Polar Bear Stops Business As Usual in Seattle

Polar Bear Disrupts Business-As-Usual in Seattle. Lots of Cops, No Arrests. 10/24/2009 - Squad cars and police from Seattle and Homeland Security disrupted business-as-usual at the federal building in Seattle today, responding to a protest agains cap-and-trade by Climate SOS and One Earth Climate Action group. WWW.CLIMATESOS.ORG Dressed in ploar bear costume, Climate SOS co-founder Duff Badgley joined One Earth activists to protest cap-and-trade bills on National Climate Action Day. The polar bear twice risked arrest by holding the SOS banner CAP-AND-TRADE = "TEMPLE OF DOOM" in the middle of the heavily trafficked 2nd Ave in front of the federal building. Twice police escorted Badgley to the curb. The police then surrounded Badgley on the sidewalk. The removed the banner from him. Numerous police officers talked with Badgley about getting arrested. No arrests were made. "Fatigue got to me," Badgley said. "After two-and-a-half hours in the bear costume standing on concrete, I took my head off. That was it for today." On National Climate Action Day, the protest against federal cap-and-trade bills succeeded in disrupting traffic, police and business-as-usual in busy downtown Seattle. "If we are going to have a Livable Planet," Badgley said, "Business-as-usual must stop in every sector---government, industry, personal. Cap-and-trade perpetuates Business-as-Usual." "We're ready to risk prisonto salvage our Earth," Badgley said. "But we're always peaceful." Badgley was the 2008 Green Party of Washington State candidate fror governor. His Climate Manifesto called for outlawing carbon trading. "The time is now to show senators Cantwell and Murray, and all federal lawmakers, we are in climate emergency. Emergency response is demanded --or we will doom ourselves." Cantwell calls carbon trading "toxic" but her cap-and-trade bill promotes 450-700ppm of atmospheric CO2 as a target for climate stability. Science shows us 450ppm means climate catastrophe. The world's pre-eminent climate scientist, Jim Hansen, has called cap-and-trade the "Temple of Doom". Hansen has personall endorsed the Climate SOS campaign against it. Cap-and-trade is worse than nothing. It locks us into a failed strategy. We lose our chance to develop alternatives. Hansen says, "I'd rather climate talks fail than we agree to a bad deal". Federal cap-and-trade bills are this "bad deal".

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• climate
• polarbear
• climatesos
• seattle
• environment
• cap
• and
• trade
• green
• Hansen
• Spears

[enviroman1000]

I worked in downtown Seattle this Saturday.This person was an absolute nuisance! I consider myself to be a part of the "green" movement, & all for "green" legislation. But, I don't think the streets of Seattle (on a weekend morning) was the right venue. Really, who do you think heard this message? I think it was a WASTE of tax payer dollars to have 8 or 9 Seattle police babysit this crazy person. You really think it did any good? Judging from the views ... it didn't do much of anything.