In an otherwise excellent article and clarion call about irrevocable climate change, David Biello writes the following in the 07/02/13 issue of Scientific American.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oil-sands-may-irrevocably-tar-the-climate

“Yet mines like those in Montana and Wyoming’s Powder River Basin are not the targets of high-profile protests such as those facing Keystone XL; protesters do not tie themselves to the tracks to block the kilometers-long trains that carry coal from the basin day after day.”

Balderdash, Mr. Biello

…from the Bellingham Herald’s coverage of the Bellingham Twelve Coal Unit Train Blockade 12/12/2011

These 5 courageous protesters are pinwheeled to BNSF tracks, their necks linked together with U-locks, in a blockade of Powder River Basin Coal Unit Trains on 12/12/2011 in Bellingham, Washington. As coal trains stacked up, north and southbound, these environmental warriors held their ground and were joined by others, 7 of whom were eventually arrested with them. The Bellingham Twelve.

Comrades form a protective shield around Five Brothers, in Solidarity with their U-Lock Blockade Action, to halt the Coal Extraction/Export/Combustion Scheme by physically putting there bodies in the path of Powder River Basin Coal Unit Trains

These 13 courageous protester are using Civil Disobedience as their Statement of Urgency, blockading the same BNSF tracks in White Rock, BC on 05/05/2012. Again, it is Powder River Basin Coal Unit Trains that were halted in their tracks until the arrest of these environmental warriors. The White Rock Thirteen.

The White Rock Thirteen blockade the same BNSF rails, north of the border in British Columbia, that were blockaded by the Bellingham Twelve south of the border in Washington State

Prosecution of the Bellingham Twelve continues, with a Pre-Trial and Motion Hearing in Bellingham Municipal Court at 2:00PM PST on Thursday, 06/20/2013. The ordeal of prosecution and the expense of legal defense continues for those that spoke out against irrevocable climate change with their blockade action 1-1/2 years ago.

As a defendant myself, I feel I can speak for my brothers and sisters of the Bellingham Twelve and say…

Facts are, Mr. Biello, that…

PROTESTERS DO TIE THEMSELVES TO THE TRACKS

…but other than overlooking this fact, your article nails it. I ask you, Mr. Biello, to consider the “Standing Man” actions taking place among the Turkish Resisters, and note that an individual or group action of Resistance can cascade into a movement. Protests become “high profile” when those with a pulpit, such as yourself, inform your readers correctly about the occurrence of such protests. And yes, I am suggesting that you use your pulpit to correct for this oversight. What Mother Earth needs is blockades on the tracks, blockades of the pipelines, and the fracking facilities, endlessly until this threat of irrevocable climate change is answered by assuring that these fossil remains stay in the ground – sequestered carbon as they are presently.”