By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--February 2, 2013
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“If you could do it nonstop, it would take you six days to walk from Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond to President Barack Obama's White House. For the Sierra Club, that journey has taken much longer. For 120 years, we have remained committed to using every "lawful means" to achieve our objectives. Now, for the first time in our history, we are prepared to go further,” Brune blogged.How much further the activists will go remains to be seen on the 17th.
“For civil disobedience to be justified, something must be so wrong that it compels the strongest defensible protest. Such a protest, if rendered thoughtfully and peacefully, is in fact a profound act of patriotism. For Thoreau, the wrongs were slavery and the invasion of Mexico. For Martin Luther King, Jr., it was the brutal, institutionalized racism of the Jim Crow South. For us, it is the possibility that the United States might surrender any hope of stabilizing our planet's climate,” says Brune.Sierra Club USA can count on help from environmental groups outside the country. Sierra Club Canada touts the call for “civil disobedience” organized by the Sierra Club in the United States, stating on a media release this morning. “We hope it will bring about a change of policy in the United States” (Sierra Club Canada).
“Since the history of inaction on climate change in Canada is similar to the record in the United States, Sierra Club Canada is undertaking an internal dialogue to reassess its rules concerning civil disobedience in future campaigns and will make a decision at the appropriate time."The groups are responding to the call for dramatic change in President Barack Obama’s January 21st Inaugural address. Sierra Club USA terms Obama’s call for change on climate change “eloquent” and the words he used to describe it as stirring”:
“As President Obama eloquently said during his inaugural address, "You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time, not only with the votes we cast, but the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideas.” “We are watching a global crisis unfold before our eyes, and to stand aside and let it happen -- even though we know how to stop it -- would be unconscionable. As the president said on Monday, "to do so would betray our children and future generations." It couldn't be simpler: Either we leave at least two-thirds of the known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, or we destroy our planet as we know it. That's our choice, if you can call it that.”Are Sierra Club USA and their supporters providing Obama with the crisis he needs to destabilize the USA? Groups supporting “history’s biggest climate rally” on Feb. 17: Sierra Club 350.org Air Alliance Houston Alliance for Climate Education Americans for Transit Better Future Project BOLD Nebraska Center for a New American Dream Center for Biological Diversity Center for Health, Environment & Justice Chesepeake (Sic) Climate Action Network Citizens Climate Lobby Clean Water Action Climate Change Initiative of Howard County Climate Parents Climate Reality Project Coalition Against Nukes Council of Canadians Democracy for America Dogwood Alliance Earth Day Network Earthworks Energy Action Coalition Environment America Environmental Action Environmental Defence Canada Environment Maine Fast for the Earth Fellowship of Reconciliation Food and Water Watch Forecast the Facts Friends of the Earth US Global Community Monitor Global Exchange Green America GreenFaith Green for All Green Party of New York State Greenpeace Canada Hip Hop Caucus Indigenous Environmental Network Institute for Policy Studies, Sustainable Energy and Economy Network Interfaith Moral Action on Climate International Forum on Globalization International Rivers International Women's Earth and Climate Initiative Just Foreign Policy League of Conservation Voters Moms Clean Air Task Force MoveOn Natural Resources Defense Council National Wildlife Federation Nebraska Farmers Union New Jersey Environmental Lobby New York City Audubon North Texas Environmental Voters Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Oil Change International Organic Consumers Association Physicians for Social Responsibility PlanIt4Planet Public Citizen Rebuild the Dream Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition Sane Energy Project Sierra Club BC Sierra Club Canada - Prairie Chapter SLAB Watchdog SunHarvest Solar Tar Sands Blockade United for Action United for Peace and Justice US Climate Action Network Vermont Natural Resources Council Washington Peace Center Waterkeeper Alliance WE ACT for Environmental Justice The Wilderness Soceity(Sic) The William C. Velasquez Institute Women Donors Network Women's Earth and Climate Caucus
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