Environmental Documentary: "Bidder 70"

Beyond the Classroom Living & Learning Program

Series on “People Power: Activism for Social Change!”

presents the award-winning environmental documentary:

Bidder 70

“The choice you are making today is what side are you on.”  -Tim DeChristopher

Monday, April 14, 7:00-9:00 pm

       1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1, Seminar Room

https://www.facebook.com/events/459629574163568/

This Series on “People Power: Activism for Social Change” is sponsored by

Beyond the Classroom Living and Learning Program, 

and the Office of Undergraduate Studies,  at the University of Maryland, College Park

WWW.BeyondTheClassroom.umd.edu

Bidder 70 centers on an extraordinary, ingenious and effective act of civil disobedience demanding government and industry accountability. In 2008, University of Utah economics student Tim DeChristopher committed an act which would redefine patriotism in our time, igniting a spirit of civil disobedience in the name of climate justice. Follow Tim, Bidder 70, from college student to incarcerated felon. Redefine justice for yourself. Choose your side. On December 19, 2008 Tim DeChristopher disrupted a highly disputed Utah BLM Oil and Gas lease auction, effectively safeguarding thousands of acres of pristine Utah land that were slated for oil and gas leases. Not content to merely protest outside, Tim entered the auction hall and registered as bidder #70. He outbid industry giants on land parcels (which, starting at $2 an acre, were adjacent to national treasures like Canyonlands National Park), winning 22,000 acres of land worth $1.7 million before the auction was halted. Two months later, incoming Interior Secretary Ken Salazar invalidated the auction. DeChristopher, however, was indicted on two federal felonies with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. Patrick Shea, former BLM Director for Clinton, represented DeChristopher pro-bono.

•   “…"Bidder 70," tells the story of another young hero's great risk on behalf of the environment. It's a moving film with an inspiring message calling us to work on behalf of the environment and humanity. It also takes us through the step-by-step experience of the consequences of a serious civil disobedience action.”-- National Catholic Reporter.