Berkeley Protesters Treetop Insanity No Help to Environmental Movement
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY 
on 06.28.08
In a case of civic action that’s gone way too far, student protesters at Berkeley living in trees for the last 18 months to protest the removal of an oak grove on campus to make way for athletic fields have begun throwing human excrement at arborists intent on cutting the supply lines they have set up to move in food and water as protesters have cycled in and out during a protracted court case.
But with supply lines cut they’re basically huddled in one tree, informing University officials that they were both not moving and rationing water. Officials at first attempted to cut them off completely, but now they’ve provided the students with water, and police are negotiating to keep them from flinging feces in return for basic supplies.
With all due respect for the right to protest in America, this is nothing less than madness indeed. There is a fundamental need for basic civic action of many types in the environmental movement, but this is not one of them. It’s simply drawing undue negative attention that distracts from the real issues while gaining little at all in return.
Let’s hope they come to their senses and climb out of the tree.
via:CNN
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That is crazy, they really need to stop
they are not students. ucberkeley students aren't this dumb.
if somebody was keeping my food away from me i would throw s*t at them as well.
I'm curious as to why this is madness. From the CNN reporter's exquisite details, it seems like a peaceful protest, other than the flinging of feces
After 2 years of non violence it is clear to many on the sidelines that throwing human poop and pee was a mistake made in anger. You can't focus on one shitty mistake.
Let's focus on the issues:
==========================
- nobody should judge those who stage a non violent protest to stop illegal actions by those in power
- The University is breaking the local Berkeley city law on attempts to cut down these trees. see the indymedia link below The city has sued to stop the tree cut.
- The University is breaking the law by constructing fences on city property to isolate the activists. The city has gone to court over the fence.
- If the tree sitters came down the trees would be illegally cut ASAP, and later the courts would sort it out as an illegal cut.
-If the University had clear rights to cut down the trees they would have won in court by now. If it were so simple it would be over by now. The tree sitters should just be allowed to stay in peace until all legal battles have been settled.
- The activists largest problem is ignorant press who constantly repeat misinformation
In closing, Treehugger should be ashamed for letting Kenny Luna post anything. As a teacher I'm ashamed to have him as a fellow "educator". What Kenny has done here is MIS-information and very little research other than a link to CNN. His opinion is not education, and it is not fit for the goal of making environmental issues mainstream. He should mainstream the goals and statements of both sides of the tree protest for the public to understand. He should not label it insane or "too far" just because he does not agree with one tactic in the course of two years. He should get his shit straight if he is going to pretend to coach from the sidelines.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/30/18444913.php
i remember then Treehugger used to be cool, now that it has been bought by the discovery channel it has become another yuppie infomercial in an ever rising tide of advertisements.
The tree sitters are the front line defenders of the earth, albeit a very small, but precious strip of land that I too hold dear to may heart. There actions should be applauded, and when push comes to shove, they have a right to defend themselves, by any means necessary. Peoples Park is still here because activists stood up for it. They fought the National Gourd, and won, had it paved over by the police in the 80's, then took it back. Had it not been for these courageous men and women
the grove would be yet another concrete pavilion.
Shame on you Treehugger for regurgitating CNN propaganda, if i wanted to read this, i would have kept watching tv. you have just lost a dedicated reader of your blog.
I think this is one of the worst articles I've seen on Treehugger - while I've never been a treesitter myself and flinging poo is certainly not an appropriate action, telling people to come down out of trees when they have good reason to maintain their protest, is certainly not Treehugger-worthy commentary.
Where did they get human feces from?
The term treehugger stemmed from the chipko movement in India, where people like the berkeley treesitters put their lives in front of the chainsaws to stem the wreckless destruction of our planet.
I am deeply disappointed that my favorite website would allow Kenny Luna to muckrake a group of treehuggers who are defending the oldest intact oak forest in Berkeley, without even alluding to the line in the sand thats being drawn between UC Berkeley and the planet.
UC Berkeley continues to plummet into unchecked privatization with the latest blow being the relinquishment of managing our nuclear weapons arsenal to a private corporation.
Nuclear winter anyone?
--After 2 years of non violence it is clear to many on the sidelines that throwing human poop and pee was a mistake made in anger. You can't focus on one shitty mistake.--
The problem with the one incident is that it is a polarizing incident. You cannot just forget that these radicals have flug excrement. You cannot just forget the one mistake at Kent State or the one mistake made by Joseph Hazelwood. You can't just wipe this one aside either. What is done is done and it becomes part of the whole.
you tell us to "Post and intelligent and civil comments" I feel you should inform your writers to do the same. I have to whole heartedly agree with wallydallas here. They should report the news not their opinion.
Thank you wallydallas, for posting the some of the facts and what is actually going on.
Note to WallyDallas:
Anyone who's been awake for the last 10 years should know that the noise from one inappropriate act will be amplified to the point that it overwhelms the signal of any action, regardless of how well-intentioned and appropriate. Call it the Karl Rove Correspondence Course on How to Undermine Your Enemy's Message.
I would call flinging human feces at university cops a fatal error. Time to reboot.
Sounds like Wally's on point. You should step up on vetting your sources.
The protest may seem excessive for the number of trees, but the presence of greenery in cities shapes the minds of urban children,who won't care about the environment unless they grow up seeing trees everywhere, and hearing birds singing. Its easy not to care about what you never had, especially when almost every corporation is telling them that all they need to be happy is some product/service.
Also, anyone who stands up to make change should be encouraged. Sure, they make mistakes, but hopefully they'll listen to critics and learn that their public image is equally as important as their direct action, no rights movement ever worked without winning people over to the better way.
Take the high road, or be marginalized. Without these brave souls, global warming would have already destroyed us.
Say what you will, but flinging feces is, in any mainstream or even far off the beaten path description of standard human behavior, madness.
There's no excuse for it.
And no matter how virtuous and how well conducted their protest has been, they just took every ounce of credibility they had and threw it off of the treetop by doing that.
And yes, it did make all kinds of national news, and there's a whole, vast segment of society which won't even bother to see what they were protesting about.. All they'll say is that "Another bunch of crazy environmentalists... Blah blah blah..."
Guys like Karl Rove eat this stuff for lunch. And that's why these folks are no help to the environmental movement.
-k
I just want to give these tree huggers my support for their perseverance in the face of adversity, their guts to do what a lot of us would do if we had the nerve, their goal to teach developers the importance of good judgement on the land, and their love of the environment and all living things. The earth and life as we know it needs more people like these individuals to save it from man's destructive hand. I want to thank them for what they are standing up for. I appreciate their initiatives. Bravo!
Wait...I might be new to this site but I thought fighting for the survival of trees is what the term "Treehugger" meant....I guess I was wrong. Too bad; that's the reason I found myself here in the first place, lookin' for other tree huggers. I guess I'll have to look elsewhere. : ( Peace
Situations like these lead people to preface every energy- and pollution-saving measure with "I'm not an environmentalist, but..." One guy I talked to switched from a gas-powered lawnmower to a reel mower. But when he told one of his environmentalist friends about it, he got lambasted for having a lawn at all.
I agree with Mr. Luna - these protestors do nothing to help the environmental movement. People don't want to be like crazy people sitting in trees throwing sh*t at people who are just trying to do their jobs. Part of why being "green" is getting so much press is because it has stopped being perceived as stoned dirt-worshippers shivering in dark, damp hovels. If you can't make your position appeal to the masses, your goals won't ever be met.
support to them it is the university that is trying to illegally cut it down!
Wait a second, the heading at the top of the page is "BUSINESS & POLITICS (news)" but this is clearly opinion. If you're going to editorialize, at least make it clear that you are going to do so. Posturing as news is deceptive and shoddy journalism.