Anna Jane Joyner found being arrested for the first time “a neat experience.”
Joyner, 28, community organizer for the Western North Carolina Alliance, was one of many environmental activists arrested in February at the protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline in Washington.
This pivotal moment in both Joyner’s life and the pipeline saga were also caught on video for the upcoming Showtime climate change documentary series, “Years of Living Dangerously,” which has been following the work of Joyner and the work of the WNC Green Congregations and Asheville Beyond Coal coalition.
The filmmakers will also capture the first WNC Green Congregations event Sunday night at Pritchard Park. Dubbed the Care of Creation Candlelight Vigil, it’s taking place on the eve of Earth Day, which is Monday.
The pipeline is a massive plan to transport tar sand oil from Alberta, Canada, more than 1,000 miles across the continent to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
“If we develop this pipeline, it’s game over for climate change,” Joyner said.
She recalled the day of her arrest, Feb. 13, when she was jailed for protesting without a permit after having handcuffed herself to the White House fence. She was incarcerated along with well-known environmentalists including Bill McKibben; Robert Kennedy Jr., president of the Waterkeeper Alliance; actress Daryl Hannah; Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune; and civil rights leader Julian Bond. The event was a prelude to the 50,000-person protest Feb. 17 urging President Barack Obama to stop the pipeline.
Asheville Citizen-Times photo.