|
NOAA Ledge Protesters Sentenced |
|
| NOAA Ledge Protesters Sentenced in Maryland Court
Dec. 12, 2006
|
 |
|
“On October 23rd I acted on behalf of my son, my nieces and nephews and children everywhere who need many more of us who are older and supposedly wiser to do the right thing, to speak out and take action on this fundamental issue.”
Read the rest of Ted Glick’s sentencing statement
|
|
When I was out on that ledge my two feet may not have been on the ground, but my head was most certainly not in the clouds. Global warming is real – the time to act is now.”
Read the rest of Paul Burman’s sentencing statement…
|
Dec. 12, 2006 -- Two activists who climbed onto a ledge 25 feet over the main entrance to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Silver Spring, Md. were sentenced today for their action.
Paul Burman, 24, and Ted Glick 57, were arrested by police on October 23rd four hours after they had unfurled a banner over the NOAA entrance which read, “Bush: Let NOAA Tell the Truth!” For close to a year media reports have disclosed a policy of political censorship at NOAA by Bush top-level political appointees of scientists whose research showed a connection between global warming and more frequent and destructive extreme weather events like hurricanes and droughts.
Glick and Burman were charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing and reckless endangerment. At today’s court hearing, Burman pled guilty to disorderly conduct and Glick pled guilty to disorderly conduct and trespassing, in return for the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office dropping the charge of reckless endangerment against both and trespassing against Burman. Judge Gary Lewis Crawford sentenced Burman to a $350 fine. Glick was fined $500 and put on probation for six months. In a statement given to the judge before sentencing, Burman stated, “I refuse to passively accept global warming and I refuse to accept the actions of an administration that is using their political will to manipulate science. While I was on that ledge my two feet may not have been on the ground, but my head was most certainly not in the clouds. Global warming is real—the time to act is now.” Glick’s statement explained, “Three years ago, at the age of 54, I made a conscious decision to devote as much time and energy as I could to this most crucial of issues, the future of our threatened ecosystem. On October 23rd I acted on behalf of my son, my nieces and nephews and children everywhere who need many more of us who are older and supposedly wiser to do the right thing, to speak out and take action on this fundamental issue.” The full statements of Glick and Burman can be found at www.climateemergency.org. The October 23rd action was the third action this year organized at NOAA by the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. An investigation is currently underway into NOAA’s practices of political censorship by the Inspector General’s office of the Commerce Department.
|
