...by pure self-interest is a force to be reckoned with. To win you will have to outsmart the power brokers, although martyrdom has its place :

Hannah and Kate Rooth were charged with 10 more crimes than the other 10 defendants. Their charges included "encouraging or soliciting" others to participate in the action and were topped by "obstruction of justice." Penalty if convicted: up to 14 years in prison.

All for a peaceful protest at a construction site ...same thing happened in Italy in 1932-- government teamed up with industry to screw the populace.

When government teams up with big corporations against citizen action groups, you have serious problems. It's a potential precursor to the  breakdown of democracy. You can't vote the bastards who are in bed with industry out of office because they are all in bed with them. All through human history, "protestors" have been crucified. History is rife with examples,--Sparticus and Jesus being two prominent examples...

I have argued that it is time to "draw a line in the sand" and demand "no new coal plants," but I have not advocated unlawful protest.

Protests were illegal in 1932 Germany as well. Women would not have the vote today without peaceful unlawful protest. Sometimes it just has to be done. All the government has to do to protect the moneyed interests that put them in office is make protest illegal. If you only do legal protests you won't be doing any protests before long. Thank you Hannah and Kate for your courage and good luck. Your predecessors would be proud of you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffragette :

"The so-called Cat and Mouse Act was passed by the British government to prevent suffragettes from obtaining public sympathy; it provided the release of those whose hunger strikes had brought them sickness, as well as their re-imprisonment once they had recovered."

I certainly share your frustration with our politicians.

In Michael Moore's doccumentary on health care (Sicko) he asked why the French government was so responsive to its populace. The answer was that the government feared mass protest. French citizens don't fear their own government they way we do. They don't fear the unholy alliance between politicians and corporations that might lock them out of their jobs. Why? Because they have guaranteed health care. We Americans have enslaved ourselves and are being eclipsed by the other industrialized nations. We have rested on our laurels way too long.

A third party isn't the answer. We need to fix the system. We need to make bribery illegal. We need to remove the incentive to bring home the pork at the expense of the country and the world.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

This case reminds me of another case that got a lot of media attention : that of a rape victim punished in Saudi Arabia for getting raped.

This case against these young protesters is a major scandal. I hope it will be treated so by the media.

or politicians and CEOs the shenanigan potential of "carbon cap-and-trade" is irresistible -- it beats the pants off a simple, honest, effective "carbon tax and 100 percent dividend"

This is so true. I hope other readers on this website are listening carefully to what Dr Hansen says.

Let's think in terms of eco-dollars.

the various emission reduction schemes. I'm not sure a majority consensus is forming yet. You might want to search the Grist database for those posts on emission reductions before writing your own about a carbon tax.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the subject. Hopefully it will kick off another round of debates and we can start to zero in on the best ideas. You never know. A consensus may develop and legislators may tap into it. Ideas expressed on blogs tend to disseminate anonymously and amorphously, but disseminate they do.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world