Update:Civil Disobedience

We all have an opportunity to join the 350.org fight  against Climate Change.

1. Sign the Petition. The petition will be delivered to the White House September 3. Over 35 thousand people have signed – add your voice for a powerful message to President Obama to block the project.

2. Join the action in Washington DC! On August 28, you can catch a free bus to DC, sponsored by 350.org. The bus will leave Burlington (with a pick-up in Rutland) the morning of the 28th, and return home the evening of the August 31st. Please contact Ruby to reserve a seat.

3. On Saturday at 3:00 PM on the Statehouse lawn in Montpelier there will be a rally in support of six key issues for all Vermonters: green jobs, renewable energy, energy efficient homes and businesses, local healthy food, green transport and community forests.  

For more information: http://www.moving-planet.org/e…

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‘Just a little shout-out to our colleague Bill McKibben of 350.org, who, about now, is cooling his heels with fellow pipeline protesters in a DC jailhouse.

At issue is the proposed pipeline connecting the tar sands of western Canada with oil refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.  Thus enabled for exploitation, those tar sands stand to unleash what most environmentalists agree has the potential to be the single largest contribution to planetary degradation through CO2 emissions.

Of course, as in every debate concerning resource exploitation, the short-term economic gains trump all other considerations for Washington, since every single elected official owes his or her own short-term job security to lobbyist puppet-masters who have turned Congress into a marketplace.

U.S. Park officials originally warned only that the “trespassers” participating in the White House sit-in would each be arrested, fined $100, and then quickly released.  When they learned that 2,000 demonstrators from across the country were anticipated to join the small group of 64 for the week-long sit-in,  the officials changed their tune and are holding Mr. McKibben and company until a Monday hearing.  

They say that they are concerned that the demonstrators will disrupt the August 28 dedication of the Martin Luther King memorial.

How’s that for irony?

About Sue Prent

Artist/Writer/Activist living in St. Albans, Vermont with my husband since 1983. I was born in Chicago; moved to Montreal in 1969; lived there and in Berlin, W. Germany until we finally settled in St. Albans.

6 thoughts on “Update:Civil Disobedience

  1. Hmmm, how will 2,000 CO2 protestors disrupt the 250,000 visitors to the MLK memorial expected on 8/28? 2,000 is barely a ripple in DC terms — I’ve been to dozens and MLK spoke at one, on the Mall, when I was 12 year old.

    It’s 1.5 mile walk between the White House and the new MLK memorial. Looks like it is on the Tidal Basin, on the line of sight between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. I wouldn’t have known it was finally opening had it not been for this story; going to DC soon, will stop by for sure.

  2. If the 250,000 expected visitors to the memorial dedication next week were to take a detour to let their congress critters know how they feel about their total disregard for the environment? I can’t help but think that Doctor King would have approved wholeheartedly.

    Of course, the gov’t will want the dedication ceremony to go off as one big Disney production of harmony and photo ops, because civil rights conflicts are all behind us now, right? Right?

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