Extinction Rebellion blockades Wilson Building demanding action vs Washington Gas
Video: Deploying a banner and flares at the Wilson Building against Washington Gas's $5 billion project 3min 26 sec
On the 22nd of April, Extinction Rebellion DC dropped a banner and set off smoke flares to reinforce a blockade of the Wilson Building. They were demanding that the DC Council act to prevent Washington Gas from spending $ 5 billion on new gas distribution infrastructure at a time when the world needs to be transitioning off off of fracked gas.
This was part of XRDC's "electrify DC" campaign to phase out fracked gas entirely in DC, rather than replace Washigton Gas' rotting, leaking distribution pipeline network with a new $5 billion project to lock in anothre 100 years of natural gas usabe. It just seems that whenever you walk into a home with a gas stove, you know immediately from the smell.
If Washington Gas is allowed to invest billions in new pipelines and related infrastructure, it will lock DC into fracked gas for years to come. This expansion would encourage new construction to rely on gas rather than electrical heating,water heaters,stoves, etc. It is far more difficult to switch all of existing gas supplies over to captured methane (e.g from sewage treatment plants) than it is to convert all electrical supply to the sum of all renewable electrical sources. Existing gas infrastructure could easily handle the limited amount of captured/sewer/otherwise sustainable methan that would ever be available.
The day began with a rally in Franklin Square park in AM Rush hour, followed by a march that ended at the Wilson Building and supported the blockade there. Still to come as this is written is a 4PM "climate strike" at the Federal Reserve, featuring the "Fridays for the Future" student strikers reinforced by other activists.
Photo by Extinction Rebellion DC
Photo by Extinction Rebellion DC
Photo by Shutdown DC
