Finally, we are seeing the kind of demonstrations demanding action that have been building for the last few years. The US and Canada have been lagging behind other parts of the world in demanding climate action from our leaders. Now, with Extinction Rebellion, we see a real force for getting the kind of “Act Up” urgency into the mainstream (the people who launched the AIDS crisis demonstrations that galvanized others to demand action). I’ve not heard of a Extinction Rebellion group here locally. If you know of them, have them contact me. I’d like to do a discussion session with them.
More than 700 people have been arrested in civil disobedience actions as the group Extinction Rebellion kicked off two weeks of protests in 60 cities worldwide, demanding urgent government action on the climate crisis. Its members have superglued themselves to government buildings, occupied public landmarks, shut down roads and taken to the streets to sound the alarm about the impending catastrophe of global warming. Extinction Rebellion, a nonpolitical movement, launched last year in the U.K. and rose to prominence in April, when it disrupted traffic in Central London for 11 days. For more about the significance of the coordinated global protests, we speak with Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook.