November 4, 2017

Informe de la cabecera de cuenca del río Colorado

Para comprender a plenitud a alguien, debes comenzar por su nacimiento. Por lo tanto, Michelle y yo pasamos los últimos dos días buscando la cabecera de cuenca del río Colorado entre el frío y la nieve que se encuentran arriba de la zona de La Poudre Pass, al norte del Parque Nacional de las Montañas Rocosas. El acceso se hace por la carretera Long Draw, que sale de la autopista 14 de Colorado. La carretera Long Draw es un camino serpenteante de terracería lleno de baches que atraviesa 22 km de bosques de pinos y abetos y pasa por el reservorio Long Draw antes de terminar abruptamente en una llanura de sauces.

Descubrimos que la carretera estaba cubierta con una pulgada de lodo escarchado que requería que manejáramos a velocidades bajas para evitar resbalar y caer en las zanjas de la carretera. El trayecto del viaje nos sirvió como periodo de preparación para entender mejor el lugar de nacimiento del río Colorado. La aspereza e incesantes baches de la carretera, combinados con las temperaturas bajo cero, nos hacían cuestionarnos si realmente tomábamos en serio la visita a la cabecera de cuenca del río Colorado. Me preocupaba que la Toyota Previa 1991 de Michelle no fuera capaz de soportar el camino, pero la camioneta cumplió las expectativas que le permitieron lograr ser objeto de culto.

El trayecto de Long Draw pronosticó la violencia que encontraríamos en la cabecera del río. Enormes extensiones de bosques talados por completo flanquearon la carretera hasta llegar al desfiladero. El servicio forestal ha de ser demasiado perezoso al quitar árboles porque, conforme colapsaban, dejaron algunos de ellos en la carretera; los empleados del servicio forestal sencillamente talaron con sierras de cadena, a 50 m de ambos lados de la carretera, cada árbol que encontraron a su paso. A 5 km del final del camino, nos topamos con una larga represa de poca altura que retenía la escorrentía de montaña en el reservorio de Long Draw. Teníamos la expectativa de encontrar un entorno silvestre en La Poudre Pass, por lo que al llegar a la represa fue como toparse con una pared en la obscuridad.

Las extensiones deforestadas, la represa y el reservorio que encontramos son lesiones penosas, pero ninguna de ellas es tan mala como la Grand Ditch (Gran Zanja). Caminamos 400 m desde el final del Long Draw, donde encontramos una señal que marcaba el lugar de la cabecera del río. De camino a la señal, pasamos una zanja de 10 m de profundidad y otros 10 m de ancho, la cual llevaba el agua de oeste a este. Estábamos en el lado oeste de la división continental donde el agua fluye naturalmente hacia el oeste. Contemplamos la magia negra empleada por los ingenieros para lograr esta proeza. La zanja en La Poudre Pass era tan llamativa como una cicatriz profunda a medio rostro de un humano.

La Gran Zanja se inició a finales de la década de 1880 y fue excavada en su mayor parte por un batallón de japoneses armados con herramientas manuales y pólvora. Se construyó para sacar el agua, desviándola de la cabecera del río Colorado a las ciudades en desarrollo al este de la cordillera Front de Colorado. Cerca de 60 cm de profundidad de aguas rápidas corrían a través de la zanja. Aprendimos que, incluso antes de que la nieve acumulada logre derretirse y formar los pequeños arroyos reconocibles como los orígenes del río Colorado, el agua le es robada al río. Parado en medio del polvo, me pregunto si el agua almacenada aquí terminará en el campo de golf del Fuerte Collins o si las vaquitas marinas la agitarán entre sus aletas nadando en el Golfo de California.

Si estudias el nacimiento del río Colorado aprenderás que sus aguas nacen del vientre silvestre conformado por las nubes de los duros inviernos, las elevadas cumbres montañosas y la acumulación de nieve. Sin embargo, estas aguas emergen de este vientre directamente a la explotación. En La Poudre Pass, este río recibe la primera manifestación de violencia que le seguirá durante el resto de su vida.




 Fotografía © Michelle McCarron.

September 22, 2017

Update on Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya, DAPL saboteurs

Jessica Reznicek and Ruby Montoya are two activists who recently admitted to sabotaging the Dakota Access Pipeline in spring 2017, delaying construction for weeks if not months. Read more about the story here, or listen to DGR members Jennifer Murnan and Max Wilbert interview the two women here.

This video documents a public event held in Des Moines, Iowa in late August, at which Jessica and Ruby spoke in detail about their actions, motivations, and the case for sabotage:

We also recommend reading this recent op-ed in the Des Moines Register, titled "Does property destruction advance progressive social change?"

Excerpt:

"I was recently invited along with a group of social change activists to attend a private gathering at the Des Moines Catholic Worker Berrigan House with two young women — Jessica Reznicek, 36, and Ruby Montoya, 27.

The purpose was to discuss how progressive folks think about the actions they both admitted to along the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). I had previously met Jessica when she and a friend were camped out in front of the Iowa Utilities Board last winter on a prolonged fast to protest the IUB's approval of the pipeline through Iowa. I had brought her hand warmers and we spoke briefly. In deciding to accept the invitation, I had concerns and wanted to hear what these two women and others had to say about tactics that go beyond more common civil disobedience associated with successful movements for voting, civil rights and for peace in Vietnam. 

Jessica wrote me and others in the invite:

'As many of you know, Ruby Montoya and I have engaged for the past year in various forms of what we believe to be peaceful resistance against the Dakota Access pipeline. In July, Ruby and I claimed responsibility for having undergone an 8-month-long property destruction campaign against DAPL infrastructure in an effort to halt construction.

'It has not gone unnoticed that our friends in the peace and justice communities of Iowa have been somewhat slow to publicly support our activities. In fact, most of our allies have remained completely silent, although many have reached out and support us personally.'"

Read the full piece:

August 26, 2017

Statement on Guy McPherson

We learned recently that Guy McPherson, with whom DGR has collaborated in the past, has been accused by multiple women of sexually predatory behavior. We have seen screenshots of comments where he calls women vile names (e.g., he calls one woman a "cum-gargling whore"). These accusations have been corroborated from several sources.

At the time we collaborated with Guy McPherson, we had no idea that he was treating women so poorly. Deep Green Resistance has an absolute zero-tolerance policy for abuse and will stand against any predators being allowed access to the movement or anyone who could be harmed. Our hearts go out to his victims.

August 23, 2017

From Hit and Sit to Hit and Run — Expanding Our Toolbox of Nonviolent Strategies


The cops have us figured out. Protests, soft blockades, tripods, lockboxes. Sure, all these tactics can be effective in certain situations. But when we consider the scale of the problem, they are lacking. These tactics do not generally lead to decisive outcomes. They can shape conditions and help lead to victory, but alone they are almost never sufficient.

We have trouble shutting stuff down permanently.

Decisive actions, on the other hand, can directly achieve our goal. Our goal is to stop the global industrial economy that is killing the planet. As such, a prime consideration is attrition—on our side. When people are arrested with every action, our losses—time, money, energy—add up quickly. People get burned out.

Let’s not get arrested on purpose. Instead, let’s consider applying guerilla tactics to the battle for the planet. These tactics can be adapted for non-violence, or carried out in a decisive ecological warfare style. Hit and run blockades allow us to inflict maximum economic and moral damage without taking losses.

It has been popular for many years for non-violent activists to “hit and sit”—waiting for the police to come arrest them. This approach can lend a certain moral weight in the courtroom, and there’s a time and a place where it’s probably the most effective method.

However, hit and sit tactics will always be limited by resources. If you only have a few people willing to be arrested, your actions can only take place on a small scale. Consider, instead, what you could accomplish with the same small group of people acting clandestinely.

To be effective, this strategy would require cooperation with existing aboveground movements. For example, hit and run tactics will be most effective where people can advocate for, justify, and explain the actions within a greater narrative of resistance to coal, oil, gas, and the broader industrial ecocide of the planet. To mitigate media demonization and police crackdowns, the story of this resistance has to be as powerful as the actions themselves.

Imagine, instead of a couple dozen direct actions a year, soft blockades that are easily broken up and leave people broke and in prison, hundreds or thousands of blockades taking place all around the country, and the world. Small teams striking like ghosts, interdicting commerce, halting logging, dams, fracking, coal trains, and more, then disappearing only to strike again the next day, and the next, and the next.

Suddenly, attrition is on our side.

Even if these tactics were broadly adopted, they wouldn’t be enough to save the planet. Ultimately, we call for decisive ecological warfare. However, in the near-term, such escalation in non-violent resistance would push our movements in a better direction: more strategic, more creative, more serious, more security-aware, more clandestine, more decisive.

May 8, 2017

Underground Action Calendar refreshed

Our Underground Action Calendar lists attacks from as far back as the 1970s, to inspire and serve as a research tool. We include a variety of actions from around the world, some carried out by individuals, some by organized militant groups. Targets range from local earth-destroying construction equipment to networks of oil wells and pipelines. Browsing the list gives a good idea of what can be accomplished with simple acts of monkeywrenching or with persistent campaigns against industrial infrastructure.

We've just refreshed the Calendar to make it even more inspirational to browse, and more useful as a research tool. We've cleaned out symbolic attacks and those based on a strategy of economic attrition, to focus instead on actions directly and concretely reducing the ability of the rich and powerful to destroy the earth. The descriptions of each attack are short and to the point so that you can quickly look through the list; each action links to a communique or news article with more information on the action if you want to research further.

You can filter by the attack target: for example, if you're curious how railroad traffic has been disrupted in the past, select "Railway." Or you can filter by the attack method: if you're curious what kinds of infrastructure have been attacked with anything from air rifles to rocket launchers, select "Shooting."

You can also filter by Country, sort by date, or search actions for keywords.

If you know of any attacks we've missed, especially current events (or historic attacks which expand the diversity of what we're presenting), please email them to undergroundpromotion@deepgreenresistance.org
NOTE: We only accept communications about actions that are already publicly known in one form or another. Do not send original communiques directly to this email address. This is not a secure means of communication.

Browse the Underground Action Calendar and share widely!

March 30, 2017

What Will They Tell the Children?

by Angela Nolan

What will they tell the children?
In the generations to come.

Amerika is festering
And the world festers with her.
The wound is old but the boils and pus are worsening.
Blood is pooling just below the surface – a dark purple snake.
The orange one will quicken the fall
But it was coming anyway.
We eat too much, we consume too much, we waste too much.
Too many don’t care or are still lost in a dream of manifest destiny
That was never real in the first place.
What a ridiculous notion that one is favored over another in the eyes of the creator.
Who made up this nonsense?

What will they tell the children?
In the generations to come.

When Amerika falls it will be a devastation
But might it save the world after all?
For to succumb to the death urge of our society is to die before living.
It is to starve in the lavish lap of the earth’s abundance.
It is to be silent when every nerve in your body is screaming, “NO!”
It is to hail the chief and not step out of line.
It is to give up your woman’s body as sacrifice to the irreverent god that made it ugly.
It is to watch the natural world and too many people die unloved.
It is a procession of insults too numerous to count.
It is degradation, humiliation, trauma, pain, and loss.
It is feeling oneself as the shame of the world.

What will they tell the children?
In the generations to come.

They will tell the children that people had to take sides.
They will tell them that neutrality and inaction were participation.
They will tell them that passivity and hopeful thinking were inappropriate with wolves at the door.
They will tell them how women and people of color were dehumanized and who did it.
They will tell them there was a point when it wasn’t too late and we missed it. By a lot.
They will tell them there was only one true response.
There was only resistance – pure, visceral, instinctual, and right.
We were taught to be compliant.
And then we were taught to be grateful to our oppressors.
And then we were.
They will tell them the light at the end of the tunnel was the train.

The children will know the difference.
By our words.
By our stories.
By our defiance.
Beyond grief now. Beyond hope and optimism and happy smiling faces.
We live in the betwixt and between – the festering season.

The season when everything fake is real and everything real is fake.
The season when despots and petty tyrants have their way.
The season when the snow stops and the ocean’s rise.
The season when love doesn’t conquer all, or even a little bit.
The season when misogyny is on parade and people cheer.
The season of forgetting history, again.

What will they tell the children?
In the generations to come.

They will tell them that some chose to think with all their hearts, and minds, and spirits.
They will tell of ones who put their bodies on the frontline and of those who wrote about it.
They will tell that most people on earth only wanted to live in wellness and peace.
They will tell that the evil ones were few but gathered all money and resources for themselves.
They will tell who resisted, and who sat back and watched.
They will tell how oil, and money, and gold were everything.
They will tell how the water was contaminated, the earth raped and bled dry.

Which side do you want to be on?
When they tell the children what happened
In the generations to come?

March 26, 2017

Earth At Risk 2014 Videos Available

Earth At Risk, sponsored by Fertile Ground Institute in November 2014, featured many of today's most important activists and thinkers in environmentalism, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, radical feminism, and anti-racism. With keynote speakers Derrick Jensen, Alice Walker, Vandana Shiva, Chris Hedges, and Thomas Linzey; plus multiple panels, the event was full of insightful and inspiring discussions.

Besides Derrick Jensen, Deep Green Resistance members Saba Malik, Kourtney Mitchell and Doug Zachary spoke on panels; and Dominique Christina performed two sets of her award winning slam poetry.

Will Falk wrote a report-back on the event: Earth At Risk 2014: The Proper Diagnosis. Until now his writeup was the only way to experience the event vicariously for those of us who missed it, but Fertile Ground just made all 12 hours of the presentations available.

View the videos below, or visit our member appearances page and enter "earth at risk" into the filter box to browse only the presentations involving DGR members. You can also download audio files of those panels and keynotes.

Enjoy, and please share widely!

February 8, 2017

The Seed of Greed, and Want

by Christopher L. Calkins

The Seed of Greed

Greed!
Where does it come from?
It comes from a seed.
Could it really be a dirty little seed?
The seed of greed!
How can this be in the heart of humanity?
I look out on the horizon, it seems so far to me,
surrounded by a society infested with the seed!
The seed of greed.
Who? What? No, not me!
It is that dirty little seed.
The selfish seed that turns a want into a need,
and need into greed!
The seed that our society so freely distributes like a weed!
Look and you will see
a world infested with the weeds of greed,
dropping their seeds, disguised as needs!
How can this be?
All from a seed, the seed of greed!

June 1992

Want

I did not want it this way!
I do not want it this way!
It doesn't matter what I think.
It doesn't matter what I say.
The rich keep on making the rules
while we the working people toil through the days.
Paying, paying, paying,
for the crooks who stole it all,
away, away, away!!!

2003

January 31, 2017

Deep Green Resistance Book Online For Free

The organization DGR is founded on the ideas and analysis laid out in the book by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Aric McBay. To increase the book's accessibility, especially to international audiences, we're now making it available for free in two ways:

Please share these links widely. Deep Green Resistance is unique amongst environmental texts in its realistic assessment of our crises and possible solutions. Now more than ever, we need people to resist effectively. Let's get this out there!