Students at the University of California Berkeley began an occupation of Upper Sproul Plaza on November 9th, 2011. Here are some voices from the assembly that evening. Later that night University police came in riot gear and violently pressed the protestors with batons and arrested several students and one professor from among those who had locked arms to defend the encampment. A CALmessage sent by Chancellor Birgeneau and other administrators defended the police action, described locking arms as ‘not non-violent’: “It is unfortunate that some protesters chose to obstruct the police by linking arms and forming a human chain to prevent the police from gaining access to the tents. This is not non-violent civil disobedience.”
The occupation general assembly has called for a campus strike on November 15.
Here is raw video of the police action later that night:
Nov 9, 2011
University of California Berkeley Students began an occupation in Upper Sproul Plaza today. This video shows Vice Chancellor Harry LeGrande addressing the assembly.
Partial Excerpt of Vice Chancellor Harry LeGrande’s Statement:
“I think we’re all fighting for the same causes.” [not shown in this video. See this video]
“We appreciate your concerns about the economy and inequality in our country. We understand you seek places to discuss and strategize about the issues. You may gather 24/7 over the next week on Upper Sproul [Plaza]. Our policy though: no encampments which means, no tents, no sleeping bags, no fires for cooking, no sleeping. Amplified sound is allowable from noon to one p.m. From five to seven p.m. Other hours may be arranged by exception. ”
“If there are encampments they will be removed. We hope that you will work with one another and us to maintain these guidelines. If infamous weather arrives. We will allow tarps to be placed in protection.”
“In the event that we have to, we will give you a ten minute warning before the police come in, so that if any student does not want to be arrested if that is what is going to occur, they will have time to remove themselves.”
‘(Reuters) – Deaths and health problems from floods, drought and other U.S. disasters related to climate change cost an estimated $14 billion over the last decade, researchers said on Monday.’
‘The Obama administration is considering a move that could delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by requiring sponsors to reduce the project’s environmental risks before it can be approved, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.’
‘WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House on Sunday to oppose a plan for a transnational oil pipeline they fear could harm the environment.’
Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon was interviewed by Greg Dalton at Climate One at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. This video features excerpts related to energy and climate change.
“Here we have this air, this very thin layer that wraps around this beautiful blue green planet. And changing the chemistry depends upon what every country around the world puts into it. And so how are we going to work together to address a set of rules that will protect this commons, this atmosphere, that we all share”
Partial Text Transcript:
2:44 CO2s Emissions Increasing
“So not only do we have way too much carbon dioxide in the air but the pace is growing quickly. This has all kinds of threats to the planet. So we should do everything possible, in conservation, in solar energy, in potential wave energy, in wind energy, to replace the carbon based energy economy with a non carbon based.”
4:29 ‘Citizens United’ – The Power and Finance Behind Policy
“Let me tell you that when you look to policy, you can’t just look at policy itself, you have to look at the power behind different perspectives in policy, and there’s a huge powerful interest in the oil and coal world that the last thing that they want is for us to move to non carbon sources. And so their presence is intense. They fund lots of think tanks to come up with lots of arguments not to proceed to non carbon based. Under Citizens United, they can put enormous amounts anonymously into campaigns across America. And let me give you a sense of this. If Exxon spent 3% in 2008 of its net profits it would have exceeded all the dollars spent in the presidential campaign by all the various parties involved. One company, three percent of net profits. And under Citizens United, it can be done secretively, anonymously. And so it’s a very powerful interest. It’s the reason we need to have discussions across this country about where we’re headed and why we need to change the course were on, because ultimately it’s an informed citizenry that is going to create the push back and allow us change course.”
14:15 International climate Negotiations in South Africa later this year
Q:”Given the relative failure of the United States to pass any kind of climate cap and trade or anything in our own country, what do you think we should bring forward to the table in South Africa in the negotiations. What should our approach be?”
A: “The hope had been that substantial progress by America would lead to a framework that we could advocate for internationally. I think we’re somewhat at sea in terms of what international role we can take.”
“I do want to point out that the administration proceeded to by administrative rule do a terrific piece of work in terms of the gas efficiency of vehicles, by requiring for the years I think 2017 to 2030 a 5% per year improvement. That has largely gone unnoticed and un-discussed. In my think tank case that I did on how to end our dependence on foreign oil over a twenty year period I have a 6% per year in there, so 5% per year, that’s pretty solid, and managed to bring a lot of parties together. That doesn’t necessarily set the stage for an international set of responsibilities.”
“But what we’re talking about in terms of international conversation is about the global commons. So again, here we have this air, this very thin layer that wraps around this beautiful blue green planet. And changing the chemistry depends upon what every country around the world puts into it. And so how are we going to work together to address a set of rules that will protect this commons, this atmosphere, that we all share. And that is so important, because there is no way, no matter how good of a legislation we do here in the U.S. by ourselves, that we are going to change the general global dynamic.”
“But the hope is, by being engaged at the U.S., we gain credibility and have more ability to work with countries around the world and not have everyone saying, ‘you first, you first’. Developing countries saying ‘you first’ industrialized world because you’ve already benefited from burning a lot of carbon, now we want to burn a lot of carbon. And for us to say, ‘you first’ you poor countries because you’re doing more coal we’re already doing a lot of hydro and renewables so you get rid of your coal first and then let’s talk. We’ve got to get out of the ‘you first’ and get into the us together have to take care of this problem.”
Read the article for the details and reasoning, but here is Muller’s conclusion:
‘Global warming is real. Perhaps our results will help cool this portion of the climate debate. How much of the warming is due to humans and what will be the likely effects? We made no independent assessment of that.’
‘A new report from the United Nations Development Program warns that if drastic measures are not taken to prepare nations for the impacts of climate change, the economic progress of the world’s developing countries could stall or even be reversed by 2050.’
‘The global output of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped last year by the biggest amount on record, the U.S. Department of Energy calculated, a sign of how feeble the world’s efforts are at slowing man-made global warming.’
‘(Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday he sees overwhelming U.S. support for TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL oil pipeline to Texas from Canada’s oil sands, despite recent signs of reticence in Washington.’
