Dozens arrested at White House as pipeline protests begin

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Agence France-Presse

Dozens were arrested at the White House Saturday as protesters began a two-week sit-in expected to draw over 2,000 opponents of a proposed pipeline from Canada to the US Gulf Coast.

"President (Barack) Obama can stop this climate-killing disaster with the stroke of a pen," said Bill McKibben, spokesman for Tar Sands Action, the environmental group that organized the protest. Tar Sands said on its website that more than 70 people were arrested Saturday.

"This is the most important environmental test that President Obama has faced. He has to decide whether or not to grant permission for this giant pipeline," said McKibben.

A total of 2,200 people from all 50 states are expected to take part in the event, which is designed to pressure Obama to deny a permit for the $13 billion Keystone XL pipeline project due to stretch across 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers).

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/20/dozens-arrested-at-white-house-as-pipeline-protests-begin/

[SpiralHawk]

1. Every American and Canadian should get on top of this issue

It's huge and it's come fast

Will post a link to an earlier DU thread with the pertinent info

[SpiralHawk]

2. Some background - Tar Sands activists converge for White House Sit in

on this earlier DU thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1756365&mesg_id=1756365

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[SpiralHawk]

4. Seems our corporate media (R) wants us NOT TO KNOW about this

The sin of omission

[nc4bo]

5. No but they can put a camera in the face of some moran wearing a hat w/teabags on it. nt

[Bluebear]

6. Dan Choi and Jane Hampsher among them

Cue calls of attention whores etc

[Webster Green]

10. Fuckin' pantload.

I guess you support the pipeline. Are you a big fan of deep-water drilling too?

[Bluebear]

19. WTF are you talking about

[Bluebear]

20. .

[Bluebear]

21. .

[lame54]

25. it seems that drawing attention is the key to this

[Pooka Fey]

7. "This pipeline is a climate killing disaster" - think about it...

Game over. :cry:

[WinkyDink]

8. I've never heard of this pipeline, let alone the protest, before now!

[kayakjohnny]

9. Thank you. Same here. Now I don't feel like the dunce I did, say 15 or 20 seconds ago.

PS... Build the pipeline, but use it to shift water from flooded areas to drought areas.

[Omaha Steve]

11. I believe Jane Kleeb is there

[Omaha Steve]

16. YES SHE IS THERE!

Jane's husband Scott ran for US Senate from Ne. in 08: http://www.scottkleeb.com/

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2011/08/20/70-people-arrested-in-opening-day-of-tar-sands-action/

70 People Arrested in Opening Day of Tar Sands Action

Snip: Within a few minutes, police began issuing warnings to clear the area. At 11:30 AM, a young woman from Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, AK was the first person to be arrested. Arrests proceeded for over an hour as van-loads of protestors were taken away from the White House.

Jane Kleeb, an outspoken opponent of the pipeline and founder of BOLD Nebraska, stood in Lafayette Park this morning and cheered on the protestors as they were arrested.

“Nebraskans are counting on President Obama to do the right thing,” said Kleeb, who is planning to risk arrest on Monday with a delegation of farmers and ranchers who are coming in from Nebraska. “Back home we are fighting to protect our land and water. We decided to bring that fight to the President’s doorstep because our families’ legacies, those that homesteaded the very land now threatened by a foreign oil company, are too important for us sit on the sidelines. We are acting on our values and expect our President to act as well.”

The coalition organizing the protest, Tarsandsaction.org, is accepting donations and new sign-ups for the sit-in throughout the next two weeks. For more information, the public can visit tarsandsaction.org or follow the group on Twitter at @tarsandsaction.

[SpiralHawk]

24. Meanwhile, no one is home at the White House

Mercury retrograde - bad timing...

[Arctic Dave]

12. Busting up protest and arresting them?

Isn't this how the whole Libya thing got started?

[Bluebear]

23. Oh no that doesnt happen here!

:eyes:

[Arctic Dave]

13. Busting up protest and arresting them?

Isn't this the way the Libya thing got started?

[Luminous Animal]

14. TarSandsAction.org - what you can do to support the protest...

http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

Sign the petition here:
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/obama-petition/

Jane, Choi and others are in jail for the weekend.

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2011/08/20/jane-and-others-jailed-till-monday-take-action-support-the-tar-sands-sit-in/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CampaignSilo+%28Jane+Hamsher+Campaign+Silo%29

[jtuck004]

15. I read something about this a while back. They said it was going to

be built, and if the U.S. didn't want it they were going to build it to the West Coast and sell to China and Japan.

If that is true the protestor's ultimate goal may be really hard to reach.

[swilton]

17. It takes the French media to cover this

[NightWatcher]

18. The protests won't work. These people should work to disrupt the pipeline

A million people could get arrested and I'd bet Obama would personally still approve this pipeline expansion.

What needs to happen next is that people need to work directly against the next phase of the Keystone. Pull up the survey stakes, disrupt the planning phases, and act with localities to keep it from getting built. Once they start laying the pipeline, disrupt the pipeline. Make it not worth the trouble and expense for them to complete it. It's the only way it will get stopped.

Face it, petitions and protests DON'T WORK. If you want to stop it, you've got to act out against it.

[EFerrari]

22. K&R

[leveymg]

26. KNR

[Motown_Johnny]

27. OK, I clearly have some catching up to do on this one. But......

Aren't refineries the bottleneck that creates high gasoline prices? Wouldn't getting the oil from the tar sands (which we are buying anyways) to refineries a good thing?


Is the opposition to this simply the environmental impact of the pipeline itself or are we against the oil being used no matter how it is transported?

[TiberiusB]

28. It's about much more than just the pipeline...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/tar-sands-most-destructive-project.php

[Motown_Johnny]

29. 7 posts in 20 months, I am honored to have one directed toward my

but I fail to see how stopping the pipeline will stop the mining of tar sands



we still buy the oil produced from it and Canada allows it to be produced