COP-16 may have ended in Cancun last week, but our work is far from over.  We will continue to take actions in the U.S. and everywhere to fight for an end to destructive practices, and build up local community solutions.

Plug in now to the Day of Action to End Extraction April 20, 2011, and in the mean time, check out this last set of videos and posts from our action teams in Cancun:

Tom Goldtooth from Indigenous Environmental Network breaks down his analysis of what got accomplished (or NOT) at the COP-16 talks:

Video of Action inside the U.N.:

Links from our friend Stormy from www.mobilebroadcastnews.com:

COP16: The End of Negotiations – Youth Delegations Ejected from COP16

Soham Baba, Lessons in Manipulating the Indigenous – COP16

World Bank President @ COP16

COP16: Perspective from The Streets

Starting next week all eyes will turn towards Mexico as the UNFCCC gathers in Cancun to begin another round of Climate Negotiations, the COP-16. Thousands will travel to Cancun by land, air and sea to influence the international negotiations where forests, water, and Indigenous Rights (among others) are commodified and waged like poker chips on the global card table.

Allied movements from the Global South and North are coming to the United Nations this year with our own People’s Agreement towards an ecologically just future that embodies not just the rights of humans, but the rights of Mother Earth and all her creations.

Last year at COP15 in Copenhagen, Ruckus took a stand with our friends from the Indigenous Environmental Network to create actions that brought voices of Indigenous Peoples to the forefront of world media and posed direct challenges to our world leaders.

This year in Cancun we stand ready to link arms with our friends again to challenge destructive policies like REDD (so-called “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation”), which are being pushed down our throats as false solutions to climate change, but in actuality cause even more problems while doing nothing to curb climate change. (Want to know more about why REDD is a false solution? Read up here).

I landed in Cancun this morning, and the rest of our Ruckus Action Team is arriving over the next few days to hit the ground running prepping for actions over the next two weeks of COP-16 negotiations.  Don’t miss out on the action! Stay virtually connected throughout the negotiations and peoples mobilization by following us on Facebook and Twitter and here on our blog for all the latest action updates from COP-16.

And while some of us are in Cancun, Ruckus is also joining our allies at home in the U.S. to respond to La Via Campesina’s call for actions this Dec 7th to create ‘thousands of Cancuns’. We encourage YOU to hit the streets with your neighbors this December 7th and practice bold acts of resilience and community sustainability.

Remember, actions speak louder than words, and they start at home!  Local Organizing Cools the Planet!

In Solidarity from Cancun,
Sharon 

This morning my email inbox was full of advocacy groups commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. As the ecological systems that support life are reaching their brink, there is certainly a good reason to use this opportunity to shine a spotlight on a range of issues and challenges. But activist organizations aren’t alone in commemorating today.

Today I was struck even more by corporations trying to capitalize on Earth Day to green their images. As Becky Tarbotton observed in the Huffington Post, the New York Times summarized the situation well: “So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins ‘to challenge corporate and government leaders’… Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry.”

Against this backdrop, World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba today is a breath of fresh air.

The Indigenous Environmental Network celebrated today by explaining that “this morning Bolivian President Evo Morales was joined by representatives of 90 governments and several Heads of State to receive the findings of the conference on topics such as a Climate Tribunal, Climate Debt, just finance for mitigation and adaptation, agriculture, and forests. The working group on forests held one of the more hotly contested negotiations of the summit, but with the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, a consensus was reached to reject REDD and call for wide-scale grassroots reforestation programs.”

Jason Negrón-Gonzales of Movement Generation elaborated on how they do Earth Day in Cochabamba: “…from now I’ll be talking to my children and 2010 will be remembered as the year that Earth Day took on new meaning. It will be the year that humanity turned a corner in our relationship to Mother Earth and began struggling along a new course…more than politics, the conference in Cochabamba brought to the table humanity’s relationship with Pachamama. This question, raised most pointedly by the Indigenous communities present, was reflected in the project of creating a declaration of Mother Earth Rights, but also went way beyond it. Can we really reach a sustainable relationship with the Earth unless we stop looking at it as something to be conquered or fixed that is outside of us? How would it change our lives and our struggles if we thought, as Leonardo Boff of Brazil said, ‘Todo lo que existe merece existir, y todo lo que vive merece vivir (Everything that exists deserves to exist, and everything that lives deserves to live)’? Or if we understood the Earth as a living thing that we are a part of and that, ‘La vida es un momento de la tierra, y la vida humana un momento de la vida (Life is a moment of the earth, and the human life is a moment of life)’?”

(more…)

Hey folks, check this call out from the folks in the Olympic Resistance Network. Get involved…any way you can!

CONVERGENCE FEB 2010

ALL OUT AGAINST THE 2010 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES! The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver & Whistler, on unceded Indigenous land, from February 12-28 2010. We call on all anti-capitalist, Indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice, environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, and anti colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We are organizing towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games. * BASIC SCHEDULE: The basic plan thus far is: – Conference and People’s Summit on Wed Feb 10- Thurs Feb 11 – Fri Feb 12: Take Back Our City! “Welcome” the 2010 Olympic Torch with Free Games, Free Speech, and Free Food! Beginning with a festival at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 3 pm, followed by a parade and protest to BC Place Stadium. Details, including childcare arrangements, at: http://2010welcoming.wordpress.com/

- Autonomous days of action on Sat Feb 13 and Mon Feb 15 including

anti-corporate actions, rallies to oppose militarization, and more.

- On Sun Feb 14th, we will be standing with the 19th Annual Women’s

Memorial March to honour all the missing and murdered and women in the

DTES (this is not an anti-Olympic protest). Details at:

http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/

We will also be updating our website with additional anti-Olympic events

occurring during the month of February:

http://olympicresistance.net

or

http://no2010.com

* LOGISTICAL INFORMATION:

We are working to coordinate the logistics to host this convergence. For

information on billeting (whether you are in need of billeting or can

provide billeting), travel and border information, legal updates, food and

childcare arrangements, community spaces, welcome package, and more,

please check

http://olympicresistance.net

frequently for updates.

* SUPPORT THE CONVERGENCE AND GET INVOLVED!

1) Sign-up for our low-traffic list (1-2 emails per week) to stay updated

on upcoming events, meetings, and actions. Please email

olympicresistance@riseup.net

and ask to be added to our announcement list.

2) If you are part of another group (artist, activist, community, union,

campus etc) and are planning any kind of activity or event to oppose the

Games during Jan-Feb 2010, please do let us know so we can stay in touch.

3) Host an anti-Olympic educational on your campus or at your next

conference. Or invite a speaker to your next meeting to discuss what your

group can do. We are able to provide educational materials including

films, tshirts, comics, buttons, stickers and more!

4) Get involved in the Olympic Resistance Network or other anti-Olympic

groups in your neighbourhood or campus. The ORN has regular General

Meetings on Sundays as well as many committees.

5) Spread the word about the convergence! Forward this notice to your

contacts, join our facebook group

(

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22399134613&ref=ts

), download

posters and flyers about the convergence from our website and pass them

on!

6) Please donate! Hosting this convergence requires significant funds,

including legal defence funds. You can donate securely through PayPal on

our website:

http://olympicresistance.net/content/send-us-money

or cheques

can be made out to Olympic Resistance Network and mailed to ORN, 6 – 1857

Kitchener St, Vancouver, BC, V5L 2W5. Email

ornfundraise@riseup.net

to

arrange direct deposits or other queries.

* WHY OPPOSE THE GAMES:

The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land. Far

from being simply about sport, the history of the Olympics is one rooted

in displacement, corporate greed, and repression. As Olympic promoters and

sponsors seek to present their sanitized corporate brand image to the

world, the real impacts of the Games are apparent to everyone:

* Expansion of sport tourism on Indigenous lands

* Increasing homelessness across the province and especially in

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

* Misdirected public spending and debt totaling $6 billion while funding

for the arts, educations, and health care are suffering cutbacks

* Corporate bailouts and corporate profits for companies with some of the

worst social and environmental records.

* Threats to basic civil liberties and free speech

* Union-busting and vulnerable working conditions for migrant labour

* Unprecedented destruction of the environment

* Unparalleled $1 billion police and security spending that is turning our

city into a militarized zone.

Watch: Eight Reasons to Oppose the 2010 Winter Olympics:

http://vimeo.com/4872922

Congratulations to all our comrades in Black Mesa and the many many supporters who have worked on this issue throughout the year.

repost:

Black Mesa Wins! Peabody’s Coal Mining Permit Revoked

Hey y’all, Sharon here. This is my attempt at a blog post summarizing what Ruckus was up to in Copenhagen this month. There was A LOT happening in a short time. If you want stories, well you’ll just have to come to a Ruckus camp…

A few months ago, the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) began a conversation with us about providing action support for their delegation to Copenhagen. The delegation included representatives from Indigenous Nations across North America. Myself, and Ruckus board member Heather Milton Lightening staffed the Indigenous support team.

Based on conversations with IEN, we arrived in Copenhagen with a few goals:

* to highlight and escalate negotiations in ways that support Indigenous vision and demands

* ensure Indigenous leadership in actions and mobilizations that could advance a climate and ecological justice agenda

* train IEN staff and allies to form their own action teams and execute their own direct actions in furthering their campaign work

We also came in with the goal of coordinating 4 actions in Copenhagen during the span of COP15 (we actually pulled off 5): a framing action to set the message “Respect Indigenous Rights”; an action calling out the US and its whacked out energy policy; an action around the Canadian Tar Sands; and an action around REDD’s (read IEN’s booklet on REDD if you want to know what it is and its impacts).  In addition we were looking to ensure Indigenous voice and leadership within other civil society actions.

A word about how we work: we took our direction from IEN and by extension, the Indigenous Caucus (recognized as stakeholders by the UN).  While direct action was being used as a tool to escalate IEN’s campaigns, the Indigenous People’s Power Project (IP3) was also brought along as an offering to the caucus to support actions the caucus wanted to engage in as a body. We briefed the caucus on an almost daily basis about IEN-initiated, and civil society actions that were taking place where Indigenous participation was strategic. We took our cues from the decisions made during those briefings. Its important to note that most of the members of the Indigenous Caucus are no strangers to direct action on their home turf, having to regularly intervene on threats to their homelands. That said, embracing direct action as a strategy within the UN was stepping into new territory for the caucus.

Indigenous Initiated Actions:

Framing Action: Respect Indigenous Peoples Rights

This action took place on the second day of COP 15.  A simple action was staged in the main hallway of the UN complex otherwise known as the Bella Center. We were there to elevate the voices of the Indigenous Peoples, who are recognized stakeholders in the UN process, and to make our presence known to the negotiators roaming the hallways, wheeling and dealing. We wanted to frame the action in such a way that was dignified, respectful of where we all come from, but that said we were here and we meant business.

You have to be permitted to do an action inside the UN and we were testing the waters with UN security to see where they were drawing their lines. Here’s how our permit read:

“This is a cleansing ceremony for conference party leaders to cleanse their minds & spirits; for clarity, compassion, strength & perseverance in coming out of the COP negotiations with a binding commitment to Save Mother Earth”

We whipped up 2 banners over night. It would be the first of many late night banner painting sessions:

We assembled with our banners, our prayers, and our message.

Check out this interview with Ben Powless, Mohawk from Six Nations Canada and one time Ruckus trainee: youtube

On December 10th, day 4 of COP 15, International Human Rights Day, and the day Barack Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize, Indigenous Peoples stepped out with something to say. We were calling out the US and its energy policies which escalate ecological devastation and cultural genocide not only for Indigenous People in the United States but also globally.

More late night banner fun with good results:

A scroll with a letter to Obama was prepared and delivered to a representative from the US Embassy. Democracy Now told the story pretty well.

And check out Faith Gemmil and Wahleah Johns on the NBC nightly news:

As usual, our press team kicked out some jammin media of our own: IEN Pitch Engine and a video of our own

And if you’re curious, here’s how the scroll read:

Dear Ambassador:

As the United States President Barack Obama accepts his Nobel peace prize today, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, and First Nations Peoples come to Copenhagen to speak out against the United States energy policy that is detrimentally affecting our lands, health and livelihoods. We represent the following Nations: Mathais, Colomb Cree Nation, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Cree, Nakoda, Blackfoot, Ojibwe, Pit River/ Wintu, Neets’aii, Gwich’in Athabascan, Navajo, Mikisew Cree, Dene, Inupiaq, Oneida, Mayan, and Yaqui.

We support a full and effective participation of Indigenous people within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

We support the free, prior and informed consent, including the right to oppose the extraction of fossil fuels by destructive industries.

We call for the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and other international human rights instruments and agreements.

We strongly call for a moratorium on all new exploration for oil, gas, coal and uranium as a first step towards the full phase-out of fossil fuels, without nuclear power, with a just transition to sustainable jobs, energy and environment.

We support vibrant green economies: the U.S. assisting Indigenous communities to help supporting a just transition into a green economy, freeing ourselves from dependence on a carbon-based fossil fuel economy

We support the most stringent and binding emission reduction targets: Carbon emissions for developed countries must be reduced by no less than 40%, preferably 49% below 1990 levels by 2020 and 95% by 2050. We call for national and global actions to stabilize CO2 concentrations below 350 parts per million (ppm) and limiting temperature increases to below 1.5ºc.

We oppose false solutions: These include nuclear energy, large-scale dams, geo-engineering techniques, clean coal technologies, carbon capture and sequestration, bio-fuels, tree plantations, and international market-based mechanisms such as carbon trading and offsets, the Clean Development Mechanisms and Flexible Mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol and forest offsets.

Signed,

Indigenous Peoples of North America

International Human Rights Day: Implement Indigenous Peoples Rights

After the US Embassy we headed back to the Bella Center for another action.  The co-chairs of the caucus proposed a human chain in commemoration of International Human Rights Day. It just so happened that the youth caucus were doing a “rainstorm” action just before ours and a blending of youth and Indigenous people was quite a treat.

Unfortunately UN security wasn’t as excited by this swarm of people as we were. So off we went, around the bella center!

I got a “yellow card” for this action; meaning UN security flipped out on me because we moved our human chain around the Bella Center. It was quite the joke around the action team for the next few days…

Faith Gemmil vs Ken Salazar

The day wasn’t over yet for Faith Gemmil. She heard Ken Salazar, secretary US Department of the Interior, was giving a press briefing. With the help of her new friends over at NBC (see the nightly news link above) she managed to get in and address Ken Salazar. Check out the video that was captured as Faith asked her question.

Rolling out the welcome mat for Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper

This was our much anticipated action of the COP. We had first nations folks in the house from tar sands affected communities, and allies from the UK and Canada were also rolling deep. Together with our friends at Rainforest Action Network we decided to roll out the welcome mat for Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper and pay the Canadian embassy in Copenhagen a visit, just to let them know we were there. We also thought we’d bring him a welcome basket, with some useful things, like treaties, literature on the tar sands, even one of our “Respect Indigenous Rights” placards (translated into Danish for his convenience):

Oh, did I mention more late night banner painting (Heather is a machine!)

Here’s the press release our action media team pulled together. On the way to this action I got a phone call from Danish police, informing me we were not allowed to assemble at the embassy. Unfortunately for them, there were already about 20 people gathered when we got there, dozens more on their way, and we had no intentions of stopping. After all, we were only there to welcome Harper, drop him a gift basket, and let him know there’s always the opportunity to do the right thing.

Smart Meme helped us pull a video together too (in addition to their incredible support during COP15)

Also, around Canada and the UK folks were marking Canada’s oily footprint in their home cities. Check out the UK solidarity action.

NO RIGHTS NO REDDS

This was the last day we knew most of us would have access to the UN. It was also the morning after President Evo Morales of Bolivia had arrived in Copenhagen. Bolivia came to the COP with the most aggressive targets of any government. They also came with a message: RIGHTS FOR MOTHER EARTH.

Delegates from Bolivia came to the Indigenous Caucus with a request for support for a welcoming ceremony and action they wanted to do. We thought it would be a good time to pull out our NO RIGHTS NO REDDS!!! Shirts.

This was also the day of the Reclaim Power action, so at this point, it was all about keeping the energy up until our friends marching outside reached the bella center.

Indigenous Participation in civil society actions:

Marching through the streets of Copenhagen

Watch Tom Goldtooth’s rap at the rally at the end of the march.

RECLAIM POWER

In solidarity with our brothers and sisters from Bolivia, we joined them in leading the Reclaim Power march out of the Bella Center to join our comrades on the outside. Here are some of the days highlights

And a  few from outside

EJ Groups at the US Embassy

Well, we didn’t think we’d go to the US Embassy twice in one trip, but we thought it’d be worth it to unite with our friends in the Environmental Justice movement in the US. Oh yeah, we had one more delivery for Obama:

And of course, there’s an awesome video

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS…
We’re already in conversations about COP 16. Help us get there! Donate to Ruckus today…

Canada is one of many governments who have sent “delegates” to Copenhagen to derail the UN climate conference…but Prime Minister Harper and his delegation no longer have stealth on their side. They are leaving a trail of oily Tar Sands wherever they go.

This Monday (Dec. 14) young indigenous organizers from Tar Sands impacted First Nations will lead thousands of allies in an action that is sure to electrify Copenhagen and the world.

They are calling for people of conscience across the Earth to stand with them. Solidarity actions are already planned for: Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and London (with other cities to be added).

We’ve made it easy for anyone to take a unified stance against the Tar Sands. Click here to download your very own Oily Tar Sands Footprint stencils. Then get together with your friends this Monday and take ACTION.

There are SO many banks, oil companies, and elected officials conspiring to commit the world’s greatest climate crime. But here’s a quick list of the dirtiest:

Banks: Canada – RBC, CIBC, BMO.  USA – BoA, CitiBank  Eupore – HSBC, RBS, Barclays
Oil Companies: Shell, Exxon, BP, Total, Chevron, Esso, Conoco, Enbridge,  Syncrude, Suncor
Your local MP’s Office: If the government is your thing.

So pick your favorite bad guy and leave a trail of footprints around their building.

Take Action!!

Sponsored by – Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Council of Canadians, The Ruckus Society, and the Indigenous Peoples’ Power Project (IP3)

Day 4 at COP 15

Hey y’all, Sharon here. I’m not used to blogging, and we are moving a million miles a minute here, but I’ll do my best to give you all the play by play as things go down there

- Action at US Embassy this morning in Copenhagen: Obama recieved his peace prize today but there is no peace in our land while our people suffer at the hands of US Energy policy. This was a woman’s action- organized by Indigenous women across North America (and as far as Central America if you include me), women from Alaska, the Southwest, the Midwest, East Coast and Canada representing many indigenous nations calling out Obama and US Energy Policy. US Energy policy affects Indigenous Peoples not only in North America but globally. There was a delivery of a scroll on behalf of Indigenous Peoples to the Ambassador.   About 50 ppl attended,  We got great media coverage:

Democracy Now!

NBC Nightly News

We’re also using a pitch engine to blast our events- Feel free to check it out- grab video and repost

-Calling out Ken Salazar (Secretary of Interior)- Faith of Red OIL and Wahleah of Black Mesa Water Coalition snuck into his press briefing (with the help of our new friends at nbc!) and Faith hit Salazar with a hard question about new oil and coal development in Alaska and the Southwest. Apparently he got flustered and avoided the question. Go Faith!!! Check out the post about it: Indigenous people raise a voice against more dirty energy There’s also video of Faith’s question

-Respect Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Action in the Halls of the UN- this was a very spontaneous joint action between youth and indigenous peoples on behalf of International Human Rights day and the lack thereof for indigenous people. The Action followed a youth “rainstorm” action and Indigenous Peoples and youth formed a human chain that spontaneously snaked all the way around the Bella Center (UN security was not happy about this one!) People spontaneously joined the snake and I would dare say at one point we were a giant circle in the Bella Center!

-Indigenous Peoples speak out is happening right now at the Klima Forum (the “peoples” alternative forum to COP).  I spoke on an IP panel yesterday talking about IP3 and action.

Photos to come!

Sharon

So we’re day 3 into the climate talks, and the lay of the land is fascinating. Copenhagen is not just expensive when it comes to food and drink – there’s also a steep cost for folks who engage in actions. Fines and deportation are the two pendulums swinging, and we have to plan our actions in a way that makes an impact throughout the entire process. So what are we doing?

We’re bringing it.

Yesterday there was a framing action inside the UN, in the main hallway between the NGO display area, and the climate negotiation space. The message was: Respect Indigenous Rights. Ruckus/IP3 is in Copenhagen to support the Indigenous Environmental Network and thereby the Indigenous People’s caucus, which is a recognized body within the UN, and a powerful participant in the proceedings. Our goal is to highlight and escalate negotiations in ways that support indigenous vision and demands, as well as ensure indigenous leadership in the actions and mobilizations that advance a climate and ecological justice agenda.

In addition to the actions and mass mobilizations we came here to do and support, new action opportunities are arising every day. As shit hits the fan inside the UN halls, delegations from all over the world are in careful strategic processes, trying to determine when, how and if they will have to walk out, and action will raise their voices loud enough to be heard inside the halls of negotiation.

As usual, we’re not trying to be reactionary, or act for the sake of action – we want to act for the sake of movement building and shifting the balance of power and the direction of the planet when it comes to climate.

It’s exciting to be here with so many amazing organizers and organizations – our friends from Smartmeme are here supporting messaging as the situation changes. Our friends from IEN are shaping policy daily – check out this video of them on Democracy Now.

More to come!

Sharon!

At the beginning of October, the media heralded the signing of a draft agreement to remove 4 dams from the Klamath River. Though widely celebrated as a landmark agreement, it seems our friends at Klamath Riverkeeper still have something to say about it. Peep their Press Release below.

Klamath Riverkeeper Press Release | For Immediate Release

Contact: Erica Terence, Klamath Riverkeeper, office: (530) 627-3311, cell: (530)340-5415, erica at klamathriver.org

September 30, 2009

FINAL DAM REMOVAL AGREEMENT MAY BE OUT BUT DAMS ARE STILL IN
Grassroots group to continue watch-dogging dam removal process until Klamath flows free

Orleans, CA–After years of working toward Klamath dam removal, Klamath Riverkeeper and other grassroots river advocates are reacting to the final dam removal agreement package released today with mixed emotions and a strategy to match.

“We support local stakeholders’ efforts to craft an agreement that works for everyone but it remains to be seen whether this agreement will hold water,” added Terence. She noted that while many of Klamath Riverkeeper’s concerns about the viability and environmental impacts of the draft dam removal agreement have been largely addressed in the final version, some have not.

In August, Klamath Riverkeeper released a 9-point list of concerns about the 2008 draft deal the Klamath-based non-profit wanted to see addressed before lending its support to the final dam removal agreement.

“Language in the final Hydropower Agreement has improved on many points of concern to us, but we’re also analyzing some new language in the agreement,” said Terence. Klamath Riverkeeper is particularly concerned about a new clause that would give California, Oregon, the federal government and PacifiCorp the power to amend the agreement without the consent of other parties under some circumstances.

Terence emphasized that “it’s crucial that tribes and commercial fishermen are included in decision-making related to this settlement.”

Klamath Riverkeeper also remains concerned with the dam agreement’s compliance with the Clean Water Act and is scrutinizing the agreement to ensure that it upholds water quality requirements laid out in the Klamath TMDL, a Clean Water Act pollution clean-up plan currently being finalized on the mainstem Klamath. Another question left by the agreement is who will pay to clean up poor water quality around Keno Dam, Terence said.

“If our concerns are answered, the Klamath settlement could give us a better shot at getting four dams out by 2020 than any other venue. However, there are other ways to get the dams out including legal and legislative tools, and Klamath Riverkeeper will pursue them aggressively if parties to this settlement don’t follow through with their commitments or the process becomes bogged down dealing with loopholes and delays,” said Terence.

She noted that Klamath Riverkeeper will also be working to ensure those measures are implemented and to improve water quality conditions below the dams during the interim period before dam removal is to occur in 2020.

Klamath Riverkeeper has not been a party to the dam removal settlement agreement, electing instead to work towards dam removal by aiming strategic lawsuits and direct action against PacifiCorp and regulatory agencies. Klamath Riverkeeper’s legal work has resulted in the US EPA listing the Klamath River and PacifiCorp’s reservoirs for toxic algae, a listing which made PacifiCorp’s bid for the 401 clean water permit necessary to relicense the dams less realistic and steered the corporation toward a negotiated settlement.

The long-awaited set of final agreements combines a previously negotiated Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement with a finalized Hydropower Agreement between PacifiCorp, California, Oregon, Klamath Basin tribes, and the federal government.

More information on the Klamath dams can be found on Klamath Riverkeeper’s website, including a timeline of Klamath dam removal-related events and Klamath dam removal factsheetst .
KRK’s preliminary analysis of the final dam removal agreement package:

Positive changes in the latest Hydro Agreement:

* Immunity for PacifiCorp has been limited to dam removal, and no longer covers environmental damage such as toxic algae caused by past operations of the dams.
* Many of the backdoors out of the earlier agreement in principle have been closed off, so that dams are more likely to come out in 2020.
* The agreement leaves the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and other environmental protections intact and fully enforceable.
* The agreement provides for other renewable energy sources to replace the small amount of hydroelectricity produced by the Klamath dams.
* The agreement makes the federal government the most likely dam removal agent and directs the feds to come up with a detailed dam removal plan by 2012 based on pre-existing studies and other appropriate data, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission record and Energy Policy Act administrative law proceedings.
* The agreement acknowledges issues on the Trinity River in an effort to better protect the interests of the Hoopa Tribe.
* The agreement states that alternate California funding mechanisms will be explored, and that no party will be obligated to support an entire California bond package, or any projects other than Klamath dam removal.

Questions remaining about the final dam removal agreement package:

* Whether and how the Clean Water Act’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) water quality protections being established right now will be met under settlement.
* If interim water quality measures are voluntary, as the final Hydro Agreement says that they are, how can they be enforced? Those of us who live downstream are still paying the price for non-compliance.
* Who will pay to clean up the polluted reach of river below Keno dam? The agreement doesn’t assign financial responsibility for this task to anyone, while several parties expressly disown the cleanup. Restoring the Keno reach is a key step in bringing the river back to health.
* Oregon and California can still back out of the agreement.
* The feds, states and PacifiCorp are empowered to amend the agreement without other parties in some circumstances. Tribes and commercial fishermen should have votes in all decision-making.
* Drought-planning to ensure that fish and wildlife have enough water in extremely dry years is still incomplete.

More information on the Klamath dams, including a timeline of Klamath dam removal-related events and Klamath dam removal factsheetst .