Activists in Michigan are planning a march and overnight sit-in on Sunday at the enormous mountain of tarsands petcoke byproduct piled up along the Detroit River. (Details cross-posted from Detroit Coalition Against Tar Sands)

Have you seen the newest and most unwelcome tourist attraction along the Detroit river? Three-story high petcoke mountains from captains of industry and climate change, the ironically named Koch brothers, now sit on Detroit’s riverfront. Initially an uncontested eyesore and chemical hazard appearing in March of 2013, the petcoke mountains have since become a rallying point for local community members and organizations who are calling out this dumping on Detroit for what it is; the corporate influence over democracy, environmental racism, and the essence of what is wrong with our dirty and destructive energy and out-of-touch economics system that puts profit and power before people and planet. It is up to us to reclaim our right to clean air and water.

 

The Petcoke on the Detroit River is Our Fight! It is fundamentally a civil rights issue, a human rights issue, it is our call to action. We must peacefully fight for our health, a clean environment for our children, quality life, and justice. This is a fight for the commons.
We will rally against dirty energy and for a clean, healthy, and just future for all, this Sunday in Clark Park at 3pm. Location is off Scotten Street, adjacent to Western High School in Detroit. The speakers and performances will be followed by a march to the Petcoke piles and an overnight sit-in and movie leading up to Monday morning’s People’s Press Conference in front of the petcoke piles(see attached flyer). We are calling on all those who believe it’s time to move beyond the exploitative dirty energy systems of the past to clean energy and local solutions for our future, to spread the word and come together to speak up and act as one collective voice.
The People’s Press Conference will elevate the voice of this community in Detroit by sharing our demands for Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., CEO of Marathon, Matty Maroun, and the Koch Bros. It’s time to put our children’s future and this planet before the greed and profit of the 1%.
Whether you have been leading the way for decades or are coming as a first time marcher and activist, you have power, your voice and ideas are valuable and are essential to building this transformative movement of movements for social and environmental justice.
  • For Detroit’s children who are hospitalized because of asthma 3-4 times more than Michigan’s average- For the Great Lakes whose water’s are threatened by the toxic waste and spills from  petcoke, fracking, and tar sands- Rally and march with us
  • For all life on this planet threatened by catastrophic climate change- share this with your friends, family, and network in any and every way you can:
    • Phone calls to friends, block clubs, local newspapers
    • Share our flyers (see attached) with your neighbors, community, and local businesses
    • Send a letter to the editor, email folks, help us reblog this announcement
    • like our posts on Facebook (EMEAC-East Michigan Environmental Action Council, DCATS-Detroit Coalition Against Tar Sands), share them, post them to your groups
    • Tweet and help us create a Twitter storm with the Hash Tags: #NoPetcoke, #StopPetcoke, #DetPetCoke,
    • Use Tublr, LinkedIn, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and all other social media networks to help us mobilize and challenge corporations that are using Detroit as their dumping ground
We are calling for folks to challenge the narrative spewed on this week’s Detroit News Articleclaiming business is more important than the health and safety of people, by commenting on the piece online:
We are affirming our right and duty to protect our health, quality of life, community aesthetics, safety and quality of life for our children and generations to come.  Join us!

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