Extinction Rebellion: Climate Rebels Take 30+ Actions Across the US - April 15 – 22

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Category: World News

Published on Friday, 12 April 2019 15:34

Written by Janet Walker

Beginning Monday, April 15, Extinction Rebellion (XR US) declares a non-violent revolt to force government action on climate change and will galvanize in large and small cities in the United States as one strand in an emerging, worldwide revolution.

In order to build the people power necessary to force governments to take action on climate change, in the U.S., actions may include lock downs, road blockades, shutdowns, "die-ins", and other forms of disruption -- while advocating for a justice-based, healing vision for the future.

Extinction Rebellion's International Rebellion will break out across every continent on Earth Day April 15 through April 22, barring Antarctica. Rebels in 49 countries are demanding their governments take decisive action to implement systemic changes to stop global warming while there's still time left.

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"Governments have failed us. Those who are most vulnerable and least responsible for this crisis are the ones who are suffering the most. People are dying. Species are disappearing. Everything is at stake," said Bea Ruiz, a national coordinator for XR U.S. "We are living through a time like no other and we won't allow this destruction to continue."

Ruiz continued, "It's time to do what's never been done before in the fight against climate change - a collective and coordinated international rebellion that will continue to escalate until our demands are met. Nothing can stop us, because together, nothing can."

The wildly popular movement has grown exponentially since their initial Declaration of Rebellion in the United Kingdom in October, 2018. A month later, six thousand Rebels converged and peacefully blocked five major bridges across the Thames in London. They planted trees in Parliament Square and dug a hole there to bury a coffin representing the future, and then super-glued themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace as they read a letter to the Queen.

The movement has spread to include hundreds of thousands of people around the world in six months in part because Extinction Rebellion doesn't rely on false positivity or hope. XR communicates precisely about the climate emergency we face and then asks people to act accordingly. It's working.

"People from all walks of life in the US are joining Extinction Rebellion," said Christina See, a theatrical lighting designer and a New York City Coordinator for XR US. "I have never been involved in activism before. I came with feelings of grief, fear, and anger that have been building for years and I've transformed those feelings into action."

One newcomer to XR and the fight for climate justice includes Mike Selmer, a 62 year-old cancer survivor and blue collar construction worker from Wyoming who has vowed to take action for his grandchildren.

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"My generation has not come to grips with the climate crisis," said Selmer. "It is our moral responsibility to create the circumstances that will allow those who follow us to succeed where we failed. That success will only come if all of us, young and old, take action to make it happen."

Actions are planned in major cities from coast to coast, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, and smaller cities including Portland, Denver, and Austin.

Extinction Rebellion U.S. is one of 49 countries that form Extinction Rebellion International. XR US has four demands. They include not only the necessary target for reducing carbon emissions and expanding democracy to counteract the hold fossil fuel industries have over the US government, but also environmental reparations for disproportionately impacted communities, rights for Mother Nature, and respect for Indigenous sovereignty.

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Expressions of support for the international call to do whatever is necessary to non-violently persuade politicians to end their complacency and inaction have come from many hundreds of notables from all spheres. A portion of those include:

Greta Thunberg (Climate Activist), Dame Emma Thompson (Actor, Writer, and Activist), Radiohead (Musicians), Stephen Fry (Comedian, Writer, Actor), Rowan Williams (Former Archbishop of Canterbury), Ellie Goulding (Singer-songwriter), Simon Amstell (Comedian, Writer, Film-maker), Lily Cole (Model, Actor, Entrepreneur), George Monbiot (Journalist), Noam Chomsky (Linguist, Philosopher, Academic), Bill McKibben (Educator and Author), Vandana Shiva (Environmental activist, Author), The YES MEN (Culture Jamming Activists), Gavin Turk (Artist), Nan Goldin (Artist), John Aitchison (Bafta and Emmy Winning Wildlife Cameraman).

USA, April 15 - 22 – Extinction Rebellion's International Rebellion will break out across every continent on Earth, barring Antarctica, including the U.S. Rebels in 49 countries are demanding their governments take decisive action on climate change.

WHAT: Bold and creative acts of Rebellion, including blockades, demonstrations, and other forms of disruption are planned in at least 35 cities across the country next week to build capacity to force the US Government to take action and stop climate change.

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WHEN: Monday, April 15 - Monday, April 22, 2019

WHERE: More than 20 cities and towns from Coast to Coast including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, Denver, Austin, and Atlanta. 

WHO: Thousands of ordinary people from across the United States who are in alliance with Extinction Rebellion worldwide and are committed to escalating disruption of government & industry until their demands are met.

WHY: The rapidly accelerating impacts of climate change, especially on those who are most vulnerable and least responsible, and the refusal of governments to stop it, has fueled the growth of the Extinction Rebellion movement around the world. Ordinary people, most of whom have never engaged in political activism before, have joined the global rebellion and vowed together to disrupt business as usual until steps are taken to deal with the root causes and impacts of climate change. 

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"Everything is at stake. We are living through a time like no other and we won't allow this destruction to continue," said Bea Ruiz, a National Coordinator for XR US. "It's time to do what's never been done before in the fight against climate change. This week in the US we take a step closer to a future coordinated, sustained rebellion. Rebellion is our last, best chance."