Decolonizing California History
A benefit for the California Indian Museum & Cultural Center 
with Nicole Lim, Executive Director, CIMCC
 
Friday, November 8, 2019 (*note change of date)
7:00 pm; doors open at 6:30 pm
Christ Church United Methodist, 1717 Yulupa, Santa Rosa, CA
 
Hosted by Sonoma Solidarity with Standing Rock & Christ Church United Methodist
Suggested Donation $10 - $20; all donations to CIMCC; no one turned away for lack of funds
 
Learn about the true history of California, significant roles played by California Indians, and the impacts of colonization. Explore strategies for integrating native perspectives into public education and civic discourse. These stories must be shared lest they be forgotten.
 
Nicole Lim, Director of CIMCC, is Pomo. She is Staff Attorney with the National Indian Justice Center, Vice President of the California Association of Museums, Secretary for the National Tribal GIS Program, and a member of the Native American Advisory Committee to the University of California Office of the President. She founded the Tribal Youth Ambassadors program, which received the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award in 2016.
 
With much appreciation to our co-sponsors (listed alphabetically):

Advocates for Social Justice of UU Congregation Santa Rosa
Center for Babaylan Studies
Conversations Around the Fire
Elders Action Network
Filipino American National Historical Society
HUB Cultural Center of Sonoma State University
Indivisible Petaluma
Interfaith Council of Sonoma County
North Bay Organizing Project
Our House Intercultural Center of SRJC Petaluma
​Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County
Pomo Project of Sebastopol
Racial Justice Allies of Sonoma County
Redwood Forest Friends Meeting
Sierra Club Sonoma Group
Task Force on the Americas

Things are moving forward quickly! The 2018 election provided a mandate for progressive policies that can safeguard our future. Newly elected Indigenous women who spent time at Standing Rock are championing a Green New Deal to confront the single most important issue of our time: the health and wellbeing of our climate and our Grandmother Earth. And today, the revival of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is capturing the attention of the nation as we aspire to significant climate action.

Last week, we went to New Mexico to interview Deb Haaland, one of the first two Native women to be elected to US Congress. In our new video, she talks about why the Green New Deal is so important. This ambitious plan, proposed by her fellow congresswoman-elect, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, would create jobs, stimulate our economy, and transition us away from fossil fuels.

Deb and Alexandria need your support now! Use this advocacy form to send a letter to your House and Senate reps urging them to support the passage of a Green New Deal inclusive of Indigenous rights and leadership. Let’s also make sure Congresswoman-elect Haaland is appointed to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

At Standing Rock, we stood against the Dakota Access pipeline, but we didn’t stop there. We’re now bringing solar to the people through our #GreenTheRez initiative, and we’ll keep working until Standing Rock is fully energy independent and 100 percent green.

Ocasio-Cortez, Haaland and their fellow progressives are leading a grand, spiritual awakening through the Green New Deal movement. And the Lakota People’s Law Project is helping to bring that vision to Indian Country and infuse it with Native wisdom. The Green New Deal must be implemented now, and to be just it should include Native leadership and connection to the land. Help us amplify our voices in the halls of Congress. Your action today will help keep Unci Maka habitable and pristine for future generations.

Wopila — Thank you for your advocacy!

Chase Iron Eyes
Lead Counsel
Lakota People's Law Project

P.S. Please email your representatives today and tell them to support the Green New Deal with a strong focus on climate justice for Native people. Tell them to include Deb Haaland in its decision making and direction. For too long, we have been excluded from energy policy and disproportionately affected by the ravages of the fossil fuel industry. We helped lead the way here. We must not be forgotten again at this critical hour.

Lakota People's Law Project
547 South 7th #149
Bismarck, ND 58504-5859
​
The Lakota People's Law Project is part of the Romero Institute, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) law and policy center. All donations are tax-deductible.

​JPMorgan Chase is the largest funder of fossil fuels on Wall Street. In 2017, they even increased their funding of tar sands companies by 400%.[2] Massive infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline depend almost entirely on loans from major financial institutions. By cutting off the flow of cash, we can cut off the flow of oil and gas. [3]

We know what motivates big financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase — profit and publicity. Last year, activists and community members across the country (including some of you reading this now) got the World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas[4] extraction after a sustained campaign of pressure and shame. This strategy has worked before, and it can work again here.

People have already been fighting JPMorgan Chase tooth and nail from coast to coast for over a year. These days, CEO Jamie Dimon can’t go anywhere in public without being confronted by activists. [5] Let’s keep up the pressure.

You can help this campaign by flooding JPMorgan Chase executives' inboxes with demands that they stop bankrolling climate disaster.

Part of the strategy of driving the fossil fuel industry out of existence involves making them unwelcome at all financial institutions. By raising our voices as one, we can show JPMorgan Chase that the consequences of backing companies like TransCanada and Enbridge far outweigh any short term potential profits.

If JPMorgan Chase backs out of funding fossil fuels, it will send a powerful message to financial institutions worldwide that the time to pull out of the fossil fuel industry is now. We have the power to bring oil, coal, and gas billionaires to their knees, but only if we take action. Let’s seize the moment.

Onward,

Alec Connon - 350Seattle
​_________________________________________________________________________
[1]  Keystone XL pipeline, Bank Track
[2]  Extreme Fossil Fuel Investments Have Surged Under Donald Trump, The Guardian
[3]  To Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, We Need to Stop the Flow of Dollars, The Stranger 
[4]  World Bank to end financial support for oil and gas extraction, The Guardian
{5]  Wherever Dimon Goes, Activists Turn His Speeches into Spectacles, Bloomberg
​_________________________________________________________________________
350.orgis building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and text 350to 83224to get important mobile action alerts.  Become a sustaining donor to keep this movement strong and growing.Looking for other ways to get involved? Check out our map to see if there's a local 350 group or event near you.

"As many as 100 people have been evacuated from the reserve of the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation north of Prince George after a pipeline explosion generated a massive fire that could be seen from the campus of the University of Northern B.C. (UNBC) on Tuesday."

Read more.

​Native American leaders continue to call for divestment from Wall Street banks heavily invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline and other fossil fuel companies, so in March of last year we started a divestment team to work on individual divestment. Shortly thereafter, we began working with the Friends of Public Banking Santa Rosa on public banking as institutional divestment.

JPMorgan Chase: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

The City of Santa Rosa has decided to divest from Wells Fargo, due to the downgraded “Needs Improvement” status by the DOJ last March. (For more info, go to this page and scroll down to "Wells Fargo Downgraded to Less Than Satisfactory CRA rating".)

So now that the City is leaving Wells Fargo, the City of Santa Rosa is switching to JPMorgan Chase, just as reprehensible, until or unless the city can get a public bank up and running.

According to a report put together by Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, the Indigenous Environmental Network and three other organizations, Chase is among the top three banks financing the expansion of extreme fossil fuel development overall at a total of $26 billion over the past three years. And Chase is among the top three investment banks in 3 of 5 categories, including tar sands, ultra deepwater oil and coal.

At the City's annual goal setting meetings at the beginning of the year, it was clear the city was already running out of money due to the cost of cleaning up and repairs, etc. after the October fires. Chase's bid came in at $40,000 less than Exchange Bank, over the five year period of the contract and Chase offered a $60,000 credit to offset the expense of transferring from Wells Fargo to Chase. But in terms of fossil fuel resistance, especially to indigenous peoples who are all too often on the front lines of fossil fuel resistance, choosing JPMorgan Chase is as bad than Wells Fargo - or worse. 

This November two measures to raise revenue for the city will be placed on the ballot: measures N and O.  Read the details on the two ballot measures here. However one or both measures could fail if the voters decide they don't want to pay. And the City is considered draconian budget cuts: " Six vacant full-time slots for firefighters are among those proposed for deletion," according to the Press Democrat. And even if both measures do pass in November, it's likely the city needs far more money than the funding these two measures could raise. How on earth will the city raise more money?

If the City starts a public bank, the City will not only be able to divest from fossil fuels. Half the cost of infrastructure is financing. By financing through its own bank, the City could save up to HALF the cost of infrastructure, as well as millions in fees currently being paid to Wall Street banks, and now JPMorgan Chase. Also, as a wholesale bank, a public bank would not compete with local banks but instead partner with local banks and credit unions to offer lower interest rates on loans - all desperately needed for rebuilding for years to come, not just in Santa Rosa. This would raise money for affordable housing, responding to the homeless crisis, and more. Surrounding towns and counties that need to rebuild after fires will also benefit from low interest loans, and keeping our money local. 

We continue to press city council and staff for a feasibility study, and to start a public bank as soon as possible. A feasibility study would help to determine if Santa Rosa is a large enough city to do this on its own, or if it would be best to partner with another city such as the chartered City of Eureka in a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) partnership. However to get talks of a partnership going, council members must commit to this project officially in order for discussions with elected representatives and city staff in other cities to even begin.

If you have not done so, please endorse our resolution for a public bank.

Write a letter to the editor asking city council and staff to move ahead as quickly as possible with the feasibility study.

Ask your company or organization to endorse the public bank.

Even if it takes 3 to 5 years to open a pubic bank, we need to get a public bank underway, the sooner the better. 

#PublicBank, #PublicBankSantaRosa, #NoDAPL

By Hoai-An Truong
​[Updated 11/2/2019]

For those of us who support Indigenous peoples in their crusade against fossil fuel industries and for climate activists, switching away from natural gas helps us move away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. 

The City of Santa Rosa and its residents will be working on the post-fire rebuild for years to come. Members of the Sonoma County Climate Activist Network (a network of over 25 local climate action organizations including our group, Sonoma Solidarity with Standing Rock) are promoting a green, sustainable, fire resilient rebuild. As part of our commitment, we are campaigning to mandate “all-electric ready” construction for all new buildings in Santa Rosa. This promotes clean energy usage over natural gas, which is a fossil fuel. We are extremely fortunate in this county to be able to get our energy from community solar: Sonoma Clean Power. Switching to all-electric ready construction will also help our residents decrease utility bills over time as solar and battery technology improves, and production costs go down. 

Natural gas comes with high environmental costs: extraction via fracking devastates the environment and local communities. Fracking is a huge contributor to climate change.  Methane (CH4) is the main component of natural gas (around 85%) and methane is a major greenhouse gas (GHG). Methane is over 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2). In the last few years the scientific community has come to realize that the production of natural gas results in massive amounts of “fugitive emissions,” or unintended leakage of natural gas into the atmosphere. And it is an increasingly expensive process. Those costs - HIGH environmental costs well as financial - are passed on to the consumers: us. 

For those of us who love to cook and even those who don't, we prefer cooking on a gas stove. Most of us have had terrible experiences cooking with electric stoves. Parting with a gas stove might appear to be the hardest part of the transition. However electric stovetop technology has evolved tremendously.

An induction stovetop burner can now be as responsive or even more responsive than a gas burner.  Induction cooktops heat faster, and are very fast to turn down the temperature, like a gas burner. An induction cooktop can be more easily, evenly and precisely controlled than a gas burner which is prone to hot spots and uneven heating. They have a smaller carbon footprint. 

An induction stovetop is also dramatically safer particularly if you have toddlers or young children. It can increase the safety of elderly parents who might be succumbing to a failing memory or even Alzheimer's. If someone accidentally leaves a dish towel on an induction burner that is on, it won't burn. It will keep your loved ones safer.

Note that the cost of natural gas will go up over time due to expensive extraction costs, but the cost of renewable energy will keep going down. Going all-electric ensures your costs will go down with time. It is a great choice financially -- especially for those approaching or in retirement, when many of us will be living on fixed incomes. 

Please support the mandate for all-electric construction for all future construction in Santa Rosa. It's best for the climate and our future. 

Here are two videos on the advantages of an induction cooktop vs a gas cooktop - and both are surprisingly fun to watch. The first video also shows you don't have to buy a whole new cooktop. You can buy a portable induction burner for around $70, and test it out for yourself. In fact, if your town has a tool and equipment lending library, it could purchase portable induction burners for residents to borrow and try out at home.

Are induction cooktops better than gas? by Dean Sharp - The House Whisperer

It's not just mobile phone technology that has evolved. Not only has stovetop technology vastly improved, oven technology has also come a long way. The following video compares convection ovens vs. conventional ovens. Convection ovens bake faster and are more energy efficient. Note: this video is from 2015. The price of convection ovens, particularly countertop versions, have dropped considerably. You can even buy a combination countertop microwave and convection oven as a very affordable option to replacing your full-size oven. Microwave ovens are great at heating but not at browning or baking. A convection oven allows the food to bake faster and to brown. A convection oven browns more evenly than a conventional oven, reducing or even eliminating the need for basting. Faster, less work - and saves energy. 

Convection vs. conventional ovens explained by CNET

Something else to consider: when a natural disaster strikes, such as another fire or if the Big One hits (the next big earthquake), electricity is restored more quickly than gas (which could take up to 2-3 weeks to repair). 

​Scientists say we have until 2030 to make a huge shift to reduce and reverse climate change. We probably have even less time than that. Vote with your wallet, make your voice heard at city council meetings, email city council. Choose a sustainable future. For all of us!

"Last year, after the military-style assaults on the camps at Standing Rock, Human Rights Watch expanded its agenda to include a program focused on the environment as a human right. 

"Sustaining this awakening is the next great task.

"We need climate justice in everything we do."

Click to read article. 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: jennyb 
Date: Wed, Feb 28, 2018 at 2:36 PM
Subject: [Sonoma-NoDAPL] Action alert: Stop drilling for oil off the California coast - deadline for comments March 9th
To: Sonoma-NoDAPL <sonoma-nodapl@googlegroups.com>

Stop drilling for oil off the California coast! The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to sell leases to oil companies for drilling off the entire west coast and east coast of the USA and all around Alaska. Comments due by March 9th.

Very many thanks to Ann Hancock of the Center for Climate Protection for sending out the Action Alert below which provides a framework for comments.

On February 8th, the Sierra Club Sonoma Group organized a bus to Sacramento to the rally and the BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) meeting where people could submit comments. The following talking points were provided so you can also use these as a basis for comments:

• I oppose the Trump administration’s plan to open every coast to offshore drilling. I urge you to halt your proposal to expand oil drilling in our public waters ー the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska. The Arctic and all of our oceans must be protected, not recklessly exploited for fossil fuels.
  
  
• Offshore drilling threatens coastal communities and wildlife with oil spills that pollute the water; damage the coast; and harm whales, polar bears, dolphins, sea turtles, fish, and birds. The plan increases the likelihood of oil spills by ten times the current offshore leasing plan, and an oil spill in the Arctic would be impossible to clean-up.
  
  
• The plan is controversial and strongly opposed. Nearly every coastal governor opposes the offshore leasing plan, and 150+ communities on both coasts have enacted resolutions opposing offshore drilling. 
  
  
• Oil spills cause significant economic damage. Coastal areas account for 40 million jobs; nearly 40 percent of our economic output; and these coastal economies rely on healthy ocean ecosystems for fishing, tourism and recreation.
  
  
• Trump’s drilling plan will deepen the climate crisis, offering leases for fossil fuels that could produce as much as 50 billion tons of carbon pollution.
  
  

Jenny

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject:Action alert: Stop drilling for oil off the California coast ❗
Date:Tue, 27 Feb 2018 17:01:37 +0000
From:Ann Hancock <ann@climateprotection.org>


February 22, 2018
The federal government invites comments re drilling for oil off the California coast. Let’s let them know that Californians are opposed. Comments are due by March 9th.

Click on the "Take Action" button below, then click on the "Comment now!" button on the top right side of the page. 

Here's some sample text you can copy and paste into the comments section.

Why is the federal government planning on drilling for more oil off the coast of California? The amount of carbon already contained in the world’s proven coal and oil and gas reserves is five times the amount required to increase the global temperature by 2 degrees Celsius. The vast majority of the world’s scientific community and the 195 nations which signed the Paris Climate Accord agree that it is imperative to avoid an increase of average global surface temperature of more than two degrees. So if our current fossil fuel reserves exceed what we can safely consume, why would we want to drill for more oil and risk seriously damaging our vital coastal eco-system and California's tourism and fishing industries?

TAKE ACTION

Please also consider sharing this action alert on social media or
via email by clicking on the buttons below.
Share 
Tweet 
Forward                                                           

Thank you for all you do to make a difference!
 
Ann Hancock, Executive Director
Center for Climate Protection


Copyright © 2018 Center for Climate Protection, All rights reserved.
You have submitted your contact information to the Center for Climate Protection to be included in our email list.

Our mailing address is:
Center for Climate Protection
P.O. Box 3785
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
Add us to your address book

Please send in a comment ASAP within the next two weeks!

The Minnesota Department of Commerce just completed revisions on the Final Environmental Impact Statement -- but it's missing a key cultural resources survey, despite the fact that five Indigenous Nations have repeatedly asked for it to be included.

Send your comment now urging the Commission to include the impacts to Indigenous communities and sacred sites, and reject the Line 3 pipeline.

​Thanks!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mysti Babineau & 350.org <350@350.org>
Date: Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 1:42 PM
Subject: Support Indigenous rights & #StopLine3

Friends,
Right now, there are 3 major tar sands pipelines on the table that, if built, would send our climate past a tipping point.

Keystone XL in the Midwest, Kinder Morgan in Western Canada, and Line 3 near my home in the Great Lakes would all bring tar sands from Alberta, Canada to market -- threatening Indigenous rights and burning more fossil fuels our climate can’t bear.

The last opportunity to weigh in on the Line 3 pipeline just opened -- can you submit a comment to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission urging them to reject the project?

The Commissioners need to know that the world is watching this decision. The more people who submit a comment, the more pressure we can generate. Comments will only be accepted for the next two weeks -- so we need to act now.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce just completed revisions on the Final Environmental Impact Statement -- but it's missing a key cultural resources survey, despite the fact that five Indigenous Nations have repeatedly asked for it to be included.

Send your comment now urging the Commission to include the impacts to Indigenous communities and sacred sites, and reject the Line 3 pipeline.

Even without the results of this survey, the PUC has plenty of reasons to reject this pipeline. It's a catastrophe for Indigenous rights, clean water, and the climate, and it should not be built.

This fight is bigger than just Line 3 -- it’s about stopping the fossil fuel industry and its dirty projects that harm our communities and our climate. We need a just and equitable transition to 100% renewables, and we need it now.

This is the last opportunity for the public to weigh in on Line 3, prior to the PUC’s decision on the permits this June. Please add your voice and say 'no' to this dangerous pipeline.

With thanks,

Mysti Babineau
​
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