And here in New York, the environmental activist Daniel McGowan has reported to jail to begin serving a seven-year sentence. McGowan was convicted for his role in two acts of arson in Oregon in 2001. The judge ruled that one of the fires was an act of terrorism, even though no one was hurt in any of the actions. McGowan appeared for an interview on Democracy Now! last month.

Daniel McGowan: “It’s really hard. I’m still trying to get the big picture of all this. I definitely have regrets. I have regrets that I employed arson as a tactic. I don’t think morally I’m wrong about what I did, but I do think, strategically and tactically, it is unwise decision. I wish that I had people in my life at the time to kind of guide me back to a different path. But, you know, I was very disenchanted and very upset about what I saw. I think those feelings are legitimate, and I think young kids that have these feelings right now and not-so-young kids are — they’re legitimate thoughts, and we have to — basically, we have to come up with ways of dealing with the crisis and stop ignoring it. And that was my message to the media that day, after sentencing, was we have to stop pretending this is all about crime and punishment and start dealing with real issues like global climate change.”