There’s no rest for the wicked. Whether it’s a mass action or a handful of people crashing a conference, we’re not giving the fossil fool’s a moment’s rest.
Here’s a round-up of Fossil Fool’s Day actions that went on the past couple of days.
Asheville, NC: Asheville Rising Tide declared NC Gov. Beverly Perdue to be in bed with Duke Energy. They set up a bed in front of Governor Perdue’s office with people in business suits representing Duke CEO Jim Rogers, DAQ head Keith Overcash, and Governor Perdue under sheets and covered in money. Banners reading, “Governor Purdue in bed with Duke Energy” and “Stop Cliffside” were held in the background. Protestors also roped off the office entrance with Global Warming Crime Scene tape.
Boston : A lone protester representing “Mannequins for Climate Justice” locked down to the doors of a Bank of America branch in central Boston with the message “Even a dummy like me knows that funding climate change is bad idea.” The mannequin left at the bank held the space for over an hour as the Boston Police Dept. promptly shut down the area and called the bomb squad. We’ve heard that on April 1, police/security presence was heavy at Bank of America branches around the country, coincidence?.
London : Thousands of protesters shut down much of London’s financial district the day before the G20 met. Climate campaigners erected a “Climate Camp” in front of the European Climate Exchange to protest the privatization of the climate crisis by bankers and trading desks. British banks, the Bank of England, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC were targeted by groups for their involvement in the financial crisis.
San Francisco: Rising Tide Bay Area dropped at 300 square foot banner off the overpass of the Bay Bridge saying “San Francisco: Quit Fooling Around with Fossil Fuels, signed Rising Tide.”
San Francisco: In Justin Herman Plaza Rising Tide Bay Area staged a “Cheat Neutral Booth” which called on tourists in the area to buy offsets to counter their cheating in an eerie parallel to carbon trading schemes.
Toronto : Five actions took place in Toronto targeting the Royal Bank of Canada. Rainforest Action Network kicked the day off by dropping banners off of a highway, greeting over 4,000 cars stuck in deadlock traffic over a period of two hours. From bridges, we broadcast messages about Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)’s financing of the Canadian Tar Sands from our makeshift Pirate Radio station. Our banners read “Pirate Radio 89.9 FM Tune in now” and “Royal Bank creates climate chaos. Renewables not tar sands.” They then dressed up like RBC employees and rode the elevators for hours asking RBC employees about tar sands.
Washington D.C.:On Fossil Fools day, local DC activists launched a Greenwash Guerrilla action to help Chevron be a bit more honest in its advertising: “Today, on Fossil Fools Day, local DC activists launched a Greenwash Guerrilla action to help Chevron be a bit more honest in its advertising. The group decided to re-work Chevron’s hypocritical metro and bus stop ads that appeal to the public to reduce their individual energy consumption. A clarifying phrase was added to the ads, which portray people declaring that they will “use less energy,” “unplug stuff more,” “leave the car at home more,” etc. The phrase “While Chevron pollutes” was added to the bottom of each declaration using transparencies and clear packing tape.”
