65-70 Protesters arrested in front of the White House w video & photo update

by Lefty Coaster

Community

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011 Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011 at 1:10:00pm PDT

So far most of the MSM is been been omitting any coverage whatsoever of today's Protests against the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline, with the exception of the Murdoch mouthpiece WSJ.

Sixty-five arrested outside White House in oil pipeline protest
Police arrested 65 environmentalists outside the White House Saturday as they staged a demonstration urging President Obama to block a proposed pipeline that would bring oil from Canada’s oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.

The civil disobedience launched two-weeks of White House demonstrations – with more arrests to come – as activists seek to increase political pressure on Obama over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

While police said 65 people were arrested, the protest organizers put the number at 70 in an account on their website Saturday.

McKibben, a key organizer of the protests, calls the Obama administration decision a referendum on the president's climate change record, noting the decision rests solely with the executive branch.
“He doesn’t have to go through the crazy climate deniers in Congress to be able to do the right thing,” McKibben said in Lafayette Square Saturday morning.

“If Barack Obama mans up, says no to this thing, it will send a surge of electricity through all of the people that voted for him three years ago. It will be the reminder of why we were so enamored of this guy in 2008,” McKibben said.

See Bill Mckibben's diary: 24 Hours From Jail

The decision on the Keystone pipeline is up to President Obama. No one else. Its time he stepped up to the plate to address Climate Change.

If you haven't yet please sign the Petition telling President Obama to stop the tar sands pipeline

Poll: Are you in favour of the oilsands pipeline?

UPDATE: As of 6:50 PM EDT the US media blackout of this Tar Sands Protest apparently continues with the exception of Bloomberg and the WSJ. Here's the first video I could find:

UPDATE #2: Photos

Bill McKibben is arrested.

And led away to jail with the others.