Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance Film Screening & Discussion
Department: Gender and Sexuality Studies
Date and Time: February 4, 2020 | 12:00 PM-1:30 PMEvent Location: UCI School of Law, EDU 1131
Event Details
Necessity traces the flight in Minnesota against the expansion of Line 3 carrying toxic tar sands oil through North America (Turtle Island). Indigenous activists and allies engage in direct actions to force the legal system to confront the climate emergency.
Lunch provided.
Running time: 58 minutes.
RSVP here.
To request reasonable accommodations for a disability, please email centers@law.uci.edu.
The story unfolds in a setting where Indigenous activists and non-Indigenous allies make use of the necessity defense in making a moral case for acts of civil disobedience. Many of these activists were part of the Standing Rock resistance in North Dakota and carry into the struggle against Line 3 in Minnesota their knowledge of resistance strategies. The film is structured around two stories of activists engaged in civil disobedience and using the necessity defense. One case centers on activists locking down a local Wells Fargo, a major investor in the pipelines. The other centers on climate activists as they prepare for a landmark jury trial after temporarily shutting down the flow of tar sands oil as part of a multi-state coordinated action. Movement lawyers defending activists in court must prove that the threat of the climate emergency justified acts of civil disobedience and that there were no legal alternatives. Water Protector Debra Topping guides us through areas where pipelines cross tribal lands and where native resistance is mounting. Tribal attorney Tara Houska shows how the destructive path of these pipelines endanger Indigenous communities most directly. The film calls into question whether legal strategies are sufficient in responding to the scale of the global climate crisis.
UC Irvine School of Law, EDU 1131
401 East Peltason Drive
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
(949) 824-0066
The Law School consists of two large gray buildings on the corner of Campus and East Peltason. The event will take place in room EDU 1131 in the North building (which has the Education sign on it).
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