14 DAY TRIAL // Only yesterday, about 3,000 protesters gathered in Washington DC and marched around the White House, hoping to collect on a promise made by President Obama during his first term.
Thus, these protesters want the US President to pull the plug on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, both because this project targets farmlands owned by numerous American citizens, and because exploiting tar sands has severe consequences on the environment.
According to 350.org, the official website for this group of environmentalists, the protesters brought a 500-foot oil pipeline mock-up and paraded it around.
As well as this, they held up banners with various statements President Obama made with respect to climate change and global warming.
Allison Chin, presently in charge of running the green-oriented organization Sierra Club, made a case of how, “The President needs to know that the American people have his back on keeping tar sands crude out of America.”
“In 2012 we’ve seen epic droughts and the Sandy superstorm—extreme weather delivering a loud and clear message that solutions to climate disruption can’t wait. Keeping tar sands out of America is a critical step to turn this problem around,” she went on to add.
Interestingly enough, these protesters claim that President Barack Obama will be in for much worse this coming February 18, as they plan to organize a major Washington DC rally smack in the middle of President's Day if their current demands are not properly dealt with.
This is not the first time that the Keystone XL pipeline fosters public disturbances.
Thus, earlier this year, actress Daryl Hannah got arrested for helping an elderly woman try to keep several bulldozers off her lands, and the US Green Party candidate was also taken into police custody for bringing supplies to a group of protesters.
“If Sandy showed us anything, it’s that the hour is late and the need is urgent–but the fossil fuel industry has terrified our politicians and the result has been two decades of inaction. We need that to change,” environmentalist Bill McKibben wished to emphasize.