WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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A local chapter of the environmental protest group, Extinction Rebellion, has three demands for lawmakers to ensure carbon emissions drop to net zero within the next six years. WFHB Correspondent Katrine Bruner discusses the Extinction Rebellion organization with the founding XR Bloomington members.
The Bloomington chapter of the Extinction Rebellion Organization began in the early summer of 2019. The group dreamed of forming an alliance of people to respond to the climate emergency with non-violent direct action. It was with this hope in mind that members Deborra Sanders and Ellen Tamura began their journey.
The Extinction Rebellion movement has been taking action since last year. However, it was not until recently that nations abroad and even cities within the United States began putting their hands in to join the movement. Deborra Sanders and Ellen Tamura have both been with the project since the beginning, in the hope to create a community that cares enough for the environment to help make drastic changes.
Ellen Tamura started the Bloomington group in April of 2019, which she said was “slow to get off the ground” but now has grown into a rich group of individuals ranging at about 70 members pledging support of the organization. There are about 6 or 7 active leaders of the organization. In addition, members of the UU and the Bloomington Friends Meeting have begun to take an interest as well.
As founding members of the XR Bloomington organization, Sanders and Tamura give insight into what the organization means to them and why it is such an important movement overall. First, Sanders spoke about the emphasis of XR’s values, and then Tamura mentioned her vision for the group.
