February 25th, 2009
Confronting Congressional hypocrisy
We all know that members of Congress live sheltered lives. Secure dining areas. Federally-paid staff with plenty of job benefits. Great health insurance and access to perks and junkets on “official” business. Now some anti-coal groups are going to bring home the hypocrisy of both political parties in their own den: the Capitol has its own coal-burning heating and cooling plant. It’s OK for Congress to mandate alternative fuels like ethanol or solar or whatever for others, but the Capitol Power Plant burns on.
They can probe and investigate TVA for the coal ash spill. Or grill GM for not building hybrid cars sooner. But the coal plant burns on.
The protest is March 2. Organized by a coalition called Capitol Climate Action. Expect civil disobedience, arrest, clamor, cable networks, etc.
Says author Bill McKibben, “When civil disobedience works, it demonstrates a willingness to bear a certain amount of pain for a larger end — a way to say, ‘coal is bad enough that I’m willing to get arrested’.”
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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