 111 MABON 2015 Earth First! Journal FEATURES VOL. 35 NO. 2 • LLTHA { SUMMER 2015} I Fighting the Leviathan: 26 The Hambach Occupation and the The Earth First! Journal is published by an editorial col­ lective from within the Earth First! movement. An, articles, Activists in the Northwest Put Their Climate Games photographs, and poetry are copyrighted (or anti-copyright- Bodies Between Shell and the Arctic by Hambi Pirates ed) by their respective creators, and permission for use must by Sasha be received from them directly. The Earth First! Journal is 30 Genetically Engineered Trees: a forum for the no compromise environmental movement. 10 Going Overboard as the Ship Sinks: A "Cure" Worse than the Disease The contents do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of this magazine, the Earth First! movement, local Earth First! Sea Wo rids Embarassing Final Hours by Rachel Smolker groups, or individual Earth Firsders. by The Noisy OrcaStra Involvement in illegal activities expressed and/or implied 36 Two More Individuals Indicted Under by communications in this publication is purely a figment of 12 Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Targeted by the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act your imagination. The Earth First! Journal Collective asserts that anything published here is intended for informational Earth First! in Three Post-Rendezvous and entertainment purposes only and does not imply in­ 37 Kevin Olliff and Tyler Lang Plead Actions volvement in any activities. In fact, the only thing of which by abdab Guilty to Terrorism Charges for the Collective is certain is that there is very little of which Liberating Mink one can be certain. We welcome submissions that put the Earth first, aid II Suggestions and Questions for by Grayson in healthy debate shaping the growth of the movement, Challenging White Supremacy in and advance the creation of a world free of ableism, 10 Post Traumatic Stress After Prison Earth First! ageism, classism, exploitation, racism, speciesism, sexism, by Jordan Halliday heteroscxism, transphobia, and all other forms of oppression. by August Written submissions should be typed or clearly printed. 16 White People Dreads: 19 Nascent Climate Warriors, Summon We encourage submissions via email. If sending by snail mail, please enclose a SASE if you would like your submission re­ Your Strength for What's to Come! Some Common Arguments and turned. If you require confirmation by receipt of a submis­ Counter Arguments by Sylvia Cleaver sion, please request it. All articles are edited for length and clarity. If an article by Niko 70 No Cutting Trees Down March is significantly edited, we will make a reasonable effort to contact the author prior to publication. by Lemons Dad 19 Hyokyaalto Eco Action Group Defends Finland's Coastal Forests ISSN #1055-8411 from Nuclear Expansion Earth First! Journal is indexed in the Alternative Press Index, recorded on microfilm by ProQuest, Inc., and pub­ by Rabbit ,'r lished three to four times a year by Daily Planet Publishing, Inc., PO Box 964, Lake Worth, FL 33460, USA. T* US subscriptions are $22-32. Subscriptions to Mexico lrrt ..•> and Canada are $50; everywhere else outside the US is $60. Periodicals postage is paid in Lake Worth, FL. Please direct SECTIONS all subscriptions and correspondence to: EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL • PO BOX 964 • LAKE WORTH, FL • 33460 17 Bioregional Roundup: 50 Armed with Visions (561) 320-3840 From the 2015 EF! Rendezvous [email protected] 52 News from the Eco-Wars EARTHFIRSTJOURNAL.ORG FACEBOOK.COM/EFJOURNAL Blast from the Past: Twitter: @efjournal 60 Dear Shit fer Brains Sutikalh Occupation Enters Fifth Year: St'at'imc Nation Defies Ski Resort 63 Wolves and Poodles EDITORIAL STAFF: abdab, Onion, Rabbit, Raz by Rosalin Sam CASCADIA FIELD OFFICE: Sasha RoSS SONORAN DESERT FIELD OFFICE: RUSS McSpadden 61 Fun Pages: GREEN MOUNTAIN FIELD OFFICE: Smilax Eco-Terrorist Watch List Greenwashing Crossword POETRY EDITOR: Dennis Fritzinger LAYOUT EDITOR: Magpie From the Cages 72 Eco-Action Group Directory DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Tamara VOLUNTEERS: Amanda, B, bailey, Colin, Haiwen, Heart, Ira, Izzy, Book Reviews Miguel, Niko, Otto Baer, Paul, Ruddy, Todd, Touche—and a special thanks to Mario for turning the yard into a food forest. Dear Ned Ludd: POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: Sabotaging Heavy Machinery Without EARTH FIRST! JOURNAL • PO BOX 964 • LAKE WORTH, FL • 33460 Tools 100% PRINTED ON RECYCLED NEWSPRINT PAPER — FIGHTING THE LEVIATHAN Activists in the The major effort put into blocking Arctic drilling has brought global attention to the dissent against the megamachine here in Northwest Put Their the Pacific Northwest, and the war is far from over. "The most important thing to remember is that this fight has Bodies Between Shell been going on for a long time," Harmony Lambert, one of the Greenpeace climbers, told me after halting a Shell icebreaker in an aerial blockade suspended more than 100 feet above Oregon's Willamette River. "Local and indigenous communities have been fighting Shell and Arctic drilling for decades, and the swell of support and solidarity that has happened this year, particu­ v larly in Portland, has been absolutely amazing. The way people • I*f> ' ' rf*' came together to support and join in the fight as Ih ung from the ' f .. % m : St. Johns Bridge for 40 hours was unlike anything I've ever seen. This is truly a moment in the environmental movement that will spark mass opposition to Shell's exploitation of our communities and ecosystems.' The small activist community of the Pacific Northwest has been through a lot over the past few years. When members of the Cascadia Forest Defenders moved up to Portland after the Elliott Free State in 2009 and revived Portland Rising Tide, they likely had no real idea what it would become. Their first major cam­ paign was an indicator: They successfully stopped construction of the Palomar LNG Pipeline, which would have stretched from the banks of the Columbia River to central Oregon, traversing the Cascades through the Mount Hood National Forest. Soon after that campaign was won, Occupy touched off, commencing a flow of people into direct action groups like Rising Tide. ill! Rising I ide soon earned a reputation for being fearless in the face of authority, calling out fossil fuel-friendly initiatives and their supporters while maintaining a presence both in the streets and in more mainstream community groups. While stopping megaloads from moving through Eastern Oregon and shutting ISEATTLI down a potential propane terminal in Portland, the community around Rising Tide also marched in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and wove an integral network of activists and groups | spanning Vancouver, British Columbia; Bellingham, Washing­ ton; Moscow, Idaho; and Missoula, Montana. In the second half ^ of last year, this Rising Tide network staged an average of one blockade per month of oil and coal trains throughout the The irony of the icebreaker in Shell's fleet suffering a hit Pacific Northwest bioregion known as Cascadia. so damaging that it caused a leak to the vessel's ballast The beauty of this network is that it functions like tank, after so many had spoken out against the risks of a spider web. When pressure is applied to one point, Arctic drilling, went ignored by the higher-ups, and the people are able to spontaneously plug into a concerted, icebreaker was allowed to dock in Portland, Oregon, for organizational framework produced by local activists and repairs. With this new information, and just over two others experienced in working together, providing legal weeks' notice, activists began to organize what would be support, coordinating information and media flows, and the most incredible action that I have ever seen in my life. taking direct action. On the evening of July 29, I put my four-year-old kid So, when Obama said, "Yes, you can!" to Shells plan to bed and drowsily perused social media before passing to drill in the Arctic (immediately after the US gained out. Several of my friends were at Cathedral Park, all the leadership over the Arctic Council), an ad hoc coalition of way in the St. Johns neighborhood just south of the con­ Rising Tide, 350.org, Backbone Campaign, Greenpeace, fluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. "Come and other groups rallied together under the banner of spend the night with us in the park," they beckoned. SHell NO!. At the time, the Polar Pioneer, one of Shell's "The Shell icebreaker is docked, and we don't know when drilling rigs destined for the Arctic, was docked in Seattle, it will be leaving for the Arctic." but there was so much support for the campaign that the When I awoke, the buzz was alive all over the Seattle City Council handed Shell a notice of shoreline mainstream and alternative media: Thirteen Greenpeace violation, demanding that they leave or risk incurring climbers had rappelled off of the St. Johns Bridge at a daily penalty. Although the penalty was only a few precisely 2:45 AM, where they remained all morning. They hundred dollars per day—nothing to a multinational had supplies to last them for days. After dropping my kid like Shell—it showed that the city of Seattle stood in off at preschool, I hopped on my bike and pedaled 10 resistance to the oligarchic plot. miles to the bridge to see what was up. By May 16, a- serious kayak presence had been When I arrived on that cloudless morning, I saw with established in Seattle. Just eleven days later, 700 my own eyes the amazing spectacle of a baker's dozen ac­ demonstrators blockaded the road to Port of Seattle's tivists suspended from the tallest bridge in Portland. Terminal 5 for five hours. Actions continued apace, The grandeur of the bridge and the courage of the with former mayors and City Council members taking climbers on such a glorious, clear morning made a part in the kayak protests. Councilor Mike O'Brien was tremendous impression on all the onlookers, many of among those arrested for civil disobedience. At 4:00 AM whom seemed to have stumbled upon the sight during on June 16, when the Polar Pioneer was about to leave, their morning walk, and would not have necessarily hundreds of kayaks launched into the Puget Sound. This supported the action without such a marvelous spectacle. writer remained in Portland to take care of his son as When the climbers unfurled their long yellow and red comrades hustled up 1-5 to participate in the blockade, flags, which flapped at full extension over the river, a and we received news at the end of June that the Polar sense of common wonder seemed to penetrate even the Pioneer had finally broken through the blockade that had most cynical, bourgeois park flaneur. successfully kept the ship in port for weeks. It was sad, "As climbers hanging between Shell and the equipment but the incredible efforts by all involved will never be it needed to drill in the Arctic, we had overwhelming overlooked and cannot be underestimated. global support, and one reason is because people do not want corporations driving us into climate catastrophe," THE FENNICA GETS BUSTED Greenpeace climber and Everglades Earth First! organizer As the Polar Pioneer landed in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, Ruddy Turnstone told me after descending from her Shell's icebreaker, the Fennica, suffered a setback—a three- perch. "The laws that govern humans and corporations foot gash in its hull caused by an unidentified object. The do not follow the laws of nature, and it is critical that we Fennica is a unique icebreaker in that it holds a capping take direct action in every way possible to stop Shell and stack designed to fit over a damaged well in an emergency, other ecocidal corporations." and carries equipment set to be deployed in case of a spill. I told the Greenpeace "frontline team" that I work Shell's government-approved exploration plan dictates that with the Earth First! Newswire, and asked how I could the Fennica will help keep icebergs at bay, and a separate help. One of them quickly replied, "You could join oil spill response plan says it would be put to use in an Greenpeace!" I chuckled, and told them I didn't have fif­ emergency, even if the capping stack is not required. teen dollars per month that I could give for the cause, but I ® I I could volunteer in the moment. They pointed me in the direction of the kayaks, and then huddled for a strategy session. MAY 12—TRIPOD BLOCKS SHELL'S OPERATIONS JOINING THE EFFORT Days after shipping company Foss After ambling down the shoreline with a newfound friend, we soon Maritime announced that they intended found ourselves standing under a small tarp canopy, discussing the to defy Seattle's Mayor and illegally host volunteer situation. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my friend Kate Shell's Arctic drilling fleet, Seattle activists and went over to exchange pleasantries. Suddenly, a car drove up; blockaded Shell's Seattle fuel transfer the support people were running out of food and water, and needed station by erecting a tripod. help soon. I laughed. "I thought they had enough supplies for days." Kate responded that the climbers did, but the support people didn't. MAY 16-100 KAYAKS SAY SHELL NO! IN The problem was that the police had closed the bridge to pedestrian SEATTLE traffic, so someone needed to make a car run soon. Environmental activists launched kayaks In a matter of minutes, we were on the road finding our way to and boats in Elliott Bay to protest Shell's the bridge to bring water, lemonade, and food. However, the bridge Arctic oil drilling rig. Kayaks and other was swarming with cop cars, and we didn't want to pull over to chat. boats made their way to a drill rig called We passed the situation on the bridge, turned around, and, like a pro, the Polar Pioneer as police and the Coast Kate slowed the car down to a crawl while I called out to a support Guard looked on. The "kayaktivists" want person, "Hey, you want some water and stuff?" to make their message clear: The rig isn't "Yes!" replied a glowing woman, turning from her sitting position welcome and Shell Oil has no business at the edge of the bridge. drilling in the Arctic. "Here," I replied, stretching my arms out as far as they could go. She extended her entire body backwards, and our hands still couldn't MAY 22—TWO ACTIVISTS LOCK DOWN TO quite meet as the car slowly rolled on. In desperation, I tossed the SHELL BARGE IN WA heavy gallon of water and box of food to her, and, as if by magic, she Bellingham Rising Tide members board­ caught the supplies perfectly without the slightest fumble. "Thank ed and locked down to the anchor chain of you," she said. "I love you! I love you! the Arctic Challenger to prevent its passage We responded by saying we loved her, too, and then Kate acceler­ to the Chuckchi Sea northwest of Alaska ated back into the lane, honking the horn as loudly as possible as we for oil drilling blowout backup. The Coast passed the flashing lights of the cop cars and the people on the bridge. Guard detained a rally of support vessels Kate and I spent the next four hours on the water in a kayak, helping the chained activists. talking to friends about the recent Democracy Rising conference in Athens, unions, autonomism, and stuff. We paddled about a mile JUNE 9—PROTESTERS BLOCKADE to catch a glimpse of the enormous Fennica icebreaker, and a small ALL ENTRANCES TO PORT OF SEATTLE security boat cut us off at about 100 yards, demanding that we TERMINAL 5 maintain a clear safety zone. Kate stalled them while I took photos, The blockade included a pair of Raging but they were unable to say much other than the lines in the script. Grannies locked together using a lockbox, a team locked together and lying down DAY TWO ON THE WATER across an entrance, another sitting with their I had to go home to pick up my son, and Kate had to go to work, arms locked in oil barrels, and one person so she gave me and my bike a ride. The next morning, the news was locked to a car. filled with the incredible story, which I could only watch on lives- tream: The Fennica attempted to pass under the bridge, but turned JUNE 12—RISING TIDE HALTS SHELL around, recognizing it could not pass under the Greenpeace block­ SUPPORT VESSEL IN BELLINGHAM ade, or through the kayaks. Numerous people spent the night in Ca­ Two Bellingham community members thedral Park and responded rapidly to the Fennicas attempt, while climbed and strapped themselves to the the attention drew people to the park in even larger numbers than anchor chain of the American Trader, a the previous day. Shell support vessel in Bellingham, WA. One "When the Fennica faced our blockade of climbers and kayactivists stayed the whole weekend, the other joined and stopped in its tracks, turned back in defeat, it showed that people for a day and overnight. The action was goes," Ruddy told me. followed by a rally at nearby Glass Beach. to the other side of the river. Nothing much changed at the other side; an older man was being harassed by a police officer, and argued back. During the distraction, I witnessed a grappling hook descending from a line on the bridge and pulling up the lines connecting climb­ ers to one another. A scared-looking police climber rap- pelled down from the bridge to cut the lines connecting the Greenpeace climbers, and then promptly re-ascended to the comforts of hard ground. After the operation was concluded, the police an­ nounced that the river had been closed, and that we needed to move to the ramp. Activists responded, saying they had no jurisdiction, since the river belongs to the Again, I hopped on my trusty Fuji Royale, and rode state, not the port manager. But that did not stop the up to the park. Soon I was on the water again, meeting cops from attempting to corral us back to the shore, even new people, swapping stories, and handing out snacks. as the occasional yacht cruised up and down the river. I Conversations went on about climbing, gear, kayaks, and was forced, with a number of others, back to the other travel. I found out that a court had ruled in Shell's favor side of the river, but then managed to slink into a larger to fine Greenpeace $2,500 per hour, and learned also that group. I had my back to the police boats, talking to my the Mayor of supposedly eco-friendly Portland, Charlie friends, but was on the line closest to the police. "Sir, if Hales, was in full support of the Shell trip to the Arctic— you do not move, we will arrest you," the speaker system all the while talking out of both sides of his mouth about told me. the Popes revolutionary talk on climate change. Others I continued to paddle down the turgid, algae-filled joined the conversations or passed by; we told jokes, and Willamette when an activist to my left barked, "Sir, if you chatted about squats we had lived in or passed through, do not move, they will arrest you!" Usually activists don't people we knew, and times when we had experienced talk like that (or call me sir), so I took it more seriously. close encounters with the police. Apparently, the police had their pole out, and were within I was debating going back home and getting inches of hooking in my kayak, but I made my escape. ready for work when police speedboats jetted into My friend told me, "If you can keep by the side of the swarm of kayaks, recklessly spreading wakes and the bridge, and float downstream some more, you might intimidating people on the water in what appeared be able to break through their cordon." This is precisely to be a coordinated operation between the US Coast what I did, and it worked; kayaks slowly drifted out of Guard and three different Sheriffs' departments. The the seam, and reassembled behind the police. Coast Guard boats were probably the most reckless, while the police personal watercrafts and speedboats RISING TIDE THROWS DOWN acted menacingly. It was 3:00 pm, high time to call out I cant say how relieved I was to still be in the water, and from work. "Hi, I won't be coming in today, because I'm then a fellow activist from Bellingham paddled past me, currently surrounded by cops." saying, Did you hear the good news?" "Oh, okay," my manager, Becca, replied. "Be safe "What?" out there." Rising Tide locked down to the bridge behind us. The police were clearly bullying people, acting They can't raise it." irresponsibly, and flexing their motorized muscles in Taking up my paddle again, I kayaked about half a front of all our little kayaks. mile down to the rail bridge between the Fennica and A larger sheriffs vessel appeared with somewhere the St. Johns blockade. When I got there, I saw about around 10 male cops on board wearing black uniforms, six to ten police officers walking across the bridge. A few and one blonde woman in a bright red swimsuit. The ves­ of them carried large toolboxes, one had gigantic bolt sel established a " 100-foot safety zone" around itself, so cutters, and another had a four-foot-long instrument anyone could be arrested at any time as it cruised slowly that looked like a pole. They were only there for some around the river invading everyone's space. thirty minutes before the U-lock was cut, and the Rising Our group got pushed to one side of the bridge, and a Tider, Jonah Majure, was extracted. Ail told, however, the few friends of mine asked me to bring some people over ship had been held up for two hours by that single effort. 18 I Jonah later compared the extraction device to a light saber that cut through the lock. With the police coming to greet me, and the Fennica on its way, I returned to the spot where the blockade was taking place. All the kayakers had broken through the cordon, and floated directly in front of the 317-foot-long icebreaker. With a hull 83 feet wide, the Fennica JUNE 15—SHELL NO! PROTESTORS BLOCK weighs nearly 8,000 tons, and cuts down 41 feet into the water. Anyone ARCTIC DRILLING RIG FROM LEAVING hit by it could easily have been sucked under the river to their deaths. SEATTLE At this point, the police were crazy with adrenaline. I witnessed Greenpeace "kayaktivists" paddled out them ramming kayaks, ejecting kayakers into the water, and at one to stop the Polar Pioneer at around 4:00 AM point a speedboat ran over a kayak completely. After the events had local time with 40 to 50 supporters in kayaks taken place, I saw a video of one kayaker who had been rammed and and canoes lined up behind the blockade. At displaced from their kayak just yards away from the Fennica only to least eleven protesters were arrested. disappear under the water. The activist was pulled out by the police and detained, but the person who took the footage told me, "We JULY 25—FLOTILLA PROTESTS ARCTIC ICE thought they were dead." BREAKER IN PORTLAND Kayakers who were detained were forced to lie face-down in the One hundred kayakers yelling "Shell police boats as the cops continued their brutal work, pushing kayaks no!" took to the water in an attempt to draw out of the way while the Fennica maintained a steady clip. The scene attention to the fact that Shell's ship, the was terrible; the waters, darkened by the shadow of the beast, were Fennica, was docked in Portland. When the littered with abandoned kayaks tossed about in the large wake of the flotilla reached the Fennica, the protesters hulking icebreaker. The whirlpool of death and destruction that lay unfurled banners that read "Climate Justice" directly in front of the menace did not deter people on the banks of and "You Shell Not Pass." the river from jumping in without a vessel to put their bodies in the way of the Fennica. JULY 30—ACTIVISTS HANG FROM PORTLAND BRIDGE TO BLOCK SHELL'S THE DESCENT ARCTIC VESSEL When the Fennica pushed its way through the blockade where the Thirteen climbers hung from St. Johns police climber had cut the line, I, as well as everyone else I had the Bridge to stop the Fennica from leaving for privilege of spending the day with, probably felt sad and ashamed. the Arctic. Dozens of kayaks and canoes But we were greeted with a tremendous rally from the hundreds of pinched the river channel just in front of the people who had gathered to support the cause. suspended protesters, each linked with arcing I am not sure how many people were arrested or detained—I ropes between them and with long colorful know of two arrests for sure, but the legal support is still working on streamers trailing behind in the morning wind. the issue. After the action, many of us rallied around the lines of the The blockade lasted 40 hours. climbers as they descended, providing a buffer between them and the police who waited in the water with the fire department. Most, if not JULY 31—PORTLAND RISING TIDE ACTIVIST all of them, left without being arrested. LOCKS DOWN TO STOP SHELL ICEBREAKER Ruddy told me, "The resistance against Shell is a decades- The climate justice activist locked himself long fight. From the deaths in Nigeria to the native families it has by the neck to a Burlington Northern rail negatively impacted,I was thankful to add a page to the history books bridge in NE Portland to prevent the Fennica in the fight against Shell, and hoped that putting my body on the from leaving. The bridge represents a choke line honored those whom Shell has killed, harmed, and impacted— point in the route because it must raise in or­ human and non-human." der for the ship to pass. After a couple hours I do believe that the global struggle to overcome this terrible sit­ the lock was cut and the lockdowner was uation of brutality and horror will prevail. The Leviathan must be removed and arrested. struck down. The fate of the world depends on it.^C Sasha is a co-founding moderator of the EF! Newswire and an activist with Portland-based forest defense group Bark.