‘Action is needed now.’ Climate activists block traffic before Penn State football game
Several climate activists briefly blocked traffic in downtown State College early Saturday afternoon before Penn State football’s last home game of the season.
Bellefonte resident David Thomas Roberts and Port Matilda resident Doug Mason, members of Pennsylvania Action on Climate, used a rope to block traffic on College Avenue at Allen Street for about 10 minutes. Their sign noted a “civil disobedience” to “stop climate change.”
In a statement, Roberts wrote that the date and time — 1 p.m. Saturday — was selected in anticipation of the influx of “fossil fuel burning vehicles” in town for the Penn State-Michigan State football game at Beaver Stadium.
“This civil disobedience action is a public, non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws and government policies concerning climate change to address the serious and long-standing injustice and damage from fossil fuel use on all inhabitants of the Earth,” the statement read. “Action is needed now to end fossil fuel extraction and to transition worldwide to renewable energy sources.”
State College police quickly arrived on the scene, where Roberts and Mason were told to move for public safety and to allow for the passage of emergency vehicles or face arrest. The street was blocked for nine minutes, after which the protesters left without incident.
According to the news release, PAC was formed in June after a meeting in Harrisburg and is a coalition of climate and anti-corruption activists that conducts regular trainings to prepare organizations to plan and carry out “decentralized nonviolence direct actions” across Pennsylvania.
