Bond Money Needed to get activists out of jail

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! Six of them should be released shortly on their own recognizance, but 17 are awaiting bond at a total cost of $13,350!

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 26 arrestees!

Activists shut down power plant construction site, 27 Arrested

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 26 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.

PBCEC Fires Up the Crowd at ´Focus the Nation´ in Boca Raton

January 30, 2008 at Boca PBCC Campus

Support Community Labor Center, and Other Upcoming Events

In PBCEC´s efforts to strengthen our alliance with activists in Palm Beach County´s diverse immigrant communities, we have joined the Coalition for Immigrants Rights in calling for Lake Worth to stop pointing fingers at immigrants and day laborers as scapegoats and start offering basic neighborly support and assistence. Last time this item came before the City Commission, it drew hateful and uncompassionate response from people who drove across the state for the meeting, some of these folks have claimed that their opposition to immigrants rights and human dignity stems from their environmental beliefs.

We encourage PBCEC participants to attend the below meeting and stand with the Immigrants´ Coalition in support of a community labor center. Human dignity, animal rights and environmental respect all go hand in hand; they always have and they always must.

Our environmental concern regarding immigration must focus (1) on the economic/social pressures that force people out of their home countries and (2) on creating a safe social atmosphere where all residents can speak up for their environment and quality of life.

panagioti tsolkas
co-chair, PBCEC
561-588-9666

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YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED! [Message from the PBC Immigrants Rights Coalition]

Please consider coming to Lake Worth City Hall (7 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth, FL 33460) THIS Thursday evening at 6:30pm.

We will be discussing future plans for the Lake Worth Community/Labor Center, and IT'S NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT YOU.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at
561-876-9035 or iwillresist@gmail.com.

I'll see you on Thursday!

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SU OPINION ES IMPORTANTE!

Ud. esta invitado a la municipalidad de Lake Worth (7 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth, FL 33460) ESTE jueves a las 6:30pm.

Discutiremos los planes del Centro Comunitario/Laboral de Lake Worth, Y NO ES POSIBLE SIN UD.!

Llamame (561-876-9035) o mandame un correo electronico si tenga preguntas. Nos vemos este jueves!

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MORE UPCOMING EVENTS! Join Us!

Feb 13, 4:30-6:30pm, Protest DEP at a hearing on the expansion of the West County Energy Center. Ask why they are ignoring the plants Greenhouse Gas emissions and proximity to the Refuge. Tell them we don't want Any More Fossil Fuel Energy! The 'informational' hearing will continue until 8pm. People are encouraged to stay and make comments on record.
Location: Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center, 151 Civic Center Way

-Feb 12, 6-8pm, Earth First! Film Showing of the movie 'Pickaxe' documenting the direct action campaign known as the Cascadia Free State in Oregon, where environmental protests evolved into an 11 month occupation/road blockade against destructive logging operations.
Location: Backbone Records, in Delray Beach, on Atlantic Avenue and 4th Ave.

-Feb 13, 7pm, 'A Night to Howl' kick-off party for the Earth First! Winter Rendezvous featuring activist musicians from across the country: Here's to the Lon Haul (Appalachia), Son del Centro (Southern California), Peg Millet (Arizona), Lars Din (Alachua County) and others...
Location: the Little Owl Bar in Lake Worth, 527 N Dixie Hwy

-Feb 18, 8am-11am March and Rally for the Loxahatchee Refuge and Clean Energy, starting at the 20-mile bend park entrance off Southern Blvd.

" FIGHTING THE ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: February 1, 2008

Contact: Oannes A Pritzker; Tel. 239-353-2164 or E Mail; yatkitischee@embarqmail.com

3 PART RADIO PROGRAM INTERVIEW SERIES
Programs available on www.radio4all.net Station Archives.
Programs Broadcast on Radio for Peace International

Panagioti Tsolakas is an Earth Justice/Community Activist
with Everglades EarthFirst & Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition. Panagioti is fighting a number of energy & environment battles in Florida which are discussed in program interview.

PRG 1: Conversation focuses on Youth Activism, Save It Now Glades Coalition, and action at Florida Power & Light (FP&L) annual share holders meeting.

PRG 2: Conversation focuses on Bio-Technology/Scripps Research Park Development, and Indigenous People's Council on Bio-Colonialism Radio Segment. FP&L Energy--West County Energy Ctr Gas Power Plant/Pipeline Complex.

PRG 3: Conversation focuses on Everglades Coaltion Conference & Deal Making among regulatory agencies, business/industry, & big Environmental Orgs. FP&L Energy--West County Energy Ctr Gas Power Plant/Pipeline Complex. Liquified Natural Gas/LNG Issue--Case of Passamaquoddy/Quaoddy Dev. Comment on Nuclear Energy. Thoughts about Hope for the Future & Motivation for Activists

PROGRAMS ALSO INCLUDE INVITATION/INFORMATION ON THE UPCOMING 2008 NATIONAL EARTH FIRST WINTER GATHERING HOSTED BY EVERGLADES EARTH FIRST!
*EARTH FIRST WINTER RENDEZVOUS--FEB 14--18 2008 J.W. CORBETT WILDLIFE MGT AREA--PALM BEACH COUNTY FL.*