Berkeley Protesters Treetop Insanity No Help to Environmental Movement

berkeley tree sitters protest photo.jpg 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