Bill McKibben: Why I Spent 2 Days in Jail Protesting the Keystone XL Tar Sands Oil Pipeline

DemocracyNow.org - Fifty-two environmental activists were arrested Monday in front of the White House as part of an ongoing protest calling on the Obama administration to reject a permit for the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline project, which would deliver Canada tar sands oil to refineries in Texas, and rather focus on developing clean energy. An estimated 2,000 people have signed up to hold sit-ins and commit other acts of civil disobedience outside the White House everyday for the next two weeks — 162 have already been arrested since Saturday. Also joining the protest are indigenous First Nations communities in Canada and landowners along the Keystone XL pipeline's planned route. An editorial in Sunday's New York Times joined in calling on the State Department to reject the pipeline, noting that the extraction of petroleum from the tar sands creates far more greenhouse emissions than conventional production. Meanwhile, oil-industry backers of the project emphasize what they say are the economic benefits of the $7 billion proposal. As the Obama administration remains undecided whether to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, Democracy Now! speaks with Bill McKibben in Washington, D.C., where he was released Monday after spending two nights in jail. He is part of Tar Sands Action, a group of environmentalists, indigenous communities, labor unions and scientific experts, calling for action to stop the project. "This is the first real civil disobedience of this scale for the environmental movement in ages," McKibben says.

For the complete transcript, to download the podcast, or for more Democracy Now! reports on climate change issues, visit http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/23/over_160_arrested_in_ongoing_civil

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• amy goodman
• democracy now
• dn
• news
• politics
• bill mckibben
• keystone
• tar sands
• climate change
• protest
• arrest
• white house
• 350.org
• obama

[hardingtess]

Gov. Perry is an idiot. We should be ashamed as Americans that a moron like him is considered to be a serious presidential candidate. He is a charlatan who appeals to the stupidest among us -- and, yes, the stupid are the people who think that there is no climate change being caused by human beings and our kill the earth and the oceans policies.

[crazy4coke]

@bammbamm12 A lot of other ppl went to jail to get "his" face on Democracy Now! So why do you imply that its some kind of selfish action for personal gain. The whole idea is to bring attention to the topic. I dont understand where u get off.

[AHFlynn]

lol at the trolls. this shits getting stopped.

[fortmcmurraycash]

indirect and direct jobs. i read in a newspaper that it would create that many jobs over time. not at once or at the same time. but over a period of time it will create that many. maybe more. USA is soooo stupid if they dont build that pipeline...

[randyjones1988]

@fortmcmurraycash 250,000 jobs? Where did you get that figure? 

[fortmcmurraycash]

This just in china has more money that you! You broke ass Yankees, have 250k jobs handed to you on a silver platter and you don't take it!!! Broke ass bitches!! Chinas gonna take our oil, and youll be stuck with middle eastern bullshit for another century. Suk on deeez nutz bitcheessssss

[fortmcmurraycash]

Lol whatever you doucher, I'm sitting here watching oil sand come up a conveyor from the crusher and go into a hopper from the mine. The plant looks as if she's running full bore. You dumb fucks ain't stopping anything, just another ploy to try and make money. Environmentalists like that are no better... Money money money. Eat my shit bill

[juscurious]

These protestors are idiots. How did they arrange to get to this protest? Did they walk or ride a bicycle? I doubt it. They either drove a car, rode a bus or perhaps use airplane to get there. How do these fools think those machines were powered? Not by the Sun, I assure you. So now instead of getting Oil from Canada, we must import more from mid-east. Nothing is going to replace Oil in the near or medium term for transportation. We need it for our economy & to survive McKibben is an anarchist.

[HeroSavage]

Muahaha, fuck that, I love the smell of oil in the morning. Bring it on, I personally love driving around my 8.2 liter gas guzzler, I smoke and use canned spray for painting all the time, fuck the environment, Its not my problem! 'Sides that uppity nig-Obama is probably not gonna sign it anyways.

[poeticpagesmig16]

Rick Perry is the hoax, George Bush the third.

[perfectstream314]

America has lost.its.way. It needs to go into.rehab.