Now that we kicked off the Pledge of Resistance with an amazing action on Monday in Chicago, the next step is make this much, much bigger.1

The core of the Pledge, and of our strategy to put enough pressure on President Obama that he has no choice but to reject Keystone XL, will be the threat of hundreds of peaceful civil disobedience actions across the country just like the one in Chicago. These actions will be planned and ready to be deployed if Obama’s State Department recommends that he approve Keystone XL — a decision we expect later in the fall.

It will take hundreds of trained activists across the country to organize these actions, and train tens of thousands of activists to safely take part in peaceful and dignified civil disobedience.

CREDO, Rainforest Action Network and the Other 98% have spent the past few months putting together the resources to train you to become a Pledge of Resistance action leader in your community.

Starting on June 29th, and running through July, we’re putting on weekend-long trainings in 25 cities to train activists to lead Pledge of Resistance actions in their own communities. Here’s the schedule:

June 29-30: San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston
July 6-7: DC, Detroit, Portland, Los Angeles
July 13-14: NYC, Cincinnati, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque
July 20-21: Tampa, Miami, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Houston
July 27-28: Raleigh, Atlanta, Des Moines, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Tulsa

To make the Pledge of Resistance a game-changer in our fight against Keystone XL, we need hundreds of people like you, ready to take the next step in their activism. Click here to find your nearest training and RSVP.

These trainings are free. No experience is required. We have developed an amazing curriculum which will provide you with the resources and support you need to pull this off – even if you’ve never done anything like it before. But leading a local pledge of resistance action will be a significant commitment over the next few months. Here’s what we ask if you want to sign up for an Action Leader training:

Come to both days of the training. (If you don’t live in the city, that means you’ll need to find a place to stay overnight.)
Bring a friend. (There will be a lot to learn, so it’ll help to have someone else there to help you remember.)
Be firmly committed to principles of non-violence.
Have a serious intention to lead an action where you live. (That requires working with a training coach to develop an action blueprint from a list of local targets, assigning roles on your team, training activists to take action, then being ready for a decision on KXL.)

Not everyone will be able to lead a local action. For example if you live in a major city, there may be larger events planned, and we’d be relying on you to play a major planning and support role. In some places there may be multiple local leaders, and we’ll have you team up. Regardless, to pull this off, and have any chance of defeating Keystone XL, we need hundreds of highly trained climate organizers in cities and towns all over the country.

Whether you are now a seasoned organizer or an activist looking to get involved, this training will give you everything you need to be a leader in the fight against Keystone XL. You’ll learn all the tools you need to plan a civil disobedience action where you live, build an action team, and train your fellow activists to safely engage in peaceful and dignified civil disobedience. And you’ll be empowered with skills that you can continue to use to advocate for climate action beyond the Keystone XL fight.

This won’t be a game-changer unless people are ready to commit to it. If you are a ready to step up and be a leader in the Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance, click here to find your nearest training and RSVP.

Thanks for fighting Keystone XL.

Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

If you can’t attend a training or aren’t ready to make a commitment, the best way you can support this effort right now is by donating to fund this massive organizing effort to stop Keystone XL.

1. “22 Arrested in New Wave of Resistance to Keystone XL Pipeline