On Tuesday October 7, more than 150 protesters targeted Bank of America and Citi, two of the most powerful remaining banks in the United States, for their financing of coal, their contribution to the current financial crisis and their role in a recent wave of Boston evictions. After a rally and march from Bank of America, four protesters locked down in front of a Citi branch in Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA.

The protesters were demanding that the banks “stop funding dirty energy and start investing in community solutions.”

Kuntur Transportadora de Gas has signed an agreement with the Peruivan government to build a new pipeline to transport gas from the controversial Camisea field to the south of the country. Construction of the 700-mile pipeline is due to begin in 2010 and be complete by 2013.

Kuntur is a subsidiary of New York-based Conduit Capital, “a private equity investment firm focused on the significant investment opportunities presented by the independent electric power industry in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

While the pipeline is being advertised as a way to alleviate the poverty of southern Peru, as usual the new infrastructure is really meant to benefit heavy industry.

“In addition to the pipeline we could see billions of dollars of incremental investment, including petrochemical plants, power plants and cement plants,” said Kuntur President Samuel D. Gómez.

The Camisea field was one of many infrastrucuture sites that indigenous protesters recently shut down in protests over industrial exploitation of their territories.

This story is a little dated but we only just heard about it and wanted to bring it to you anyway. On Sep. 18, 200 people including indigenous people, fishermen, local residents, environmentalists and members of groups including the American Indian Movement and Rising Tide marched in Portland, OR, to demand the removal of PacifiCorp’s four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. After a press conference, 70 people blockaded the entrance to PacifiCorp headquarters, pounding on the doors and disrupting business. There were no arrests.

The same day, a solidarity banner was hung across I-84.

Oil and natural gas production off the US Gulf Coast remain at less than 50 percent following hurricanes Gustav and Ike, leading to shortages of both gasoline and diesel throughout the Southeast. Lines at gas stations have been reported in the Asheville, NC area, and the Flying J truck stop chain has imposed diesel rationing.

This highlights the US economy’s dependence on the smooth functioning of its energy infrastructure — a shut down of oil extraction and refining leads to fuel shortages, which leads to decreased truck trade or increased prices… remember, “Without Trucks, America (sic) Stops!”

Well, not really. But the US economy certainly would!

US and Canadian companies are collaborating on a plan to build a new oil refinery on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, drawing opposition from local indigenous communities. This would be the first new refinery in the United States in more than 30 years.

Read more about this issue here.

Excerpted from a Tehran Times article:

Electrobras, a Brazilian state-owned [power] company … confirmed the execution of five hydroelectric projects in Peru, which will increase the country’s electricity supply, the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) reported on Tuesday.

During ExpoPerú 2008, an investment promotion event held in Sao Paulo, the Peruvian minister of energy and mines, Juan Valdivia, met with representatives of this company, who expressed strong interest in developing various projects in the country.

“The meetings with Brazilian investors were a great success; they have shown much interest in developing the ten largest hydro-electric power projects in the country, five of them have already been confirmed,” Peru’s vice minister of energy, Pedro Gamio, said on Tuesday.

He noted that two of these projects, the Inambari Hydroelectric Power Plant in Madre de Dios and the Paquitzapango Hydroelectric Power Plant in Junín would start operating in 2014.

The US Department of Transportation has announced plans to reduce traffic congestion at three border crossings:

• A new port of entry for San Diego’s Otay Mesa East Port of Entry  and a 2.7-mile, four lane highway linking it to other California highways.

• The East Loop Bypass Project in Laredo, TX: a new rail bridge across the border and new rail bypass around the city.

• The Cascade Gateway Expanded Cross-border Advanced Traveler Information System at the in Blaine, WA corssing to “provide real-time border-crossing wait-times and other travel information through a combination of technologies.”

The three projects will have access to prioritized funding and “discretionary programs.”

“Congestion at our borders is choking both travelers and commerce,” Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. “By prioritizing the projects, we can improve the movement of people and goods across our borders and help to maintain these important economic lifelines.”

On September 15, 10 protesters locked down to steel barrels on the construction site of a new Dominion Energy coal-fired power plant in Wise County, Virginia. After four hours, police arrested 11 protesters and reclaimed the site.

This is not the first or even the fourth time Dominion has been targeted in recent months for its involvement in coal and nuclear expansion. Read about some the of the previous actions:

Anti-Coal Lockdown at Bank of America (Aug. 11)

Anti-Nuke Sit-In in Virginia (Aug. 10)

Lockdown at Power Company HQ in Virginia (July 3)

Dominion Power Blockaded in Virginia (Apr. 21)

UPDATE (9/19/2008): Later that day, activists managed to insert images of the lockdown into a powerpoint presentation being given by Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II.

The busy workerbees of the Beehive Design Collective may be swarming your way this fall!

On tour with giant, portable murals, the Bees aim to draw the connections between colonial history and present day struggles against corporate globalization, violence, and racism. These images are beautiful and fantastic teaching tools — and better yet, the focus of the coming tours is very much on destructive infrastructure! The Bees offer picture lectures, workshops and even longer residencies. If you can find a way to get them into your town, we highly recommend it.

Southeast Tour - Mountaintop Removal: The True Cost of Coal

Northeast Tour - Atlantica Resist!: The Struggle of Diversity vs. Homoginezation in the Americas

Northwest Tour - Dismantling Monoculture: The Struggle of Diversity vs. Homoginezation in the Americas

For more information or to get in touch with the Beehive Collective, see the full tour announcement here.

On September 11, a British jury concluded that Greenpeace activists were justified in vandalizing a coal chimney at the Kingsnorth Power Plant in October 2007, because far greater property damage will be caused if global warming is not halted. The court acquitted the activists of any criminal responsibility under the doctrine of “lawful excuse,” which says that damage may be done to another’s property in order to prevent another, greater damage.

Six Greenpeace activists had painted Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s name on the chimney, and the power company spent £35,000 to remove the paint.

The “lawful excuse” defense has previously been successfully used by Greenpeace activists who ripped up genetically modified crops and by East Timor solidarity activists who damaged military jets bound for Indonesia.

Kingsnorth Power Plant was also the site of a number large at the recent UK Climate Camp. Plans to build a new coal-powered plant at the site have drawn widespread opposition.