Please amplify this event as much as you can. These people are putting their bodies on the line. The least we can do is make some phone calls.

Marilyn


For Immediate Release:

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

FOR MORE INFO. CONTACT

Marlene Plua, delegate 956-756-9503 (Habla español e ingles)

Juan Mancias, Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribal Nation, 830-391-7992

Donna Hoffman, delegate 512-299-5776

hello@texasclimateemergency.net
Bob Hendricks, Sierra Club, 512-451-5985

High Definition Video available for download at: https://texasclimateemergency.net/press/


Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation leads large delegation of native original peoples and Texas delegation to DC to ask President Biden to Build Back Fossil Free

Black and Indigenous-led People Vs. Fossil Fuels – over five days of nonviolent civil disobedience at the White House – state demands to Biden: Take bold action to be the Climate President you want to be in advance of COP26 Global Climate Summit

(Somi Se’k, so called Texas) The Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation is preparing to lead a large delegation of its tribal members along with other frontline community leaders and supporters to Washington DC for five days of indigenous-led story sharing and non-violent civil disobedience in the traditions of the Standing Rock Water Protectors and Martin Luther King, Jr. People Vs. Fossil Fuels is asking President Biden to build back fossil-free and be the climate president he wants to be before the Global Climate Summit (COP26) at the start of November.

“We have everything to lose and no time to wait,” said Juan Mancias, Chairman of the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal nation. “President Biden promised to address the climate emergency and a history of environmental injustice, but so far, his administration continues to allow the fossil fuel industry to poison our communities and desolate our Mother Earth.”

Chairman Mancias and Carrizo Comecrudo tribal members witness and oppose destruction of their ancestral sites and monitor other sites where existing fossil fuels infrastructure and a massive proposed fossil fuels and plastics build out threaten communities and the environment:  the border wall, fracking pollution in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, abandoned wells, dangerous oil and gas pipelines criss-crossing the state, transfer stations and storage tanks, oil and gas export terminals and plastics plants. 

John Beard, Director of Port Arthur Community Action Network is also traveling to DC next week with the Texas Climate Emergency delegation. Beard’s organization monitors and opposes fossil fuels and other industrial pollution in Port Arthur on the Texas-Louisiana border, one of the nation’s most polluted communities.  Beard said, “We will hold Biden to his “Justice 40” initiative; we expect him to help stop the destruction of fenceline communities, homelands and neighborhoods by the fossil fuel industry.  We demand equity and restorative justice actions for our communities.”

Texas Climate Emergency Demands to President Biden https://texasclimateemergency.net/demands/ are aligned and in solidarity with the two main demands of People Vs. Fossil Fuels https://peoplevsfossilfuels.org/demands/. The Texas Climate Emergency Demands go further with Demands 3 and 4 asking Biden and Congress to overturn the unconstitutional and racist voter suppression laws, gerrymandering, anti-protest, and anti-free speech laws that were passed in our state.

At the Texas Climate Emergency press event today, October 5th at 1 PM, Chairman Juan Mancias with the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation and Director John Beard with Port Arthur Community Action Network, twenty year old Eleanor Walters, President of University Democrats, and delegate Marlene Plua (se habla español) spoke about their reasons for endorsing the Texas Climate Emergency Demands and their hopes for a future. Austin-based performance artist and community organizer, Daniel Llanes performed “Allegria” and “Stand on up for Freedom”.  Driftwood-based pipeline fighter and singer-songwriter Purly Gates performed “Wake Up Now” and “Talkin’ Pipeline 2”. Purly is the founder of Clean Energy Now Texas.

Endorsing groups include:  Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribal Nation, Port Arthur Community Action Network, South Texas Human Rights Center, Austin Sierra Club, Coastal Bend Sierra Club, Coalition Against Pipelines, Clean Energy Now Texas, and Extinction Rebellion.

For more information, see https://texasclimateemergency.net where the public can endorse the Demands and make a financial contribution for travel expenses.

MEDIA HOOKS/LOCAL CONNECTION:

Indigenous Sovereignty, Restorative Justice, Grid failure, Winter storm/Extreme weather climate impacts, Proposed Petrochemical buildout on the Gulf Coast, Floods, Fire, Hurricanes, Water and Air Pollution, Oil and Gas Export Terminals, Oil and Gas pipelines, Closing Coal Plants, Texas connection to Infrastructure Bill, COP26, Electric Vehicles, Community-controlled, Renewable Energy Microgrids.

WHY:  Fossil fuel pollution and climate disasters are already disrupting millions of lives worldwide. From fires, to floods, to hurricanes like Harvey and Ida, to the brutal winter storm we experienced last February in Texas, we are living in the midst of a climate emergency. We deserve a world beyond fossil fuels: a world where we can breathe clean air and drink clean water, where workers’ rights, community health, and our shared climate come before corporate profits.

That’s why a large delegation from the Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribal nation and many impacted Texans are uniting to travel to Washington DC for People Vs. Fossil Fuels week of nonviolent civil disobedience Oct. 11-15 to ensure that  Biden becomes the Climate President he promised to be before he attends the global climate talks this November.  The Press Event was the Send-off for the Texas delegates to that week of action.  Read more at https://TexasClimateEmergency.net and see our Texas Demands.  For additional info, call 512-299-5776 or email hello@texasclimateemergency.net    #  #  #