Students addressed SITLA board today

High School students addressed SITLA about climate change.

A group of concerned persons attended the monthly SITLA board meeting to speak during the public comment period. SITLA often uses Utah’s school children as a tool to distract and confuse the public about the trust lands of Utah. Students from Utah YES   let the SITLA board know that as trust beneficiaries they want SITLA to consider climate change and SITLA’s role in preventing or creating harm for future generations of Utah’s school children.

Here are some videos of folks speaking at the  meeting in November.

Students address SITLA board of trustees

Here is a clip of some High School students in Salt Lake city who took the time to attend this public meeting and ask some questions of the SITLA board of trustees. These students are beneficiaries of the trust. Listen to the board responses.

Posted by Utah Tar Sands Resistance on Wednesday, November 22, 2017


The students asked the board about climate change and the effects for future generations.

Another student asked about SITLA”s role in causing air pollution.

The board was aloof and somewhat condescending to the well informed students who are the beneficiaries of the school lands trust.

The students were from West High School, Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts, Highland High School and The Academy for Math Engineering and Science.

Utah Tar Sands Resistance had 2 speakers and other people of all ages spoke.

SITLA is entrusted with leasing and developing state trust lands

For the benefit of primarily the K-12 public education system in Utah, SITLA is constitutionally mandated to generate revenue from trust lands to build and grow permanent endowments for the beneficiaries.

The seven member un-elected board has no direct public accountability. All of the board members have ties to either fossil fuel interests or real estate development. They are responsible for the management of leases on these trust lands.

The public has many concerns about SITLA. 

These include individual trustees conflict of interest which can (or has) led to decisions which may benefit board members or their colleagues. Furthermore, SITLA’s policy promoting oil shale and tar sand strip-mining has failed. Millions of dollars have been spent and not one barrel of oil has been produced commercially. Pristine lands, most of which are within the Uncompahgre reservation boundaries, have been devastated.  Recent failed or failing projects include: US Oil Sands, Red Leaf Resources , Enefit Energy, and MCW Energy (now called Petroteq). Everyone of these projects is unprofitable, un-reclaimed, harmed land, bankruptcies, busted communities have been the legacy so far.

Lonnie Bullard insults his critics and the beneficiaries. Gee …

Later in the meeting after the public comment period ends and the students leave, to return to class I presume, Board member Lonnie Bullard the SITLA board vice chair takes the floor to insult the students and the rest of us who remained.

Posted by Utah Tar Sands Resistance on Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Board member Mr. Lonnie Bullard takes time during the monthly meeting to insult the students, who are the beneficiaries of the trust, and the other folks who spoke. Some of the students who spoke were not even offered chairs in the mostly full room. They were attending the meeting at 9 am likely missing some school classes, to speak during the 10 min public comment period which occurs at the beginning of the 2-3 hour meeting. Mr Bullard insulted the students for leaving before the meeting ended. I pointed out that the students likely had to return to high school. He also criticizes “people who choose to spend the time in tents and on lines” for wanting a magic wand. UTSR did in fact participate in the governors clean energy alliance by suggesting that Utah take tar sands and oil shale development OFF the governors energy plan. Needless to say this proposal was not accepted.

PANDOS brings dialogue to local struggles

UTSR welcomes the formation of PANDOS in Salt Lake City.

PANDOS in the parade

Peaceful Advocates for Native Dialogue and Organizing Support PANDOS brings dialogue to local struggles.

Peaceful Advocates for Native Dialogue and Organizing Support

From the PANDOS web page:

Inspired by the struggle at Standing Rock, we are a newly formed group of activists, community leaders, and compassionate humans. PANDOS peacefully advocates for basic human and environmental rights, primarily Native rights, and organizes support to encourage dialogue and the protection of our shared home through this work, PANDOS brings dialogue to local struggles.

PANDOS is a Utah-based, Native and environmental rights organization that began in September 2016. It was started in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests at Standing Rock. The Standing Rock struggle brought a spotlight to the interconnected issues of environmental racism and Native sovereignty that have long been ignored. These issues effect and unite Native and non-Native communities alike, all across America.

We work with community leaders, tribal leaders and activists to raise visibility for Native American and environmental issues. This work is done through dialogue, education, mass mobilization, and direct action.

PANDOS welcomes people of all colors and creeds to join together in solidarity to promote healing dialogue and protect our shared home. Therefore we seek to educate the public and influence decision-makers to create policy that addresses the impacts of systemic racism and environmental injustice. We are an all volunteer organization – join us today!

Our Mission Statement: “PANDOS peacefully advocates for basic human and environmental rights, primarily Native and Indigenous rights. By organizing support and education, we encourage dialogue and the protection of our shared home​”. We are a diverse group of both native and non-native people who are passionate about working together to ensure this mission. 

Utah Land Defenders support Standing Rock and Red Warrior Camp!

Utah Tar Sands Resistance and other Utah Land Defenders painted and placed a banner near the gate to the tar sands processing plant at PR Springs Utah, in the remote Book Cliffs, on the Ute’s Uncompahgre Reservation.

No Pipelines! No Stripmines! Utah Lnad Defenders support Standing Rock and Red Warrior Camp

No Pipelines! No Stripmines! Utah Land Defenders support Standing Rock and Red Warrior Camp

We say NO Pipelines! NO Stripmines! in North Dakota, or Utah! in solidarity with all of the brave persons and other beings who are on the front lines at the Sacred Stone Camp, Red Warrior Camp, and Oceti Sakowin Camp in so called North Dakota.

We respect and admire the call to protect the water at Standing Rock.

We call on others to take action and protect the water where ever you live.

Read more about Standing Rock.

 

 

 

 

US Oil Sands destroys Children’s Legacy Camp

Update from the Vigil at PR Springs

We began hearing the horrible sounds of earth scraping and grinding at the site of our beloved Children’s Legacy camp on Aug 8th . On further investigation we can see from the road a new piece of equipment moving and scraping at the exposed tar layer. US Oil Sands has begun doing earth moving and strip mine activities in Grand County Utah, where debris is entering the air stream and insufficient erosion controls allow water to move off the site and into Main Canyon. There is very frequently strong winds on seep ridge and dust is spreading all day. Water trucks are being used very rarely.

Children's legacy camp cleared by bulldozers.

US Oil Sands destroys cherished Children’s Legacy Camp in Eastern Utah.

US Oil Sands is destroying the Children’s Legacy camp site. This pristine high desert forest is known as “pit 1” in their mine plan.  We expect USOS intends to mix this tar with solvents in big tanks and dump the waste in unlined pits in Uintah and Grand counties. The tar processing site is within the Ute Uncompagre Indian Reservation. USEPA is the air and water pollution control authority within the reservation boundaries. No permit has been issued. US Oil Sands is threatening immediate and uncontrolled pollution within Indian country.

US Oil sands destroys children's legacy camp.

Dust from the tar sands mine haul road.

Phone USEPA today:

Matthew M. Langenfeld

Tribal Air Coordinator U.S. EPA Region 8

1595 Wynkoop Street

Denver, CO 80202-1129

Langenfeld.matthew@epa.gov

303‐312‐6284

 

Ms. Claudia Smith

Air Program U.S. EPA Region 8

1595 Wynkoop Street

Denver, CO 80202-1129

smith.claudia@epa.gov

(303) 312-6520

Let the EPA know that this environmental injustice cannot continue un-addressed

“Tar sands create unacceptable toxic waste and air pollution.

For this to occur without permits is wrong.”

Us Oil Sands has stated that :

“The Company is in the pre-production stage, anticipating the commencement of bitumen production and sales in Q4 2016.”

HMM! Well they do want to be able to run the big machines and try to demonstrate some actual production so they can sell the whole unprofitable project. Public records show they are all most out of money and cannot continue without more money and state funded subsidies. Now is the time to UP the pressure on US Oil Sands.

 

US’s first tar sands mine facing opposition in Utah (KPFK Earth Watch)

Melanie Martin discusses growing opposition to tar sands mining in eastern Utah, and the disproportionate impact of Salt Lake City’s oil refineries on communities of color and low-income neighborhoods on KPFK’s Sojourner Truth Radio.

Citizens’ Public Hearing against Tar Sands at SITLA Offices, Salt Lake City

Peaceful Uprising along with Utah Tar Sands Resistance & Occupy SLC present guerrilla street theater at SITLA – Utah State Institutional Trust Lands Administration – in protest of SITLA’s promotion of tar sands development in Utah.

This is the first enactment of PeaceUp’s quarterly Community Audits for 2012 . The community audit model seeks to identify and take action toward both hot spots (sources of injustice to protest) and cool spots (sources of hope to support). In addition to the Tar Sands “hot spot” at SITLA, PeaceUp will also hold a “cool spot” action in solidarity with those fighting for human rights. Check out our blog post to read how we’ve connected the dots between tar sands and human rights (Hint: it has to do with the economy)