Five arrested in Day 2 of October Rebellion in Vancouver

Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Badger was among those taken into custody on the first day for blocking the intersection of Commercial Drive and East Broadway

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      Extinction Rebellion Vancouver has revealed that five climate activists were taken into custody after they staged a protest in one of the city's busiest intersections.

      On Day 2 of the group's two-week October Rebellion on October 17, they prevented traffic from travelling through East Broadway and Commercial Drive.

      One of those arrested on Day 1 was a man named Badger. He was among three speakers at the group's October 9 news conference announcing the protests.

      “I’ve made all the personal lifestyle changes, I’ve signed the petitions, written letters to governments and corporations and nothing has changed," Badger said in a news release. "In fact, the situation has only become worse.

      "So to change the system we have to do more," he continued. "I will not stand by on the sidewalk and watch while our supposed leaders push us toward extinction and societal collapse.”

      Back on October 9, Badger delivered a detailed explanation why he felt that rising greenhouse-gas emissions and governmental inaction would inevitably lead to mass starvation, war, and mass displacement.

      He pointed out that in 1995 when the first Conference of the Parties, a.k.a. COP, international climate meeting was held, there were 361 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

      On the eve of the 26th COP conference in Glasgow at the end of this month, there are 413 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have linked rising greenhouse-gas emissions to extreme weather events, including the deadly heat wave that claimed nearly 600 lives in B.C. this summer.

      Extinction Rebellion Vancouver's peaceful acts of civil disobedience are aimed at putting the climate and ecological emergency in the national spotlight. 

      The group has been inspired by a U.K. group, Insulate Britain, which has been disrupting traffic in London with small groups.

      On Day 3 (October 18), the Vancouver climate activists will gather at Nelson Park at 4:30 p.m. before attempting to bloc the intersection at West Georgia and Granville streets during the afternoon rush hour.

      On the first two days of their October Rebellion, nine people have been arrested.

      In this video, Extinction Rebellion Vancouver members explain why they've joined the October Rebellion.

      They have a single demand: stop all fossil-fuel subsidies in Canada.

      "The recent IPCC Working Group 1 report has been called a 'code red for humanity', stating that “global warming of 1.5° C and 2° C [since pre-industrial times] will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades,” the group stated in a news release.

      "And yet, politicians continue to support the fossil-fuel industry through subsidies, and projects like the Coastal Gaslink (CGL) and Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipelines."

      The International Institute for Sustainable Development estimated that Canadian governments have offered $23 billion in subsidies to this industry since 2018.

      According to NASA, 2020 tied 2016 as the hottest year on record, posting an average surface temperature 1.02° C warmer than the baseline from 1951 to 1980,

      “The last seven years have been the warmest seven years on record, typifying the ongoing and dramatic warming trend,” Goddard Institute for Space Studies director Gavin Schmidt said in a NASA news release earlier this year.

      “Whether one year is a record or not is not really that important—the important things are long-term trends," he continued. "With these trends, and as the human impact on the climate increases, we have to expect that records will continue to be broken.”

      NASA released this video on January 14 explaining why 2020 was the hottest year on record.

       

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