In what appeared to be the most visible demonstration yet of this week’s G-20 summit, four people attached to a massive banner dangled from a Pittsburgh bridge Wednesday to protest the global economic meeting.
The banner hung from the West End Bridge over the Ohio River and read like a road sign: “Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead. Reduce CO2 Emissions Now.” Greenpeace, the environmental activist group, claimed responsibility for the stunt. On its Web site, the group said it wanted to send a message to G-20 leaders with the nearly 80-by-30-foot sign, calling for more attention to the issue of global climate change. “It is also critical that G-20 leaders agree to kick-start economic recovery through clean energy investment,” said Damon Moglen, Greenpeace USA’s global warming campaign director, in a message posted on the group’s site. “It is imperative that developed world leaders do not fail again in Pittsburgh. They must put money on the table to support developing countries.”
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Pittsburgh police arrested nine people in connection with the bridge incident, on charges that included possession of instruments of a crime, disorderly conduct, conspiracy and obstruction. A police spokesperson described the bridge demonstration as a “very, very dangerous situation.” Police also stopped a second Greenpeace group with a banner from repelling off another bridge. Police arrested five people in connection with that incident. The two-day Group of 20 summit, which is bringing leaders of the world’s industrialized nations to Pittsburgh, begins Thursday.
