#4Necessity #ActOnClimate #ValveTurners
WHO WE ARE
We, a group of Catholic Workers and farmers, are spiritually rooted and devoted to the care of all life. We are ordinary people without all the answers, and yet we each feel personally called to step into responsibility by standing in the way of this deadly fossil fuel industry, which benefits the few at the expense of all life, especially those who are most vulnerable.
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We do not come in judgement of our brothers and sisters who make their living from this industry. We too are in need of work with just wages. We are certain that if we shut the door to this destructive industry, we will open the door to celan energy industries that will bring meaningful work that uplifts the common good.
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Our species stands at death’s door due to the outmoded and violent myth that some people are more important than others, and that we can live without the intricate and miraculous web of life that surrounds us. Even as we approach total devastation, this myth still rages and nowhere is it more apparent than here in our own backyard. The state of Minnesota and the Enbridge Energy corporation are pushing to increase the volume of deadly tar sands oil through inherently unsafe pipes across Ojibwe treaty territory, and public lands, forests and wetlands - threatening Indigenous Nations' food, medicine and cultural security as well as the water that we all depend on for survival.
The recent scientific study on climate change presented to the UN indicates that the threat of irreversible damage and destruction to . our planet is imminent. Therefore, having exhausted all legal and political avenues, and having found those avenues lethally inadequate either to curb our dependency on fossil fuels or to stop its expansion, we find it necessary to take this direct action of turning off the flow of this poisonous tar sands oil.
The time is now for unprecedented and urgent action. We recognize that turning the valve of one of the many pipelines is but a small step in the struggle for environmental justice. Our hope is that it will remain off and that the decision makers at Enbridge Energy Corporation will feel called to do the right thing and turn off the others as well. Only then can we work towards a clean and sustainable future for all and for generations to come.
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With Hope,
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Four Necessity Valve Turners
Brenna Cussen Anglada Michele Naar-Obed Allyson Polman Daniel Yildirim
We act #4necessity
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, February 4th, 2019
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Press Contact:
Diane Leutgeb Munson
Email: 4necessitymn@gmail.com
Twitter: @4necessity
Instagram: @4necessity
#4necessity #ValveTurners #ActOnClimate
Today, four Catholic Workers took necessary, non-violent action to address the climate crisis by turning off the valves of Enbridge Energy oil pipelines.
This group, known as The Four Necessity Valve Turners closed pipeline valves in Northern Minnesota, citing the imminent and irreversible damage being done to the climate. The group acts in solidarity with the most vulnerable worldwide who suffer the greatest impact from climate change. The Four Necessity Valve Turners believe it is time to take personal responsibility for preventing the dangerous expansion of the oil industry, because governments and regulators have failed to do so.
According to a statement released this morning, the Four Necessity Valve Turners “each feel personally called to step into responsibility by standing in the way of this deadly fossil fuel industry” because the climate crisis is already underway and observable.
Informed by their faith, their work with the marginalized, and their lives as farmers, the Four Necessity Valve Turners hope to protect a livable future. In their own words:
“I believe every life is sacred. This is an act of grief for the state of violence the world is in. This is an act of celebration for the beauty of the earth.” (Allyson Polman)
“This act is step towards reparations for the damage that colonization has done both to the indigenous peoples of this continent and the land.” (Brenna Cussen Anglada)
“This small act of healing our earth is riding on the wings of all the ancestors, angels, saints, and cloud of witnesses who will continue these efforts by changing hearts and minds allow for sustainable, livable, and just technologies for good of all.” (Michele Naar Obed)
“The extraction of the tar sands oil flowing through these pipes represents an ongoing atrocity against the boreal forests of Canada. I refuse to stand by in silence as this river of death flows through the Great Lakes region.” (Daniel Yildirim)
Media inquiries should be directed to Diane Leutgeb Munson at the information provided above.