civil disobedience

Photographers Phillipe Reynaers and Eric de Mildt shot these pictures today of a protest in Belgium which was organized by Greenpeace to pressure EU finance Ministers to help developing nations tackle climate change. It was yet another example of the growing frequency of civil disobedience in support of climate action.

Last week in the Washington, D.C., thousands of protesters risked arrest to surround the coal-burning power plant that supplies Congress with electricity in the largest act of civil disobedience in support of climate action on US soil. The capital's police force declined to make any arrests.

Police in Brussels were not as restrained in the face of hundreds of Greenpeace activists from across Europe who blocked the exits of the building where EU finance ministers were meeting. 

Activists displayed banners in several languages asking EU politicians to “Save the Climate” and “Bail out the Planet.” They ‘sealed’ the building and called on ministers not to come out unless they put money on the table to tackle climate change, instead of continuing to dish out billions for failed banks and automakers. Instead, the police moved in, and some 350 protesters were arrested.

(Scroll down to see more photos, courtesy of Greenpeace and the photographers.)  

University of Utah student, Tim DeChristopher arrived at the BLM building in Salt Lake City last Friday intending to join some 200 other people protesting the Bush administration’s decision to auction oil and gas rights on federal lands near some of our most iconic national parks. Then he had one of those profound insights that change people’s lives forever.

As Tim put it in his online statement: