Delegation from the Greater Chaco Coalition Heads to D.C. for White House Protest Against Fossil Fuels
MEDIA ADVISORY
10/11/2021
Southern Tiwa Territory - A group from the Greater Chaco Coalition, Pueblo Action Alliance, Diné C.A.R.E, and Wildearth Guardians will be traveling to Washington, D.C. this October 11-15 for a week-long protest at the White House to demand that President Biden declare a climate emergency and stop fossil fuel projects like the fracking operations occurring with in the Greater Chaco region.
We are going to D.C. and joining thousands others who’s daily lives have been impacted from the multiple fossil fuel projects in our communities. The SouthWest has been deemed an energy sacrifice zone and has a history of extraction, testing, and implementation of federal policies with no consultation with local tribal nations.
The Greater Chaco region is a living and ancient cultural landscape. A thousand years ago, Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico was the ceremonial and economic center of the Chaco Cultural Landscape, an area encompassing more than 75,000 square miles of the Southwest in NM, AZ, CO and UT and sacred to Indigenous Peoples. Today, Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico is a National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site, considered one of the most important archaeological sites in the Americas, yet the vast majority of the area is leased to oil and gas activities. Indigenous People, primarily Pueblo and Navajo (Diné) peoples, sacred cultural sites, precious water resources, and the area’s biodiversity are all under a grave and growing threat from fracking.
In approving wide-scale fracking on public and Tribal lands, the Department of Interior has failed to consider:
The health, wealth, and wellness of impacted communities, especially that of local Navajo communities, Chapter Houses, and Allotment Land Owners.
The Greater Chaco Landscape expands far beyond Chaco Culture National Historical Park and immediate vicinity and holds spiritual and cultural significance to all Indigenous peoples who are rooted in Chaco culture, not limited to the Navajo Nation.
The long-term and cumulative impacts of fracking on health, land, water, air, and climate.
The “People vs. Fossil Fuels” mobilization is expected to bring together thousands of people engaged in fossil fuel fights and other climate justice struggles across the country.
According to organizers, the goal is “bring frontline fossil fuel fights to President Biden’s doorstep” and urge the President to use his executive authority to make good on the promises he made on the campaign trail to respect Indigenous rights, prioritize environmental justice, and pursue an “all government” approach to combating the climate crisis.
Actions will take place every day between October 11 and 15, starting at 8am at Freedom Plaza. The themes of each day are as follows:
Monday, October 11: Indigenous Peoples Day.
Tuesday, October 12: Fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis.
Wednesday, October 13: Climate chaos is happening now.
Thursday, October 14: We need real solutions, not false promises.
Friday, October 15: We did not vote for fossil fuels. Youth-led action.
Similar struggles are taking place across the country. Despite President Biden’s rhetoric on climate, his administration has failed to stop major projects like the Line 3 tar sands pipeline, defended oil drilling in the Arctic, promoted fossil fuel exports, and allowed drilling, mining and fracking to continue on Native and public lands.
Meanwhile, the impacts of the climate and pollution crisis have only grown worse. Hurricanes have devastated communities from New Orleans to New York City. Wildfires have burned millions of acres across the West. Historic droughts and heatwaves have gripped most of the country. And every day, millions of Americans, especially Black, Brown, and Indigenous Peoples, breathe air and drink water poisoned by fossil fuel pollution.
For further information visit Puebloactionalliance.org
Groups involved in Build Back Fossil Free and the mobilization include 350.org, Arm in Arm, Bold Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Climate Justice Alliance, Food and Water Watch, Fridays for Future USA, Friends of the Earth USA, Future Coalition, Global Exchange, Global Grassroots Justice Alliance, GreenFaith, Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, NDN Collective, Oil Change International, Our Revolution, Power Shift Network, Presente, Pueblo Action Alliance, Rainforest Action Network, Seventh Generation, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, Unitarian Universalist Mass Action, WildEarth Guardians, Zero Hour, and more.
For more information visit: peoplevsfossilfuels.org
Contact:
Sheldon Tenorio: mcrhetorik505@gmail.com, Marcus Trujilo: marcusl.trujillo13@gmail.com
Follow PAA and Diné C.A.R.E. on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube for live updates.
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