Support climate activists opposing Keystone XL pipeline for tarsands oil

Update: Read Patricia’s first-hand report.

Toronto-Danforth resident and climate activist Patricia Warwick was just arrested in Washington D.C. while opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, which is to allow for the expansion of tar sands operations in Canada.  President Obama is to reject or approve the plan later this year.

The “mug shot” photo was taken by the group Tar Sands Action.  And here she is at the protest, in the red behind the sign, in a big sun hat:

Patricia’s arrest was covered in the Globe and Mail and Ottawa Citizen [new link], where she was quoted as saying, prior to her arrest:

I am a bit concerned about (being barred from the U.S.), but I have accepted that. I am generally peaceful. I go to protests but I have never taken a risk. I feel this is serious enough that I have got to take a risk. I have got to make my voice known. So I am prepared to be arrested.

The world needs more people like Patricia and those who are with her.  Please support Patricia and Tar Sands Action by writing to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and asking him to put a stop to tar sands expansion plans.  They threaten the future for our children and are unethical.

UPDATE:  Although those arrested yesterday remain in prison until Monday evening, in what authorities said was an effort to deter further protesters, Patricia has been released and is free to return to Canada.  The Vancouver Sun has also covered her story, quoting her as saying:

I regard the tarsands as one of the most critical issues of our time, and if they are not stopped, it is going to be game over as far as mitigating climate change.  I think it is critical to the survival of this planet as we know it. And so I have come to the decision this is the best way to get the message out.