WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The local chapter of the international Extinction Rebellion organization is planning to take over the Bloomington City Hall on December 6 to demand immediate action in solving the climate change crisis, organizers said this week.
Ellen Tamura, a member from Bloomington, Indiana’s Extinction Rebellion group, said the event will take place at Bloomington City Hall Friday, December 6th beginning with a festival at 2 p.m. and followed by an assembly at 3:30 p.m.
According to the group, this is a, “people’s occupation and school strike to call on the city of Bloomington to declare a climate emergency and take climate action.”
Extinction Rebellion, abbreviated as XR, started as an environmental movement in the United Kingdom less than a year ago, and the movement has quickly spread across the globe. The group uses an hourglass symbol as its logo to represent the time running out for many species because of drastic changes in the world’s climate.
XR Curator Jay Griffiths, said, “There is no way to overstate the danger we face from climate change… [and] our institutions have proven themselves incapable of addressing the crisis.”
According to the XR website, the primary aim of the movement is to use nonviolent civil disobedience in order to compel government action to avoid various emergencies in the climate system such as, “tipping points, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.”
The long-term strategy for Extinction Rebellion is to work with the other members to, “inspire and be part of instigating a national, coordinated economic and government disruption on an unprecedented scale that lasts indefinitely until the government feels forced to concede to the four XR US demands.”
First, XR says the government must tell the truth about the imminent climate emergency. Secondly, Extinction Rebellion said it demands the government to enact policies to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025. Thirdly, the organization demands an assembly of citizens to oversee the changes. Fourthly, the XR said it demands a transition to ensure a livable and nondiscriminatory planet for all.
The citizen-led assembly was created in the UK and projected throughout the nation to “investigate, discuss and make recommendations on how to respond to the climate emergency.”
According to the site for the Extinction Rebellion in the US, Bloomington is one of the 62 cities in the U.S. responding to these demands.
The XR organization said there are various tasks to do to enact change without cost such as calling your elected officials’ office and asking for a meeting using social media, press and direct action to campaign in response to this issue.
