Commentary: Climate Change Isn’t Fictional

Time running out on our ability to preserve a livable world.

Is it just me, or has it been a little warm around here lately? Or warmer earlier? The early and unusually mild spring here in Wisconsin may be nature’s way of reminding us that the clock is ticking on climate change and we need to take action before it’s too late.

While stationed in Kangerlussuac, Greenland, 50 years ago, I noted my airbase was 4 miles west of the Russell Glacier grinding down from the ice cap. Looking at today’s satellite images, this glacier has retreated to the east toward the ice cap, easily noted from the satellite. The retreat averages 1,000 feet per year, producing a torrent of melt water that flows down the fjord and to the sea.

Glacial retreat is one indicator that global warming is taking its toll. Today, in more populated areas of the earth, disappearing glaciers are responsible for drought, loss of irrigation water and less drinking water. As much as 54 cubic miles of ice disappear each year in Antarctica, 24 cubic miles per year in Greenland. As this ice melts, ocean levels rise and coastal regions flood.

Centuries of rising CO2 levels and other greenhouse gases have raised the Earth thermostat. Irish scientist John Tyndall discovered CO2’s threat as a heat trapping greenhouse gas in the mid-19th century. In the 1950s, Dr. Charles Keeling began meticulous measurement of atmospheric CO2 levels at Mt. Muana Loa Observatory in Hawaii. Keeling and his son, Ralph, documented the steady buildup of CO2, which stood at 315 parts per million (ppm) worldwide when they started and is now 392 ppm.

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Late May Report

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By Ben Cutbank, Coordinator of Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin

The last few months have seen Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin engaging in much planning, organizing, and participating in important events.

In late March, members of DGR Wisconsin participating in the broader movement’s international members’ conference, which we helped to host in the southeastern part of Wisconsin. Roughly 30 comrades from around the world came to participate in discussions, exercises, and time for strengthening our bonds. Discussed were such important topics as leadership, community, public speaking, current organizing within the movement and visioning for the future.

One member of our group, Val, had the chance to put the public speaking training in action by speaking about aboveground environmental direct action at an event called “Occupy Spring and Beyond” Teach-in, held in Madison, WI. A video of that speech can be viewed here.

Already feeling inspired from time spent with comrades at the conference, we were extremely honored to host writer and DGR Advisory Board member Derrick Jensen in Madison, WI for a speech on civilization and resistance. A video clip of Derrick reading his piece about the ‘man box’ can be viewed here. After his speech, a member of DGR Wisconsin took the stage to give a brief but concise introduction to the Deep Green Resistance movement. It was clear that others who attended this event were also inspired, as we have been contacted by a number of people about getting involved.

In early May, DGR Wisconsin sponsored a “revolutionary music show,” featuring the activist-musician, Dustin and the Furniture, among others. In between the brilliant and political songs, I had the opportunity to recite a piece I recently wrote called “The Story of a River,” which was well received by the audience.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Chicago, IL on May 20th, to demonstrate against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, as it held a meeting to further plot exploitation of human communities and plundering of landbases the world over. Many inspiring revolutionaries and activist groups participated, including an environmental contingent that members of Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin plugged into, and that united on the basic understanding that the planet must take priority over the profits of the rich. Many thanks to members of the Chicago DGR Action Group, who hosted and worked with us. The photos included here were taken at the demonstration.

Currently, the main project of DGR Wisconsin, and several other organizers within the movement, is planning for an upcoming action in solidarity with the Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation against the exploitation of Native Americans by liquor-sellers. The campaign specific to this action is a battle for the town of White Clay, Nebraska, which has 4 liquors stores situated on the outskirts of Pine Ridge, despite it’s human population of under 20. Upon being invited to join the struggle, members of DGR Wisconsin are trying to raise support for the action in the forms of people and funds. As part of this, we are hosting a film screening of “The Battle for Whiteclay” in Milwaukee, WI, coming up in early June.

As always, the resistance needs you, and our group has recently expanded it’s options for getting involved, so please consider joining us in our fight for the future.

‘Frac sand’ sediment spills into St. Croix River

DNR Backed Off Violations

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from http://www.mkeriverkeeper.org/

May 10, 2012

It appears influence peddling is alive and well in Wisconsin. See the article below about one of the Governor Walker’s top appointed officials at the WDNR stepping in to let a polluter off the hook for over $37,000 in fines.

Governor Walker has praised his appointees’ approach, stating that, “increasing compliance and decreasing the number of… violations is a good thing for Wisconsin’s valuable natural resources…[and] our economy…”

Milwaukee Riverkeeper disagrees, believing if we are to deter future violations (a good thing even according to Governor Walker), then penalties must be sufficiently large to punish the polluter. For more information see the article below.

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“The Battle for Whiteclay” Film Screening, fundraiser for upcoming action (6/2)

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Poster: distribute

Join Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin at the Peace Action Center on Saturday, June 2nd for a film screening of The Battle for Whiteclay and a presentation about an upcoming action in solidarity with Lakota peoples against the ongoing genocide facing Native Americans. The event will start at 5:00 PM at 1001 E. Keefe Ave. in Milwaukee, WI.

The State of Nebraska’s refusal to halt alcohol sales to the dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from its border town of Whiteclay gets an in-depth look in this new documentary about a century-old problem. Four off-sale liquor stores in this 14-person hamlet sell over 12,000 cans of beer a day to an Indigenous clientele with virtually no legal place to drink it. Struggling with crippling poverty and epidemic alcohol abuse that afflicts 4 out of 5 families, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has for decades banned the sale and possession of alcohol on their reservation.

On June 9th, 2012, Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation will march for justice against the genocide committed by the opportunistic alcohol dealers in White Clay. A caravan will be leaving from Wisconsin on June 7th to join them, and other members of Deep Green Resistance, in the struggle. To help make this action successful, we are calling for allies willing to come to the action in solidarity, or support the effort materially. If this speaks to you, please attend this event to learn more about the battle for Whiteclay and how you can help in this fight for justice.

Learn more by watching this short news clip via http://battleforwhiteclay.org/:

The Story of a River

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By: Ben Cutbank

The words that make up this piece were given to me by the Milwaukee River.

The Milwaukee River runs through the place where I live. Really, it is the place where I live, or at least part of it. This place would not be what it is without the river.

On a warm, sunny day the river will call to me in a bodily way to come into the water, or at least to feel it with my hands or feet. I’m sure this relationship between river and human, river and bird, river and insect, is older and more sacred than I can imagine.

When the river calls to me in this way, I want so badly to get in. I want to spend all of the warm and sunny days heeding this call, and the other days watching from the river’s side, listening and learning.

What breaks my heart is that I will not enter this river and let its waters caress my body, at least not today or any time soon, because its waters are full of poison.

Less than ten years ago, my friends and I would swim in the river on every warm and sunny day. Then, a number of them started experiencing rashes on their skin or felt sick from accidentally letting some of the river water into their mouth. We stopped swimming in the river. The poison dumped or seeped into the river continues to build, and the river continues to be killed, while we essentially stand aside and mourn.

I’m tired of mourning and I’m tired of hearing that this destruction is natural, inevitable, “just the way things are.”

What made clear in my own life that this river was changing for the worse, that it was being killed, was when I no longer wanted to let its waters touch my body. While obviously bad in itself, there’s a larger picture here that must be looked at.

There are living beings—including the river itself—whose lives depend on this river. When the river dies, so to do the fish, bugs, birds, and other animals who drink and eat from the river, who call the river home. Thus, each year that there are more and more pollutants from agricultural run-off in the river, there are less and less songbirds and frogs.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans on this continent, there were human beings who lived here that loved the Milwaukee River. They were indigenous peoples called the Menominee, Potawatomi, and Fox, among other tribes. The lives of these human beings were firmly intertwined with the life of the river. These human beings ate and drank from the river, prayed to the river, and listened to the river’s wisdom.

Those sustainable human cultures were victims—and continue to be victims—of large-scale murder—genocide—at the hands of white settlers. The same people who committed these atrocities against the indigenous humans are now killing the river. Both the river and the human beings who love it—and know how to live sustainability with it—are targets of the dominant culture, industrial civilization. In order to control, exploit, and pollute the river, the humans who depend on it for sustenance must also be displaced or eradicated. We can see how this happened here at home in the case of the Milwaukee River, but we must see further that this has happened everywhere and is the story of civilization.

Currently, every stream in the United States is contaminated with carcinogens. 99% of native prairies have been destroyed. 99% of old growth forests are gone. 90% of the large fish in the oceans are gone. It’s estimated that unless there is a dramatic shift in course, global warming will become irreversible in around 5 years, eventually rendering all life on this planet doomed.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The destruction can be stopped and we must stop it. Clearly, the river, the land, indigenous humans, and so much more life, are the victims of an abusive system. Like all perpetrators, the way to stop them is to aim at the root of the problem and remove or block their ability to abuse. Basically, the goal is to return the circumstances to the way they were before the abuse started, with the victims free and safe. The abuse of civilization has been a campaign of 10,000 years, so obviously there is much to be done to stop it. But, what choice do we have other than to start now and try?

Who or what do you love? Surely you love something or you wouldn’t be here. What would you do to defend your beloved?

I love the Milwaukee River. I want to see this river come back to life, year after year regaining health. I want to see no more poison seeping into the river, no more dams suffocating it, no more destruction of any kind. I want to see all of that destruction reversed and those who would commit abuse stopped and held accountable for their crimes against life.

I love the Milwaukee River and I love life. I will do whatever is necessary to defend the living, before the planet is killed entirely. Will you join me?

DGR Wisconsin Joins Battle Against Whiteclay, Call for Support

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On June 9^th, the Oglala Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation will march for justice against the genocide of opportunist alcohol dealers in the border town of Whiteclay, Nebraska. A caravan will be leaving from Wisconsin on June 7^th to join them, and other members of Deep Green Resistance, in the struggle. To help make this action successful, we are calling for allies willing to come to the action in solidarity, or support the effort materially. If this speaks to you, and you want to help, please get in touch, or visit here to donate monetarily.

Brief History of Whiteclay

Whiteclay is an unincorporated village with a population of 14 people in northwest Nebraska. The town sits on the border of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota (also known as the Oglala Sioux Tribe). Whiteclay lies on disputed land, merely 200 feet from the official reservation border and less than 3 miles from the center of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the largest town on the reservation. Sale and possession of alcoholic beverages on the Pine Ridge is prohibited under tribal law. Except for a brief experiment with on-reservation liquor sales in the early 1970s, this prohibition has been in effect since the reservation lands were created. Whiteclay has four off-sale beer stores licensed by the State of Nebraska which sell the equivalent of 4.5 million 12-ounce cans of beer annually (12,500 cans per day), mostly to the Oglalas living on Pine Ridge. These retailers routinely violate Nebraska liquor law by selling beer to minors and intoxicated persons, knowingly selling to bootleggers who resell the beer on the reservation, permitting on-premise consumption of beer in violation of restrictions placed on off-sale-only licenses, and exchanging beer for sexual favors. The vast majority of those who purchase beer in Whiteclay have in fact no legal place to consume it, since possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the Pine Ridge Reservation remain illegal under tribal law. Many people have died in the streets due to exposure, as the state of Nebraska fails to uphold state law or police Whiteclay. As long as the liquor stores in Whiteclay remains in business, the genocide of the Oglala Lakota people will continue.

In 1999 two Lakota men were brutally murdered in Whiteclay. This sparked a series of marches and rallies led by various activist groups, including members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Nebraskans for Peace, demanding that Nebraska revoke the liquor licenses of Whiteclay’s stores and increase law enforcement in the area. Tribal activists of the Strong Heart Warrior Society have conducted annual blockades since 1999, trying to intercept alcohol and drugs being brought into the reservation. In June 2006 tribal activists protested beer sales by blockading the road from Pine Ridge to Whiteclay and confiscating beer bought in Whiteclay. These activists hoped to prevent bootlegging and illegal sales on the reservation. This action in June will be a continuation of these efforts, and will potentially be an attempt to block both sides of town. Help us send the message: “No more liquor in Whiteclay!”

The Action

We will leave Wisconsin on June 7^th, camp out in Jefferson, SD with an organizer from DGR Great Plains. On June 8^th, we will rendezvous with other allies at the Wounded Knee Museum in Pine Ridge, SD, at 3:00pm, and camp out that night. The next morning, we will gather at Billy Mills Hall in the town of Pine Ridge, SD at 11:00am and begin the march to Whiteclay, NE at 12:00pm noon.

DGR Wisconsin is inviting all allies in the state, and beyond, to join us in the caravan or help us to raise funds for food and gas. Your solidarity and support are appreciated.

To learn more or ask questions, please contact Ben Cutbank by e-mail or phone: (262) 208-5347

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Grassroutes Caravan Calls for Bicyclists, Welcomes DGR

Revolutionary Music Show with Dustin and the Furniture and more (5/7)

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Poster: distribute.

Join Deep Green Resistance Wisconsin for a revolutionary music show event on Monday, May 7th, 2012, beginning at 7:00pm, at the Candlelight Collective in West Bend, WI, located at 258 N. Main St. (Lower).

The event will include musical acts by: Dustin and the Furniture, Y-Lime, and Bonesaw.

Dustin and the Furniture, based in Tennessee, plays folk music inspired by walks in the woods and relationship with nonhuman plant and animal neighbors. Dustin lyrically embraces resistance to industrial civilization and agriculture, while calling for a serious transformation to a sane and sustainable way of living. Dustin and Furniture is currently traveling around the U.S. on a tour, sowing the seeds of revolution one music show at a time.

Here is a video of Dustin and the Furniture playing, “It’s Up To You”:

Sand mining for fracking industry devastating Wisconsin farms and woodlands

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from http://www.ecowatch.org/

By Pilar Gerasimo

The recent boom in hydrofracking for natural gas and oil has resulted in a little-reported side boom—a sand-rush in western Wisconsin and southeastern Minnesota, where we just happen to have the nation’s

richest, most accessible supply of the high-quality silica sand required for fracking operations.
Image by Jim Tittle

Unfortunately, most of that silica sand lies beneath our beautiful wooded hills and fertile farmland, and within agricultural and residential communities, all of which are now being ripped apart by sand mines interests eager to get at the riches below. This open pit mining is, in many respects, similar to the mountaintop removal going on in Appalachian coal country—except that here, it’s hilltop and farm field removal. The net effect on our landscape, natural resources and communities is quickly becoming devastating. In the past few months, the sand rush has come to my own rural neighborhood in Dunn County, Wisconsin, which is about an hour east of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Like many residents in Dunn County, I’m concerned about the speed and intensity with which frac-sand mining interests are moving into our area. The proposals and applications for mines and related infrastructure are coming in so fast (our region has seen dozens just in the past few months), most small towns have been totally overwhelmed. Organizations trying to map and report all the activity literally cannot keep up with the incoming data.

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