Category Archives: Civil disobedience

Why I am not planning to get arrested

Bill McKibben, the man who organized the ongoing protest against the Keystone XL pipeline, was in the group of arrestees on the first day. They were the only group that has been held overnight so far, and were actually held for an entire weekend before having the charges against them dismissed in court on Monday.

As the person who raised the call for people to come to Washington, engage in non-violent civil disobedience, and risk arrest, it was probably fitting for McKibben himself to be arrested.

Since before I arrived here, I have been thinking about whether I should get arrested myself. I think it would have been an interesting, worthwhile, and powerful experience to express my opposition in that way. At the same time, there is a strategic case for participating as a volunteer rather than an arrestee. To a large extent, the purpose of this action is to draw attention to the Keystone XL pipeline, the arguments against it, and the reasons for opposing oil sands exploitation generally. By volunteering as a photographer and documenting the cycle of each group being trained, taking action, being arrested, and being released, I think I am helping to serve that purpose. Already, images from Tar Sands Action photographers have been used by a wide variety of news organizations.

I am also concerned that getting arrested might keep me from being able to enter the United States in the future. The fight for sensible climate change policies will be a long one, and it will surely involve other important actions in this country, as well as conferences, possible study at American schools, etc.

I hope the answer I gave on the radio, when asked why I was not planning to be arrested, will not excessively put off other Canadians who are considering it. So far, arrested Canadians have been treated just like Americans and released after a few hours and payment of a $100 fine. The charges against them have been very mild, and there is a good chance they will never have any further difficulties because of them.

Perhaps it is selfish of me not to express my opposition as powerfully as possible, or unfair of me to call upon others to take an action I am not taking myself. I applaud those who are choosing to engage in this act of civil disobedience and I hope that they will drive President Obama to think deeply about the ethics of this pipeline and reject it. For my own part, I genuinely believe that I can do more to encourage the emergence of a low- and eventually zero-carbon global society by doing all I can to maintain my ability to travel to the United States in the future. I also think that by volunteering to take photos and generally help out for the 15-day span of this event, I am making a meaningful contribution to its success.

As it is being employed here, civil disobedience is a tactic intended to serve the aim of avoiding dangerous climate change. It is not an action that has moral value in and of itself. I will continue to try and serve that cause using the skills and resources at my disposal. 

As always, I am happy to discuss my position with those who disagree. People who think I should get arrested still have ten days to convince me, as well as to travel to Washington and take a stand themselves. It would be great to have more people down here to participate in the civil disobedience, as well as to act as supporters and volunteers.

Day 3

The people from the first day got released from jail today, without charge. They weren’t even given the expected $100 fine, though they did suffer the discomfort of a long span in a hot police van, followed by two days of detention. My photos of newly released people will be appearing soon on the Tar Sands Action Flickr feed.

Tonight’s training is nearly done and there is another big batch of activists planning to get arrested tomorrow morning.

I am unusually disconnected here, both because I don’t have a functional cell phone and because I have been busy all day every day with photography and other volunteering tasks.

The activists are impressive in their dedication and ability to maintain good spirits despite hot hours in the sun and uncomfortable hours in jail. I have also had the privilege of working with some great organizers. I hope the number of participants and level of media attention keep rising as the event proceeds. Today’s New York Times editorial condemning the Keystone XL pipeline was a very welcome bit of support.

MLK on nonviolent resistance

“My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil, Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but he resisted with love instead of hate. True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to an evil power, as Niebuhr contends. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Day 2

The second day of the oil sands protest in Washington has ended, at least from the vantage point of outsiders. Another fifty or so protestors have joined the ones from yesterday in jail, awaiting a court appearance early next week (Monday for the first batch). The first Canadian got arrested today.

There is a cycle to the action, from the perspective of the organizers. There is training every night at five, and protests start forming near the White House at 9:30am the following day. Photos are being taken at training, at the protest, and as people get released from jail. They are constantly being uploaded to Flickr and the tarsandsaction.org site.

The hostel where I am staying is fully booked as of Tuesday so I need to find somewhere new to stay. I also desperately need to do laundry, though every laundromat and dry cleaner I have seen today has been closed since it is Sunday.

Apparently, the rest of the world is still operating on the standard Moday-Friday schedule.

Stopping Keystone XL is not just symbolic

Often, protests and acts of civil disobedience are primarily designed to raise public attention about an important issue. The protests in Washington against the Keystone XL pipeline will do that. They could also have a substantial real-world effect if they succeed.

The Keystone XL pipeline would be a gigantic carbon highway, transferring carbon from the oil sands of Alberta where it is now safely buried to oil refineries, gas tanks, engines, and ultimately the atmosphere. There, it will cause warming that will persist for thousands of years. Keystone would perpetuate our fossil fuel addiction.

If Keystone is blocked, less carbon will be emitted between now and when the world finally comes to its senses and gets serious about climate change and moving beyond fossil fuels.

Keystone XL is also a waste. When the world does get serious about the need to stop adding carbon to the atmosphere, it will need to be shut down. That will be economically wasteful and politically difficult. It would be far wiser to invest now in improving energy efficiency and producing energy from safe zero carbon sources.

Hopefully, the protests starting tomorrow will press President Obama to take these arguments seriously and say no to the dirtiest and most dangerous oil in the world.