I Committed Civil Disobedience by Blocking Oil Trains in Portland, Oregon — and Won
17 March
Insights + Opinion
YouTube
By Jan Zuckerman
A few weeks ago, I showed the world that I am not a criminal, despite having been arrested and charged with first-degree criminal trespass. In a five to one vote, a Multnomah County, Oregon, jury refused to convict me and four fellow activists in our historic trial for blocking tar sands oil trains entering Portland.
<p>A week later, the Multnomah County District Attorney dismissed our case. The dismissal offers an implicit admission that with consciousness of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> growing every day, prosecutors here would not be able to secure a conviction of people who engage in civil disobedience on behalf of the planet.</p>
<p>Here's the background to this victory. Last April, on Easter Sunday morning, along with other members of Extinction Rebellion, I helped build a garden on the railroad tracks at the Zenith Energy Export Terminal, blocking the processing of trains carrying tar sands crude oil for export. As I sat on the tracks with my friends that day, I thought about my grandchildren's future, a future that has been made uncertain by the existential threat of the climate crisis. Thirty-four hours later we were arrested by Portland Police and charged with criminal trespass in the second degree.</p><p>A week later, we came back and did it again. This time, the police charged us with criminal trespass in the first degree.</p><p>Five of us pled not guilty "by reason of necessity." With the help of our legal team and the Civil Liberties Defense Center, we presented a "choice of evils" defense to a jury.</p>
<p>The first hint that the prosecution was going to have trouble convicting us came during the voir dire portion of jury selection. In questioning, each of the 35 prospective jurors acknowledged that climate change is real, is human-caused, and is serious. Several members of the jury pool said that they would be unable to convict anyone for civil disobedience on behalf of the planet.</p><p>Once our jury was seated, we argued that we were obliged to break the law in an effort to prevent the greater evil of climate catastrophe. The judge allowed three days of extensive testimony from the five defendants, along with expert witnesses. Jury deliberation took almost a full day, at the end of which, the jury announced it was deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial. Later we learned that five members of the six-person jury voted for acquittal.</p>
<p>Actions like ours are the only tactic that we — everyday people — have left to address the climate crisis. We have lobbied our elected officials, organized demonstrations, and supported litigation, all to no avail. Even our few wins have turned out to be short-lived.</p><p>We worked tirelessly to push the city of Portland to adopt a ban on the creation or expansion of new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> infrastructure within city limits. This organizing was victorious when, in 2016, Portland's city council adopted the Fossil Fuel Terminal Zoning Amendments. But the fossil fuel industry has continued to challenge the law and expand in our city. And using an old construction permit, Zenith Energy flouts community sentiment and the city's intent and has almost quadrupled its capacity, from 12 to 44 rail cars at a time.</p>
<p>To make things worse, much of the crude oil that Zenith processes is Alberta tar sands oil, perhaps the most dangerous and dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet. In 2018, Zenith "flipped" an old, run-down site and increased crude oil exports from a value of $2,532 a year to $71 million in 2018. Portlanders were outraged, yet city officials claimed they could not stop this expansion.</p><p>In the face of this grave injustice, we must ask ourselves, who are the real criminals here? Me — a mother, grandmother, and retired teacher, who sat on railroad tracks? Or Zenith Energy, the Texas corporation subverting our local democracy and putting our city and climate at risk?</p>
<p>In 2019, 9,167 rail cars came to Zenith, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. That's more than three times the 2,836 cars that came in 2018. With an industry standard of 90-100 oil-filled cars per train, that's more than 90 trains a year — almost two per week. And with each train carrying as much as 70,000 barrels of oil, that amounts to 6.3 million barrels of crude oil a year. Consumption of that oil is the equivalent of 2.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide spewing into our atmosphere, the same as 583,000-plus cars driving for over a year. And that is just from combustion, without accounting for the much larger emissions from tar sands oil or its full life cycle. To me and my co-defendants, Zenith's contributions to the climate crisis are a crime against humanity.</p>
<p>If we want to ensure a future for our children and grandchildren, companies like Zenith must be stopped.</p><p>The strategy of mass civil disobedience is the most effective tactic that we can use. When all legal methods of change have been tried and proven ineffective — a mass movement of non-cooperation that shuts down business-as-usual is the only choice that we have left.</p><p>I used to tell my kids: "When you are in a hole, the best thing to do is to stop digging." Yet, it seems that our leaders are unwilling or unable to drop the shovel. It has fallen upon us to tear that shovel from their hands.</p><p>I urge you to join us.</p>
<p><em>Jan Zuckerman </em><em>taught elementary and middle school in Portland, Oregon for 30 years, and now works with Extinction Rebellion and the Portland Public Schools Climate Justice Committee.</em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/03/16/i-committed-civil-disobedience-blocking-oil-trains-portland-oregon-and-won?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>Related Articles Around the Web
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60,000-Strong Fridays for Future Protest in Hamburg, Germany Prompts Question: 'Where Are You, USA?'
24 February
Politics
Participants of the climate demonstration Fridays for Future walk through Hamburg, Germany on Feb. 21, 2020. Axel Heimken / picture alliance via Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
U.S.-based youth climate activists on Friday drew attention to the climate protest in Hamburg, Germany, where organizers said roughly 60,000 people took part, and hoped that Americans took inspiration from their European counterparts.
<p>Among those taking part in the large Fridays for Future action in the northern German city was school strike for climate founder <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg">Greta Thunberg</a> of Sweden.</p><p>Fridays for Future organizer Alexandria Villaseñor of New York City shared Thunberg's tweet showing the massive crowd and asked, "Where are you USA?"</p>
<div id="16a22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="N2R9QN1582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230916162684194816" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Where are you USA😭 https://t.co/TM54wYpZLc</div> — Alexandria Villaseñor (@Alexandria Villaseñor)<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexandriaV2005/statuses/1230916162684194816">1582308257.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"The United States needs these types of numbers on a regular basis," <a href="https://twitter.com/JeromeFosterII/status/1230916727866830850" target="_blank">said</a> Jerome Foster II, a high school senior and Fridays for Future organizer in Washington, DC.</p><p>"What is it going to take for the U.S. to rise up like this?" <a href="https://twitter.com/XrDurham/status/1230887541043318784" target="_blank">wondered</a> the Durham, N.C. branch of Extinction Rebellion. "We are in a climate catastrophe and people around the world, particularly in the global south are facing the brunt NOW! January 2020 was the warmest since we've recorded temperatures."</p><p>Thunberg, who's in her 79th week of Fridays for Future actions, noted in her remarks to the Hamburg crowd that the weekly actions have spread globally.</p><p>"For almost one and half years young people have been striking from school all over the world," she said.</p><p>"The world is failing on ensuring us a future. And I honestly don't understand how the people in power can continue like now. How they can look their children in the eyes while they are stealing their future?" she asked.</p><p>"We are facing an existential crisis," said Thunberg, "but we must keep on pushing."</p><p>While the Hamburg march drew attention for its size Friday, other youth-led climate actions took place in communities across the globe, which many documented on social media:</p>
<div id="ee4ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5BGGM11582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230786676793970691" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The youth of Kenema have joined us to fight for the climate. They are adding adding their voices in demand for urge… https://t.co/Jm3LqD3qHf</div> — Fridays For Future - Sierra Leone (@Fridays For Future - Sierra Leone)<a href="https://twitter.com/FFF_SierraLeone/statuses/1230786676793970691">1582277385.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="0f829" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FYEVGC1582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230863438848692229" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Week 6 of the climate boycott! We sat through the blazing heat and the lightening today. But no big change happened… https://t.co/3JdkOJcQl0</div> — Rae (of Sunshine) (@Rae (of Sunshine))<a href="https://twitter.com/raeesahnm/statuses/1230863438848692229">1582295686.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="9e125" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1QBZDJ1582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230812678702161921" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Danish activists marching to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand #ClimateAction now. Denmark needs to get a g… https://t.co/Roh0DANml5</div> — SussiLillelund (@SussiLillelund)<a href="https://twitter.com/SussiLillelund/statuses/1230812678702161921">1582283584.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="e165a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F0XFFH1582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230923475742810112" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It's our responsibility
#FridaysForFuture
#ClimateCrisis deepens poverty
Threaten food and water supply
Makes peop… https://t.co/Iwgnvekqq4</div> — Patricia Kombo (@Patricia Kombo)<a href="https://twitter.com/patriciakombo/statuses/1230923475742810112">1582310000.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Villaseñor, in a Friday tweet sharing the climate action she spearheaded in New York, underscored her steadfastness in her demand for urgent and bold action to tackle the ecological crisis.</p><p>"It's cold, we're tired, and we're not stopping," she wrote.</p>
<div id="fa221" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="S9BAE71582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230948331544662016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">WEEK 63 #ClimateStrike at the @UN - and then at NYC City Hall! Today I was joined by @MarielS1115 from… https://t.co/63faFXsIjG</div> — Alexandria Villaseñor (@Alexandria Villaseñor)<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexandriaV2005/statuses/1230948331544662016">1582315926.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/21/60000-strong-fridays-future-protest-hamburg-germany-prompts-question-where-are-you?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Climate Activists Outraged as Siemens Backs Adani Coal Mining Project in Australia
13 January
Business
A rally organized by Extinction Rebellion and Parents for Future in front of the Australian Embassy on Jan. 10, 2020. The Australian government plans the huge coal mine project Adani, despite devastating bushfires and rising emissions worldwide. Jörg Carstensen / picture alliance via Getty Images
Siemens has announced it will remain involved in a controversial coal mining project in Australia, despite massive environmental criticism as the country continues to be ravaged by bushfires.
<p>The German engineering conglomerate has a contract worth roughly €18 million ($20 million) which requires Siemens to supply rail infrastructure for the Carmichael mine in Queensland, near the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-barrier-reef">Great Barrier Reef</a>.</p><p>But <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate</a> activists from Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion staged protests last week in a dozen German cities against the mine, including outside Siemens' Munich headquarters, hoping to change the firm's stance on the project.</p><p>But on Sunday, Siemens' CEO Joe Kaeser tweeted: "We have just finished our special meeting .... We have evaluated all the options and have concluded that we must fulfill our contractual obligations."</p><p>Kaeser did promise, though, that the company would better "manage in the future the questions of protecting the environment."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just finished our extraordinary Managing Board Meeting. We evaluated all options and concluded: We need to fulfil our contractual obligations. Also, we will establish an effective Sustainability Board to better manage environmental care in the future. <a href="https://t.co/uPgjPgwFrr">https://t.co/uPgjPgwFrr</a></p>— Joe Kaeser (@JoeKaeser) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeKaeser/status/1216452638017048576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The proposed Carmichael mine, owned by India's Adani group, has long sparked controversy. Opposition to the multibillion-euro enterprise has worsened in the wake of Australia's recent devastating bushfires.</p><h3>'Inexcusable' Project</h3><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-would-rather-save-the-coalition-than-the-climate-says-activist/a-51295110" target="_blank">German climate activist Luisa Neubauer</a>, of Fridays for Future, has called the decision by Siemens an "inexcusable mistake."</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/thunberg-calls-on-siemens-to-nix-australia-coal-mine-project/a-51966937" target="_blank">She joined Swedish activist Greta Thunberg</a> in her condemnation of the German company as she told news agency dpa: "We asked Kaeser to do everything possible to prevent the Adani mine," referring to a meeting with the Siemens boss last week. "Instead, he will now profit from this disaster project."</p><p>On Friday, Kaeser offered Neubauer a seat on the supervisory board at Siemens Energy, a new conventional and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a> company, but she turned it down.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australia-activists-outraged-as-siemens-backs-adani-mining-project/a-51977565?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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'The Law Is on Our Side': Extinction Rebellion Celebrates Dropped Charges Against 105 Climate Activists
29 November 2019
Climate
Police arrests an Extinction Rebellion demonstrator at Trafalgar Square, London on Oct. 7. Stefan Müller (climate stuff) / CC BY 2.0
By Jessica Corbett
Extinction Rebellion and its supporters celebrated Wednesday after the agency that conducts criminal prosecutions in England dropped charges against 105 activists who were arrested in London last month for participating in the environmental movement's "Autumn Uprising" actions.
<p>The Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) decision to end the cases against Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists came after a high court in the UK <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/06/vindication-climate-activists-uk-court-rules-london-ban-extinction-rebellion" target="_blank">ruled</a> early this month that a protest ban <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/15/acting-behalf-life-extinction-rebellion-defies-blanket-ban-climate-protests-london" target="_blank">imposed</a> by London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) under section 14 of the Public Order Act was unlawful.</p><p>"It is to be hoped that the police will, in future, take much greater care to act within the law and to balance the right to protest with their desire for public order," Martin Marston-Paterson, one of the XR activists arrested under the section 14 order in October, <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/11/27/over-1000-cases-set-to-be-dropped-against-extinction-rebellion-protesters-arrested-during-octobers-international-rebellion/" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"Extinction Rebellion is glad to see that the Met Police and the CPS have recognized the implications of our successful challenge earlier this month," said Tobias Garnett, a human rights lawyer in the movement's legal strategy team. "It underlines the need for proper policing that doesn't waste precious public resources."</p><p>These admissions of unlawful arrest, said Garnett, "affirm that when the people of this country assemble peacefully to demand action on the climate and ecological emergency the law is on our side."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Criminal charges have been dropped against Extinction Rebellion activists arrested during a London-wide protest ban.<br><br>The CPS said 105 cases were being discontinued against <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ExtinctionRebellion</a> supporters who were detained during the action in October. 🙌 <a href="https://t.co/IhN8sLdNgG">https://t.co/IhN8sLdNgG</a></p>— Extinction Rebellion UK 🗳️🌍 (@XRebellionUK) <a href="https://twitter.com/XRebellionUK/status/1199724853303107584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>A police spokesperson <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/charges-dropped-against-extinction-rebellion-activists-arrested-during-unlawful-police-order-in-a4298371.html" target="_blank">told</a> The Evening Standard that "the MPS remains disappointed by the judgment, but of course respects the decision of the court" and will not appeal the ruling. Reiterating past calls for legislative updates, the spokesperson added that "the MPS will continue to carefully consider and review the use of this legislation during future demonstrations."</p><p>Ultimately, Extinction Rebellion <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/11/27/over-1000-cases-set-to-be-dropped-against-extinction-rebellion-protesters-arrested-during-octobers-international-rebellion/" target="_blank">expects</a> more than 1,000 cases against XR protesters arrested in October will be dropped. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/27/charges-dropped-against-more-than-100-extinction-rebellion-protesters" target="_blank">According to</a> The Guardian, the CPS confirmed that the cases discontinued so far include 73 defendants charged with breach of section 14; 24 charged with breach of section 14 and highway obstruction; and eight charged only with highway obstruction.</p><p>Welcoming the news Wednesday, Jules Carey of the London law firm Bindmans LLP <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/11/27/over-1000-cases-set-to-be-dropped-against-extinction-rebellion-protesters-arrested-during-octobers-international-rebellion/" target="_blank">said</a> that "it is now clear that the policing of the Extinction Rebellion protests was a mess: the right to protest was overlooked, police powers were overstepped, and a significant clean-up operation is now required in the criminal justice system to deal with hundreds of cases that should never have been brought."</p><p>XR activists in the UK are now gearing up for holiday season protests to highlight the movement's three key demands:</p><ul><li>Government must tell the truth by declaring a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate</a> and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.</li><li>Government must act now to halt <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a> loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.</li><li>Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens' Assembly on climate and ecological justice.</li></ul><p>On Saturday, Extinction Rebellion activists will launch nonviolent direct actions for "12 Days of Crisis," which will coincide with the UN's COP 25 climate summit in Madrid and run up to the eve of the UK general election on Dec. 12.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This Sunday rebels will Sound the Alarm in towns and cities across the UK kicking off our 12 Days of Crisis. If you’re free and willing to risk arrest, the team needs a London based driver and a small team to help, email👉xr-ge-actions+sta@protonmail.com<a href="https://t.co/vnKWkOxUGw">https://t.co/vnKWkOxUGw</a></p>— Extinction Rebellion UK 🗳️🌍 (@XRebellionUK) <a href="https://twitter.com/XRebellionUK/status/1199737629954232320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>"Rebels from Wales to Cumbria are set to ramp up the pressure on our politicians; from singing Crisis Carols and setting off Air Raid Sirens to occupations of high level political targets," XR said in a statement Tuesday. "The 12 Days of Crisis will kick off with a nationwide Sounding of the Alarm, and proceed with a series of powerful actions outside Political Party HQs and on the campaign trail."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/27/law-our-side-extinction-rebellion-celebrates-dropped-charges-against-105-climate" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An Extinction Rebellion protester sits on fence pillar at the houses of parliament in London on Oct. 15. Victoria Jones / PA Images via Getty Images
The Metropolitan Police's decision to ban Extinction Rebellion from London last month was "unlawful," the city's high court ruled Wednesday, as CNN reported.
<p>The police imposed the ban Oct. 14 for the last four days of Extinction Rebellion's two-week "Autumn Uprising," a campaign of civil disobedience in London intended to pressure the government into action on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"Extinction Rebellion is delighted with the Court's decision," Tobias Garnett, a human rights lawyer in Extinction Rebellion's Legal Strategy team, said in an <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/11/06/extinction-rebellion-wins-landmark-legal-challenge-to-met-police-ban-on-peaceful-protest/" target="_blank">Extinction Rebellion press release</a>. "It vindicates our belief that the Police's blanket ban on our protests was an unprecedented and unlawful infringement on the right to protest. Rather than wasting its time and money seeking to silence and criminalise those who are drawing its attention to the Climate and Ecological Emergency, we call on the Government to act now on the biggest threat to our planet."</p>
<div id="e2687" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="E1ZLCF1576661183"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192074772110290944" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">More than 400 @XRebellionUK activists unlawfully arrested for assembling (a human right) could sue the Met Police f… https://t.co/XDTKvg7OY1</div> — Extinction Rebellion London (@Extinction Rebellion London)<a href="https://twitter.com/XRLondon/statuses/1192074772110290944">1573047748.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The police had issued the ban under <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/14" target="_blank">Section 14 of the Public Order Act of 1986</a>, which grants them the power to impose restrictions on assemblies that "may result in serious public disorder." But the court ruled that the police had overstepped their authority by banning a series of protests as if they were a single assembly.</p><p>"Separate gatherings, separated both in time and by many miles, even if coordinated under the umbrella of one body, are not a public assembly within the meaning of the Section 14 of the 1986 Act," Lord Justice Digemans said, according to CNN. "The XR autumn uprising intended to be held from October 14 to 19 was not therefore a public assembly ... therefore the decision to impose the condition was unlawful because there was no power to impose it under Section 14 of the 1986 Act."</p>
<div id="3d9f5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="026M7U1576661183"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192027946397175808" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Here is the crucial section of the judgement: https://t.co/LxNJsE8YQc</div> — George Monbiot (@George Monbiot)<a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/statuses/1192027946397175808">1573036583.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Anyone who was arrested under the ban may now sue the London police for false imprisonment, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/06/police-ban-on-extinction-rebellion-protests-ruled-illegal-by-high-court" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a>.</p><p>"It's a very expensive mistake for the Metropolitan police," Jules Carey, part of the legal team that brought the case, told The Guardian. "I'm sure most of them would want to start off with an apology for the ordeal that they experienced, but all of them could potentially be awarded several thousands of pounds depending on how long they were arrested for and whether force was used against them."</p><p>More than 1,800 people were arrested during the two-week protests, CNN reported, and 400 were arrested after the ban.</p><p>The judicial review of the police order was brought by Green Party Members Jenny Jones, Caroline Lucas and Ellie Chowns, Labour Members of Parliament Clive Lewis and David Drew, Labour activist Adam Allnutt and Guardian columnist George Monbiot.</p><p>Chowns, a Member of European Parliament who was arrested for remaining in Trafalgar Square after the ban was announced, applauded the ruling.</p><p>"I'm delighted with this judgement because this is about fundamental democratic rights. The right to assembly and public protest are cornerstones of a functioning democracy," she said in a video shared on her Twitter feed. "Now Extinction Rebellion protesters have been raising the alarm about the climate crisis. We need to listen to that alarm, not outlaw it."</p>
<div id="ea006" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="AVQ5SQ1576661183"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192079762811969536" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In Trafalgar Square at the place where I was unlawfully arrested three weeks ago for defending the right to protest… https://t.co/YveTsHcP5r</div> — Ellie Chowns MEP (@Ellie Chowns MEP)<a href="https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/statuses/1192079762811969536">1573048937.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Extinction Rebellion <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/extinction-rebellion-uk-2617088143.html" target="_self">launched in the UK in late October</a> of last year and has since <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/extinction-rebellion-protest-berlin-2640872029.html" target="_self">spread worldwide</a>. In the UK, the group has <a href="https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/demands/" target="_blank">three demands</a>: that the government declare a climate emergency, that it act to halt <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> loss and achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and that it convene a Citizens' Assembly to guide its actions on the environment.</p><p>The group's London demonstrations in October cost the police $31 million, according to CNN. For comparison, the police spend £15 million (approximately $19 million) on their violent crime task force every year.</p><p>"After eight days of continual disruption we took the decision to bring an end to this particular protest, a decision which we believe was both reasonable and proportionate," Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said in a statement reported by CNN. "I want to be clear; we would not and cannot ban protest. The condition at the center of this ruling was specific to this particular protest, in the particular circumstances at the time."</p><p>In court, it was revealed that the police ban followed an online message from Extinction Rebellion urging protesters to adopt the "be water" tactics used by demonstrators in Hong Kong, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50316561" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>.</p><p>"Be water, crowds split up into fast moving groups and pairs, that network via phones," the message said. "You gather at particular spots in large numbers, until the police response building then you move to a new disruptive site."</p><p>BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford said the ruling would make it hard for the police to control similar protests in the future:</p><blockquote>Today's High Court ruling takes away from officers the ability to impose a city-wide ban of future protests, which means demonstrators wanting to be "like water" - where they split into fast-moving groups - will be difficult to control if they are trying to disrupt a whole city.<br><br>So police will have to deal with what is in front of them.<br><br>If a specific protest in a specific place gets out of hand they will be able to close it down, but it will have to be a decision made by an officer on the spot, and not by someone sitting in a police station worrying about what protests may happen the next day.</blockquote>
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The crowd appears to attack a protestor in a video shared on Twitter by ITV journalist Mahatir Pasha. VOA News / Youtube screenshot
Some London commuters had a violent reaction Thursday morning when Extinction Rebellion protestors attempted to disrupt train service during rush hour.
<p>When a demonstrator walked on top of a train in Canning Town, an angry crowd first threw drinks at him. Then, one man dragged him from the roof, and the crowd appeared to attack him, according to a video shared on Twitter by ITV journalist Mahatir Pasha.</p>
<div id="81bf0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="C5BIJV1576661287"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1184713704673366016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Shocking moment angry commuters drag two #ExtinctionRebellion protestors off the top of a train in Canning Town and… https://t.co/pkHC4RQwGy</div> — Mahatir Pasha (@Mahatir Pasha)<a href="https://twitter.com/mahatir_pasha/statuses/1184713704673366016">1571292732.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"One commuter shouted 'I need to get to work, I have to feed my kids,' when the protestors initially went up," Pasha tweeted, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/climate-change-protesters-spark-fight-london-train-several-arrested-n1067966" target="_blank">NBC News reported</a>.</p><p>In addition to Canning Town, activists climbed on top of trains in Shadwell and Stratford, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-50079716" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. The Docklands Light Railway and Jubilee Line were temporarily suspended. In total, eight people were arrested, British Transport Police said.</p><p>The train disruptions, and the commuters' response, have set off a debate about the best way to call attention to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Extinction Rebellion's <a href="https://rebellion.earth/international-rebellion/" target="_blank">International Rebellion</a>, which began Oct. 7, has sought to cause disruption in central London and other world cities in order to force government action on climate change. In the UK, demonstrators are <a href="https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/demands/" target="_blank">demanding</a> the government declare a climate emergency, achieve carbon neutrality by 2025 and convene a Citizens' Assembly to guide its response to the crisis.</p><p>But some question whether commuter trains are an appropriate target for disruption.</p><p>"The Tube & all modes of public transport are part of the solution to climate change, not the problem," the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), the union that represents UK train drivers, tweeted. "Can we kindly suggest you stick to protesting against those who create the problem. Not our industry, members + hard working commuters."</p>
<div id="e50b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WMNOFA1576661287"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1184744819274452992" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Dear Extinction Rebellion,
The Tube & all modes of public transport are part of the solution to climate change, no… https://t.co/0KbTI8kn8j</div> — ASLEF (@ASLEF)<a href="https://twitter.com/ASLEFunion/statuses/1184744819274452992">1571300151.0</a></blockquote></div><p>But Extinciton Rebellion protesters defended train disruptions in one <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/10/17/breaking-government-please-tell-the-truth-london-transport-action-sounds-the-alarm-on-climate-and-ecological-emergency/" target="_blank">statement Thursday</a>.<br></p><p>"If this is what it takes to make them take notice before it is too late, then this is what we must do," 21-year-old spokesman Robin Boardman said. "None of us want to inconvenience ordinary people. That's why we're doing this in the morning when it will impact business as usual, and not in the evening, when people want to get home to be with their loved ones."</p><p>However, internally the group is divided about targeting transit. A poll of 3,800 votes from Extinction Rebellion affiliates found 72 percent opposed targeting London's Tube system, BBC News reported.</p><p>Another <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/10/17/todays-tube-action-how-it-happened/" target="_blank">statement</a> posted on the group's website reflected this division.</p><p>"[T]his action had been announced on Tuesday, and was received with overwhelming opposition and consternation from those in our movement, both regarding the nature, location, and timing of the action," the group wrote. "This concern was communicated to the planners of the action —a very small group, which did not participate in 'national level' Rebellion decision-making bodies."</p><p>However, the group's organizational model, which allows grassroots groups to carry out actions as long as they are in line with <a href="https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/about-us/" target="_blank">10 principles and values</a>, meant that the action went ahead.</p>
<div id="a08fe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8L9IWK1576661288"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1184801375831638021" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A difficult day, one testing the principle of decentralisation & autonomous action.
Nearly all rebels opposed the… https://t.co/J8J0eW9o2J</div> — Extinction Rebellion London (@Extinction Rebellion London)<a href="https://twitter.com/XRLondon/statuses/1184801375831638021">1571313635.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The action comes the same week that Extinction Rebellion was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/extinction-rebellion-banned-london-2640972104.html" target="_self">banned from London</a> by police for causing disruption in the capital. That decision is currently being appealed by the group, according to BBC News.</p><p>Police did speak out against the actions of the commuters who attacked demonstrators, however.</p><p>Assistant Chief Constable of the British Transport Police Sean O'Callaghan said their behavior was "unacceptable," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/world/europe/extinction-rebellion-london-underground.html?te=1&nl=morning-briefing&emc=edit_MBE_p_20191018&section=whatElse?campaign_id=51&instance_id=13183&segment_id=18009&user_id=d8eb7cee9d3c5ab39515239b6ec54d19&regi_id=88631294ion=whatElse#" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>"[It was] concerning to see that a number of commuters took matters into their own hands, displaying violent behavior to detain a protester," he said.</p>
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Protesters block the road outside Mansion House in London during an XR climate change protest. Gareth Fuller / PA Images via Getty Images
One week into Extinction Rebellion's planned two weeks of International Rebellion to demand action on the climate crisis, the London police have banned the group from the city.
<p>The Metropolitan Police made the announcement Monday evening, and immediately began to clear the protest encampments from Trafalgar Square, which had previously been designated as a legitimate protest area, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/police-ban-extinction-rebellion-protests-from-whole-of-london" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>"Any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion 'Autumn Uprising'…must now cease their protest(s) within London (Metropolitan Police Service, and City of London areas) by 2100hrs [on Monday] 14th October 2019," the <a href="http://news.met.police.uk/news/arrests-in-connection-with-extinction-rebellion-protests-383815" target="_blank">police announcement said</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A terrible sight in a democracy<br><br>Police are occupying Trafalgar Square to prevent peaceful protest<br><br>This is the work of Priti Pitel's Home Office<br><br>And where is <a href="https://twitter.com/SadiqKhan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SadiqKhan</a>? <a href="https://t.co/xkMlJjvMfZ">pic.twitter.com/xkMlJjvMfZ</a></p>— Molly Scott Cato MEP (@MollyMEP) <a href="https://twitter.com/MollyMEP/status/1184008961751732224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Protestors were given 30 minutes warning to leave Trafalgar Square Monday night, 71-year-old demonstrator Pam Williams <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50051279" target="_blank">told BBC News</a>.</p><p>Extinction Rebellion said they would "let Trafalgar Square go," but a few activists like Williams decided to glue themselves to the ground and face arrest.</p><p>"I feel possibly that they've been approached by people we've upset today, maybe the finance sector or the banking sector," Williams said, referring to a protest earlier Monday that blocked the crosswalk outside the Bank of England. "I'm refusing to leave and I've glued myself to the ground."</p><p>Among those arrested in Trafalgar Square Monday night was Green Party Member of European Parliament Ellie Chowns.</p><p>"The rules have been changed," Chowns said, according to BBC News. "No longer is any space in London allowable for peaceful democratic protest. This is intolerable."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In a democracy we have a right to peaceful protest <br><br>Tonight I stood in solidarity with the <a href="https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ExtinctionR</a> protestors in Trafalgar Square 🌻<br><br>I exercised my right to protest and have been arrested alongside brave climate activists<br><br>This is a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/climateemergency?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#climateemergency</a>❗️ <a href="https://t.co/mKADyDZZQp">pic.twitter.com/mKADyDZZQp</a></p>— Ellie Chowns MEP (@EllieChownsMEP) <a href="https://twitter.com/EllieChownsMEP/status/1183853226807959552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The police issued the ban under <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64/section/14" target="_blank">Section 14 of the Public Order Act of 1986</a>, which gives police the authority to impose restrictions such as place, duration and number of participants on any assembly that "may result in serious public disorder," property damage or intimidation. </p><p>But <a href="https://netpol.org/" target="_blank">Network for Police Monitoring</a> coordinator Kevin Blowe told The Guardian that the ban did not follow due process, because such bans are supposed to be made by the home secretary. He also explained why he thought the ban could face a challenge in court:</p><blockquote>"Our reading of it is that the section 14 powers are supposed to be used with caution because people still have a right to protest and potentially this is unlawful, and there is no other way to put it. Take a look at what section 14 says: it's about restricting a number of people for a particular duration of time. My feeling is that this has to be open to some form of potential legal challenge."</blockquote><p>As of Monday, London police had arrested 1,445 people and charged 76 in relation to the ongoing extinction rebellion protests.</p><p>The demonstrators are <a href="https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/demands/" target="_blank">demanding</a> that the UK government declare a climate emergency, halt <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a> loss and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and convene a Citizens' Assembly to oversee these changes.</p><p>"The Climate and Ecological Emergency isn't going away and we remain resolute in facing it," the group wrote in <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/10/14/response-to-metropolitan-police-outlawing-extinction-rebellion-protests-in-london/" target="_blank">a response</a> to the police ban. "We urge the Government and the authorities to join us in doing the same. We cannot do it alone. This is bigger than all of us."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ExtinctionRebellion</a> break the law in careful & deliberate ways, fully understanding the consequences of action being taken. <br><br>Today, an unprecedented, political, decision has been taken to shut down peaceful protest calling out the government for inaction in the face of crisis. <a href="https://t.co/H9UbAnl5Ua">pic.twitter.com/H9UbAnl5Ua</a></p>— Extinction Rebellion London (@XRLondon) <a href="https://twitter.com/XRLondon/status/1183888259623116802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Extinction Rebellion protestors in New York City on Oct. 7. Felton Davis / CC BY 2.0
Protestors in New York City expressed their dismay with the government's and big businesses' slow response to the climate crisis by pouring fake blood on themselves and the iconic charging bull statue near Wall Street on Monday. Nearly 100 people were arrested in New York as part of Extinction Rebellion's worldwide two weeks of climate protests, according to the New York New York Daily News.
<p>Around the statue, protestors laid on the ground, pretending to be dead from the climate crisis. "Drowned in attic," read one cardboard gravestone next to a protester playing dead; another read, "Couldn't Outrun Wildfire," as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/nyregion/extinction-rebellion-nyc-protest.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>"With our striking visuals, you know, like funeral and death and devastation and blood and gore, we are instilling that instinctive sense of fear," one protester said to <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/10/07/extinction-rally-charging-bull-statue-vandalized/" target="_blank">CBS New York</a>. "We want that sense of fear to be associated with the climate crisis to show that this is urgent."</p><p>Protests in 60 cities around the world started at 10 a.m. local time, per the <a href="https://rebellion.earth/international-rebellion/" target="_blank">Extinction Rebellion's website</a>. That is when the protest started in lower Manhattan. At 10:30, three people poured fake blood on the charging bull statue, as one protestor stood atop the 11-foot tall statue and waved a neon green Extinction Rebellion flag, as was posted on <a href="https://twitter.com/justcalma/status/1181220730513571842" target="_blank">Twitter</a> by reporters and <a href="https://twitter.com/NYGreenest/status/1181222601496117248" target="_blank">onlookers</a>.</p><p>One of the people who poured fake blood on the statue was a 24-year-old student from Columbia University who was arrested. The other two fled and were not caught, according to the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-paint-wall-street-bull-20191007-4y5eksdfiff73fs5oddf54xiry-story.html" target="_blank">New York Daily News</a>.</p><p>The British-based activist group was founded last year, but has found a groundswell of support in London, across Europe and in Australia, where protestors have brought traffic to a halt and temporarily shut down business as usual to draw attention to the climate crisis. However, the group has not found similar traction in the U.S. and has failed to garner the street muscle it has flexed in the UK, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/nyregion/extinction-rebellion-nyc-protest.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/nyregion/extinction-rebellion-nyc-protest.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate" target="_blank">Times</a> also reported that the group hopes to build momentum in America by forming a presence around landmarks and disrupting traffic. New York seems the ideal place to gain a foothold. The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/05/nyregion/climate-emergency-nyc.html?module=inline" target="_blank">city council declared a climate emergency</a>, the state set the <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/6/20/18691058/new-york-green-new-deal-climate-change-cuomo" target="_blank">nation's most ambitious climate target</a> earlier this summer, and the city has a liberal population coupled with a growing youth climate movement. Furthermore, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">rising sea levels</a> threaten the city.</p><p>"There will be broad disruption of business as usual," said a New York-based Extinction Rebellion spokesman to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/07/extinction-rebellion-new-york-protest-arrests?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1570474735" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "Frankly we don't have time to wait for an opportune moment. Climate breakdown is under way and we can't afford to wait."</p><p>In addition to protesting in front of the charging bull statue, the die-in was staged in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street, a center of the global financial system that the group blames for the continued use of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" rel="noopener noreferrer">fossil fuels</a>, was an obvious target, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/nyregion/extinction-rebellion-nyc-protest.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The protestors asserted that dramatic means are now necessary. "The democratic means no longer work," said Kyle Pritz, a protestor. "We have called our congresspeople, we have voted, we have marched in the streets. Nothing is working."</p><p>In the end, 93 people were arrested as part of the protests, mostly on civil disobedience charges, according to a police spokesman, as <a href="https://gothamist.com/news/wall-street-bull-showered-fake-blood-least-26-people-arrested-climate-change-protest" target="_blank">Gothamist</a> reported. The arrests included 26 people who were detained near the bull; 8 people arrested by the Stock Exchange; and 59 who were arrested by Broadway and Pine Street.</p><p>Demonstrations around the world have taken place in the UK, Germany, Spain, Austria, France, New Zealand and several other nations. Protesters in London shut down Lambeth Bridge, Whitehall, the Mall and major central London roads, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/07/protesters-stage-die-in-at-wall-street-bull-statue-cover-it-with-blood-and-climb-atop-it.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a>. More than 135 people were arrested there, while more than 100 were arrested in Amsterdam where protestors blocked the streets, as <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/10/07/extinction-rebellion-new-yorks-wall-street-bull-doused-blood/3898176002/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EcoWatch</a> - "Is Earth F**ked?", Brad Werner. "Not if... people... [fight] back in a movement reminiscent of the Civil Rights... struggle...", <a href="https://twitter.com/orosane?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@orosane</a>.<br><br>Rebel for life with the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ExtinctionRebellion</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RebellionDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RebellionDay</a> on Saturday 🙏:<a href="https://t.co/7vvjXlRlua">https://t.co/7vvjXlRlua</a><a href="https://t.co/Yngif0LvaI">https://t.co/Yngif0LvaI</a></p>— Extinction Rebellion ⌛️ (@ExtinctionR) <a href="https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR/status/1062440345294831616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Extinction Rebellion activists occupy the roadway at the Great Star around the Victory Column on Oct. 7 in Berlin. Carsten Koall / picture alliance via Getty Images
Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked roads around Berlin's Victory Column near the Brandenburg Gate early on Monday morning as the first wave of demonstrations in a day of "civil disobedience" got underway in the German capital.
<p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate</a> movement delivered a series of tweets documenting proceedings in Berlin.</p><p>XR said: "The sun is rising and at the Victory Column 1000 rebels are finally demanding serious measures from our government in the fight against the #Klimakrise! (climate crisis)"</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Die Sonne ist aufgegangen und immer mehr Menschen schließen sich uns in der Blockade an der Siegessäule an.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BerlinBlockieren?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BerlinBlockieren</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AufstandOderAussterben?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AufstandOderAussterben</a> <a href="https://t.co/2jY7e9PUJQ">pic.twitter.com/2jY7e9PUJQ</a></p>— Extinction Rebellion Berlin 🌍 (@XRBerlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/XRBerlin/status/1181091776901386240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h2>Merkel's Chief of Staff Critical</h2><p>German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/angela-merkels-new-chief-of-staff-helge-braun-the-all-rounder/a-42953099" target="_blank">Helge Braun</a>, condemned Rebellion's approach.</p><p>"We all share an interest in climate protection, and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paris</a> climate targets are our standard in this," he told ZDF television. "If you demonstrate against or for that, that is ok, but if you announce dangerous interventions in road traffic or things like this, of course that is just not on."</p><p>Meanwhile, Berlin police appealed to motorists to exercise caution and avoid the obstructed streets. "Please be careful and make a detour around the area," police said after a number of protesters blockaded the Big Star roundabout in the central Tiergarten park.</p><p>Some 60 events were planned around the world on Monday and in Germany they were keen to kick off proceedings early. Protesters had <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/extinction-rebellion-activists-set-up-berlin-climate-camp-ahead-of-protests/a-50710123" target="_blank">already set up a camp</a> over the weekend in front of Chancellor Merkel's office and the Reichstag.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMTE5MTE1NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTI3MTc1MH0.u_CcKFT8wv3bZI5OyagrbSb19aPFdE0NGSxYXQqQcUA/img.jpg?width=980" id="59e70" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b71098040ea7f7d46f57c0173711a17c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Extinction Rebellion made their presence felt in Berlin, setting up camp in front of the Reichstag over the weekend.
<h2>Arrests in London, Amsterdam</h2><p>Police said 135 people had been arrested by 12:30 (1130 UTC) in London on Monday, in addition to seven people being arrested the previous day "on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance" after the kick-off ceremony near Marble Arch in the city-center.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Arrest @ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebelion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ExtinctionRebelion</a> protest in London.<br>Several activists (pensioners, university lecturer) have told me they are willing to go to prison to achieve change in climate politics.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/extinctionbritain?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#extinctionbritain</a> <a href="https://t.co/S0K46XY6tf">pic.twitter.com/S0K46XY6tf</a></p>— Birgit Maass (@birgit_maass) <a href="https://twitter.com/birgit_maass/status/1181149904586121216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>XR, which originates in the UK, promised a protest "five times larger" than the massive one it held in the British capital in April.</p><p>Police arrested 50 activists who blocked a major street in Amsterdam's city center. They were detained after ignoring instructions to move their demonstration onto a nearby square.</p><p>Traffic was severely disrupted as almost 1,000 protesters huddled together on Stadhouderskade, in front of the Netherlands' national museum.</p>
<h2>New Zealand and Australia Set the Ball Rolling</h2><p>Activists with XR kicked off the international day of protest with demonstrations across Australia and New Zealand.</p><p>In Sydney authorities confirmed 30 people were arrested as they refused police orders to clear the road near Central Station. "Alleged offenses committed range from obstructing traffic to disobey reasonable direction," police said in a statement.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NZ The first to rebel! We're in the middle of the Wellington CBD blocking streets. Singing for life. Tihei Maoriora<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RebelForLife?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RebelForLife</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/InternationalRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#InternationalRebellion</a><a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GeorgeMonbiot</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/XRebellionAus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@XRebellionAus</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/XtinctionRebel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@XtinctionRebel</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/XRBerlin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@XRBerlin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NZStuff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZStuff</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenRupertRead?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GreenRupertRead</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenpeaceNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GreenpeaceNZ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@350</a> <a href="https://t.co/3yXhlDWUrX">pic.twitter.com/3yXhlDWUrX</a></p>— Kate Jensen (@act_nowclimate) <a href="https://twitter.com/act_nowclimate/status/1180897588486135808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Protests also took place in Melbourne and Canberra. In New Zealand, the demonstrations began in Wellington's central business district and on the steps of parliament. Thirty people were also arrested in the New Zealand capital, all of whom were released without charge</p><p>"Either we make history, or we're history," said Melanie Vautier, a university student who took part in the Wellington protests. "That means we must draw the line on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" rel="noopener noreferrer">fossil fuels</a> before it's too late."</p><p>However, the protests were not only led by the young. The New Zealand protests were led by the 80-year-old Mary Rose, who said that "as a great grandmother, I'm determined to help wake up the world, so my grandchildren have the same choices as their parents."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Police Tear-Gas Extinction Activists in Paris on 'Hottest Day in History of France' <a href="https://t.co/gF29XPCgjS">https://t.co/gF29XPCgjS</a></p>— Extinction Symbol (@extinctsymbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/extinctsymbol/status/1145768046453305347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/extinction-rebellion-blocks-berlin-traffic-in-worldwide-day-of-protests/a-50718803" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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'It Is Time to Rebel': Listen to Greta Thunberg on New Track From British Pop Rock Band The 1975
26 July 2019
Popular
Greta Thunberg / Twitter
By Jessica Corbett
British pop rock band The 1975 released the first track of their forthcoming album Wednesday, which features Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg delivering an instrumental-backed speech about the global climate emergency.
<p>"We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis. And we need to call it what it is. An emergency," 16-year-old Thunberg says on the nearly five-minute song, which closely resembles her <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/01/25/my-message-davos-elites-act-if-our-house-fire-because-it" target="_blank">speech</a> at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last year. "It is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel."</p><p>Each of the band's past three albums has kicked off with a track titled "The 1975," but this latest version for<em> Notes on a Conditional Form </em>is a notable departure from the previous ones. At Thunberg's request, all proceeds from the track will go to the climate action group Extinction Rebellion.</p><p>Listen:</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="37c78a830f9a14e6e578e057fae692ba"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xWcfzAfuFyE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Speaking about the song to The Guardian, Thunberg <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/25/time-to-rebel-greta-thunberg-makes-musical-debut-on-the-1975-track" target="_blank">said</a>: "I'm grateful to get the opportunity to get my message out to a broad new audience in a new way. I think it's great that The 1975 is so strongly engaged in the climate crisis. We quickly need to get people in all branches of society to get involved. And this collaboration I think is something new."</p><p>Promoting the track on Twitter Thursday, the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/14/ahead-global-climatestrike-she-inspired-16-year-old-greta-thunberg-nominated-nobel" target="_blank">Nobel Peace Prize nominee</a> noted that any money made from the song will go to Extinction Rebellion, whose members <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/more/1605" target="_blank">engage</a> in civil disobedience across the globe to demand that governments take bolder action to address the human-caused climate crisis.Extinction Rebellion issued a "massive thank you" to Thunberg and the band in a <a href="https://rebellion.earth/2019/07/25/thank-you-greta-thunberg-the-1975-everything-needs-to-change/" target="_blank">statement</a> Thursday.</p><p>"Greta you are an outstanding human," said the group. "You were there when Extinction Rebellion launched back on Parliament Square in London just nine months ago. Again and again you show your support in meaningful ways — from small kind acts to things like this. We salute you sister. "</p><p>"To the 1975s, we thank you massively for your rebellious contribution and promise to put this to good use," the group added. "We're loving your commitment to rebel for life with us. Music has the power to break through barriers, and right now we really need to break through some barriers if we are to face this emergency. We are currently heading towards 4 degrees of heating for the world."</p><p>Read the full text of Thunberg's speech from the track, as transcribed by The Guardian:</p><p><em>We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis.</em></p><p><em>And we need to call it what it is. An emergency.</em></p><p><em>We must acknowledge that we do not have the situation under control and that we don't have all the solutions yet. Unless those solutions mean that we simply stop doing certain things.</em></p><p><em>We admit that we are losing this battle.</em></p><p><em>We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present form have failed.</em></p><p><em>But homo sapiens have not yet failed.</em></p><p><em>Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.</em></p><p><em>But unless we recognise the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don't stand a chance.</em></p><p><em>We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people. And now is not the time for speaking politely or focusing on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time to speak clearly.</em></p><p><em>Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases.</em></p><p><em>And either we do that, or we don't.</em></p><p><em>You say that nothing in life is black or white.</em></p><p><em>But that is a lie. A very dangerous lie.</em></p><p><em>Either we prevent a 1.5 degree of warming, or we don't.</em></p><p><em>Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction beyond human control, or we don't.</em></p><p><em>Either we choose to go on as a civilization or we don't.</em></p><p><em>That is as black or white as it gets.</em></p><p><em>Because there are no grey areas when it comes to survival.</em></p><p><em>Now we all have a choice.</em></p><p><em>We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations.</em></p><p><em>Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.</em></p><p><em>That is up to you and me.</em></p><p><em>And yes, we need a system change rather than individual change. But you cannot have one without the other.</em></p><p><em>If you look through history, all the big changes in society have been started by people at the grassroots level. People like you and me.</em></p><p><em>So, I ask you to please wake up and make the changes required possible. To do your best is no longer good enough. We must all do the seemingly impossible.</em></p><p><em>Today, we use about 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground.</em></p><p><em>So, we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules. Because the rules have to be changed.</em></p><p><em>Everything needs to change. And it has to start today.</em></p><p><em>So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.</em></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour Raises $21.5 Million to Fight Climate Crisis in Guitar Auction <a href="https://t.co/aELlVcA3KM">https://t.co/aELlVcA3KM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Climateaction?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Climateaction</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Climatechange?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Climatechange</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Activism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Activism</a> <a href="https://t.co/oEifFKnPFh">pic.twitter.com/oEifFKnPFh</a></p>— Renewable Search (@RenewableSearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/status/1143223031617056769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/25/it-time-rebel-listen-1975s-new-track-featuring-speech-climate-leader-greta-thunberg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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An Extinction Rebellion protest on Blackfriars Bridge in London, Nov. 17, 2018. Julia Hawkins / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
By Jeremy Deaton
New York police recently arrested 66 protestors who rallied outside The New York Times building to compel the newspaper to make climate change a front-page issue. The demonstrators belonged to Extinction Rebellion, a movement born in the United Kingdom that is committed to nonviolent resistance. In addition to protesting outside of The New York Times, U.S. members have taken to the streets against Amazon in Seattle and NBC in Los Angeles, calling on those organizations to treat the climate crisis with the seriousness it deserves.
<p>It may seem strange that Extinction Rebellion would target <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/section/climate?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>, <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/sustainability/?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.greenisuniversal.com/learn/about-us/sustainability-and-nbc-universal/?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">NBC</a>, three companies nominally committed to dealing with climate change, as opposed to, say, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2016/09/01/analysis-wall-street-journal-opinion-section-chief-apologist-exxon-s-climate-change-deceit/212749?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">The Wall Street Journal</a>, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/stories-and-interests/climate-change?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">Fox News</a> and <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/exxon-arctic/?source=post_page---------------------------" style="" target="_blank">ExxonMobil</a>, which have abysmal track records on the issue. And it may appear self-defeating to block traffic and mob public spaces, which might alienate potential supporters.</p><p>But organizers say that's precisely the point.</p><p>"We have finite energy, and spending energy trying to win over the people who are absolutely not going to be won over to your side is peanuts compared to mobilizing the people who would be active or passive supporters," said Leah Francis, an organizer with the Extinction Rebellion <a href="https://extinctionrebellion.us/?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">U.S. national team</a>. "We really want to shift people's perspective on what constitutes normal, socially acceptable behavior around responding to climate change."</p><p>It aims to push governments to make the rapid, large-scale transformation needed to prevent the collapse of human civilization. This means massive, disruptive protests that render climate change too inconvenient to ignore — protests that will rouse progressives to the cause, even if they turn away centrists or conservatives.</p>
<div id="a9352" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80A5DM1568219201"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1150806705015537664" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This is, essentially, mental illness. #ExtinctionRebellion https://t.co/seqlcLTVkY</div> — David Vance (@David Vance)<a href="https://twitter.com/DVATW/statuses/1150806705015537664">1563208674.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Big green groups, by contrast, have devoted a lot of time and energy to winning over conservatives with the goal of making incremental progress on climate change. Environmental campaigns ask for small donations or push supporters to call their members of congress, always with the promise that change is just around the corner.</p><p>"I just want it to be clear that the mainstream environmental movement has been asking very little of people for decades. They've been using a strategy of not trying to scare people," said Bea Ruiz, also an organizer with the U.S. national team. "There's no element of, 'We are in an emergency. We all need to do more than what we're doing.' There's a lot of emphasis on positivity and hope.'"</p><p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-not-exceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">2018 UN report</a> determined that to stave off catastrophic climate change, humans would need to cut carbon pollution roughly in half by 2030. This would require a radical overhaul of the global energy system, a shift on a scale unprecedented in human history. By some accounts, the UN report was <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43e8yp/the-uns-devastating-climate-change-report-was-too-optimistic?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">unduly optimistic</a>, spurring Extinction Rebellion to demand countries reach net-zero carbon pollution by 2025. This aim is so ambitious as to be impractical, and politically, it's unworkable. But organizers are committed to setting their goals based on science, not politics.</p>
<p>"We're trying to put out there what's necessary, not what people think is politically possible. And then we're trying to be part of helping to change what's politically possible through direct action," Ruiz said. "We are really, literally, almost out of time, and if we don't make the reductions that are needed based on the science, we're going to be in serious trouble. We can't negotiate with reality."</p><p>Extinction Rebellion is focused on mobilizing people who are already passionate about climate change, and then working to consolidate progressive support for drastic action.</p><p>"The way you win is by forcing the issue and then asking people, 'Which side are you on?' And we know what side the conservatives are on," Ruiz said. "A significant portion of the country, for example, is evangelicals, who literally believe that, if climate change exists, then it's God's will. Civil resistance movements do not win by spending precious time and resources and energy trying to win over people like that. That's a losing strategy."</p><p>Ruiz said organizers were influenced by the work of Harvard University political scientist Erica Chenoweth, who found that when just 3.5 percent of a population publicly takes part in an opposition movement, that movement succeeds. Chenoweth's research <a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.7?cookieSet=1&source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">further showed</a> that only nonviolent movements are able to reach this critical threshold. That's because nonviolent movements are better able to recruit people, and some of those people will have friends and family who work for the government or news media, or who belong to security forces.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e4ff06c1c4d4a0303ed17d41883fdf99"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YJSehRlU34w?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>To be clear, 3.5 percent is nothing to sneer at. In the United States, that would mean around 11 million people marching, striking or joining sit-ins. For context, the 2017 Women's March drew an estimated <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/1/22/14350808/womens-marches-largest-demonstration-us-history-map?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">4 million</a> people, and it was the largest single demonstration in American history. At 11 million people, Extinction Rebellion would be too big and unwieldy for any politician to ignore.</p><p>Organizers think they will be able to reach that number. Extinction Rebellion UK is reportedly the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/22/people-arrested-at-london-climate-protests?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">largest civil disobedience movement</a> in modern British history. And coordinators in the United States said their stark message on climate change has attracted a host of new members.</p><p>"They wanted to hear somebody sound the alarm. They've all told us over and over and over again that they're so glad that finally someone is speaking about this crisis in a way that matches reality," Ruiz said of the people joining their movement.</p><p>"Mostly what we're dealing with are people who are just scared, and they are grieving the state of affairs that we have found ourselves in," Francis said. "People have a lot of energy around this, and they want to be able to put it somewhere that matches the intensity of what they're feeling."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTk2Mzk4Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjMwNDkxM30.EKF3u2Gm3X-GEslAgNJAauxBbrl4CnF0J_bUViTxgYs/img.jpg?width=980" id="7d36e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="13ba8b18a77b659c2a998e8fe77f5795" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class=""> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/the-radical-philosophy-of-extinction-rebellion-f9dea1ac0d44" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nexus Media</a>.</em><em></em></p>Extinction Rebellion protests outside The New York Times, June 20.
<p>One of those people is Art Weaver, a former scientist who now sells <a href="http://www.weaverwindenergy.com/?source=post_page---------------------------" target="_blank">small-scale wind turbines</a> in Ithaca, New York. Weaver is a new member of Extinction Rebellion, who was stirred to join the movement after learning how little time is left to slash carbon pollution. "I don't think people are willing to accept that, listen to that, internalize that, be upset about that. They just want to be in denial," he said. "You have got to look at it with open eyes and a clear head."</p><p>Weaver spoke to the importance of pushing popular news outlets to routinely report on climate change. He recalled watching Walter Cronkite update Americans nightly about the number of casualties in the Vietnam War and seeing the graphs of the body count. "That image, day after day after day, is indelibly printed on my brain," he said. "That sort of emergency coverage is needed [for climate change]. The news needs to lead every single day with it."</p><p>Weaver came to Extinction Rebellion to find what Ruiz calls the "joy of resistance." She said that taking part in the movement can give people an outlet for their anxieties. "Extinction Rebellion is asking people to allow themselves to grieve and then turn that grief and that despair into action," Ruiz said. "When you do that, there is a sense of liberation. There is a sense of joy."</p><p>Lisa Fithian, another organizer with the U.S. national team, put it more bluntly. "Yes, we're fucked. Yes, this is coming apart," she said, "We have to reckon with the grief. We have to reckon with the anger. We have to reckon with the fear. And we have to know that deep inside we actually have power and agency, and we can make a difference."</p><p>She added, "When it's a fight for your life, you're willing to throw down, especially if you are doing it in a community together."</p>
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