A Tale of Two Marches

The March for Science in Washington, DC, on April 22, 2017.

Front banner at the March for Science in Washington, DC, on April 22, 2017.

Front banner from the People's Climate March in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2015.

Front banner on the left side of Pennsylvania Avenue at the People’s Climate March in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2015.

One banner from the People's Climate March in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2017.

Front banner on the right side of Pennsylvania Avenue at the People’s Climate March in Washington, DC, on April 29, 2017.

April is Earth Month – which under a Trump administration means a lot of environmental activism. This year saw two historic marches in Washington, DC, each with sister marches around the country: the March for Science and the People’s Climate March.

A denier dinosaur at the March for Science.

A denier dinosaur at the March for Science.

I had planned to go to the March for Science in Columbus, where thousands of people said they planned to attend, then go to Washington for the People’s Climate March.  But when a family gathering unexpectedly pulled me to North Carolina, my husband, Paul, and I decided to go to Washington for both marches. It was a grueling but rewarding experience.

The weather at the two marches could not have been more different. On April 22, it was cold, rainy, and windy at the March for Science. I hadn’t brought an umbrella, and ended up buying one from a street vendor. Even so my clothes, shoes and everything inside my backpack got soaked.

Marcher at March for Science.

Marcher at March for Science.

The rain didn’t seem to depress turnout. We arrived at the Washington Monument as the pre-march rally was getting under way. There was just one checkpoint to have bags searched, and the line to get in ran for dozens of blocks. Instead, we took refuge inside a tent that had wifi, where I plugged in my phone and watched the speakers through the live feed from Democracy Now.

When it came time to march, Paul ran out to get some photos at the front of the lineup. I lingered behind to take photos of people’s signs. The signs were unique and creative, based on specific areas of science or supporting science, facts, and evidence in general. These were people who had spent a long time studying in their fields and were proud of their accomplishments.

A sign left at the Capitol building.

A sign left at the Capitol building.

Eventually I worked my way out of the crowd to find the march had already started. So I ran down Constitution Avenue for what seemed like forever, and got in front of the lineup at the intersection with Pennsylvania. There I was able to get a few photos of the parade banner, where if you look closely, you can see Bill Nye and climate scientist Michael Mann leading the charge. I also got 20 minutes of video of the march until my phone batter ran out.

The March for Science ended at the U.S. Capitol, where I continued to get photos of people and their signs. Despite the rain, the mood was happy and defiant. People gathered in drum circles to chant “This is what peer review looks like” and wore dinosaur costumes with signs saying “The meteor is a Chinese hoax.” Many signs were left on the fence of the Capitol building as a message to those inside.

You can see a slideshow of 142 photos I took at the March for Science below.

March for Science, Washington, DC

People’s Climate March

Whereas weather during the March for Science was cold and wet, it was hot and sunny a week later for the People’s Climate March. The temperature hit 91 degrees F, tying a record for April 29 in Washington, DC. Marchers were told to bring sunscreen, which we did. Despite using an SPF 70, the sunscreen sweated off, and I got sunburned enough to peel on my face and arms.

The Indigenous Rights banner at the People's Climate March.

The Indigenous Rights banner at the People’s Climate March.

Still, it was an incredible experience.  We arrived an hour before the march began and got to take lots of photos at the lineup on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Capitol building. Environmental justice was a huge theme of the march, with the Protectors of Justice –indigenous communities and people of color who are at the frontlines of climate change – leading the charge.

The CO2LONIALISM wagon at the People's Climate March.

The CO2LONIALISM wagon at the People’s Climate March.

Some particularly notable displays included the CO2LONIALISM wagon shot full of arrows depicting sovereignty, language, reparations, and feminism; the 10-foot puppet of murdered Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres; and the many colorful parachute banners.

The lineup wound down Pennsylvania Avenue, turning on Third Street in front of the Capitol, then on Jefferson down the Washington Mall. After the Protectors of Justice were

  • Creators of Sanctuary – immigrants, LGBTQUI, women, Latinos, waterkeepers, food sovereignty and land rights
  • Builders of Democracy – labor, government, workers, voting rights, and democracy groups
  • Guardians of the Future – kids, parents, elders, youth, students, and peace activists
  • Defenders of Truth – scientists, educators, technologists, and health community
  • Keepers of Faith – religious and interfaith groups
  • Reshapers of Power – anti-corporate, anti-nuclear, fossil fuel resistance, renewable energy and transportation
  • Many Struggles, One Home – environmentalists, climate activists, and more
Resist banner near Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

Resist banner near Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

I tried again to take a video of the entire march, this time getting three 20-minute videos before running out of space. After clearing off a few things, I joined the march and quickly found myself among chants of “Hey hey! Ho ho! Donald Trump has got to go!” at Trump International Hotel – the same spot where people shouted “Shame! Shame!” during the Women’s March.

The next stop for the climate march was the White House. Marchers came up Pennsylvania Avenue, then turned up 15th Street NW to Lafayette Square. On the way they encountered the large “Climate Change Affects Us All” chalkboard that had made its debut at the 2014 People’s Climate March in New York City, along with the large Mercy for Earth balloon and a display of members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as puppets of the oil industry.

The Climate Change Affects Us All chalkboard made its debut at the People's Climate March in New York City in 2014.

The Climate Change Affects Us All chalkboard made its debut at the People’s Climate March in New York City in 2014.

By the time I got to Lafayette Square, I was exhausted. Everyone was sitting down, and I found a place in the shade to rest and put on more sunscreen. Finding my husband took a while, and finding water took even longer. I had long since consumed the water I had brought, and saw no water on the march route. Unfortunately there were only a few street vendors with water, all with long lines. Finally a police officer sitting in his air conditioned SUV gave me a bottle of water. He must have felt sorry for me – and might not have done the same for a person of color.

The climate ribbon display was also in Paris during the 2015 climate conference.

The climate ribbon display was also in Paris during the 2015 climate conference.

That water allowed me to finish the march and stay for the rally at the Washington Monument, full circle from where we had begun the week before at the March for Science. The rally featured indigenous leaders, music, and a long list of speakers including the children who had touched off resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline by running from Standing Rock to Washington, DC.

The climate ribbon tree that I saw at the climate conference in Paris was there, with people hanging ribbons for what they did not want to lose to climate change. Then everyone left their signs in front of the Washington Monument arranged to spell out “Climate Jobs Justice.” The crowd was buzzed a couple of times by low-flying helicopters from the White House.

You can see a slideshow of 170 photos I took at the People’s Climate March below.

climate1

An assessment

A marcher at the rally after the People's Climate March.

A marcher at the rally after the People’s Climate March.

What do these two marches mean? First, they show the widespread public support for policy based on science and evidence, and for action to address climate change. About 1.1 million people marched for science on April 22, with 100,000 in Washington, DC. Over 200,000 people marched for climate in Washington on April 29, with 370 sister marches around the country.

Polls show that the vast majority of people think science has improved their lives and support public funding for science, while concern for climate change is at an eight-year high. Large majorities of Americans, including a majority of Trump voters, support action on climate.

A sign left at the U.S. Capitol after the March for Science.

A sign left at the U.S. Capitol after the March for Science.

Will Trump or his cabinet to listen? Not likely. As of this writing, Trump’s administration has issued a series of disastrous orders regarding climate and environment, and he is close to pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.

Fortunately, we don’t need Trump to start taking action on climate. Some things you can do in your individual life include:

  • Bike, walk, or take public transportation to work
  • Trade your gas car for a hybrid or electric vehicle
  • Get an energy audit for your home
  • Ask your utility about energy from renewables
  • Eat less meat or eliminate meat consumption altogether

You can also act to change things on a collective level. Some ideas are:

  • Join the Sierra Club or another environmental group and sign up for action alerts. Sierra Club has a rapid response team to keep you posted on actions and events in your area.
  • Save phone numbers for your U.S. and state representatives into the favorites on your phone so you can call them quickly and easily when news breaks out.
  • Find and follow your local Indivisible or progressive group on social media.
A sign left near the Washington Monument after the People's Climate March.

A sign left near the Washington Monument after the People’s Climate March.

One promising front in the climate campaign is cities. Urban areas are responsible for 70% of carbon emissions, and 90% of cities are at risk from climate change. At the Paris climate conference, 1000 cities across the world pledged to go 100% renewable by 2050. Now that movement is coming to the United States with the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 campaign. So far 28 cities and one state have committed to going 100% renewable, with discussions in dozens more.

Although things seem so bleak right now that scientists have to come out of their labs and Native American grandmothers into the streets, it’s times like this that show us what we are made of. I was heartened by the massive participation, creative signs, and visionary art at the March for Science and People’s Climate March. Millions of Americans are not going to let the current administration exploit the planet and destabilize the climate without a major fight.

A version of this post appeared in the July 2017 newsletter for Sierra Club Central Ohio Group.

Experiencing history at the Women’s March

A multiperson banner near the Washington Monument at the Women’s March.

I have read my entire life about Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, which happened the year I was born. When I first heard about the Women’s March on Washington, I knew it would be just as historic, and that I didn’t want to miss it.

Part of our contingent from Columbus, Ohio, in the subway headed to the march.

I managed to get a seat on the “Rolling into Washington” tour, operated by Rise Travel, which conducts advocacy and education travel to rallies around the country. Time on the bus went quickly as we listened to workshops with state Rep. Teresa Fedor and former Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy, watched films like Suffragette and She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry about the fight for women’s rights, and got to know our seatmates.

When we got on the metro into downtown DC, I started to get the feeling the march would surpass all expectations. Even at 6 a.m. at the outermost stop, the station was packed. By the time we made our way to the Washington Mall, it too was getting packed.

One of several signs about climate change that I saw at the march.

As more people poured into the mall, it became so full we could barely move. Yet somehow everyone was nice to each other, letting people by one at a time, and pointing out possible stumbling hazards like steps in the sidewalk or tree roots sticking up.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get near the speakers, but at least I saw them on CSPAN when I got home. We did hear the event was so crowded – at least half a million people with some estimates at 1.5 million – that they cancelled the march itself because the route was filled.

Around noon I got hungry and left to find lunch. It took a half hour to get to the Air and Space Museum at the other end of the mall, another half hour to get in, and another half hour in line, but eventually I ate.

I took the opportunity of the journey to get photos of as many signs as I could. The signs were colorful and creative, on all kinds of topics. I was especially heartened to see a lot of signs about the importance of taking care of the climate and environment.

Signs left outside Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

After lunch I found people were marching spontaneously down Pennsylvania Avenue. I turned a corner and found the Old Post Office had been converted into a Trump hotel. Hundreds of people had spontaneously left their signs on the fence in front as calling cards for the new president.

Despite the crowds and confusion, the mood of the march was joyous and resolute. People had come to Washington depressed and in some cases in despair. What they found was hundreds of thousands of others who had the same American values they did, and who were not going to let their values be run over without a fight.

One sign summed it all up: “In this house we believe Black Lives Matter, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, No Human is Illegal, Science is Real, Love is Love, and Kindness is Everything.”

I and lots of others left Washington that night with a new emotion going into the Trump era: Hope in our fellow Americans.

A version of this story appeared in the April 2017 newsletter for Sierra Club Central Ohio Group.

See a set of photos from the Women’s March here:

DC Womens March (3)

See a series of videos that I took at the Women’s March here:

A Thanksgiving trip to Standing Rock

I first heard about the protest at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota from actress Shailene Woodley. Back in August, she was following a group of youths who were literally running from Standing Rock to Washington, D.C., to protest the Army Corps of Engineers okaying the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Missouri River just a mile from the reservation.

This was just the beginning of public attention to the battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a fight that started with a few hundred people camping out near the reservation in April. By the time I visited the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires, camp over Thanksgiving, the number of campers had swollen to over 10,000. Why did this fight capture the attention of the nation?

Why Standing Rock?

Flag Road leading into Oceti Sakowin camp. The flags of 300 tribal nations line this road.

Flag Road leading into Oceti Sakowin camp. The flags of 300 tribal nations line this road.

First is climate change. Science tells us that if we want a chance of keeping global warming to 2 degrees C — and the Paris Agreement calls for 1.5 C — we can’t install any more fossil fuel infrastructure. No new fracking, no new drilling, no new pipelines.

To hold warming to 2 C, we can’t put more than 800 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere, according to a study by 14 organizations for Oil Change International. Yet current oil and gas operations are on track to burn 942 – not to mention the 2795 gigatons of carbon in current known fossil fuel reserves. We must start the transition to renewable energy now.

A sign commemorates Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier

A sign commemorates Native American political prisoner Leonard Peltier

Second is environmental justice. The 1, 172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline was originally set to cross the Missouri River just north of Bismarck. However, when concerns were raised about the safety of Bismarck’s drinking water, the river crossing was moved near the reservation. No one thought to ask the same questions about drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux.

Finally was the question of civil rights. Here was a group of Native Americans simply trying to protect their drinking water – yet the videos of militarized police and security troops cracking down on them were utterly shocking and seen throughout the world via social media.

Militarized police crackdowns

Labor Day weekend was the first time the police brutality toward pipeline protesters – more accurately known as water protectors – broke into the national consciousness. The pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners, had starting digging up an area the tribe had indicated just the week before was a sacred burial ground.

A water protector waves a flag marking the year Eurpoeans and Native Americans first met.

A water protector waves a flag marking the year Eurpoeans and Native Americans first met.

Water protectors who had gone to the area to hold a prayer ceremony found bulldozers ripping up their ancestral graveyards. When they tried to stop it, they were met by private security guards with attack dogs. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now was reporting on site that day, and got video of the attacks, including dogs with blood dripping from their mouths. Her report was picked up by several mainstream news outlets and seen by 12 million people.

From there the violence by police against peaceful water protectors got worse. Every day water protectors held marches, vigils, and prayer ceremonies. Many of these events were broken up by police. On October 9 Shailene Woodley was arrested as she streamed live to 40,000 viewers on Facebook.

On October 27, police raided the frontline Treaty of 1851 camp, pulling elders out of a sweat lodge at gunpoint and destroying tents and camping materials. More than 140 people were arrested, strip searched, marked with numbers on their wrists, and kept overnight in dog kennels.

A water protector waves at police atop Turtle Mountain.

A water protector waves at police atop Turtle Mountain.

On November 2, hundreds of water protectors were pepper sprayed and beaten with clubs as they tried to cross the Cannonball River to go to Turtle Island, an ancestral burial mound where police had set up a lookout point. Journalists streaming the chaos were shot with rubber bullets in the middle of on-camera interviews.

Then on November 20 was a night of violence that water protectors will never forget. After the October 27 raid, police had erected a road block north of the camp on Hwy. 1806, the main road from the reservation to Bismarck, where everyone went to buy supplies or go to the doctor.

When water protectors tried to move the roadblock, they were met with the kind of force we associate with third-world dictatorships. Police shot flare guns at them, which started fires in the grass. They then used firehoses on the protectors, even though the temperature was only 27 degrees. One woman, Vanessa Dundon of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, was shot in the face with a tear gas canister, blinding her in the right eye. Another woman, Sophia Wilansky of New York, almost had her arm amputated when she was hit with a concussion grenade.

Getting involved

A banner at Oceti Sakowin camp says Mni Wiconi or Water is Life

A banner at Oceti Sakowin camp says Mni Wiconi or Water is Life

Watching this story unfold for months on social media– mainstream media either wasn’t covering it or was taking the word of the police for everything – spurred me into action. When pipeline security used attack dogs on water protectors, online activists traced those dogs to a kennel in Ohio, and I filed a formal complaint with the state.

When I read that Ohio sent 37 state troopers to assist with the militarized police crackdown, I started a petition to bring them home on change.org that garnered almost 50,000 signatures. I then accompanied four native American activists from Ohio, along with Ohio Sierra Club Director Jen Miller, to meet with Gov. Kasich’s office.

Throughout I circulated action alerts, petitions, and call sheets for others to get involved as well.

Finally over the week of Thanksgiving, I got to visit Standing Rock. To be honest, after the violence that had occurred the weekend before, I almost didn’t go. But in the end I went, and I’m glad I did because to really understand something, you need to see it for yourself.

Peace and community

My friend Atticus Garden and me near Turtle Mountain.

My friend Atticus Garden and me near Turtle Mountain.

What I found at camp was very different from the chaos I had seen on social media: a sense of peace, prayer, and community – even among 10,000 people who had never met. It started when I was still in Bismarck. I joined a Thanksgiving Day protest there to highlight the genocide that Thanksgiving had meant for native peoples.

Police had shut off all roads accessing the protest, and cars belonging to water protectors were being towed. I was one of the few people with room in my rental car, so I drove a group of protectors from the San Francisco area back to camp. Even though I had never met them before, I felt an instant kinship as we talked about race, colonialism and oil.

Because the main highway was still closed, it took 75 minutes to drive from Bismarck to Standing Rock via an alternate route. I’ll never forget rounding a corner coming north on Hwy. 1806 and seeing the huge Oceti Sakowin camp spread out in the valley below.

The medic tent at Oceti Sakowin camp

The medic tent at Oceti Sakowin camp

Crossing the Cannonball River to get to camp takes you technically out of the Standing Rock reservation but onto land the Sioux claim as part of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Flags of the 300 Native American tribes that stand in solidarity with Standing Rock, lined the highway leading up to the camp entrance, then both sides of Flag Road driving into camp.

Letter to water protectors

Letter to water protectors

Oceti Sakowin camp functioned as a small city. There were roads, gathering spaces, seven kitchens, a medical tent, volunteer tent, media area, tool shop, and clothing tent with enough coats, blankets, pants, shirts, hats, gloves, and so forth to fill a Goodwill store. Although there was no running water, porta-potties were plentiful, reasonably clean, and stocked daily.

That afternoon I had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinner at Standing Rock Community High School. Celebrities such as Jane Fonda were there, but they were not the center of attention. Speakers were indigenous people and water protectors themselves. The cafeteria walls and tables were covered with cards and letters of support from children all over the country.

Vision and values

The day after Thanksgiving I attended an orientation in the morning and an action training in the afternoon. Both went well over two hours but were full of information.

The view of camp from Media Hill. Orientation was held in the big white dome.

The view of camp from Media Hill. Orientation was held in the big white dome.

For orientation I packed into the camp’s big white dome with 200 others, standing toward the back. The speakers went through camp protocols – for example, drugs, alcohol, and weapons were absolutely forbidden so as not to give the police any excuse for a raid. Many protocols were simply to help 10,000 people co-exist peacefully; for example, we were asked to use headphones to listen to music.

Other protocols were specific to native culture; for example, we were asked to stay off burial mounds, and women were asked to wear a skirt even over our pants. I didn’t know to bring a skirt and couldn’t find one at the clothing donations or the nearby casino lodge, so I ended up out of protocol along with half the other women. Next time I’ll know better.

Most of the discussion at orientation centered on the camp’s four main tenets:

  • Indigenous centered, or listening to indigenous people, allowing them to speak first, and conforming ourselves to their ways while a guest on their land.
  • Build a new legacy beyond racism, colonialism and exploitation of people and planet.
  • Be of use, whether helping to chop wood, cook meals, construct a yurt, organize clothing donations, wash dishes, or just pick up trash around camp.
  • Bring it home, or taking back experiences and new ways of looking at things with us when we left.
Ribbons tied between flagpoles at Oceti Sakowin camp

Ribbons tied between flagpoles at Oceti Sakowin camp

Values at camp included prayer, respect, compassion, honesty, generosity, humility, and wisdom. Unfortunately not all non-native visitors had upheld them. One visitor had caused offense by wearing a feather headdress. Orientation leaders explained that headdresses are singular signs of honor and not a cultural icon for non-natives to appropriate. Native peoples very rarely use headdresses even though white cultures constantly depict native Americans as wearing them.

Another group of non-natives had come to Oceti Sakowin camp to party, comparing their experience to being at Burning Man. Oceti Sakowin was definitely not Burning Man. It was a peaceful prayer camp designed to resist the fossil fuel industry and exploitation in all forms, and to build a new community based on equality, sustainability, and peaceful co-existence.

Action training

Hwy. 1806 at Oceti Sakowin camp

Hwy. 1806 at Oceti Sakowin camp

The action training was a little awkward given that over 200 people attended. Normally they would have staged a realistic mock action, showing people what to do in case of police violence. Our mock action could not be as realistic, but I did learn about how to prepare for such events from people who had earned their chops during the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle.

  • Bring goggles to protect your eyes from tear gas and pepper spray. Large lab goggles can go over glasses, but airholes need to be taped up.
  • Bring a bandana or scarf to cover your mouth.
  • Don’t show up at an action wearing all these things. You don’t want to look like you are ready for a riot. Just have them in your bag in case you need them.
  • Link arms to build a solid wall of people.
  • Have water or Maalox on hand in case eye washes are needed, and know how to wash out the eyes of others.
  • Write the phone number of jail support on your arms in case you need it.

During the action training, by total chance I wound up standing next to Kenny Myers, who I had met at a climate workshop in Columbus. He was at camp with a group of Ohio people including Max Slater and former Bernie campaign staffer Atticus Garden. They were staying with Benji, a Standing Rock Sioux tribe member who had been there since April.

The flag at Benji's camp, where the Ohio people were staying.

The flag at Benji’s camp, where the Ohio people were staying.

After the action training, Kenny and I went to Benji’s camp, and then the four Columbus people went to see Turtle Island, the scene of chaos on November 2 when police beat back water protectors trying to cross the Cannonball River. Photos from that day showed that some of the officers spraying the crowd with tear gas had Ohio State Patrol insignias on their shoulders.

Just the day before, Atticus had participated in an action in which water protectors laid down foot bridges to cross the river. This time they were successful, and video showed dozens of water protectors at the bottom of the hill while police sprayed water down from the top to freeze the sides so no one could get up. Now, busted-up kayaks were strewn along the base of the hill, and police had surrounded it with razor wire to keep water protectors from crossing onto it again.

After getting some photos, Kenny and I headed to the kitchen area for dinner. Friends who had visited Standing Rock in September described cooking soup in vats over open fires, but by the time I arrived, they had modern ovens on flatbed trucks powered by generators. I had an amazing dinner of eight vegetables and a small piece of salmon.

Busted up kayaks and canoes at the bottom of Turtle Mountain

Busted up kayaks and canoes at the bottom of Turtle Mountain

Afterwards, the four Columbus people headed to an outdoor concert that could best be described as indigenous rap. It was cold outside, but the audience packed together, warming things up. I wish I knew the names of the bands that performed – they seemed to be from all over the country, and all indigenous. The songs centered on colonialism and exploitation of people.

I remember one refrain, “We didn’t cross the borders. The borders crossed us,” about how the lines of indigenous lands keep changing depending on what white people want. The treaty of 1851 had given the Standing Rock Sioux much of the land where the Dakota Access Pipeline was now being built; that treaty had been broken long ago after white people found gold in the black hills. After 500 years, the pipeline was just one more example of broken treaties and colonialism against native peoples, who have a much longer memory of these things than we do.

Prayer ceremony

The next morning, I met my friend Doug Grandt, who I know from Climate Reality training, for brunch. Doug is a retired engineer who once worked for Exxon and now leads the life of a roving climate activist. He had spent several weeks at Standing Rock. Joining us was his friend Peter Anderson, an accomplished photographer who showed us a slideshow of pictures he took on Labor Day weekend when pipeline security attacked water protectors with guard dogs.

Redbud Camp is across the Cannonball River from Oceti Sakowin

Redbud Camp is across the Cannonball River from Oceti Sakowin

Just that morning the Army Corps of Engineers had issued a statement that they planned to close all access to Oceti Sakowin camp on December 5 and were asking water protectors to leave “for their own safety” because winter was coming. We knew the water protectors were not going to go anywhere, so we mapped out how they might still get supplies after the road was closed.

A display at Oceti Sakowin camp points to way to may places

A display at Oceti Sakowin camp points to way to may places

Also affecting the situation was news that 2,000 veterans were going to show up at Oceti Sakowin on December 4. This gathering had already been planned with the purpose of providing support and protection for water protectors against the ongoing violence from police.

After brunch, Peter went to his truck to get a book to recommend to me: Learning to Die in the Anthropocene, by Roy Scranton. Based on a 2013 essay, the book explores the parallels of what Scranton saw as a U.S. Army private during the war in Iraq with what we are seeing from climate change. I ordered the book immediately and hope to read it over Christmas break.

Next I headed to camp. At 2 p.m. was a beautiful prayer circle ceremony planned by a group called Unify, which livestreamed from the scene and had 40,000 people joining in online. The ceremony was held near the foot of Turtle Island. About 300 people got in a big circle, and ceremony leaders came around with burning sage. Then elders came inside the circle and spoke to us about life on earth and why we are here. We ended with 15 minutes of silent prayer.

Keeping an eye on police atop Turtle Mountain

Keeping an eye on police atop Turtle Mountain

I couldn’t hear everything the elders said, but I remember the number four being important: four winds, four directions, four types of life — rock, water, four-legged creatures, winged creatures. We were told to unify the four parts of ourselves — intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical — into one purpose. If we ran around chaotically, the result would be chaos. If we spent our time on frivolous things, the result would frivolous. But if we unify ourselves for one larger purpose, that is what we will achieve.

Before the ceremony started, the police called down to us over their bullhorn from the top of Turtle Island, saying they would “back off and let you have your ceremony if you stop buzzing us with those drones.” Apparently the drones, with their tiny propellers that sound like mosquitoes, drive the cops crazy. The police did back off, but the drones kept flying as normal.

Cast of characters

Bernie supporter Oscar Salazar gets his photo taken near Turtle Mountain

Bernie supporter Oscar Salazar gets his photo taken near Turtle Mountain

After the prayer ceremony most people left, but I lingered around in the shadow of Turtle Island. A lot of other interesting people did too. I met Oscar Salazar, the millennial who gained fame during the Bernie campaign for wearing a Bernie onesie everywhere. He was still wearing it at Standing Rock. I also met Aviva, a ukulele singer who had performed at the Thanksgiving dinner. She sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to the police.

I also met Jordan Chariton of The Young Turks and TYT Politics, one of the best journalists working today who has spent a lot of time reporting from Standing Rock. Jordan was interviewing actress Frances Fisher, but found some time to get a picture with me.

Me with Jordan Chariton of TYT Politics, one of the best journalists working today

Me with Jordan Chariton of TYT Politics, one of the best journalists working today

Finally the sun went down, and I walked back to my car to go get dinner at the Prairie Knights Casino Lodge. Sitting on the trunk of my rental and on all the cars around mine were little care packages of cookies and water. I was happy to have this unexpected snack, especially as the sit-down restaurant at the casino had no tables available and the line for the buffet was an hour long.

It was almost 10 p.m. by the time I got food and got out, reeking of cigarette smoke. I decided to go back to my hotel in Bismarck, thinking I could return the next day for a few hours before flying out. But when I woke up the next day, I was really sick and didn’t have the stamina for another round trip. Instead I caught a showing of Arrival and flew home.

Forgiveness and victory

Oceti Sakowin camp from Hwy. 1806. Red Fawn is a water protector arrested on October 27 and still being held by police.

Oceti Sakowin camp from Hwy. 1806. Red Fawn is a water protector arrested on October 27 and still being held by police.

It was a very quick trip to Standing Rock, and I wanted very badly to stay longer. A week after I got back, 2000 veterans led by Wes Clark Jr. and Michael Wood began arriving at Oceti Sakowin. That same day, the Army Corps of Engineers finally issued its decision about the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Missouri River: The easement was denied for that location, and any other location would need a full Environmental Impact Statement.

Even more thrilling, on December 5 was a ceremony in which Wes Clark Jr. on behalf of all the veterans who had come to Standing Rock asked for forgiveness for past injustices the military had committed against Native Americans. Among Clark’s remarks:

Child's letter to water protectors

Child’s letter to water protectors

“Many of us, me particularly, are from the units that have hurt you over the many years. We came. We fought you. We took your land. We signed treaties that we broke. We stole minerals from your sacred hills. We blasted the faces of our presidents onto your sacred mountain. When we took still more land and then we took your children and then we tried to make your language and we tried to eliminate your language that God gave you, and the Creator gave you. We didn’t respect you, we polluted your Earth, we’ve hurt you in so many ways but we’ve come to say that we are sorry. We are at your service and we beg for your forgiveness.”

TYT Politics interviews actress Frances Fisher about Standing Rock

TYT Politics interviews actress Frances Fisher about Standing Rock

It was an amazing end to a nine-month saga in which the struggle of this tribe had gone from obscurity to worldwide sympathy and support. I felt privileged to have seen the Standing Rock Reservation and Oceti Sakowin camp at its height. Doug, Peter, and I had talked about how the camp evolved over the months and could easily grow into a permanent settlement.

However, I don’t know if that will happen. As soon as the decision denying the easement was announced, a major blizzard hit the area, and tribal chairman David Archambault II asked all non-native water protectors to go home. Most of them did when they were able to leave.

For its part, Energy Transfer Partners has vowed to continue pipeline construction, convinced that the Trump administration will reverse the denial of the easement. However, Kandi Mossett from Indigenous Environmental Network says Trump can’t simply reverse this order, and will still have to do the full Environmental Impact Statement. She believes the Standing Rock Sioux got exactly what they asked for, and counts the denial of the permit as a major victory.

Blueprint for hope

Sunset on the Canonball River

Sunset on the Canonball River

Ultimately the story of what happened at Standing Rock is one of great hope. Despite the fact we have a fossil-fuel president taking office in January. Standing Rock provides a blueprint for how to fight this form of exploitation. Water protectors stayed peaceful and united no matter how much violence was used against them, and just as in the Indian independence movement of the 1940s, civil rights movement of the 1960s, and anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s, peaceful water protectors won the hearts, minds, and support of people all over the world.

Teepee at night

Teepee at night

Indigenous people everywhere are at the front lines of the climate fight. We’ve seen it in the resistance to the Tar Sands in Canada and drilling at Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. This fight has now come to the United States. Indigenous people are the right people to lead the fight against fossil fuels and the way to a sustainable and just transition to clean energy.

Indigenous people know better than anyone else how to live in peaceful co-existence with nature. They have also borne the external costs of fossil fuel exploitation most directly. My trip to Standing Rock showed me how exploitation of the earth goes hand in hand with exploitation of people, and that we need a new relationship not just with nature but with each other.

For 500 years our country has not addressed its history built on the genocide of native Americans. We need to — for their sake, our sake, and the sake of the environment we all share. As we move forward in seeking action on climate, let us not forget the people who bear the greatest costs, so we can figure out how to transition most equitably to a new world.

 

Wednesday, December 9 – Fracking action, Exxon trial

Now that the conference is starting to wind down, I am trying to get the most out of every day I have left.  Today I decided to spend the day back at the Climate Generations space to see a few panels that looked especially interesting.  After a nice breakfast at a little cafe near Place to B (I’ve given up on the hostel breakfast), I got on the train to Le Bourget at about 10 a.m., hoping to arrive by 11 a.m. for an 11:15 panel with Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, and Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister who was functioning as president of COP 21.  Since this was the first panel of the day, security lines were out the door, and I almost didn’t make it there in time.

Panelists for  "Beyond 2015: Transforming NAZCA Commitments into Action"

Panelists for “Beyond 2015: Transforming NAZCA Commitments into Action”

The subject of the panel was “Beyond 2015: Transforming NAZCA Commitments into Action” – NAZCA being Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action – in other words, city and state governments, corporations, and the like. This was the only time I had seen when Figueres and Fabius might be out of the Blue Zone.  Unfortunately neither of them made it out.  I’m not sure what was going on with negotiations, but apparently they were busy.  Instead we heard briefly from Ségolène Royal, French minister for ecology, sustainable development and energy, and two officials from the United Nations.  Then was the main part of the panel: Katherine Neebe, director of sustainability at Walmart’ Jeanett Bergan, of the Noway investment fund KLP; and Ralph Becker, mayor of Salt Lake City.

The mayor was the best of the three, declaring openly that we need a new Congress before the Senate will do what needs to be done regarding climate change.  He also discussed everything Salt Lake City is doing regarding climate.  Neebe said Walmart has set goals for zero emissions and zero waste, which is great – but when asked during Q and A she dodged questions on whether Walmart would commit to supporting the COP21 agreement with conservative senators and whether Walmart would commit to phasing out plastic bags.  The KPL representative was equally disappointing.  She said the fund has divested from coal but decided not to divest from other fossil fuels due to financial concerns.  I don’t know what those could be: Research shows that 80 percent of known fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground, which will result in a lot of stranded assets.

Art in Section C of the Green Zone.

Art in Section C of the Green Zone.

Once the panel got out, I needed to get lunch. Lines at the restaurants were not as long as the first day, but still long.  I got into the line for crepes and waited. By the time I got my food, all tables were occupied. I ended up sitting next to a woman from a nonprofit called Population Media Center, which works on the issue of overpopulation – but has a very creative way to getting their message out.  They work with the producers of TV shows, specifically soap operas and shows aimed at teenagers, to get messages about birth control and not having children into the script.  Apparently this effort to lower birth rates has been done since the 1970s — and there’s lots of evidence that it works.

By the time I finished lunch, the next panel I wanted to see had already started. It was on “Keeping fossil fuels in the ground: the international movement to ban fracking,” featuring Bill McKibben of 350.org.  I headed over after hearing from my CCL colleague Michael Holm on Facebook that McKibben was speaking, and managed to catch the last 10 minutes of his talk.  I haven’t followed the anti-fracking movement closely, so I didn’t know most of the other panelists, but they were all good: Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity; John Fenton, farmer from Wyoming;  Sandra Steingraber, New York biologist who writes about fracking; Wenonah Hauter, Food and Water Watch; Liesbeth von Tongeren, Greenpeace Netherlands; and Joaquin Turco, fracking activist from Argentina.

Panel on "Keeping fossil fuels in the ground: the international movement to ban fracking"

Panel on “Keeping fossil fuels in the ground: the international movement to ban fracking”

After the panel was a 3 p.m. protest against fracking near the columns outside the main venue for COP 21.  Rally organizers had managed to get a 30-minute permit for the event from the French government, and the rally took place under the watchful eye of the police.  Speakers included several people from the indigenous community, including Kandi Mossett of Indigenous Environmental Network, and Casey Camp Horinek of Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature.  There were also speakers from the Netherlands, Scotland, and Argentina, and for the first time I realized that the movement against fracking is truly global.  The rally ended with a beautiful women’s warrior song led by Horinek.

Once the rally dispersed, I found the Sierra Club table in Climate Generations  and traded stories of the panels I had been to with people there.  Steven Sondheim had gone to a panel that touted nuclear power as the solution to climate change.  This is a matter of hot debate among climate activists. James Hansen and three colleagues  say nuclear power is essential to transitioning off fossil fuels because it provides a lot of energy with no carbon emissions.  Others point out that nuclear plants take a long time to site and build, partly because no one wants to live near them; that while accidents are unlikely, they can be catastrophic; and that no one wants to accept the radioactive waste which must be stored forever.  The Sierra Club and most environmental organizations have long been anti-nuclear.  Citizens Climate Lobby does not take a position.

Title slide for "What Exxon Knew and What It Did Anyway"

Title slide for “What Exxon Knew and What It Did Anyway”

At the Sierra Club booth I also met another national board member, Michael Dorsey, who teaches environmental policy at Dartmouth.  Michael told me has been “going to COPs since before they were COPs,” and has made climate justice a central part of his research.  Michael, Larry Fahn, and I were all headed to the same evening event, so we took the train together to Gare du Nord, then caught a cab to the event: a legal panel on “What Exxon Knew and What It Did Anyway,” discussing the prospects of a RICO case against Exxon and other fossil fuel corporations similar to the case brought by the Department of Justice against the tobacco industry.

Matt Pawa presented a RICO case against Exxon.

Matt Pawa (right) presented a RICO case against Exxon.

I was not allowed to videotape the event, probably because the attorneys who presented understandably do not want details to get out to the opposition.  But I can post some basic information.  The event was introduced by Antonio Oposa, an environmental lawyer from the Philippines who has won several landmark cases to protect topical forests and clean up Manila Bay.  Then U.S. environmental attorney Matthew Pawa presented a case against Exxon for violations of the RICO statutes based on documents that have recently been made public through blockbuster reporting by Inside Climate News and Los Angeles Times.  Pawa has already won cases against Exxon over groundwater pollution in New Hampshire, and against AEP over greenhouse gas pollution.  Finally a panel of experts responded to the case and took questions from the audience.  These included Naomi Ages of Greenpeace; Richard Harvey, British human rights attorney; Ken Kimmel of Union of Concerned Scientists; Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at the Earth Institute, Columbia University; and Carroll Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law, which organized the event.

Michael Gerrard (standing) and other panelists at the Exxon Knew event.

Michael Gerrard (standing) and other panelists at the Exxon Knew event.

Having missed a similar event with Naomi Klein and Bill McKibben on Saturday — Bill McKibben was in the audience for this — I was especially glad to catch this event, which featured some of the very people who will likely be involved in an actual case against Exxon if it ever goes to trial.  But by the time the event got out, I was past ready for dinner.  I walked back to Place to B with the idea of dropping off my heavy backpack, then finding a nearby restaurant.  However, upon arrival, I was beckoned into the bar area and offered a free vegan dinner.  I don’t know which group was responsible, but there was a huge spread of vegan food, and it was all free.

A much-needed vegan dinner

A much-needed vegan dinner

I gratefully accepted, filled a plate, and headed to the back room for a seat.  As soon as I opened the door, I ran into Steven Sondheim, the Sierra Club volunteer from Tennessee, who invited me to join his table.  I felt as if I had run into an old friend and was happy to find a place.  One of Steven’s tablemates was an anti-fracking activist from Scotland named Maria Montinaro, and we talked for a long time.  She told me that she had previously held a low-level job at the Bank of Scotland but had been fired for her fracking activism.  Although there is an official moratorium on fracking in Scotland, the government is allowing test drilling ro be conducted near major cities, which has led to a series of protests and resistance actions among citizens.  The government is supposed to decide in 2017 whether to lift the moratorium or make it a full ban.

As the evening wound down, we all agreed to meet up again Thursday night for a showing of Groundswell Rising at Generator Hostel.  Naomi Klein would be speaking at the same time, but the plan was to show the movie once, then hold a discussion, then show it again for those at the Klein event.  With that I wished everyone good night and headed to bed.