Yesterday, Earth First and Rising Tide blockaded a gas-fired power plant construction site in Palm Beach County, Florida near “the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which sits 1000 ft from the power plant site.”
27 people were arrested putting their bodies on the line with over 200 people rallying in support. The action stopped construction on the site for six hours.
Florida Power and Light’s (FP&L) West County Energy Center (WCEC) will be a 3800 MW power station emitting 12 million tons of carbon every year. Despite ongoing legal challenges FP&L has begun construction on the site.
Direct action gets the goods! Much thanks to Earth First! and Rising Tide for stepping up and putting their bodies in between the bulldozers, the smoke pipes and the earth and all it’s fragile eco-systems (like the Everglades).
From the press release:
“Palm Beach County – Early Monday morning dozens of concerned community members from Palm Beach County and all over the nation put their bodies on the line to halt construction of FPL’s West County Energy Center (WCEC), demanding energy efficiency, truly clean, renewable energy and a moratorium on development in south Florida. Everglades Earth First! blocked the main entrance to the WCEC site, a proposed massive 3800 MW gas-fired power plant that would emit 12 million tons of CO2, a leading greenhouse gas, every year. The plant is currently under construction despite ongoing legal challenges to the plant’s needed permits and certification, which have been spearheaded by the local Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition.
A dozen activists locked themselves together through metal pipes as 200 supporters rallied around them. The blockade stopped work on the construction site for six hours before a total of 27 people were arrested.
This confrontational action was taken to protect the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which sits 1000 ft from the power plant site and to protect the larger Everglades system. Restoration would be undermined by new development that the power plant is expected to encourage in the area. The civil disobedience action also aims to protect the entire planet from the destructive effects of climate change caused by power plant emissions.
“We just don’t need this plant,” said Lynne Purvis, an activist with Everglades Earth First! who was born and raised in the Loxahatchee area. “I’m not willing to threaten the integrity of the Loxahatchee, one of the last large, intact pieces of northern Everglades, so that people can fuel their greedy energy desires.” Purvis says that the Everglades Earth First! group intends to continue a sustained campaign of direct action against this power plant and its adjacent gas pipeline.
The protest was also attended by grassroots activists and group across the United States who have been participating in the annual Earth First! Winter Rendezvous. One such group, Rising Tide North America, is part of an international movement for climate justice, which connects the social and environmental issues related to the growing climate crisis and calls for urgent and bold responses to the global human-caused dilemma.
Brian Sloan, an organizer with Rising Tide North America and participant in Monday morning’s protest, said “FPL is doing what we call ‘green-washing’. Gas-fired power is not a clean or sustainable energy. It is a dirty and dwindling fossil fuel.” Sloan also states that Rising Tide does not trust energy companies to solve the climate crisis. “The solutions to climate change will never come from the people who created the problem.”
Earth First! and the Rising Tide movements recognize that the fight against fossil fuel power is being used by the energy industry to push a new wave of nuclear energy. These grassroots groups are committed to extending their fight against the dangers of nuclear power with an eye on other FPL proposals, such as Turkey Point and St. Lucie.”
(please forward)
We need your help!
24 hours after hundreds of environmental protestors shut down the construction site of FPL’s natural gas power plant (see press release below), 23 activists are still in jail! Nine of them should be released shortly on their own recognizance, but 14 are awaiting bond at a total cost of $10,000!
The legal office is working hard to come up with the money to front the cost and we need donations ASAP to get these activists out of jail! We will also need money for legal defense for all 27 arrestees!
To make a donation:
1. Visit the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition website: http://pbcec.blogspot.com/ and click on the “DONATE” button on the right
2. Send a check or money order made out to the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition to:
EF! Legal Fund
822 North C Street
Lake Worth, FL 33460
3. If you are local, you can bring cash or checks directly to us!
Thank you!
Lynne
Everglades Earth First!
ww.earthfirst2008oc.info
evergladesearthfirst@gmail.com
561-588-9666
Below is the press release from the protest:
Earth First! Blockades Power Plant Construction Site, 27 Arrested
Palm Beach County – Early Monday morning dozens of concerned community members from Palm Beach County and all over the nation put their bodies on the line to halt construction of FPL’s West County Energy Center (WCEC), demanding energy efficiency, truly clean, renewable energy and a moratorium on development in south Florida. Everglades Earth First! blocked the main entrance to the WCEC site, a proposed massive 3800 MW gas-fired power plant that would emit 12 million tons of CO2, a leading greenhouse gas, every year. The plant is currently under construction despite ongoing legal challenges to the plant’s needed permits and certification, which have been spearheaded by the local Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition.
A dozen activists locked themselves together through metal pipes as 200 supporters rallied around them. The blockade stopped work on the construction site for six hours before a total of 27 people were arrested.
This confrontational action was taken to protect the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge which sits 1000 ft from the power plant site and to protect the larger Everglades system. Restoration would be undermined by new development that the power plant is expected to encourage in the area. The civil disobedience action also aims to protect the entire planet from the destructive effects of climate change caused by power plant emissions.
“We just don’t need this plant,” said Lynne Purvis, an activist with Everglades Earth First! who was born and raised in the Loxahatchee area. “I’m not willing to threaten the integrity of the Loxahatchee, one of the last large, intact pieces of northern Everglades, so that people can fuel their greedy energy desires.” Purvis says that the Everglades Earth First! group intends to continue a sustained campaign of direct action against this power plant and its adjacent gas pipeline.
The protest was also attended by grassroots activists and group across the United States who have been participating in the annual Earth First! Winter Rendezvous. One such group, Rising Tide North America, is part of an international movement for climate justice, which connects the social and environmental issues related to the growing climate crisis and calls for urgent and bold responses to the global human-caused dilemma.
Brian Sloan, an organizer with Rising Tide North America and participant in Monday morning’s protest, said “FPL is doing what we call ‘green-washing’. Gas-fired power is not a clean or sustainable energy. It is a dirty and dwindling fossil fuel.” Sloan also states that Rising Tide does not trust energy companies to solve the climate crisis. “The solutions to climate change will never come from the people who created the problem.”
Earth First! and the Rising Tide movements recognize that the fight against fossil fuel power is being used by the energy industry to push a new wave of nuclear energy. These grassroots groups are committed to extending their fight against the dangers of nuclear power with an eye on other FPL proposals, such as Turkey Point and St. Lucie.
It was really powerful to hear about the action from Amy. You all have so much courage. This is what needs to be happening all across the country. Check out http://www.fossilfools08.org!
Expect a more detailed post and more pictures soon! This action rocked and I’d like to see the youth climate movement start doing more of these kinds of actions. Shout out to No War No Warming and the North Carolina Cliffside action. Lets step it up on Fossil Fools Day for SURE!
If you are really an environmentalist you should be protesting that this is a gas turbine plant, and should be demanding that FP & L put in a nuclear power plant in its place.
The County does need the energy, and a nuclear plant would produce no CO2, sulfur dioxide, or other pollutants which would damage the Everglades. It would also create the capacity to someday have electric cars which really work, or stations which could produce hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles.
In a place like the Everglades, nuclear is green.