SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Extinction Rebellion protesters in London. (Photo: Jess Nyman, Twitter)
'The Time for Excuses Is Over': Extinction Rebellion Protests Shut Down European Cities
"One day I want to have kids. But I don't think I can. I don't see a future that's livable at the moment."
Apr 15, 2019
Activists across Europe blocked off major streets and public areas Monday as they called for immediate action from world leaders to deal with the climate crisis.
The movement, Extinction Rebellion (XR), is holding protests across the world from April 15 to 22 for an "International Rebellion" against a climate crisis that is escalating rapidly.
Importantly, XR stresses that it "doesn't rely on false positivity or hope."
A London protester bemoaned the fact that she found it unlikely she'd have children due to the climate crisis.
"One day I want to have kids," said the woman protester. "But I don't think I can. I don't see a future that's livable at the moment."
"XR communicates precisely about the climate emergency we face and then asks people to act accordingly," said the group in a statement announcing the week's action. "It's working."
The protest movement was endorsed by writer and activist George Monbiot in a Guardian column Monday.
"The time for excuses is over," wrote Monbiot. "The struggle to overthrow our life-denying system has begun."
That militant posture is leading to real actions with real consequences.
In London, protesters shut down the Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus with marchers and floats.
Swedish protesters held a die-in to occupy the country's Parliament.
The Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin was shut down by protesters as well.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Activists across Europe blocked off major streets and public areas Monday as they called for immediate action from world leaders to deal with the climate crisis.
The movement, Extinction Rebellion (XR), is holding protests across the world from April 15 to 22 for an "International Rebellion" against a climate crisis that is escalating rapidly.
Importantly, XR stresses that it "doesn't rely on false positivity or hope."
A London protester bemoaned the fact that she found it unlikely she'd have children due to the climate crisis.
"One day I want to have kids," said the woman protester. "But I don't think I can. I don't see a future that's livable at the moment."
"XR communicates precisely about the climate emergency we face and then asks people to act accordingly," said the group in a statement announcing the week's action. "It's working."
The protest movement was endorsed by writer and activist George Monbiot in a Guardian column Monday.
"The time for excuses is over," wrote Monbiot. "The struggle to overthrow our life-denying system has begun."
That militant posture is leading to real actions with real consequences.
In London, protesters shut down the Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus with marchers and floats.
Swedish protesters held a die-in to occupy the country's Parliament.
The Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin was shut down by protesters as well.
Activists across Europe blocked off major streets and public areas Monday as they called for immediate action from world leaders to deal with the climate crisis.
The movement, Extinction Rebellion (XR), is holding protests across the world from April 15 to 22 for an "International Rebellion" against a climate crisis that is escalating rapidly.
Importantly, XR stresses that it "doesn't rely on false positivity or hope."
A London protester bemoaned the fact that she found it unlikely she'd have children due to the climate crisis.
"One day I want to have kids," said the woman protester. "But I don't think I can. I don't see a future that's livable at the moment."
"XR communicates precisely about the climate emergency we face and then asks people to act accordingly," said the group in a statement announcing the week's action. "It's working."
The protest movement was endorsed by writer and activist George Monbiot in a Guardian column Monday.
"The time for excuses is over," wrote Monbiot. "The struggle to overthrow our life-denying system has begun."
That militant posture is leading to real actions with real consequences.
In London, protesters shut down the Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus with marchers and floats.
Swedish protesters held a die-in to occupy the country's Parliament.
The Oberbaum Bridge in Berlin was shut down by protesters as well.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.