Largest Day of Arrests Yet at White House Pipeline Protest:
NASA Climate Scientist and Religious Leaders among 140 Americans
Arrested
by tarsandsaction.org
WASHINGTON, DC – America’s top climate scientist and a large group of
religious leaders were arrested at the White House this morning with
140 other Americans to push President Obama to deny the permit for a
massive new oil pipeline. (1)
“If Obama chooses the dirty needle it will confirm that the President
was just green-washing all along, like the other well-oiled coal-fired
politicians, with no real intention of solving the addiction,” said
NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, who was arrested at the White House this
morning.
President Obama must decide whether or not to grant a “presidential
permit” for a Canadian company, TransCanada, to begin construction of
the Keystone XL, a 1,700 mile pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to
refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
Earlier this summer, Dr. Hansen and twenty other leading scientists
sent a letter to the White House urging the President to prevent the
construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, writing: “If the pipeline is
to be built, you as president have to declare that it is ‘in the
national interest.’ As scientists, speaking for ourselves and not for
any of our institutions, we can say categorically that it’s not only not
in the national interest, it’s also not in the planet’s best interest.” (2)
Best-selling evangelical author Jim Wallis, who recently served on
President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood
Partnerships, sent a message of support to the protesters.
“American Christians are demanding a new direction in America’s
energy future — one that marks our turn away from oil and fossil fuels
and toward cleaner and renewable energy sources,” wrote Wallis.
“Developing the tar sands in Canada and building the Keystone XL
pipeline through six states in the American Midwest is the wrong
direction for our country and derails progress of building a responsible
energy infrastructure.”
“Climate change hurts the poor first,” said Rose Berger, a Roman
Catholic and editor at Sojourners magazine who led a large delegation of
religious leaders participating in the protest and was arrested this
morning. “The tar sands development and the permitting the Keystone XL
pipeline will worsen climate change and should be stopped.”
“We must turn up the heat in a sustained effort against the scourge
of climate change, which harms not just our land and water but people
here and now, our human future and all earthly creation,” said Rabbi
Fred Scherlinder Dobb of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist congregation in
Bethesda, MD.
The executive directors of Greenpeace and 350.org,
as well as the President of CREDO Mobile, also took part in today’s
sit-in. So far, the ongoing White House protest that began on Saturday,
Aug 21st has led to the arrest of over 500 Americans. The protest will
continue until September 3rd with large crowds expected each day.
Photos at tarsandsaction.org
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Notes:
1. To date 521 people have been arrested protesting the White House.
2. http://www.tarsandsaction.org/scientists-keystone-xl-obama/
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 26, 2011
54 More Arrested at White House as Environmental Community Excoriate New State Department Report
WASHINGTON, DC — As almost the entire environmental community
condemned the release of the final State Department report on the
environmental impact of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline,
another 54 Americans were arrested at the White House today to push
President Obama to stand up to Big Oil and deny the pipeline the permit
necessary for construction.
“The U.S. State Department’s final report on the Keystone XL today is
an insult to anyone who expects government to work for the interests of
the American people,” said the Sierra Club in a press release this
morning. “The Sierra Club and our 1.4 million members and supporters are
looking to President Obama for bold action and we urge him to reject
this abomination.”
NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen will join a large delegation of
interfaith leaders for next Monday’s sit-in. Actor and natural gas
fracking activist Mark Ruffalo will join Tuesday’s demonstration before a
large contingent of former youth organizers for Obama risk arrest
Wednesday morning.
Environmental author Bill McKibben, who is spearheading the protests,
said that the release of the State Department EIS would not dampen the
spirits of the 2,000 Americans who will participate in the Tar Sands
Action.
“We knew from past experience that State might do something like
this, which is why we’ve always said it’s going to be Obama’s call,”
said McKibben. “They can’t get the climate science right, but maybe they
can get the politics right.”
Organizers of the protest are keeping a close eye on the hurricane
currently bearing down on the Eastern seaboard. As of Friday afternoon,
the sit-in was expected to continue on Saturday morning, when President
Obama is expected to return to the White House. Organizers have already
called off Sunday morning’s protest out of respect for the clean-up and
public safety duties that will stretch Park Police thin.
The hurricane provides an important backdrop for the protests,
however, said McKibben. Warmer ocean temperatures due to global warming
help sustain a hurricane’s intensity and lead to heavier rain-falls,
according to climate scientists.
“Irene will be a distraction in the short run from our efforts, but
in the long run it underlines what the fight is all about,” said
McKibben. “If the president goes for business as usual, we’re going to
get planet weird.”
