Yesterday, 144 protesters were taken away in police vans from the front of the White House, bringing the total number of people arrested for peacefully expressing their opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline to 843. Solidarity demonstrations sprang up yesterday at U.S. and Canadian embassies and consulates on six continents, including Durban, South Africa where visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to cross a picket line thrown up by climate justice campaigners. And speaking of Ms. Clinton, here’s a video via DeSmogBlog, featuring her and her “State Department Oil Services”. The animation is by Mark Fiore:
I’ve been extremely busy over the last few weeks with out-of-town guests, family celebrations (congratulations again on your 50th wedding anniversary, Mom and Dad!) and saying goodbye to our daughters as they head off to another year of university (you’ll be missed, girls). Here’s a few stories/websites that caught my eye yesterday as I surfed the Net to see what I had missed. Have a great Labour Day weekend (and yes, Canadians spell it with a “u”)!
- From Daily Kos.com: Tar Sands Scam: 5,000 Jobs Over 3 Years Is Worth Risk To People, Economy, Wildlife & Water? (Although I do wish Daily Kos would stop posting ads featuring Tim Hudak, the Ontario PC Leader who is campaigning to cancel our province’s progressive Green Energy Act. It’s especially jarring to see him linked to articles about the importance of clean energy. Feel free to send them a note, as I have, asking them to remove these and stop promoting Hudak’s anti-renewables agenda)
- Powering a Nation.org has put out an amazing interactive film. Check it out at Coal: A Love Story: It’s more than a rock. It’s power. It’s people. It’s a relationship.
- A new report says that only 1 in 8 insurers are planning for climate change, despite the fact that insurers generally acknowledge the problem of climate change and the effect it can have on their business:
“Even those insurers with no formal climate policy, no climate risk management structure and a stated belief that the company is not vulnerable to the effects of climate change still name perils that may be affected by climate change 20 percent of the time,” Ceres said in its report. Read the full article on Reuters.com
More links:
DeSmogBlog’s Tar Sands Action Page
Claiming Joy & Healing Amidst the Climate Emergency 
4 responses to ““We Are All Downstream”: Tar Sands Protests Go Global”
If that thing goes through, it might very well shake my foundation of hope… Please don’t let it go through, please don’t let it go through, please don’t let it go through… I am so thankful for the people protesting at the White House, thank you to you ALL!!
Amen!
…..Are you considering Ottawa on Sept 26th, Sherry?
Obama’s decision on whether to permit this pipeline will be a pivotal moment–not just for his presidency, but for the American political system at large. This enormous groundswell of protest and civil disobedience will make this issue a telling one. Whose interests will be honoured–those of the American people (indeed, those of humanity), or corporations’?
It’s time for us (the majority) to remind the politicians that they are answerable to us, not the corporations. It’s a David and Goliath struggle, d/t the $$ that backs the Corporations, but in the end, remember, David triumphs!