On Sunday February 17, 2013 15 Green Mountain College students marched to the white house with 50,000 activists demanding Obama to say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline, and YES to a healthy and livable future. This was the largest climate rally in history and was organized by 350.org and the Sierra Club.
350.org founder Bill McKibben said at the rally, “For 25 years our government has basically ignored the climate crisis: now people in large numbers are finally demanding they get to work.” He added, “We shouldn’t have to be here — science should have decided our course long ago. But it takes a movement to stand up to all that money {of the fossil fuel industry}.”
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said, “President Obama holds in his hand a pen and the power to deliver on his promise of hope for our children. Today, we are asking him to use that pen to to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and ensure that this dirty, dangerous, export pipeline will never be built.”
In the past few years there have been devastating wildfire, hurricanes, floods, droughts…the change in climate has been crippling to the earth and to all living beings that live on this planet. Rejecting this pipeline will be a positive step in putting America on the right track in addressing the climate crisis. Obama mentioned climate change and how we are dependent on the “tyranny of oil” but we have to do something about that! Actions speak louder than words. We MUST reject Keystone XL Pipeline, and we must say NO to the fossil fuel industry and come up with alternatives. We have already pushed the earth too far.
Bill McKibben, “It’s simple math: we can burn less than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide and stay below 2°C of warming — anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they’re planning to burn it all — unless we rise up to stop them.”
Green Mountain College students came together to show that we are taking a stand on social, environmental, and intergenerational issues, and we do more than talk the talk about being green; we walk the walk and take action by sending students to the front lines of injustice to fight to protect the environment and a safe livable future for all.
It was an amazing experience, and very inspiring to see so many people coming together to take action. The fight does not end…I encourage you to get involved climate action and protect our future!
GMC students standing in front of the white house
GMC students march from the Washington Monument to the White House with 50,000 other activists
THE ROPE SWING 