Time flies.
It was a little over two and half years ago that our dear friend and comrade Tim DeChristopher went into a federal land auction and stopped an illegal sale of Utah wilderness to the oil and gas industry. He was subsequently charged with two felonies and convicted of them.
Next week, he’s set to be sentenced by a federal judge.
In the past six months, Tim’s voice calling for civil disobedience and a peaceful uprising against fossil fuel companies has become louder and louder. And it’s working.
In collaboration with grassroots activists all over the continent, direct action for climate justice is spreading and growing.
- In April, Rising Tide North America and Peaceful Uprising organized a mass unpermitted march through the streets of Washington D.C. to the Dept. of Interior in the aftermath of Power Shift. Over 300 occupied the lobby in protest of the department’s rubber stamp of fossil projects. 21 were arrested.
- In June, 250 marched 5 days through West Virginia to historic Blair Mountain. On the final day, 1000 marched to the top of the mountain calling for an end to mountaintop removal mining.
- Last week in Montana, Earth First! and Northern Rockies Rising Tide occupied MT Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s offices in protest of his support of tar sands development in his state. Five were arrested after locking themselves together with PVC pipes fashioned into a mock oil pipeline.
- Today, the RAMPS campaign in West Virginia began two tree-sits on Coal River Mountain to stop strip mining on the iconic mountain. So far, two have been arrested and two remain in the canopy.
- On Aug. 4, community members are calling for direct action at BP’s New Orleans offices in protest of the oil company’s continued lack of accountability for the devastating oil spill.
- On Aug. 12, Rising Tide North America and the environmental justice community is teaming up with economic justice and labor groups in St. Louis to fight corporations destroying jobs and homes with economic malfeasance and the climate with coal.
- In late August and early September, thousands are converging and risking arrest over 15 days at the White House in protest of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Next Tuesday, the group that Tim co-founded, Peaceful Uprising, is organizing actions at federal courthouses and federal buildings across the country in solidarity with the sentencing happening in Salt Lake City. The time for talk and compromise on vital issues like climate change and fossil fuel extraction is past. Now is the time to get involved, take risks and try to make a difference.
Here’s how you can plug in:
1.Solidarity Actions: We are calling on activists to demonstrate solidarity and show our rejection of a corrupt justice system, by staging actions at federal district courts around the nation. Help send the government a clear message of love and outrage: we will not be intimidated or deterred. Register here.
2. Letters to the Editor: Our goal is to flood the national press leading up to July 26th. You can use Peace Up’s letter to the editor template and their talking points as tools to buttress your own personal perspective, when you express to your local media what the climate crisis and Tim’s prosecution mean to you. Reach out to publications, community radio, and any local networks and help us make this happen.
Real change will come from the bottom, not from Presidents or Kings. Not from silver bullet events that awaken the world with an “a-ha,” but from long hard work on the ground building a movement.
Not only do we need to keep spreading the Peaceful Uprising, but we also need to nourish each other for the work we are doing.
It was an honor to MarchOnBlairMountain.org with the broadest coalition of people and some of the finest activists I have ever met.
Let’s get together in Salt Lake City to continue the drumbeat for a livable future!
Thanks Scott, great post and summary of inspiring recent US direct actions.
I was at Blair Mountain and will be at the Convergence in St Louis and possibly at the White House too. It’s a beautiful world we live in and, as Eli Wiesel said to me and so many others in May, “After all I have seen, I want you to know that I still think people are good.” It gives me such bliss every time I hear about people taking actions like those in Montana and West Virginia. Let’s keep that green-fire burning.
Thank you for helping to save Mother Earth. I was a sixties activist in California and am now a peace and social justice activist from Minnesota and am proud to have participated in a RainForest Action banner lay out at General Mills office near Minneapolis some months ago. Another event for people to know about will be on October 6, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Many beautiful peace and social justice people will be there. http://october2011.org/welcome
Just saw a message from peace activist Kevin Zeese titled “Tim DeChristopher’s Battle for Justice Is Our Battle” It is at http://october2011.org/node/460 peace and hugs
Show your Support in Portland, Oregon
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139708356112577¬if_t=event_invite
Obomber could intervene, but he won’t…this kangaroo court will give him ten years, he will be free on appeal for a year, and then will serve at least 3… One rule in organizing against the beast of corporate communism- keep your passport handy and hike out if you cannot fly or drive!!
Looking down the long road I’ve travelled in my 74 years on earth, the people who are truly committed to real change for the better, are few and far between. Certainly Julian Assange is on that list, Sophia Scholl and her brother, paying for their opposition to Hitler with their lives, Pvt Manning, who is being tortured without charge, and many more. To that list, we must now add Tim DeChristopher, who will apparantly sacrifice 2 years of his life for doing the right thing. If I could serve that time for you, Tim, I would gladly do it, so that you could continue with your worthwhile and valuable activism.