Yesterday, we witnessed thousands take part in one of the biggest environmental protests of the decade. What got so many people outraged enough to leave their homes on a Sunday afternoon and circle the White House? The Keystone XL Pipeline, a dangerously misguided project that could bring extremely dirty tar sands oil from Canada to oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico, and irreversibly accelerate climate change in the process. The pipeline is a desperate means to feed our oil addiction, but yesterday’s protest was a promising sign that the addiction may finally be waning. Protesters from many different parts of the country, of all ages, backgrounds and cultures, hope that the U.S. government heard these demands and will rise to the occasion and stop the pipeline from being built.
Here are some personal impressions from three Climate Reality staffers who were there.
Eric: “I have not attended too many protests in my lifetime but I decided to check out the Keystone XL protest because according to NASA scientist James Hansen, it is ‘game over’ for our climate if this pipeline gets built. This was too important to miss. I was also impressed by the protest in front of the White House this summer when committed activists got arrested to protest Keystone XL. I was curious to see how the second act would turn out. It was better than expected. I was inspired by what I saw and participated in at this protest. Around 10,000 people showed up and you could feel the energy. There were enough people to wrap around the White House almost 3 times. That is an amazing turnout and a clear sign that a lot of people are watching this very closely. I was proud to have participated.”
Kristin: “A friend of mine remarked that usually, crowd size is used to measure a protest’s success. Heads are hard to count in a big crowd, and in the end, sources (namely the police and the sponsoring organization) never seem to agree on just how many people turned out. But at the Keystone XL action, our idea of success was clear: link hands and encircle the White House grounds so that there’d be no overlooking — not from any vantage point in the White House – our message: No Keystone XL! At 3:42 PM, #NOKXL sent out a text confirming that we had achieved our goal. We had formed not only one circle, but concentric circles, around the White House.”
Shravya: “It was inspiring to see that the spirit of solidarity is alive and well in America, and that people are not willing to let the administration gamble with their futures by ignoring the pressing threat of climate change. I thought it was serendipitous that it was such a beautiful, sunny day — a reminder that we can have safe, secure and prosperous future by relying on clean energy solutions, like solar power.”
Were you there too? Did you follow the protest on TV or online? We’d love to hear your impressions!
S. A. Collins
November 8th
I didn’t see the protest or any TV coverage, but I am amazed to hear that so many people turned out for the protest. The huge turnout of protesters, of all ages and backgrounds, reminds me of The Ribbon anti-nuclear protest of the early 80′s, when many thousands of people from across the U.S. gathered in D.C. to protest the nuclear arms race, by tying together cloth panels expressing what we could not bear to lose in a nuclear war. I participated in that, and we had such a wide variety of people there, it was really touching. There were people of all ages, races, cultural backgrounds and areas of the country, as well as some from other countries. I watched as our giant Ribbon of thousands of panels connected end to end, held by those who made them, and stretched across the Potomac River, and circled around the Pentagon and a number of other government buildings, in a very large, peaceful protest. There was no way the President or Congress could have ignored such a huge protest. There were young mothers with children, grandmothers, young adults, people of different religions and ethnicity, and they all came together peacefully to make a massive visual statement. I was in awe of the huge turnout at that protest, with so many different kinds of people coming together. The pipeline protest must have been very similar. I have been hearing of email campaigns that tens of thousands of people responded to, for environmental issues facing Congresss. This puts a physical face on all those email responders, It’s great to know that so many people are willing to stand up for environmental protection and against things can hasten climate change. We need to do a lot more of this, to make our leaders wake up and pay attention, and to counteract the lobbying power of big oil polluters.
Ellen Strohmeyer
November 8th
We need to get off fossil fuels now!
billy taylor
November 8th
fossil fuels must go now, but oil backers will put out the cash in washington’s political pockets to keep oil in power. pretty sure that we are doomed to enviromental ruin as no one in washington wants to step away from fossil fuels .
Stephanie Lowden
November 8th
Why didn’t the mainstream media cover this story?
Jason Richie
November 8th
Why didn’t the mainstream media cover this story?
Because the mainstream media is owned and controlled by the corporations who profit from this. Just like they chose not to show Occupy Wall Street until it grew too big to ignore.
Try Free Speech Tv or Keith Olbermann’s show.