On November 6, 2011, exactly one year before the 2012 US presidential elections, thousands of people will surround the White House to inspire President Obama to vote against the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Over a period of 2 weeks in August - September, 2011, daily vigils were held in front of the White House, encouraging President Obama to vote against the dangerous Keystone XL Pipeline from Alberta Tar Sands. This strategy was initiated by Bill McKibben, author, educator, environmentalist, and founder of
www.350.org, Over the 2 weeks, , 1252 people were arrested in front of the White House, including me (fist arrest) and 5 members of Psychologists for Social Responsibility. Leading environmental scientist James Hansen, who was also arrested, claims that this pipeline and extracting Tar Sands would be "Game Over" for the environment.
Let's do our part to make it easier for President Obama to vote against the pipeline. He is receiving much pressure to vote for it. At a DC Rally on October 7, pastoral leader Rose Marie Berger said that if Obama voted for the pipeline, he would "have holy hell to pay," as ministers would sit in front of bulldozers to stop them. Of course, if he votes against the pipeline, the oil companies and other vested interests will give him hell. Frequent ads on TV mislead the public. They deceive the public regarding jobs and strange Orwellian remarks about how tar sands oil is like other oils . Let's educate ourselves to demystify the public and build strong support before he votes.
These ads appear on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O'Donnell and likely other stations. Please call and send in emails to these shows asking that they REPORT on the pipeline and do stories on this, as the topic is consistent with the kind of subjects they do best.
Below are words to an educational song. The song is performed with a slide show on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkCWJO6myDE . Following the song, an excellent, informative article below by Dr. Trudy Bond, friend and colleague from Psychologists for Social Responsibility (Check our website,
www.psysr.org)
Tar Sand Song - by DIane Perlman, 9/11/11
Dedicated to my grandtwins, Neima and Neli, born 9/15/10, their cohorts and their descendants
The content inspired from learnings from Bill McKibben, James Hansen, Naiomi Klein, Native residents and chiefs from Alberta who visited DC, and the youth of the world who appeared at the UN Conference on Climate Change, the Klima Forum and all over the streets of Copenhagen in December 2009,
This song is meant to be educational
To "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie
This land has tar sand
They have a grand plan
When they extract it
They unleash carbon
And release toxins into the water
Tar sands must stay for you and me
The land has natives.
What is their fate if
We give them cancer?
What is your answer?
And when we mine it
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Visiting Scholar Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution George Mason University
Diane Perlman is a clinical and political psychologist, devoted to applying knowledge from psychology, conflict studies and social sciences to designing (
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