THIS IS A WORLD CLASS ISSUE OF DESTRUCTION FOR PROFIT THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED AS SUCH. THE PROPOSED MINE MAY BECOME THE LARGEST SAND AND GRAVEL EXTRACTION OPERATION ON EARTH.

For many years i have been working on the human rights of traditional Dine (Navajo) and Hopi impacted by the largest coal strip mine in the US. Over 16,000 people have been forcibly relocated with over half of relocatees already dying. The land is dead, barren and useless. The Dine people have not benefited from this fiasco, only corrupt officials and Peabody have profited.

Many other similar issues have been part of my work. I am willing to do all i can to stop this insane destruction. It is undisputed that our future is grim and our children will be left with a hideous situation. How can we ignore this and keep ourselves safe when they will be left with a nightmare beyond our comprehension?

Voting works for those content to live in a rapidly eroding illusion. Oh, many voted for Obama, but he supports the death penalty and as well as “clean” coal and nuclear power. If one is marginalized and voiceless in this country, no visible representation is permitted.

The Native American voices who have vested interest in the health of the Chinook salmon have not been included. Too many are ignorant of the first peoples who still have heart and spirit invested into these lands taken. Such missing perspectives must be included if we hope for any kind of real solution.

Finally, i wish to say that i am willing to do all in my power to stop Glacier’s insane destruction. Devoted to deep nonviolence, i have exercised that several times already including on the water with courageous youth and other true hearted activists. Some of us face felony charges if we kayak into the work perimeter again. How easy it is to become a felon in these times of well protected corporations.

We must hear our hearts and act accordingly. All over the earth people are losing their lives, land, community in the name of resource extraction greed. This cannot go on. We have much more freedom to resist on Vashon than the people of the Congo, in Chiapas, Mexico and certainly those remaining resisters at Big Mountain/Black Mesa in Arizona.

Nothing less that soul force courage will do justice to the highly endangered future our children are being handed. We must do our very best to do so much better than that. It is our sacred duty.

An interesting update, a scientist has found an ecologically crucial fish, the sand lance or “candlefish”, spawning on a beach near the construction site. Federal officials ordered construction to stop for 5 days earlier in January, then allowed construction to proceed. The Candlefish occurs in 1/10th of Puget Sound, although new spawning areas are being discovered. Its role in the ecosystem is as an important food for seabirds, including the protected marbeled murrelet, seals, and a number of fish including the threatened chinook salmon, which is in turn a key fish for the endangered orca.

I broached the idea of civil disobedience at my men’s luncheon today and stirred up a good dialogue on the subject. One observation was what are the consequences and would the perpetrator be willing to face the negative consequence. As you can see the subject created a lot of discussion even among the conservative members of our group, although one member asked if you couldn’t seek an injunction to thwart the exploiters.

Where legislators are up for election every two, four or more years, but the damage to the Puget Sound eco-system would be accomplished within the next couple of weeks, is the vote the effective tool to express community opposition to the construction?

And is the vote an effective response where the State Lands Commissioner accepted, apparently in violation of State ethics law, a $50,000 campaign contribution from the mining company this year? And where the Governor of Washington has close ties with the family that owns the mining company?

In other words, where State law bars “the appearance of impropriety”, yet the Goivernor and Lands Commissioner have established inappropriate ties to the mining company, how do citizens address an imminent and irreversible threat to the eco-system?

Your thoughts?

Chip

Happy Holidays!

I myself wasn’t sure I was even in the position of owning a home but wanted to have something that would boost my wealth and Joyanne made that possible.

Thank you so much Joyanne!
Jacy P.

Interesting post!

(I can only begin to imagine the time it took to put together. Great Job!!)

carolyn

Eric Hundin

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