What's Our Plan? A Teach In On Fossil Fuel Infrastructure In Mn

Minnesota is being besieged with new fossil fuel infrastructure, and we are not prepared. We are becoming a superhighway for oil that we neither produce or consume, yet we assume all the risk. Meanwhile, our water and sewer mains are crumbling. Let’s come together and find common spiritual ground from which to address this public policy crisis and protect ourselves and the earth. Unlike most teach-ins, "What's Our Plan" will be interactive and solution-focused, drawing on the diverse assets of the group to create plans for action. Participants will leave not only better informed, but better equipped, connected to allies, and ready to take next steps. 9:00am - 12:00pm Teach-In Free of charge and open to the public. Speakers include Winona LaDuke, Rep. Frank Hornstein, Victor Menotti, and attorney Paul Blackburn. Regional leaders in movements against bomb trains, pipelines, and frac-sand mines will propose cross-cutting strategies. 12:00pm - 2:00pm Lunch and Breakouts The Sioux Chef will provide a buffet-style lunch for $10 and the group will choose 3 of the cross-cutting strategies to focus on in breakout sessions that map assets and create action plans. The issues: Each week, more than 50 trains full of highly volatile Bakken crude oil cross through our cities and towns, and derailments are common and devastating. Multiple new oil pipeline proposals are under review, serving both the Bakken oil boom in ND and the Alberta Tar Sands, and Enbridge Energy is pushing them aggressively. These pipelines would pass through the pristine wilderness of Northern MN, where the inevitable spills would desecrate our abundant natural resources and violate the treaty-protected rights of indigenous people. New silica sand mines, which export to hydraulic fracturing sites elsewhere, are inundating southeastern MN and western WI, yet are subject to no statewide regulation whatsoever. Co-sponsored by Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, MN350, and the International Forum on Globalization