Sunday 17 February 2013

Forward On Climate, march to the White House, Washington D.C., February 17.

(See Keystone XL protest at the White House on the 13th below.)                           Up, Down.                         Good News! 
Barack Obama in Cushing Oklahoma, March 2012.Barack Obama in Cushing Oklahoma, March 2012.Barack Obama in Cushing Oklahoma, March 2012.Barack Obama in Cushing Oklahoma, March 2012.
A small timeline, context:

Barack Obama listening to Beyoncé.2011: September, Keystone XL protest in Washington, 1,200 arrested (and me).
    : Obama invokes bureaucratic limbo. Bill McKibben says, "We won! We won!"
    : November, Keystone XL protest in Washington, (maybe) 10,000 circle the
      White House (but it does not levitate).
2012: March, Obama's 'All Of The Above' tour; speech in Cushing, Oklahoma - right
      in TransCanada's Stillwater Pipe Yard.
2013: State of the Union, Obama promises a 'climate ultimatum'. He also
      promises more fracking et cetera.
    : Next day, Keystone XL protest, 48 arrested at the White House.
    : Five days later, ~35,000 show up to 'Forward on Climate'. The whole hour
      and a half is on C-SPAN; Michael's ten minute speech is here.

Michael Brune is honing his message - and it's a damn good one! If you act courageously we'll have your back Mr. President, and if not ... we will fight you. Double jeopardy. Watch it here. He confronts despair directly & up-front and deals with it better than anyone I have seen; and then he lays the plan out plain, clear, matter of fact. Good. He ain't Martin Luther King but he'll do!


THE SPELL HAS BEEN BROKEN!
 
Just say 'NO' to Keystone.Just say 'NO' to Keystone.Just say 'NO' to Keystone.Another view: Just say 'NO' to Keystone.Another view: Just say 'NO' to Keystone.
A couple of Stephen Harper's cronys show up in the news just before the rally gets underway with 'ethical oil' and the usual nonsense: Gary Doer, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. (the video is here), and, current Saskatchewan Premier, Brad Wall. I will grab those videos after a while and post them without ads. CBC takes a strangely snide & sideways slap at it before the rally, here; but Paul Hunter provides some useful information (see below).

A more-or-less thoughtful piece from a committee at the New York Times (John Broder, Clifford Krauss & Ian Austen & Matthew Wald): Obama Faces Risks in Pipeline Decision. [I say 'more-or-less' because Canada (as Robert Crumb's Mr. Natural says sooo eloquently) 'Don't mean sheeit!' - It's the climate stupid!]

A-and, they fail to lay out the scenario for rejection which is, as I understand it, as follows (thanks to CBC): The governor of Nebraska, Dave Heineman, approved the thing in January and bounced the issue back to Washington, onto the desk of John Kerry at State Department. His minions are preparing another environmental review which Kerry could apparently issue as a draft at any time. There is then a mandatory public review period of two months, after which it falls to Obama.
Occupy Earth (November 2011).Occupy Earth (November 2011).Occupy Earth (November 2011).Another view: Occupy Earth (November 2011).Another view: Occupy Earth (November 2011).
Something like that ... Be well, Michael Brune says we are going to win and I believe him. 
Down.

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