Videos
On June 25, 2016, No Coal in Oakland staged a rally outside Oakland City Hall. Two days after the rally, the Oakland City Council voted 7-0 to ban storage and handling of coal at a new terminal to be built on the Oakland waterfront. The struggle to stop coal lasted more than a year. The No Coal campaign built a broad coalition of labor, faith, community, and environmental justice activists and organizations. The developer has threatened to sue the City for adopting the ban on coal. The struggle continues. Pro bono video courtesy of TheClimateMobilization.org.
bandZandt, the Washington State South Fork Valley’s favorite rock and roll band, wrote and recorded this song when concern was raised regarding a proposed shipping terminal in Whatcom County, Washington, that would bring many more trains filled with coal through their community each day. Imagine several trains this size running daily through Richmond, El Cerrito, Berkeley, Emeryville, and West Oakland.
This extraordinary documentary tells the story of a battle is being fought over a mountain in Appalachia. The mining and burning of coal is at the center of America’s and the world’s struggle to balance their energy consumption with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens fight to stop Big Coal corporations like Massey Energy from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal. As we fight Bowie Resource Partners, the coal-mining company that seeks to build a coal terminal on public land in Oakland, we can learn from this passionate film that honors the extraordinary power of working people and their allies when they challenge a corporation driven solely by profit. Written, directed and produced by Bill Haney, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder and president of the eco-housing start-up, Blu Homes, THE LAST MOUNTAIN was co-written and edited by Peter Rhodes and produced by Clara Bingham and Eric Grunebaum. Narrated by William Sadler, the film features original music by composer Claudio Ragazzi and includes the song “Your Control” by Crooked Fingers and Neko Case.
A filmmaker from Germany, associated with “Hambacher Forst” activists, visited Oakland to learn about No Coal in Oakland’s issues and campaign. The video is a quick and excellent introductory overview of the campaign to stop construction of infrastructure for shipping and handling of coal at the foot of the iconic San Francisco Bay Bridge.