tar sands action

Robert Redford And I Occupy Vancouver

by

Never let it be said that as a climate activist I’m not occasionally smitten by the desire to do a little Hollywood star-gazing. In the past, I’ve been known to scour the streets of Winnipeg for Brad Pitt when he was in filming in Old Market Square, or (going back even farther in my murky history) trying to catch a glimpse of Timothy Hutton (back when he was still a celebrity) when he was in Churchill for several weeks on location and I was working in the port town. I’ve never had any luck, and that hasn’t changed. I found out this morning that Robert Redford and Chris Cooper were seen filming near Occupy Vancouver. The Huffington Post reported:

Many passersby watching fire officials and city workers carry out safety adjustments at Occupy Vancouver on Tuesday got a in little stargazing, too, as Hollywood legend Robert Redford also made an appearance near the encampment.

I was at Occupy Vancouver while the fire officials and city workers walked through the site!  I even went around the corner and noticed the film crew at work, but having walked by a film crew the day before on Granville Street without seeing anyone interesting, I didn’t bother to go any further. It turns out some things in life are consistent, my luck in just missing celebrities being one of them!

Here’s another hero of mine, Bill McKibbon from 350.org, in a video put out by Tar Sands Action after the victory against the Keystone XL pipeline last week, a cause championed by Mr. Redford as well:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7e4Cfc-KRGA]

And here is Redford talking about why the Keystone XL pipeline is such a bad idea:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=E6AyQBChpO0]

*OMG – I just got on Twitter after I posted this and found out that BILL MCKIBBON was also at Occupy Vancouver last night – and so was I, for a few minutes but my husband has less time to Occupy while we’re visiting this city, so we left about 10 minutes after we got there.  I CAN”T BELIEVE IT!! That would have been so amazing, to hear him speak. But like I said, my luck is consistent if not good!*

Climate Mama: I Need To Be In Washington This Week For My Children

by

Harriet Sugarman, a policy analyst and economist, is the Founder and Executive Director of Climate Mama which, according to its website, is:

…about the facts, about getting the straight scoop, about understanding Climate Change and Global Warming. We want to help you make the connections – to understand how you, your family, your friends and your community are impacting and changing our climate. Then, we want to show you what you can do to make your hectic, harried life more sustainable, for you, for your children AND for the world we live in. We will offer you simple, straight forward, and easy to understand ways to combat climate change as well as easy to implement options to reduce your carbon footprint! We want to make it simple for you, as a Mama and Papa, to understand that climate change is a part of your life. We at Climate Mama, like you, have enough day to day issues in our lives just managing the craziness of our families, our careers, our busy 21st century lives…so we aren’t surprised or disappointed if you ask why climate change should matter to you and if you question what you, as an individual can really do that will make a difference to affect this global challenge.

Harriet is also a New Jersey mom who happens to be originally from Alberta, Canada. Harriet chose to participate in this week’s Stop the Pipeline action in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. and was one of the nearly 300 people arrested so far this week in the largest civil disobedience action in the American environmental movement’s recent history.

Photo credit: Flickr/Creative Common TarSandsAction

In the video below, Harriet talks about why she felt she needed to be in Washington this week. She took a stand for a clean energy future for her, and all our children, even though risking arrest was a difficult decision to make:

My family in Alberta is not too keen on me getting arrested down here for this..It’s a very difficult road to cross.  I think that my children will be proud of me some day. I don’t want them to look back  in twenty years, because if we don’t do anything, all of our children are going to be looking back at us and saying, what were you doing,  why were you asleep at the wheel?…I’m doing this for them.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wZ7ewYa3rY&feature=youtu.be&a]

More links:

Read more about Harriet’s experience on Climate Mama: Why A Bra Makes A Good Purse In Times of Imminent Arrest: The Tar Sands Action

To find out how to send a message of support for the brave folks sitting in at the White House this week and next, go to 350.org.

For the latest news on the tar sands action, and to find out how to donate, go to Tar Sands Action.org

 

The Radicals Are The People Who Are Fundamentally Altering The Composition Of The Atmosphere

by

From Tar Sands Action, an update on Day 4 of the two-week action in Washington DC against the Keystone XL pipeline project:

Montana residents and Hollywood stars will be featured at Day 4 of the Tar Sands Action at the White House. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which 162 Americans have been arrested protesting this week, would run through Montana and six other states.

Among those planning on being arrested today are film-star Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in four Superman movies, and actress Tantoo Cardinal, an iconic Cree actress who appeared in Dances with Wolves, Legends of the Fall, Smoke Signals and more. Cardinal, who was born in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, the capitol of the tar sands, was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2009.

Cardinal will risk arrest to stop the destruction of her homeland and push President Obama to help shut down the tar sands by denying a permit for the Keystone XL.

Everyone who has participated in the Tar Sands Action thus far is out of police custody.

Here’s a video from Josh Fox, Academy Award-nominated director of Gasland, about the tar sands action:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5QqsLsMroM]

More links:

Tar Sands Action

Climate Mama: Kids In Tow, Tar Sands Pipeline Protest Here We Come

Dozens Arrested Outside White House During Oil Sands Protest