[MCN] Welcome the "Valve Turners"

[Jeffrey J. Smith]

350 MISSOULA

P.O. Box 7006

Missoula, MT 59807

(406) 880-8320

Release: December 5, 2016

Contact: Jeff Smith, Chair

More Info: www.350montana.org





*"I am committed to the moral necessity of participating in nonviolent
direct action to protect life."*



That’s what Leonard Higgins said after his well-planned action, turning the
emergency shut-off valve on the Express Pipeline in northern Montana on October
11, 2016, one of five simultaneous shut-offs of pipelines carrying Canadian
tar sands oil.



Leonard and Reed Ingalls, his videographer, will be in Missoula to speak
about the “moral necessity” of *conscientious objection to the fossil fuel
industry’s ongoing climate destruction* on December 7 at potluck reception
sponsored by 350 Missoula, which starts at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor
ballroom of the Union Hall at 208 East Main.



This was an unprecedented act of non-violent civil disobedience that shut
down 15 percent of US crude oil imports all at once. Fossil fuel companies
have identified $27 trillion worth of new fossil fuels they want to bring
to market, at the same time climate scientists tell us all of these
carbon-sources must stay in the ground if we are to meet the goal set in
Paris last year of limiting global warming to less than 1.5 C.



To keep a livable planet, in other words, we must pivot immediately to
renewable energy. Encouraging this Great Transition is the mission of 350
Missoula. We believe our country has the technology, the money, and the
skilled workers to do the job.



The “Valve Turners” are facing felony charges with sentences of up to 95
years in prison. Leonard and Reed will appear in court on December 6 in the
Choteau County Courthouse in Fort Benton to answer for their actions. The
next night Leonard and Reed will be in Missoula to discuss why they felt
morally compelled to take non-violent direct action.



In general, the theory of nonviolent civil disobedience hearkens back to
the theory that there is a “higher law,” something more urgent than the
ones on the books. In the past, resisters to unjust acts by government have
also cited the welfare of the whole, what the philosopher Thomas Merton has
called “the common good of everyone,” to justify acts that fall outside the
law. Leonard is planning a "necessity defense" in his court trial, that it
is necessary to engage in civil disobedience given the pace of global
warming and the reluctance of people in power to do anything about it.



The organization that organized the pipeline shutdown, Direct Climate
Action, puts it this way, “We are in an emergency. The aim is to avert a
climate catastrophe, something we are inextricably barreling toward without
adequate public policy.”
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