NO OPERA ON A DEAD PLANET

November 30, 2023

xrnyc_press@unitedrebellion.com

NO OPERA ON A DEAD PLANET: ACTIVISTS DISRUPT Tannhäuser OPENING NIGHT TO SAY “END FOSSIL FUELS NOW”

Manhattan, New York City – An opening night performance was disrupted tonight by Extinction Rebellion activists. The brief half-hour delay was less serious and less inconvenient than the severe weather delays that are now becoming more and more frequent. Protestors warned that there is "no opera on a dead planet,” and demanded an end to fossil fuels. The disruption was timed to coincide with the main character’s declaration that “love is a spring to be drunk from,” and highlighted the fact that, contrary to those words spoken on stage, springs are not pure now, because we are in a climate crisis, and our water is contaminated.

Today’s action highlights government and corporate neglect of climate and ecological breakdown. Extinction Rebellion emphasizes that the present socioeconomic system can't protect people from the crises to come, because that system’s very structure creates these crises–and then ignores them. Our key institutions, corporations and governments, function according to quarterly profits and the election cycle, respectively, without regard for the long-term dangers to our survival. This system is designed to steal from future generations, in order to maintain a lifestyle that benefits the “one percent,” to the detriment of everyone else.

XR believes that this crisis is due to the failure of large institutions to recognize the severity of the situation; responsibility does not rest with individuals, but with organizations and systems.

WHY “NO OPERA ON A DEAD PLANET”?


The climate and ecological crisis threatens everything on our planet, including opera. This and similar actions are the response of a movement that has no other recourse; it must engage in unconventional forms of protest to bring mass attention to the greatest emergency of our time. All normal means of effecting change commensurate with the scale of the catastrophe – voting, petitioning, lobbying, etc. – have failed and failed again. Meanwhile, the science makes clear that we have only a very small time window in which to end fossil fuel use and halt carbon emissions.

The Extinction Rebellion activists are also highlighting the fact that opera and other performances, both indoors and out, have already been disrupted by extreme weather. This has become so common that Ticketmaster  has devoted an entire page to weather contingencies. In recent months, we’ve seen large-scale performances canceled. Weather-related travel disruptions have prevented artists from reaching the city or venue where they’re scheduled to perform. In at least one case, a heat-related death, at an event where drinking water was not permitted, caused public outrage and forced cancellation after the event was already under way.

If protestors don't disrupt the opera, nature most certainly will—and soon.

DEMANDS


Recently, Professor Sir Bob Watson, a prominent British climate scientist and former head of the United Nations climate body, stated that the target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be missed. At the same time, President Joe Biden has not lived up to his 2020 climate campaign pledges and rhetoric. Even those pledges are considered by many to be ineffective and weak: policies such as electric cars, carbon capture, or expanded renewables do not adequately resolve the looming catastrophe. Furthermore, the Biden administration’s actions, which include granting permits for fossil fuel oil and gas drilling, production and export are worse than failure. Carbon bombs” projects will trigger catastrophic climate breakdown to an extent no known climate technology can undo or repair.

Extinction Rebellion demands the government tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, and halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. These demands reflect the urgency of the existential crisis that we’re facing. 

  • See Twitter post here.

  • See photos and videos here.

QUOTES

  • “We're not protesting the event itself; we are not protesting opera; we are not protesting the emissions that brought spectators here. That's not the point. We are here because we have to disrupt this public event as our last resort to draw public attention to the climate emergency we are facing today,” said Linda Solomon, an Extinction Rebellion activist.

  • “Even if opera companies were to achieve net-zero emissions, we still face a future where the pursuit of the arts will cease to make sense in a world no longer capable of sustaining life due to environmental degradation and climate change. We must end fossil fuels now”, said Janet Apuzzo, an Extinction Rebellion activist.

  • “We love opera. We are interrupting the things we love. We are acting in ways that may seem irrational, but this is because no one is having a sane response to the urgency, danger, and magnitude of the climate crisis. There have been 28 COPs and emissions have only gone up! We stand to lose everything”, said  John Mark Rozendaal, an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, cellist and viola da gamba player.

  • “If XR doesn’t disrupt, the climate will. Violently. Activists are disrupting peacefully. Nature will disrupt violently.”, said Miles Grant, an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson.

  • “They’re trying to tell us electric cars and solar panels will solve this problem but we know that’s not true. We need to all understand the scale of the catastrophe we’re facing. Politicians are not telling the truth”, said Laura Robinson, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

  • "We’re not going to stop disrupting, because nature is only getting started. The orange skies and the flooding in New York City this year are just the beginning," said Jack Baldwin, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion.

About Extinction Rebellion


Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate and ecological crisis, including the sixth mass extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices if rapid action is not taken. Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

  • Tell the Truth - Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.

  • Act Now - Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

  • Beyond Politics - Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

  • Just Transition - Government must commit to a just transition in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all.

Follow us: Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Website

actions, pressLaura Cole