URGENT: Calls need on so-called “sabotage” bill

March 7, 2018 by Ed Fallon
306 comments
Hi Folks – I apologize for writing more than once this week, but this is urgent. Just today, Rep Rick Olson has filed amendments to SF 2235 (HF 2394) — the “critical infrastructure sabotage” bill — and we need to turn up the heat to encourage lawmakers to support them. As written the bill does two really bad things: 1. It could make peaceful, non-violence protest a Class B felony — with a possible fine of $100,000 and a 25-year prison sentence! 2. It could Continue reading →

Former foes join forces to oppose pipeline bill

March 6, 2018 by Ed Fallon
2 comments
Dear Friends, Legislation that would criminalize public protest and legitimize the Dakota Access Pipeline as part of Iowa’s critical infrastructure could come up today in the Iowa House! It’s important that people call their state representative at (515) 281-3221. If you don’t know your representative you can find them using this link. Here’s the press release Bold Iowa sent out this morning. While it’s tremendously encouraging that Bold and Labor are again on the same page, we have a lot of work to do to Continue reading →

“Sabotage” bill a Trojan Horse for eminent domain abuse

February 8, 2018 by Ed Fallon
One comment
[By Ed Fallon] About twenty years ago, growth-management advocates across the US were shocked when the Tennessee General Assembly enacted one of the nation’s strongest anti-urban sprawl bills. At the time, I was working on similar legislation in Iowa, so I traveled to Nashville to learn more. Sitting in the office of a state lawmaker who helped champion the bill, I asked, “How did you make this happen?” “Mah friend,” drawled the lawmaker as he drew on his cigarette, “if you want to accomplish something Continue reading →

Des Moines “Here Comes the Sun” House Party

February 7, 2018 by Ed Fallon
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Come to a “Here Comes the Sun” House Party on Saturday, February 24 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 2809 Kingman Blvd in Des Moines. Learn about solar energy from one of Des Moines’ leading installers, Tim Kruse of Green Light Renewable Services. We’ll have hors d’oeuvres catered by Cyd Koehn, beverages, music and a lively discussion. Free will offering to support Bold Iowa’s work gratefully accepted. We’ll also get an update on the “Stop DAPL 2.0” campaign and the lawsuit filed by nine Iowa landowners and Continue reading →

U.S. Bank Protest in Minneapolis: Activists March Against Pipeline Funding

February 4, 2018 by Ed Fallon
425 comments
Link to original article: https://heavy.com/news/2018/02/us-bank-protest-minneapolis-pipeline-photos-super-bowl/ Coverage by Heavy.com, New York, NY, February 3, 2018 Excerpt: Activists Say U.S. Bank Is Still Funding Pipelines By Giving General Financing to ETP & Other Clients Some activists are saying that the bank is still financing the pipelines indirectly. And because of this, hundreds showed up for the protest in Minneapolis the day before the Super Bowl, shutting down an intersection in the city: Hundreds of water protectors just shut down this intersection in Minneapolis, protesting @usbank’s funding of Continue reading →

“STOP DAPL 2.0” TALKING POINTS

February 2, 2018 by Ed Fallon
406 comments
“STOP DAPL 2.0” TALKING POINTS The fight to stop the Dakota Access pipeline is again ramping up! A while back, there was this excellent piece by Carolyn Raffensperger, the story about pipeline sabotage legislation (click here to read Bold Iowa’s press release in response), and this story about US Bank and the divestment campaign. Good, but we need a lot more chatter and clamor — especially around the landowner/Sierra Cub lawsuit before the Iowa Supreme Court. Letters to the editor (LTE) and Op Eds in Continue reading →

Iowa Pipeline Fighters Head to Super Bowl to Pressure US Bank to Divest

February 1, 2018 by Ed Fallon
36 comments
Dear Friends, Go Tom Brady! Yeah, I just had to get that out of the way. Across the country, people are turning up the heat on politicians and corporations intent on destroying our water, land, and planet for satiate their lust for power and money. US Bank is one of them, and it’ll be in the spotlight on Super Sunday when the Pats and Eagles tangle at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The day before the Super Bowl — let’s call it Super Saturday — Continue reading →

Iowa pipeline protesters target Super Bowl stadium

February 1, 2018 by Emma Schmit
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Link to original article: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2018/02/01/iowa-environmentalists-heading-super-bowl-protest-dakota-access-pipeline/1087402001/ Coverage by The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, February 1, 2018 Iowa environmentalists will flock to the site of Super Bowl LII this weekend to protest the Dakota Access pipeline. Bold Iowa director Ed Fallon said his group would join Indigenous Iowa and others from across the Midwest to protest the four-state pipeline ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl LII game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The activists are accusing U.S. Bank of financing the $3.8 billion pipeline project, which Continue reading →

RELEASE: Pipeline “Sabotage” Bill Called Legislative Extremism

January 26, 2018 by Ed Fallon
348 comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, January 26, 2018 — 2:00 p.m. CT, Contact Ed Fallon at (515) 238-6404 or [email protected] Pipeline “Sabotage” Bill Called Legislative Extremism Proposed bill could render peaceful protest against oil pipeline impossible Bold Iowa today strongly criticized legislation that passed unanimously out of a Senate subcommittee on Thursday. The legislation — Senate Study Bill 3062 — defines “critical infrastructure sabotage” as an “unauthorized act that is intended to or does in fact cause a substantial interruption or impairment of service rendered to the public related to Continue reading →

Pipeline fight converges on US Bank, Super Bowl LII

January 25, 2018 by Ed Fallon
One comment
On Saturday, February 3, 2018 from 12:30 – 3:30 at US Bank Headquarters, 800 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Water Protectors from South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and beyond will demand that US Bank keep its promise to divest from oil and gas pipelines. That includes Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company responsible for the Dakota Access pipeline, and now the topic of a lawsuit filed by nine Iowa landowners and the Iowa Sierra Club.   Last month US Bank broke its promise to stop lending to oil Continue reading →