48 Environmental, civil rights, and community leaders engage in historic act of civil disobedience to stop Keystone XL pipeline
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tarsandsaction/sets/72157632761399084/
February 13, 2013
Contacts:
Eddie Scher, Sierra Club, 415-815-7027
Maggie Kao, Sierra Club, 202-675-2384
Daniel Kessler, 350.org, 510-501-1779
JULIAN BOND, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL BRUNE, AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning, 48 environmental, civil rights, and community leaders from across the country joined together for a historic display of civil disobedience at the White House where they demanded that President Obama deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and address the climate crisis.
Among the notable leaders involved in the civil disobedience were Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club; Bill McKibben, Founder of 350.org; Julian Bond, former president of the NAACP; Danny Kennedy, CEO of Sungevity; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Connor Kennedy, and Daryl Hannah, American actress.
After blocking a main thoroughfare in front of the White House, and refusing to move when asked by police, the activists were arrested and transported to Anacostia for processing by the US Park Police Department.
“The threat to our planet’s climate is both grave and urgent,” said civil rights activist Julian Bond. “Although President Obama has declared his own determination to act, much that is within his power to accomplish remains undone, and the decision to allow the construction of a pipeline to carry millions of barrels of the most-polluting oil on Earth from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. is in his hands. I am proud today to stand before my fellow citizens and declare, ‘I am willing to go to jail to stop this wrong.’ The environmental crisis we face today demands nothing less.”
Your photo on the big screen.
We just sent out this email to our friends around the US who haven't yet RSVP'd to the big rally in DC. RSVP to join in DC here, and if you're not getting our emails click here!
Hi friends,
This weekend, tens of thousands of people will converge in DC to tell President Obama to move forward on climate. We’ll have signs and banners, chants and bullhorns, and we’ll be making a lot of noise to make sure the President gets our message.
But we know not everyone who cares about solving climate change and stopping Keystone XL can make it to DC. As a movement, we’re much bigger than even the tens of thousands who will be on the National Mall, and we need to make sure the President gets that message too.
Here are three ways that you can be a part of the action even if you can’t make it to DC:
We’re using a new online tool to amplify our voices on Twitter and Facebook. It’s called Thunderclap -- because together, that’s how loud we can be. We’re hoping to get 10,000 people on board -- click here to join: 350.org/thunderclap
When you sign up, Thunderclap will schedule a message to go out from you with a link to the Livestream during the rally -- but only if we can get 10,000 people to join as well. Together we can (literally) reach millions of people with a message during the rally.
2) Submit Your Photos
There will be a giant screen at the rally, showing photos and messages of support from across the country -- to get your message on the screen, take a photo showing your support for the action, or of a part of your community that you want protected from climate change, then email it to [email protected], with your location in the subject line. (Or, you can post your photo to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ForwardOnClimate).
We’ll pick out the best ones to put on the screen for tens of thousands of people to see, just outside the White House.
Finally, the web team put together this nifty sharable sign-maker that you can use to make a custom sign declaring your support for the action. They're beautiful, and easy to share on your social networks. Check it out: sign.350.org
Living through this moment in history might sometimes seem like a stroke of bad luck. Every era wrestles with injustice, government inaction, and some degree of existential threat -- but the scale and urgency of the climate crisis is truly unparallelled. On the other hand, we live in world where so many new things are possible: we have communications tools that can bring us together in new ways, making our movement stronger, bigger, and more democratic.
At 350.org, we know that mass offline action -- marching in the streets, writing letters to elected officials en masse, and gathering in our communities -- is absolutely essential. Combined with the power of our new communication tools and a distributed network of activists, we can create a surround-sound campaign that will be impossible to ignore.
Let’s get loud,
Duncan
P.S. Speaking of writing letters to your elected representatives: this morning I met with our allies who helped share the open letter and survivors of Superstorm Sandy to deliver the letter to the White House. The final count was almost 250,000 signatures calling on President Obama to take action. Thank you for signing on -- your voice is going to make a difference. Here's a photo from this morning:
Ripple Effects
Friends,
I think you know the basics of the Forward on Climate action already: after the hottest year in American history, tens of thousands of Americans are converging on DC on February 17th for the largest climate rally ever held in the US. Our message is clear: we're insisting that President Obama reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and demonstrate real leadership on climate change.
That's all critically important. But it's not the whole story. Here's how we got to this point.
I live in New York City, and this October I watched as Superstorm Sandy gave us a tragic sneak preview of climate change. I know I wasn't alone: over the past year, we've all seen the impact of climate change on our coastlines, forests and homes.
But our political leadership hasn't kept pace with the crisis. In fact, for a while, climate dropped off the political radar entirely. But after a year and a half of unprecedented civil disobedience, historic mass mobilizations, innovative divestment campaigns and dogged local organizing -- as well as dramatic extreme weather events -- climate is back front and center, and the President is talking like a real leader again.
That's why it's so important that we make this the biggest action we've ever had: as a movement, we have the opportunity to move the President from words to action on the greatest challenge of our time, starting with the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
350.org exists because mass action can transform even the most hardened parts of our political life. That's exactly what happened with Keystone: when we started this fight, all the experts said it was a done deal. But after we sat-in, surrounded the White House, petitioned and called, the deal still isn't done, and we have a shot to stop the pipeline for good.
February 17th is our chance to continue the work we started to hold the President to his words, and stop this pipeline. I hope you’ll be there with me -- and tens of thousands of our friends.
RSVP for the action here: act.350.org/signup/presidentsday/
Every time our movement comes together in a major mobilization we see the ripple effects for months, and even years to come. That’s because they are so powerful: these are moments to show the collective strength of our movement.
All of this is to say: we certainly have a lot of work to do, but we know how it needs to be done, and we're not backing down. I know that it feels rough to fight something over and over again, like we have with Keystone XL. But I also know that this is a critically important step on the journey, and I hope you'll be there to walk it with me.
Onwards,
May
Want to fly to the moon? No need.. they’re bringing it to you.
A landscape scarred with craters as big as Berlin, Manchester, Paris and Washington. Vast troughs and grey black ridges higher than tower blocks, stretching as far as the eye can see. The continuous mechanical grind as huge metal teeth chew through the earth with devastating effectiveness. At first sight the scene has a startling resemblance to Canada's tar sand moonscape. This is not Canada however. This is the Lausitz,
in Germany, an area bordering with Poland, less than one hour south east of Berlin.
From the air the devastation of Germany's renewed and growing enthusiasm in coal is disturbingly impressive. On the ground, however, the reality and impact of such a landscape becomes clear. In the Lausitz coal goes back a long way. Not quite as long as the Atterwasch church, built in 1294, one of the historic buildings that stands to be flattened, but long enough to have a particular significance to the community. Over the last 100 years, 135 villages have been razed to the ground and 27,000 people, against there will, displaced. Why? To feed the corporate hunger for the regions abundant brown coal (lignite) that lies just beneath the grass and trees.
If plans for three new open cast mines by Swedish owned utility company Vattenfall go through, a further 3500 people will be displaced, while locking Brandenburg (federal state) into a future of dirty, climate changing energy. In addition to displacement issues those that are left in the neighbouring communities, will be increasingly subject to poor air quality and the growing prospect of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The power plants next to the German-Czech-Polish boarders are listed among the top 20 industrial air polluters in Europe, with the quality of the air in the region now so bad that the state of Brandenburg has appealed to the European Commission to request exemption from air quality standards.
Despite these challenges, resistance is growing. Local communities, MP's and environmentalist are coming together, ready to defend their land and the climate. For the 6th year running residents of Kerkwitz, Atterwasch and Grabko, the three villages next in line for destruction, marched together to voice their opposition to the plans. Joined by MPs, councillors, green groups, and locals from across the border in Poland (where the coal situation is worse still) 800 people gathered to talk about the issues, share plans of resistance and show Vattenfall and Brandenburg that new mines and future reliance on coal in the region does not have their support.
The locals are backed up by both science and economics. A recent study by the German Institute for Economic research (DIW) states that coal power plants are economically unprofitable. In addition the report also finds that the open cast mines already approved contain more than enough coal to supply existing power plants for the duration of their lifetimes. These figures are in line with Greenpeace's work 'The Plan', which also shows that to meet Germany's emissions targets coal can't have any future in the energy mix beyond 2030. The only way that coal would be economically profitable, would be if the stations would remain operational way in to the 2050's.
Many people however are starting to see things in a very different way. The Berlin Energy Table (Berliner Energietisch), a coalition of over 50 organisations, is bidding to buy back the energy grid and create a municipal utility with renewable energy at it's heart. With a just transition to renewables and community owned energy, employees in the coal industry also have reason to be optimistic. Initial estimates suggest that the switch to renewable energy in Brandenburg could create up to 19,200 green jobs, compared to the 6,000 jobs currently supported by coal.
While the PR machine of Vattenfall will be hard at work in the city trying to undermine this process, greenwashing it's image through sponsorship deals with the cities museums and galleries, and sporting events such as the Berlin Half marathon, the referendum by the Berlin Energy Table is preparing to start collecting signatures. With a target of 200 000 supporters needed between February and June, and with over 1000 people committed to help collect the signatures, plans for the new mines and continued burning of coal past 2030 are edging closer to the scrap heap. Will Berlin and Brandenburg become, once again, an international leader in the energy revolution. If the people I have so far met have any to do with it. Yes.
AOSIS Support Forward on Climate Rally for Climate Action
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has graciously given their support for the upcoming Forward on Climate rally on February 17th in Washington, D.C.
350.org is ecstatic to have the support of these vulnerable nation-states. It's they who bear the brunt of climate change and its crippling effects. Amb. Marlene Moses, Chair of AOSIS explains:
“The rally comes in the aftermath of a season of record tropical storms in Palau, the Philippines, Samoa, and Fiji that has graphically illustrated how climate change involves the most fundamental aspect of social justice: that of life and death.”
Hope to see you in DC on F17! Register here.
350 Indonesia’s End-of-Year SWITCH! Rally
These are the behind-the-scenes stories of the rally for the “SWITCH! Liberation from Fossil Fuel Addiction” campaign, written by Mega Aisyah Nirmala and Letsu Vella Sundary, the local 350 Indonesia organized based out of Jogjakarta City. And again, special thanks to Susan Kim for her great help with the editing.
350 Indonesia’s End-of-Year SWITCH! Rally
It was 2 PM and I was on my way to the 350 Jogjakarta base camp to get things prepared. The rain was falling heavily. Today was December 30, 2012, and it would be a big day for 350 Jogjakarta. Four PM would see the start of our very first public rally in Jogjakarta, a city known for its education and culture.
A couple of minutes later, I had arrived at our base camp and found nobody there. I became worried, what if people didn’t show up for the launch of the rally?
But after a few moments, one person arrived to wash away my worries. The rain didn’t seem to want to stop, but that didn’t stop people from showing up, one by one. I was amazed that people were still willing to come and show their support in the midst of all this rain.
Finally, 4 PM came around, and about forty of us were ready to deliver our message to our society and government. We walked over to the busiest intersection in Jogjakarta, referred to as Zero Kilometer, and unfolded our banner to deliver our campaign message: stop fossil fuel addition and SWITCH into renewable energy.
While some of us kept the banner unfurled, others wore handmade eco-costumes while distributing promotional stickers to the thousands of people in this busy area. From Zero Kilometer, we crossed the street and walked over to Town Square where we continued rallying into the evening.
An open letter to President Obama.
We just sent out this email to our friends around the world. Not on our email list yet? Sign up here to receive crucial updates from the climate movement.
Friends,
I immediately added my name to this open letter to President Obama calling for bold climate action, and I hope you will too.
President Obama is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to tackling climate change, but he's a very important piece. This letter lays out exactly the kind of leadership we need from him in the coming 4 years. It calls for a rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline (the first and maybe simplest test of his seriousness on climate), a strong carbon rule that would address pollution from existing coal plants, and a number of other things which will need his attention right away.
The letter was written by our friends at CREDO, and the full text is below. In these early moments of Obama's second term, it's important that we are vocal about our high expectations. The more people who sign on, the louder our message will be.
Please add add your name here: act.350.org/signup/an-open-letter-to-president-obama/
We'll deliver this letter in bulk a few days before our big action in DC on February 17th, and I hope to have your name alongside mine when we do.
Thanks again,
Bill
Does this fire you up?
On Sunday, February 17, thousands of Americans will head to Washington, D.C. to make Forward on Climate the largest climate rally in history. Join this historic event to make your voice heard and help the president start his second term with strong climate action.
Join us at www.350.org/f17
Communicating Climate Change in Fayoum
I had the pleasure of co-facilitating a media and climate change workshop earlier this month in the Egyptian city of Fayoum alongside Amena Adel – International DEMENA Youth Climate Ambassador and 350.org volunteer in Cairo.
Therefore, it gives me great pleasure to share this blog post which Amena wrote about the workshop (cross-posted from https://www.climateambassadors.net/ )
On January the 3rd 2013, 18 media enthusiasts from all over Egypt came together in Zad Al Musafer in Tunis- Fayoum to explore possibilities of communicating climate knowledge. From Sinai in the east to Alexandria in the west, and from governorates all over Egypt, they had each experienced the indirect and in some cases the direct impacts of climate change. With the help of Frank Thor Straten, Danish media and communication consultant, Mostafa Hussein, trainer in the field of Environmental professions, the Egyptian DEMENA team and 350.org volunteers, they went through a 3-day workshop to sculpt their skills and utilize them to encourage citizen journalism on Climate Change.
The global climatic crisis is the most demanding issue facing humanity in this era of environmental oblivion, and that’s why there’s a need for strong Media products communicating the issue, the ramifications, the consequences and the solutions.
Tackling Climate Change at the End of The World
I was travelling in Taiwan this holiday season and dropped in on the End of The World Climate Camp, co-organised by our regional Power Shift partners, the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition and the China Youth Climate Action Network.
Along with similar events in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the camp really sought to drive home the message that if we are worried about the end of the world, then we should really be worried about tackling climate change!
We started off with a presentation and debate on nuclear energy, whether we need it and what dangers come hand-in-hand. It was interesting to hear opinions from the Taiwanese youth, as well as youth from Hong Kong and Mainland China, each of whom had different perspectives on how to balance energy and environmental needs.
After the discussion, we proceeded to do an inter-city dialogue between youth from Taiwan and Guangzhou to connect and network with one another. We started with a phone conversation, where we shared our concerns and hopes for the climate movement in the upcoming year. Following that, we wrote postcards addressed to our friends abroad, to provide encouragement and support for their continued efforts in catalysing climate solutions on campuses and in communities back home.
The End of the World Climate Camp was also a great opportunity to catch up with local organisers whose first meeting was just last summer at the 350.org regional workshop in Indonesia! With renewed friendships, we're ready to working closely together towards building a new climate movement with the Global Power Shift!