Have you heard about the Tar Sands Action in Washington, DC later this summer? In a recent letter, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein, Wendell Berry, Danny Glover, and others published an invitation to join them in front of the White House for a series of peaceful protests to stop an unprecedented oil pipeline that would cut a line straight down the center of the US, bringing the Canadian Tar Sands with it. 100s of Americans will be risking arrest as part of this protest.
The ‘KeyStone XL’ Tar Sands pipeline is a recipe for disaster — both from the expected oil spills throughout our country’s heartland, and the enormous amount of CO2 that would be unleashed (upwards of 200ppm according to NASA’s lead climatologist). The Tar Sands are synonymous to the largest carbon bomb on the planet. But this is also a chance for Americans (and Canadians) to stand with each other, and escalate the movement for moral climate leadership.
You can check out the original letter from Bill and friends here: http://www.tarsandsaction.org/invitation
You might have also felt there’s a good amount of excitement among Vermont’s activists to head down to the Tar Sands Action together.
If you think it would be good to coordinate on this, let’s figure out a date that works best for most of us. The protests are happening daily from August 20th-Sep 3rd. We would probably want to take 4 days to participate (one to travel, one to observe the action and train [which is suggested], one to take part, and one to head home). I’ve also heard from the Tar Sands Action team that it would be ideal for us to show up towards the middle to the end of the two week span.
If you’re interested, please fill out this quick poll so we can figure out the most ideal dates: http://polldaddy.com/poll/5232266/
After we figure out a date and get a better sense of who’s into this, we can move on to other things like maybe renting a bus or vans, figuring out housing, recruiting more of us, etc.
And please note: not everyone who comes has to commit to getting arrested. In fact, we’ll definitely want folks who are just coming to give moral support, and help tell our group’s stories.
Thanks so much for considering this journey,
Joe Solomon
with 350 Vermont
cell: 516 232 3072
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