Alex Darocy Photography

Residents in Santa Cruz gathered at the Town Clock on September 13 as part of a national day of action to oppose the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, and to support the Standing Rock Sioux and the Native Americans protecting the land and the water near the tribe's land. "Join us to call on President Obama to instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the permits for this dirty oil pipeline," an announcement for the event in Santa Cruz read. "The movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline is growing stronger by the day, and it's time for all of us to rise up and play a role in this fight - no matter where we live. " The rally at the Town Clock, which was organized by the Earth Democracy committee of the Santa Cruz Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, brought together a large, energetic crowd. As rush hour traffic passed by, community members held signs inscribed with statements of solidarity with the Standing Rock Siou...

Today on Earth Day, April 22, members of San Benito Rising will submit nearly 4,000 petition signatures to the San Benito County elections office in order to qualify a local initiative to ban fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods for the November 2014 ballot. Since March 21, San Benito residents have been collecting signatures to ban fracking in their county, and volunteers secured twice the number required to qualify the initiative in less than two weeks. The five original proponents of the initiative will deliver the signatures this afternoon in Hollister using Native American baskets. This will be preceded by a short Earth Day ceremony lead by Ann Marie Sayers, a local Ohlone tribal leader, and one of the original proponents of the initiative. San Benito Rising has organized the local ban on fracking in order to "protect local groundwater, residents’ health, agriculture and tourism," the group stated in a press release. The initiative, if approved by vote...