Will Potter's Blog, page 4

In Wyoming it’s now illegal to collect data about pollution

A new Wyoming law expands on the “ag-gag” trend of criminalizing whistleblowers in a new way: making it illegal for citizens to gather data about environmental pollution.

Wyoming’s Senate Bill 12, or the “Data Trespassing Bill” as it’s being called, criminalizes the collection of “resource data.”

It defines collection as “to take a sample of material, acquire, gather, photograph or otherwise preserve information in any form from open land which is submitted or intended to be submitted to any agency of the state or federal government.”

Yes, you read that correctly. This law is explicitly targeting those who gather evidence from open land of corporate pollution for the purpose of turning that evidence over to the government.

The law goes on to say that any evidence gathered without the property owner’s written or verbal permission will not be admissible as evidence in any civil, criminal or administrative proceeding.

The Wyoming bill came with heavy support from cattle ranchers, who are involved in a lawsuit against the Western Watershed Project. Ranchers say the environmentalists improperly collected water samples, which showed elevated E. coli levels.

The lawsuit is pending, but regardless of how it turns out, collecting data on public lands is now illegal in the state.

“This is an effort to make it illegal for citizens to gather truthful information about all the people using natural resources,” Wyoming attorney Justin Pidot told VICE News. “It has a significant chilling effect on citizens who want to gather information about public land.”

I talked to VICE about how this fits into the broader ag-gag trend:

Will Potter, an investigative journalist who has written extensively on government attempts to clamp down on environmentalists, told VICE News the Wyoming bill had the potential to be enforced as broadly as Pidot and Wilbert fear because the wording gave room for a myriad of interpretations.

“Over and over again I’ve seen promises by politicians that legislation is not going to be used in X, Y, or Z way but it doesn’t play out that way,” Potter warned. “Once you put laws like this on the books they can be pushed to their limits.”

North Carolina recently passed a sweeping ag-gag law as well, which was opposed by AARP, veterans, animal welfare advocates, and domestic violence groups.

These laws are a blatant attempt by corporations to shut down any attempt to investigate their activities and hold them accountable.

This Wyoming law, just like ag-gag laws, ensure that evidence collected can’t be used in court. Even if the evidence shows pollution that is putting public health at risk.

And the people who collect the evidence of pollution? They face up to a year in jail, and up to a $5,000 fine.

 

In Wyoming it’s now illegal to collect data about pollution from Green Is The New Red

Exposing Cruelty in Nursing Homes, Factory Farms, Daycares Now a Crime in North Carolina

Despite opposition from a wide range of groups, including AARP, veterans, journalists, and animal welfare advocates, North Carolina lawmakers have overriden the governor’s veto of their ag-gag bill.

The bill, which becomes law one week after the veto override, lets businesses sue employees who expose what happens on the job, even if it what they are exposing is illegal.

The bill is part of the ag-gag trend, in that it is primarily focused on animal welfare advocates who expose factory farm cruelty. But the bill is so broad it affects all workplaces. That’s why veterans’ groups and the AARP have come out in opposition.

“To give one relevant example, allegations surfaced last year that employees at Veterans Affairs facilities in North Carolina had been retaliated against for whistleblowing,” wrote Steven Nardizzi, chief executive of the Wounded Warrior Project. “As an organization dedicated to honoring and empowering injured service members, we are concerned that this legislation might cause wrongdoing at hospitals and institutions to go unchecked.”

Domestic violence groups have spoke up as well. The N.C. Council for Women and the Domestic Violence Commission noted that undercover investigations — exactly the conduct criminalized in this bill — were used to prosecute human sex trafficking.

In short, this ag-gag bill isn’t just about agriculture. It’s a sweeping attack on any whistleblower who speaks up for the most vulnerable.

It’s hard to wrap my head around what North Carolina is thinking with this one. But keep in mind these are the same lawmakers who also voted to override the governor’s veto of a discriminatory marriage bill.

In both cases, these are prime examples of people on the losing end of history; they reflect the death throes of anti-gay bigots and factory farmers who just refuse to change with the times.

Exposing Cruelty in Nursing Homes, Factory Farms, Daycares Now a Crime in North Carolina from Green Is The New Red

5 Reasons Why the FBI’s Most Wanted Domestic Terrorists List Should Have You Outraged

If you want a clear idea of the FBI’s upside-down terrorism priorities, look no further than the bureau’s Most Wanted Domestic Terrorists lists.

CNN recently ran a fluff story on the FBI’s list that could have been written by the bureau itself (“The FBI’s goal, of course, is to prevent ‘homegrown attacks’ before they happen,” CNN reminds us). While CNN and the FBI are proudly commemorating the  65th anniversary of the government’s most wanted fugitives program, here’s what you should really know about the FBI’s lists:

1) Two of the most wanted “domestic terrorists” are environmentalists who never harmed anyone.

Joseph Dibee and Josephine Overaker are wanted in connected with crimes by the Earth Liberation Front in the name of defending the environment. They are accused of property destruction, but no physical violence is alleged. In fact, in the history of underground groups like the ELF, no human being has ever been injured.

2) One of the “Most Wanted Terrorists” is an animal rights activist.

Daniel Andreas San Diego is accused of serious property crimes, and was listed alongside Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s website: the fact that the FBI thinks there is any comparison whatsoever speaks volumes.

3) The FBI makes no mention of hate crimes.

None. In 2013, there were 5,928 reported hate crimes, according to the FBI. About 49 percent were racially motivated, and 21 percent related to the victim’s sexual orientation.

4) All of the other “domestic terrorists” are leftists from the 1970s and 1980s. 

Don’t you feel safer knowing the FBI is focused on members of the Black Panthers and communist groups, accused of crimes 35+ years ago?

5) The FBI doesn’t include right-wing fugitives.

There’s not a single right-wing criminal on the list, including people wanted for violent crimes. For instance, David Burgert is a former leader of the anti-government militia Project 7. He once plotted to assassinate local officials in Montana, and pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a machine gun. In 2011, he led cops on a police chase, then jumped out of his Jeep, shot at police, and ran into the woods. He’s still a fugitive. But police say his case is “on the back burner for now.”

When we see stories today about the FBI spying on Keystone pipeline protesters, or the FBI entrapping environmentalists in faux terrorism plots, we need to remember that they aren’t isolated instances.

These misplaced priorities are coming from the top down.

It’s time for a full investigation and overhaul of the FBI’s domestic terrorism priorities. The FBI needs to be held accountable for focusing on environmentalists and animal rights groups, and leftists from decades ago, while more serious threats go unaddressed.

 

5 Reasons Why the FBI’s Most Wanted Domestic Terrorists List Should Have You Outraged from Green Is The New Red

Interview with Will Potter on Rising Against the International Criminalisation of Activism

I spoke with Progressive Podcast Australia recently about my new line of women’s clothing, bongs, and pottery (well not really, but I think the hosts may be on to something with the suggestion). We met when I was down in Australia for a speaking tour a while back and it was a pleasure to catch up.

The episode is particularly timely as longtime Australian animal rights activist Patty Mark was recently arrested for her role in saving abused hens. She is facing charges of burglary, theft, and criminal damage for her alleged open rescue of the hens — a tactic she truly pioneered and that has influenced the animal rights movement internationally.

Patty would I’m sure be the first to say that the real audacity of her arrest is that the real criminals — the people responsible for this cruelty — are facing no charges at all.

Here’s a bit more about the episode:

On this episode we’re joined by independent journalist Will Potter from greenisthenewred.com. He discusses: what ‘green is the new red’ refers to (linking the previous “red scare” about communism to the current “green scare” about animal and environmental activists), the way repressive laws target both militant and moderate activists, the ways these laws are creeping into Australia and elsewhere around the world, the power of corporations and their free movement around the world, and coalition building between different social movements united against repressive laws. Will also speaks about his collaboration with Rise Against (as shown above) and the power of punk music in bringing about social change and politicising youth. Also covered is emotional versus physical harm as a result of militant activism and using graphic footage in a way that is consistent with animal liberation – for more on these topics, check out our post-ICAS discussion with Team Earthling.

Episode 98: Will Potter on Rising Against the Criminalisation of Activism by Progpodcast on Mixcloud

Interview with Will Potter on Rising Against the International Criminalisation of Activism from Green Is The New Red

#AgGag Victory! North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill

North Carolina’s governor, Pat McCrory, has vetoed an ag-gag bill that would make it illegal for whistleblowers and journalists to expose abuses in a wide range of industries.

North Carolina’s House Bill 405 would have allowed business owners to sue employees who record damaging activity in the workplace without their boss’s permission.

The bill was part of a national “ag-gag” trend to stop undercover investigations of factory farms by animal welfare groups. One group, Compassion Over Killing, recently documented workers at Mountaire Farms punching, shoving, and throwing chickens.

But the bill wasn’t limited to factory farming. Groups like AARP have opposed it because it “applies to any business’s employees who may seek to reveal illegal and unethical practices.”

That includes “nursing homes, hospitals, group homes, medical practices, charter and private schools, daycare centers, and so forth,” the group says.

The public is overwhelmingly against ag-gag laws. A recent survey by the ASPCA showed that 74 percent of residents in North Carolina support undercover investigations by animal welfare groups.

Ag-gag laws are currently being challenged as unconstitutional in Utah and Idaho.

Governor McCrory said he the bill would have made it more difficult to expose abuse:

“While I support the purpose of this bill, I believe it does not adequately protect or give clear guidance to honest employees who uncover criminal activity. I am concerned that subjecting these employees to potential civil penalties will create an environment that discourages them from reporting illegal activities.”

#AgGag Victory! North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill from Green Is The New Red

New Documents Reveal FBI Spying on Keystone Pipeline Protesters

The FBI broke its own rules when it spied on environmentalists in Texas protesting the Keystone XL pipeline, according to newly released documents.

The internal agency documents were obtained by Adam Federman of Earth Island Journal and Paul Lewis at the Guardian.

I spoke with VICE News for their story about the FBI spying:

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it was only conducting an “assessment” of a potential threat to existing infrastructure and closed the book on the matter after deciding no threat was posed. But that’s little comfort for advocates who say the top US law enforcement agency is wasting its time snooping on peaceful protesters.

“This is really business as usual for the FBI,” Will Potter, whose book Green is the New Reddocuments federal probes into environmental groups, told VICE News…

Potter said the FBI’s interest in environmental activists has undergone a “seismic shift” since the 1990s, when movement radicals claimed responsibility for the burning of a ski lodge in Vail, Colorado and fires and sabotage at car dealerships and construction sites in other states. Even after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, when much of the bureau’s resources shifted toward fighting terrorism, the bureau has kept an eye on the greens.

“At first, the assessment investigations were justified based on the specter of causing a loss of human life, that eco-terrorists were somehow going to kill innocent people,” Potter told VICE News. “That’s never happened. Then the justification became more and more that the FBI was investigating potential property destruction, and increasingly that doesn’t happen either.”

Now, with environmentalism much more mainstream, the FBI says it’s trying to prevent economic damage. But activists “aren’t threatening lives and property, they’re threatening money,” Potter said.

In 2003, an inspector-general’s report urged the bureau to leave probes of environmental and animal-rights activists to its criminal division. But Potter said the FBI never made the recommended changes, even when it was urged to pursue “more credible and dangerous” threats after 9/11.

“What started as a corporate-driven agenda to label protesters as eco-terrorists has become institutionalized,” he said. “This has really become standard operating procedure, and I think that’s what’s most disturbing about this.”

 

New Documents Reveal FBI Spying on Keystone Pipeline Protesters from Green Is The New Red

Big news! I was selected for the Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship

I’m happy to announce that I have been selected for the prestigious Knight-Wallace Fellowship.

In short, it’s a life-changing opportunity. I’ll be spending a year with 12 American and nine international journalists, from The New York Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, Folha de São Paulo, Univision, ESPN, and elsewhere. 

The program is based at the University of Michigan, and housed in the Wallace House, named after Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. There are twice-weekly seminars with with an impressive roster of thought-leaders, and trips to Turkey, Canada, and Brazil where we’ll meet with reporters, editors, and policy makers.

Fellows have access to all of the resources of the university to pursue a personal study plan. I’ll be examining how the War On Terror impacts whistleblowers and journalists. That means I’ll be taking a wide range of classes, and also spending plenty of time camped out in the law library. It’s an incredible opportunity to go both broader and deeper with my body of work, expanding my research of ag-gag laws and surveillance of journalists.

It’s an honor to be selected, and I can’t wait to meet the other fellows and get started.

 

Big news! I was selected for the Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship from Green Is The New Red

This is what we need this Earth Day

This photo is from a demonstration in 1987 in Chico, California. The Rainforest Action Network, Earth First!, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals teamed up for a “Whopper Stopper” protest against Burger King, and the environmental impact of meat-eating.

The protest was ahead of its time. Every day, we are learning more about how animal agriculture is destroying the planet. Even DC newspapers like The Hill are pointing out that a “vegan diet is best for the planet.”

Unfortunately, animal welfare and environmental groups aren’t often at the same protests. As Cowspiracy documented, many environmental groups don’t even acknowledge the greatest threats to climate change.

But I think this photo, from the wonderful archive The Talon Conspiracy, is a great example of how political divisions on these issues are self-created.

So here’s a challenge for you this Earth Day: reach out to someone outside of your political circle (and friend circle) and talk about the environmental impact of animal agriculture. I think we’d all be surprised by the unlikely alliances that could result.

This is what we need this Earth Day from Green Is The New Red

“Eco-Terrorist in Me” Makes Top 100 List for Record Store Day

Good news! My collaboration with Rise Against made the list of top 100 best-selling release for Record Store Day (quite a feat considering the huge amount of bands and releases).

Rise Against released a limited edition 7″ with “The Eco-Terrorist In Me” and “About Damn Time” on one side, and a spoken word by me on the other. As you can see, I totally geeked out and had to pick up a copy in person at Crooked Beat in Washington, DC.

Thanks to everyone who picked up a copy (and I know a lot of folks had to run to multiple shops to grab one). And huge thanks to Rise Against for using their music to draw attention to factory farm abuses and how corporations are trying to label activists as “terrorists.”

The record is only available in stores. But the track inspired by Green Is The New Red is on their new album, The Black Market, which you can get here.

And be sure to check out my interview with Tim from Rise Against.

 

“Eco-Terrorist in Me” Makes Top 100 List for Record Store Day from Green Is The New Red

Interview with Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath about Punk Politics, Burnout, and Maintaining Hope

Rise Against is releasing a limited edition 7″ for Record Store Day, with a spoken word track by me, and a song that they say was inspired by Green Is the New Red. So I sat down with Tim McIlrath to talk about the new song, Rise Against’s activism, and why he still has hope.

1) Rise Against has a long history of advocating for both animal and human rights. Could you start off by telling us about how you, personally, got involved in social justice issues?

I didn’t grow up in a particularly political or even a very musical family, so finding both was sort of my own journey. Like a lot of people who find punk or hardcore, I didn’t connect with a lot of popular culture. I attribute the underdog and every-man mentality of this scene as my gateway drug to social justice issues. A lot of punk and hardcore music had meaning and substance that I couldn’t find in much of commercial music. The first time I heard the word ‘sweatshop’ was at a hardcore show. Concepts like environmentalism or gentrification were introduced to me through the lense of music. I owe a lot to the tight-knit scenes around Chicago in the 90s that brought me up.

2) Your new album, “The Black Market,” feels darker than your other releases, both personally and politically. It feels like there’s this constant tension between being completely overwhelmed and exasperated with what’s going on in the world, and trying to push forward. What was the writing process like for this album?

I guess a lot of this record comes an activist ‘burnout’ perspective; that inevitable phenomenon that anyone who pushes for change experiences at some point. Hitting that wall can result in surrender, or it can be a rallying point. This is our 7th record, and I didn’t want to just be regurgitating something we’ve already talked about. That’s sort of the concept behind ’The Black Market’. We traffic in a place that can be dark and full of angst and sadness, but we do it for the right reasons and we all need that reminder. I feel like the best way of dealing with that is taking it head on instead of ignoring it. Getting burned out can be a place where you regroup and take stock of where you started and where you are going. A lot people in the Rise Against community are on this journey. When I talk to our fanbase they have similar questions.

3) One of your new songs exposes an issue many people aren’t aware of: how people who fight for the environment and animals are being labeled as “terrorists.” What inspired you to write “The Eco-Terrorrist In Me?”

Your book! Specifically, the ag-gag and animal enterprise acts that are being passed to protect big factory farms while criminalizing the investigators who would blow the whistle on them. Every few years, I have the pleasure of reading a book that not only touches on an issue that not enough people are talking about, but nails it. Green Is The New Red nailed it. I’d been hearing rumblings of the laws that big agriculture were putting in place via well-funded lobbies and well-funded candidates, but reading Green Is The New Red really hit home and helped me fully understand what was happening. I thought referencing the Red Scare was particularly effective, as it points to a historical precedent and infers that we can learn from mistakes. The establishment invented this loaded term ‘eco-terrorist’ to play into America’s fears, and I wanted the song title to take the term back and claim it for anyone who relates to someone who put it all on the line to protect our future.

4) The line “Instead of doing what’s right, they build higher walls” reminded me of ag-gag laws that make it illegal to photograph animal cruelty on factory farms. Rise Against has used footage of animal cruelty like this years ago in the video for “Ready to Fall,” and for a lot of fans I think that was the first time they had seen anything like that. Why do you think similar images are being criminalized?

Images depicting animal suffering are being criminalized for a pretty simple reason; they are powerful and compelling. I’m a big believer in the fact that the animal industry relies on a lack of transparency to keep operating the way it does. Not everyone is moved by slaughterhouse footage, but a lot of people are. “Ready To Fall” was our homage to the footage that changed our lives, and also our way of sort of hijacking mainstream music culture to get this stuff out to the people we knew would be checking the video out. It had an even bigger impact than we anticipated. Made possible by the brave animal rights activists who put their lives on the line to procure the footage, our video was a collaboration with both PETA and their ‘Meat Is Murder’ film as well as Earthlings by Shaun Monson.

5) Rise Against has a massive social media presence (with more fans on Facebook than the Washington Post), and an activism section on your website. Can you talk about the potential of using these online tools?

The reach of online tools is something we are still learning about everyday to be honest. We’re a band that has been treading lightly in the world of social media since its inception. Without ignoring what a powerful medium it is becoming, we try to maintain a tasteful and healthy relationship with our ‘online presence’ while remembering that the music and the message is at the heart of what we do. That said, this is the way the world is currently talking to each other and we want to be a part of the conversation. So without tweeting what we had for breakfast, we are in touch with our community of fans with not only band-related stuff like touring, but also with issues we feel could be illuminated.

6) Music has played a central role in social justice struggles, and punk and hardcore in particular have been vital to the development of the grassroots animal rights and environmental movements. Do you think of your own writing process in this way, or is it more personal?

When I look back at the lyrics I’ve written for our songs, I feel like they have a foot both in the personal and the political. As people, we are all complex and complicated and not just one thing. One moment, human rights is something you feel strongly, but tomorrow your girlfriend breaks up with you. I’d like to think our songs reflect those intricacies of the human condition.

7) I keep thinking about the chorus of “Eco-Terrorist In Me”: “When it all comes down will you say you did everything you could?” It feels like the days we are living in are full of both staggering hopelessness and unprecedented opportunity. I know this is a sweeping question, but what do you think are our prospects for change? What can people reading this do?

I feel like the unique perspective I can share from my vantage point is that there is hope. What I mean by that, is this: I put words down and sing songs about what’s happening in the world, and instead of these words falling without a sound down a deep dark hole, people hear them. Those same people are rallied by them and gravitate towards them. We condemn things like animal suffering and celebrate things like gay rights and talk about fairness and accountability and I get to stand on a stage every night and see the next generation singing them back to me. Not everyone gets it, but enough people do. We aren’t the biggest band in the world, but we are part of the fabric and the friction that creates real change. Each show we play, it’s a continually inspiring process and a cure-all for jadedness. Each person can be part of that push in their own way no matter how small.

You can pick up a copy of this special Rise Against release featuring “The Eco-Terrorist in Me” and Will Potter on Record Store Day, April 18th:

Interview with Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath about Punk Politics, Burnout, and Maintaining Hope from Green Is The New Red