Dear Friends, Supporters, Comrades and Community,
As you may recall, a lively protest took place on the streets of Chicago’s financial district last November 30, on the 10th anniversary of the “Battle of Seattle” and a week ahead of the big UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Several groups from across the city had come together to demand just, equitable, and effective solutions to the climate crisis, starting with the shut-down of the Crawford and Fisk coal plants in Chicago’s Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods. The November 30th (N30) event also targeted “false solutions” to climate change like carbon trading, nukes and agrofuels, and was part of a national day of action for climate justice.
Now, the city has decided to charge these folks $8,340, with a deadline of mid-August to pay the fines.
Following visits to several local “climate criminals,” including JP Morgan Chase (one of the leading funders of mountain top removal coal mining), Midwest Generation (the owner of Chicago’s two coal-fired power plants), and the Board of Trade (which trades in palm oil, one of the leading drivers of rainforest destruction), the N30 march arrived at the main target, the Chicago Climate Exchange.
The Chicago Climate Exchange is the first and largest carbon trading institution in North America. Carbon Trading is a system of trading in carbon that intensifies social injustice, does not reduce emissions in a meaningful way, results in more pollution and more displacement for communities on the ground, and acts as a dangerous distraction from the real climate solutions we urgently need. (It does succeed in making a bunch of money for big polluters and their cohorts.) Unfortunately, participation in this fraudulent market has become the primary way that governments, corporations, and mainstream environmental groups have attempted to “solve” the climate crisis.
To draw attention to carbon trading as a false solution, 12 people locked their arms together in lockboxes, formed a large circle, and took over the intersection of Adams and LaSalle, outside the offices of the Chicago Climate Exchange, for several hours, encircling a banner that read, “Chicago Climate Exchange – the Air is Not for Sale!” (Check out photos and video from the action at http://howgreenischicago.org.)
Now, the city has decided to charge these folks $8,340, with a deadline of mid-August to pay the fines. We need your support!! Please consider donating whatever you can to support the N30 defendants. Throw a benefit party, pass a hat, sell some cupcakes — it all adds up!
You can donate online below, or send a check payable to LVEJO with “N30 Legal Defense” in the memo line to:
LVEJO – Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
2856 S. Millard Ave.
Chicago, IL 60623
Thank you! All donations are much appreciated!!!
Love,
The Climate Exchange 12
