Why I’m joining 2,000 people for a global warming mass arrest on Monday

On Monday I’m going to get arrested just two blocks from the U.S. capitol building. I’ll peacefully block the entrance to an energy plant that burns raw coal to partially power Congress. My motivation is global warming. My colleagues in civil disobedience will include the poet Wendell Berry, Country western singer Kathy Mattea, and Yale University dean Gus Speth.

Up to two thousand other people from across the country will risk arrest, too. We’ll all be demanding strong federal action to phase out coal combustion and other fossil fuels nationwide that threaten our vulnerable climate.

This mass arrest might seem symbolic and radical to many Americans. Symbolic because it’s purposefully organized amid the iconic images of Washington, D.C. And radical because, well, isn’t getting locked up kind of out there? And isn’t global warming kind of vague and distant?

But I live five subway stops from the U.S. Capitol. My home is right here. There’s nothing symbolic