Religious Witness at Tar Sands Action
Rev. Jim Antal arrested protesting Keystone XL pipeline.
RELIGIOUS WITNESS AT TAR SANDS ACTION
More Than 2,000 People Join Sit-in at the White House to Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
Religious Community Says ‘No’ to Keystone XL Pipeline, ‘Yes’ to Climate Justice
Religious community scheduled to have largest group to date risk arrest on Monday, August 29, at 11 a.m. in front of White House.
WHAT: More than 2,000 people – including prominent religious leaders, scientists, actors, conservationists, farmers, and food security advocates – are scheduled to take part in daily sit-ins at the White House in Washington, D.C., for the two weeks between August 20 and September 3 to call on President Obama to deny a permit for the Keystone XL, a controversial 1,700 mile pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico.
On Monday, August 29, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., Sojourners has organized more than 50 prominent religious leaders from Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Unitarian Universalist, and other faiths to risk arrest at the White House. A Jewish morning prayer service in Lafayette Park will begin at 9 a.m., followed by an interfaith prayer service that will conclude with a blessing for those risking arrest. At 11 a.m. religious leaders will cross to the White House sidewalk.
WHERE: Lafayette Square Park located on H Street between 15th and 17th Sts, NW. Metro stop: McPherson Square (Blue & Orange lines)
WHY: To effectively combat the social, economic, environmental, and security impacts that climate change will have on American communities, President Obama must take immediate action to stop tar sands oil development that threatens to contaminate freshwater supplies in our American agricultural heartland and substantially increase U.S. carbon emissions. Religious leaders encourage President Obama to lead the way in building out an energy and fuel infrastructure based on industries that produce renewable and sustainable technologies that protect God’s creation and bring jobs with dignity to American workers.
Representatives will be present from: Interfaith Religious Witness for the Earth; Jewish Am Kolel, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, Shalom Center, TikkunLeil Shabbat; Roman Catholic Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, MaryknollOffice of Global Concerns, Pax Christi USA, Franciscan Action Network, the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Names Province, the Sisters of St. Francis, St. Camillus Catholic Church, St. Aloysius Catholic Church; Unitarian Universalist Association, Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth; Protestant St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (DC),Community of St. Martin, Eighth Day Faith Community, Sojourners, United Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministry, Pendle Hill Retreat Center, First Baptist Church of West Hartford (CT); and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Petition: Sign and Push Out the Petition to President Obama; use Twitter and Facebook
Link: http://signon.org/sign/religious-community-says?source=c.fwd&r_by=119032
Press Releases: Create your own press release for your religious news outlets
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns press release
Sojourners press release
Statements from religious leaders risking arrest
