Launched in October 2018 in the United Kingdom, Extinction Rebellion (XR) describes itself as an apolitical network that relies on nonviolent direct action to persuade governments to react to the planet’s ecological emergency. In less than a year, it has expanded to more than 650 groups in forty nations and has held a number of nonviolent protests and actions to demand government attention to the climate crisis. [UU World, December 2019]

UUs across the country are joining or starting local chapters of XR, including in New York, Texas, Oregon, and Vermont. Aly Tharp, program director for UUMFE, has been working with organizers of XR in the UK since last spring and in April was arrested in an XR action in Austin, Texas, protesting Chase Bank’s continued support of fossil fuel extraction;