April 20 Court Date Looms Big In Oakland Coal Struggle
Next Thursday, April 20, U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria will hear the first arguments in the historic courtroom battle between the City of Oakland and local developer Phil Tagami who wants to build a major coal export facility on the West Oakland waterfront.
The City of Oakland, Sierra Club, and San Francisco Baykeeper will face off against Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC (OBOT), a corporate shell through which Tagami and his business partners hold a 66-year lease and rights to develop and operate a marine terminal on the West Gateway portion of ...
Labor Tackles Climate Jobs Challenge as Oakland Coal Controversy Goes to Court: “Jobs for Workers, Not for Lawyers”
On Saturday, April 8, the Alameda Labor Council will sponsor a Labor, Climate & Jobs Forum with plenary and workshop sessions devoted to how Unions are addressing climate and environmental challenges by organizing workers and communities. Speakers will include Josie Camacho, executive secretary-treasurer, Alameda Labor Council; Kathyrn Lybarger, president, California State Federation of Labor; Cesar Diaz, State Building and Construction Trades Council; and Carol Zabin, UC Berkeley Labor Center Green Economy Program.
The Forum follows the Labor Council's pathbrea...
First major hearing in coal ban lawsuit: April 20, 2017
Join No Coal in Oakland at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on the morning of April 20, 2017 to stand up for Oakland's coal ban.
At 10:00 am on that day, Judge Vince Chhabria will hold the first important hearing in developer Phil Tagami’s attempt to overturn the City’s ban on coal storage and handling at the future West Gateway marine terminal, his lawsuit Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC v. City of Oakland.
The Court will hear several motions at the hearing.
Of great importance to No Coal in Oakland is a motion by Sierra Club and San Franci...
Utah coal miners, Oakland activists featured in Al Jazeera news segment
On February 3, 2017, Al Jazeera English posted a video segment Global warming fears throw Utah Coal industry into crisis. The segment includes 2016 interview footage of West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project Co-Director Ms. Margaret Gordon, who is also a co-coordinator of No Coal in Oakland. (The segment, also posted to the Al Jazeera English YouTube channel, is embedded below.)
At the opening of the Al Jazeera report, retired coal miner Dennis Ardohain points out names of hundreds of coal miners killed in mine accidents engraved on a monument he helped to ...
Oakland Strikes Back Against Developer’s Lawsuit; City Files Motion to Dismiss
Labor, Faith, & Community Leaders Announce Campaign to Support City of Oakland in High-Stakes Legal Battle with Coal Terminal Developer
Today, the City of Oakland filed a motion to dismiss the high-stakes lawsuit, Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC v. City of Oakland, brought by a developer seeking to build a $250 million coal export facility on Oakland's waterfront.
Last summer, the City Council voted unanimously to bar the use of a marine terminal on City-owned land for the storage and handling of coal. If the proposed bulk terminal is used for this ...
Demonstrators Rain on Tagami’s Pro-Coal Parade
Braving rain, a spirited group gathered at the Federal Building in Oakland, including half a dozen young children, a dozen high school students, parents, grandparents and community members to protest Phil Tagami's lawsuit against the City of Oakland.
The first public action against Phil Tagami’s lawsuit was organized by Families Against Fossil Fuels in coordination with the national #DayAgainstDenial. Throughout the country on January 9, demonstrators called on our representatives to reject the climate deniers Trump has nominated.
In early December, Phil ...
Developer Files Federal Suit Seeking to Overturn Coal Ban; Community Vows to Fight Back
On Wednesday, December 7, developer Phil Tagami filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Oakland's ordinance banning storage, handling, and transhipment of coal through a new terminal to be built on the Oakland waterfront near the Bay Bridge toll plaza.
The lawsuit against the City of Oakland was filed on behalf of Tagami's shell company Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC (OBOT LLC). Tagami's complaint is online here. A letter sent to the City is here. And a press release issued by Tagami's local lawyer is here.
No Coal in Oakland will be updating this ...
West Side Missionary Baptist Church Honored for Role in No Coal Campaign
West Side Missionary Baptist Church and its pastor, Rev. Ken Chambers, were honored for their outstanding contributions to the No Coal in Oakland campaign at California Interfaith Power & Light’s 10th annual awards ceremony on November 15. CIPL is an interfaith group responding to climate change, with members from Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Unitarian, and many other spiritual traditions. At this year’s annual awards ceremony, attendees shared food, offered prayers, and celebrated climate care and advocacy work being done by congregations ...
NCIO Campaign Report Published, August 2016
In August 2016, No Coal in Oakland member Margaret Rossoff, following consultation with several others in the group, completed a report summarizing the NCIO campaign's origins, strategy, tactics, organization, and key documents.
In the report's introduction, Rossoff explains:
Many activists have expressed interest in an account of how the No Coal in Oakland campaign was organized. This article is a response, but is not a history. It is structured thematically rather than chronologically, and the many amazing activists and organizers are not identified by name. ...
Victory: Oakland’s Coal Ban Becomes Law
On July 19, 2016, the Oakland City Council approved the ban on coal initially approved three weeks before. The vote on the council's Consent Calendar, on which the coal measures were included, was unanimous: 8-0, with all council members in attendance.
Prior to the vote, No Coal in Oakland member Aaron Reaven thanked the council for approving the coal ban at its special meeting on June 27, 2016, and asked that changes to its process for hearing community input be considered, to prevent "political thuggery" in which paid political operatives are permitted to shout ...
