The ongoing “sit-in” protests in Washington D.C., which resulted in the arrest of environmentalist author William McKibben, Vermont Law School professor Gus Speth and hundreds of others, wrapped up on Saturday.
McKibben, author of the seminal book about climate change, The End of Nature , is also the founder of the activist group Tar Sands Action, and Speth, a Vermont Law School environmental lawyer and activist, were among the first to arrested for protesting against a permit for a $7 billion pipeline that would run from Alberta Canada to the eastern part of Texas. They were released on Aug. 22.
Time in jail – and even Hurricane Irene – didn't deter the activists.
“It was grim,” McKibben said, describing the couple of nights he spent in prison. “The block was hot and a little scary with no beds, just metal slabs, to sleep on.”
McKibben shared a cell with Speth and environmental writer Chris Shaw. All charges were dropped for the group of 65 activists. McKibben was thrilled to see more people being arrested as he was released from jail.
“It's really amazing to see that people were untroubled by that move (the original arrests), and it's also amazing to see that there are many more old people than young,” McKibben said. “The oldest person incarcerated that day was 77.”
McKibben said that all individuals being arrested now are being treated humanely and professionally by the police. The police come to the protesters, give them three warnings to move and then arrest them. No one has been detained for as long as McKibben and company.
The protesters were dressed up for the occasion - in suits and ties and dresses.
“It's amazing to see everyone from every part of the country in jackets and ties being arrested, handcuffed and put in the back of a paddy wagon.” McKibben said.
After the first round of arrests, authorities held roughly 65 protesters much longer than expected. According to Kathryn Blume, an organizer of 350 Vermont - an environmental activist group - the usual penalty for civil disobedience is a $100 fine and you can be on your way; this was not the case for McKibben and Speth.
“They held McKibben and others over the weekend because they wanted to do it as a deterrent to prevent other people to come,” Blume said.
The activists oppose the proposed 1,700-mile tar sand oil pipeline called Keystone XL that runs from Alberta, Canada, to the eastern part of Texas. According to Reuters, the pipeline would double tar sands production in Canada to 1.8 million barrels a day.
Environmentalists say the extraction of oil from the tar sands would contribute carbon emissions to the atmosphere and destroy 740,000 acres of boreal forest.
Because the pipeline crosses international boundaries, it was originally up to the State Department to decide whether to approve the project, but due to disagreements between the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, President Obama is the one who signs or rejects the permit.
In a letter sent on Friday to David Stember of 350 Vermont, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin wrote that “until the State Department adequately evaluates the pipeline's lifecycle environmental impact I do not support any implementation of the project or any possibility of expansion.”
Activists are participating in the sit-in to let the president know he should reject the permit, and people came from all corners of the country to join. Nearly 1,300 people were arrested, and more than 617,000 have signed a petition opposing the pipeline. It was delivered to the White House on Sept. 3.
Climate scientist and director of NASA's Goddard Institute James Hansen described the tar sands oil extraction development as a game-over proposition for climate change in an interview with the Huffington Post on Aug 21.
Activists have been readying to have the sit-in for some time as a letter inviting all to come to participate was sent in the end of June. The beginning of the letter states: “The short version (of this letter) is we want you to consider doing something hard: coming to Washington in the hottest and stickiest weeks of the summer and engaging in civil disobedience that will quite possibly get you arrested.”
Many of the people who sent out the invitation also sent a letter to the president last month asking him to reject the permit. The environmental activists wrote on Aug. 3: “The tar sands are a huge pool of carbon, but one that does not make sense to exploit. It takes a lot of energy to extract and refine this resource into usable fuel, and the mining is environmentally destructive.”
The pipeline is owned by TransCanada Corp. Although there has been no construction, the pipeline is to pump raw oil - extracted from tar sand fields out of Alberta - all the way to Texas. Although the oil companies have cited studies showing tar-sand oil is no more corrosive than regular oil, environmentalists claim the tar sand is much cruder.
According to Josh Fox, Oscar-nominated director of the film Gasland , the biggest industrial development project ever is happening in the tar-sand fields of Alberta and is the size of Florida. In a short film made about the project, Fox said it is the biggest capital investment and largest energy project in the world. He also said the tar sands produce 36 million tons of carbon dioxide a day and is the cause of as much green house gases a day as 1.3 million cars.
“Oil companies have invested $120 billion in tar sands development,” Fox said in his film.
TransCanada has pressed for Obama to sign the permit as it offers approximately 20,000 new jobs for the economy. The president has until Oct. 1, to sign or reject the permit, and Blume said the decision will be colossal.
“This is an opportunity and a profound decision and will have a monumental change on the future,” Blume said. “A woman turned to her daughter while a group was being arrested and said 'this is what democracy looks like.'”