Busy Week for Climate Activists
Climate Activists Join Growing Occupy Wall Street Movement
New York, NY- On the heels of massive protests against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and demonstrations in more than 700 US cities calling for solutions to climate change, the grassroots climate movement is joining forces with Occupy Wall Street. They will join a solidarity march on October 5th at 4:30pm from the New York City Hall to Wall Street.
“For too long, Wall Street has been occupying the offices of our government, and the cloakrooms of our legislatures,” wrote Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org, in an email urging supporters to join the march, “They’ve been a constant presence, rewarded not with pepper spray in the face but with yet more loopholes and tax breaks and subsidies and contracts. You could even say Wall Street’s been occupying our atmosphere, since any attempt to do anything about climate change always run afoul of the biggest corporations on the planet. So it’s a damned good thing the tables have turned.”
Climate activists joining the Occupy Wall Street Movement cite the fight against corporate power as a universal fight affecting everyone who is a part of the other 99%. Leading up to the midterm elections, the fossil fuel industry and corporate front groups like the US Chamber of Commerce poured more than $500 million dollars into attack ads and lobbying to stop action and deny the basic facts of climate science.
Climate Activists Rally Against Tar Sands Pipeline
President Obama’s State Department has been slammed this week for its cozy relationship with the TransCanada corporation lobbyists, who are heading the effort to construct Keystone XL. The final hearing on the pipeline will take place on October 7th, another massive opposition protest is planned in front of the White House on November 6th, and the President is scheduled to make a decision on the pipeline later this year.
Public Citizen is among a number of groups working to turn out 1,000 people next Friday for a rally during the final State Department hearing on the pipeline. There will be music, inspiring speakers, and great colorful banners and props.
The rally comes on the heels of a two-week sustained protest between August 20 and September 3, 1,253 people were arrested in front of the White House protesting the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada through the United States to the Gulf of Mexico.
We’ll be gathering outside the Ronald Reagan building at the 14th Street entrance between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues. The closest Metro stations are Federal Triangle and Metro Center. Click here to RSVP for the rally.
Photo courtesy of flickr