There Will Be No Coal In Oakland!
No Coal in Oakland (NCIO) was one of the most dynamic and successful local campaigns focused on keeping extreme fossil fuels in the ground and out of the Bay Area. The campaign united labor and faith communities with networks of local environmental and climate justice organizations. Now, we have a detailed account of the organizing that went into this campaign.
Prepared by Margaret Rossoff of Sunflower Alliance, this document highlights the balance of pro- and anti-coal forces, the tactics utilized by NCIO, and the organization building. The challenges of building diversity into our campaigns is also considered.
Stopping a coal terminal in West Oakland was a major victory. Hopefully this analysis can help guide future campaigns to equal successes in our fossil fuel resistance.
Meanwhile in a related statewide victory, Gov Jerry Brown signed Sen. Loni Hancock’s bill that bans the use of state funds for coal-related projects. This is a major roadblock to coal exports, since export terminals frequently require cooperation from the state Department of Transportation to make a coal project work.
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