Sea Change Radio speaks with Bill McKibben about the Capitol Climate Action protest against coal in Washington, DC. And Caroline Rees of the Harvard team behind UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights John Ruggie talks about BASESwiki, a new wiki to help human rights abuse victims resolve grievances with companies — outside the courtroom. The Sea Change ViewPoint comes from Arvind Ganesan of Human Rights Watch on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Civil disobedience — the term conjures historic figures, from Thoreau to Gandhi to MLK, who all believed in trespassing against civil law in the name of higher laws. As the climate crisis heats up, the laws of nature are trumpeting calls to action. The target? Coal, a leading source of global warming, according to the EPA.

On Monday, March 2, peaceful protesters are gathering to enact civil disobedience against coal power in Washington, DC. The site? The Capitol Power Plant, the coal-fired facility that provides electricity to Congress. Al Gore first floated the notion of protesting coal at the September 2008 Clinton Global Initiative. Environmentalist authors Bill McKibben and Wendell Berry took up the cause in a December 2008 open letter announcing their plans to conduct civil disobedience. Climate scientist Jim Hansen is urging participation, and NGOs such as Rainforest Action Network, Greenpeace, and the Ruckus Society are handling logistics. A week before, Sea Change Co-Host Bill Baue spoke with Bill McKibben, director of the climate activist organization 350.org, about the Capitol Climate Action.

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