From: Break Free Pacific Northwest Local Action Working Group
We are writing on behalf of the Break Free PNW Coalition in order to make clear our intentions and to make public statements that we have made in conversations with a variety of community members.
Made up of environmental and social justice organizations from Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho, the Coalition is mobilizing against the Shell and Tesoro’s Anacortes refineries on May 13, 14, and 15. We believe that the urgency of the climate crisis demands immediate action. Locally and globally, governments have failed to put in place the necessary protections and policies to ensure the survival of our communities and our ecosystems. By organizing these actions in Anacortes, we aim to create pathways to a better future. There will be ample opportunity for families and individuals to participate. We hope you will join us.
We are committed to working for a just transition to a post-fossil fuel economy. We believe a just transition must provide economic alternatives to communities dependent on fossil fuels, create new well-paying union jobs, and increase control by communities and workers over our energy systems. Some of our members joined USW members on the picket line at Tesoro during last year’s strike. We are educating our communities about the importance of fighting for family-wage jobs as we transition to a post-fossil fuel economy, protecting job security amidst declines in fossil fuel consumption, and minimizing job losses as the necessary action is taken to curtail dangerous climate disruption. We hope that this can be an opportunity to more widely educate our grassroots movement about these principles, and build support for them. We see this as one step in a long process of building a common vision together.
We are eager to engage in productive conversation about a just transition. It seems important that the transition be addressed not just in a general way, but rather reflect the realities of the impacted communities. Although there will be many similarities from place to place, what such a transition looks like in Anacortes will be different from what it looks like in a large urban center. A statement incorporating input from the Anacortes community — including refinery workers — will be an important step. We are hopeful that we can find ways to continue the dialogue and we are committed to getting this right.
We have heard many concerns about the possibility of some of our members engaging in civil disobedience around the refineries. Our coalition is committed to safety: a major focus of our mobilization is training our members in nonviolent principles and practices in an effort to ensure that no one suffers unintentional harm. We will take care to avoid placing others in danger, including coordinating our actions to avoid placing each other in unexpected situations. We understand that the refinery is a complex and dangerous facility and we will take care in our actions not to create unsafe conditions for workers or the surrounding community. With this in mind, we will not block refinery workers from entering or exiting their job site. We are committed to sharing these concerns with everyone who attends a training, and also, more broadly, through our coalition. And we will do our best to keep clear lines of communication open with workers and community leaders so that further concerns can be addressed.
We have also heard concerns about the potential impacts of large groups of people gathering near the heron rookery at the southwest corner of March Point. We are committed to making sure that our presence won’t disturb the herons during their breeding season, we are consulting with local experts, and we are planning all of our activities well away from that unique and precious habitat.
We believe that despite the challenges inherent in finding a just transition to move away from fossil fuels (particularly in communities where the economy is reliant on refining those fuels), we all share a great deal of common ground in our concerns for the future. We strongly believe in the importance of our movement finding ways to stand in genuine solidarity with labor and fenceline communities. If we aren’t talking to each other, it is too easy for corporations to divide us with confusion and misinformation. We look forward to continuing this dialogue and seeing what fruit it can bear.
Sincerely,
The Break Free PNW Local Action Team
I’m very happy that Break Free is looking to work cooperatively with the effected and target companies. I think it is important to keep the tone non-confrontational. Keep up the good work.
Please make sure this letter is published in local newspapers and on Anacortes’Facebook page ‘you know you’re from anacortes when…
There has been some misinformation about Break Free and what they will be doing in Anacortes May 13-15. I think the key is assuring people that we are looking for a strategy not only to protect workers and communities, whose livelihoods may be threatened by climate protection policies, but also looking for ways to break free from fossil fuels. Both are possible if we work together.
I second the importance of publishing this letter locally in skagit county. To get the message to those who will never see this website. Thanks for all your honest and important work !
Posting this letter in local businesses and among community members would also help.
It’s important for organizers and participants to know that Fidalgo Bay-the waters to the west of March Point, is a state “aquatic reserve” [http://www.dnr.wa.gov/managed-lands/aquatic-reserves/fidalgo-bay-aquatic-reserve], one of only seven in the state, designated for its particular marine significance. The bay has come a long way since “the city of smokestacks” (primarily lumber and paper mills) spawned a legacy of pollution. Since then, the WA dept. of ecology has completed extensive cleanups and numerous academic, conservation, and community groups study and monitor what managed to remain an important habitat for marine and other plant and wildlife.
Contiguous with this, to the east of March Point, Padilla Bay is a National Estuarine Research Reserve. The shallow waters of Padilla and Fidalgo bays anchor vast eelgrass beds, nourishing life at the base of the food web; forage fish lay eggs on bay beaches; waters and natural shorelines support over a dozen species of raptors that winter here to raise their young and vast numbers of migratory and year-round birds. Interpretive signs along the Tommy Thompson Trail, a former railroad trestle spanning Fidalgo Bay from Anacortes to March Point, elaborate on many of these stories.
Vulnerable bays like these are our among planet’s assets we are seeking to protect and preserve by transitioning away from fossil fuels-and by treading lightly as we demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future and seek common ground with those whose livelihoods have depended a carbon-fueled past.
I humbly request you allow travelers with disabilities to pass the roads freely as some of us must return to our own home environments designed for our health issues. For me I need access to my air conditioning and hospital bed. Please do not make me hostage to this protest. Thank you.
Suzanne,
Absolutely, we will not be blocking travelers.
It would be productive to provide an outline of what your plan for a “just transition to a post fossil fuel economy” entails.
BF’s People’s Climate Conference (May 13-15, Anacortes Transit Shed) is designed for our community (Anacortes & Skagit residents) to learn about & discuss local issues, economic opportunities, and residents’ vision for a sustainable environment & economy (2016 Comp Plan). The nation’s transition off fossils to renewable energy is already underway, and the Clean Economy is unstoppable. Putting our heads in the sand isn’t an option … a polluted town will have to fight for share of the new economy. Please join us (event is free, and open to the public) to figure out what a “just transition” means to our community.
My kids go to school near by. We are considering taking them out of school on Friday and my husband will have to take a day off of work (costing us a significant amount of income) he is self employed. I want to make sure that my kids are no where near the frey and that I can safely get them too and from school. Are you able to reimburse us for the inconvience of keeping our kids safe?
Concerned Parent, You’ve got real concerns. Fortunately there’s nothing that is planned on Friday that would inhibit you from getting to your kids.
- Break Free Team
I incorrectly wrote that last comment. It is never an inconvience to keep my kids safe. I am concerned that the protest will not allow me to get to my kids as needed and that is the inconvience. I don’t mind a protest, but I will be extremely upset if I cannot get to my kids.
Hello, I’m not sure who will see this comment, but I’m an Anacortes local and wanted to respond to the letter. First of all, welcome to our town! I appreciate what you are doing, and I am using it as an opportunity to educate my kids about the importance of non-violent protest in American history. Like many people in our small community, I live, work, and take my kids to school right here in town. What I’ve heard from people this week is that they are mostly worried about the traffic and parking problems that will probably occur this weekend, preventing us from getting where we need to go, and to get back home. Several people I talked to are taking a vacation day from work to avoid what could be parking lot situation on highway 20. If at all possible, could people please arrange to meet at a park-and-ride on I-5 and pack cars as full as possible? Any effort to do this would be greatly appreciated by all of us that live here. Thank you, and thanks for bringing attention to the expansion of the refineries; I’m not sure many people knew about this plan.
Thank you for a civil protest today (14th).
Please and explain why so much garbage was left behind by environmentally progressive people?
Simple, the police prohibited break free participants from moving any of those items. The Police and BNF then removed all of the items by 9:30am, day of.