Bidder 70 (Work in Progress)

In December 2008 young environmentalist Tim DeChristopher attended a BLM Oil and Gas lease auction concerning thousands of acres of land surrounding national parks and monuments in Utah. As BIDDER 70, DeChristopher won nearly 22,000 acres he had no intention of drilling on, thus saving them from environmental disaster. Also, he had no intention of paying. DeChristopher's act of civil disobedience derailed the Bush Administration's last minute attempts to auction off pristine parcels of our planet's most beautiful lands for oil and gas exploration. Like most acts of civil disobedience, DeChristopher's was met with troubling legal action for, as the government called it, “disrupting open public processes and causing financial harm to the government and other individuals.” And they were serious when they said that. BIDDER 70 follows DeChristopher in the months leading up to his trial, during which the new Obama administration declared the initial auction as improper and pulled all parcels from auction. Refusing to bide his time quietly, DeChristopher heroically began campaigning for peaceful demonstrations to help protect Mother Earth. In an age of rising tensions between The Establishment and The People, DeChristopher proves the best warriors are the peaceful fighters. – T.W.