The Story of Bidder 70

By the time his deed was done, he had become known as "Bidder 70". But when he was standing alone, in the midst of a crowd of people representing  billion dollar oil industry giants, Tim DeChristopher knew that whatever he chose to do inside the crowded auctioning room would have to amount to a felony and that he would be liable to face criminal charges. Today he waits for the judges to deliver a verdict that might send him to prison for 10 years for acting to prevent the oil and gas industry from committing an even greater crime against his country and its democracy.

Tim De Christopher AKA Bidder 70

On December the 19th, 2008, Tim De Christopher left his university campus after a finals exam and he headed straight for the venue of a controversial event. The US Bureau of Land Management was staging an auction in a bid to sell off oil and gas drilling rights to over 150,000 acres of wilderness in Southern Utah. 

Hundreds of protestors had gathered to try to stop the event which was controversial because there was a lot of concerns about its legitimacy. It was called the "fire sale" - the Bush administration's last great gift to the oil and gas industry. As this was during their final days in office, the Bush administration had nothing to lose. The sale of the lands had been given the go ahead. 


As events unfolded to seal the fate of history, Tim arrived alone on the scene.

He looked around him and could see that the public protest was getting nowhere. Walking around past the protestors, he eventually stepped inside into the auction area wondering what he could do. What could he do at such a late stage? How could he disrupt the auction?
The auction officers asked him whether he wanted to join the auction. He accepted and was given a number on an auction paddle. As history would later remember it, the paddle was numbered 70. He had become Bidder 70. Was this enough? What could he do with a bidding paddle? Swat a fly maybe, but stop a multi-billion-dollar industry from taking over public lands? - Not very probable. He took up his place with the paddle, his mind racing. He was in position but what could he actually do?

Amongst the protesters who had earlier spoken out against the sale of the Utah lands to oil and gas companies were Steve Bloc, Conservation Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which had even the pursued the matter in court to try to stop the sale of the lands and lost. 
Actor and activist Robert Redford had also spoken out on television. His appeal is transcribed below here.

Robert Redford: Anyone who has been there, can testify to the fact, that there is no place like these lands. These lands are not chains and bushes. The lands are ours. They're ours because they're part of our legacy, they're part of the American human legacy. No place on earth can speak to the balance of beauty and nature like these areas. 

There's so much deception, so much sleight of hand here. I mean how would you feel, if there was an heirloom that was centuries old and someone came in while you were not looking, or distracted you, by creating something over here and took it away from you? How would you feel? 

This in not their land. This is our land. These are public lands and the BLM was supposed to be protecting these lands on our behalf. Once the lands are taken away, they're gone. And gone doesn't come back. 

So I feel strongly that we have to do everything, and it isn't a question of trying to talk to them. Forget that. That doesn't work. They've been trashing the environment ever since they came in, almost as if it is their duty to do so. But when they trash our lands and not theirs, and claim it is their prerogative, something is pretty criminal. So I say stop it. Enough is enough. Not only will it not serve the purpose they keep stating - it's not gonna provide any new energy. It's gonna pollute what we've already got, and it's gonna take away something that is ours to give to our children and their children, and their children, and their children and their children.
So I feel pretty strongly about this and I appreciate being given a chance to speak on it. As I said before, it's an emotional situation for me and we should not allow this to happen. It's criminal.

A few hours later later, the 27 year old was apprehended by federal police officers and taken outside for interrogation, Tim kept wondering to himself as he was being ejected from the auction premises whether he had done enough to disrupt the event.
How Tim Disrupted the Utah Oil Bid with a paddle

We pick up the story again from Malak Behrouznami, a journalist with the Real News Network, who interviewed Tim on April 1, 2009

BEHROUZNAMI: Tim DeChristopher, also known as Bidder 70, was indicted on two felony counts for his participation during a US Bureau of Land Management gas and oil lease auction that took place December 19, 2008, in Salt Lake City. DeChristopher is being accused of disrupting the auction by purchasing 22,000 of 130,000 bids in an attempt to save the land from gas and oil development. The bids comprise a total of $1.7 million, which DeChristopher is unable to pay for.

DECHRISTOPHER: Well, I showed up at the auction, which was very controversial because there was a lot of concerns about the legitimacy of the auction. It was the very last one of the Bush administration. They were auctioning off huge tracts of land outside of Arches and Canyonlands National Park for oil and gas development. So I walked in, and they asked me if I wanted to be a bidder, and so I said yes and ended up with a bidder paddle and then got inside and saw an opportunity to make a really serious stand against this auction. So I started bidding first to drive up the prices, and then actually winning parcels. And I ended up winning 14 parcels before they stopped the auction and took me out and interrogated me at that point.

BEHROUZNAMI: On January 17, 2009, the Bureau of Land Management was found to be at fault for violating environmental protection laws concerning air quality and historic preservation. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina temporarily froze the sale of 77 parcels. On February 4, 2009, the Obama administration's interior secretary, Ken Salazar, pulled the 77 leases, which included DeChristopher's bids.

DECHRISTOPHER: There were several issues involved in this auction. Probably the one that's gotten the most attention was just the destruction of our national heritage. These were pristine lands right outside of Arches and Canyonlands national parks. And I think a bigger factor is the threat to our climate that's associated with this drill now, think later mentality that is posing a massive threat to our future. And then the other issue involved in it is the lack of a democratic and transparent process, where the BLM wasn't following their own rules in holding this auction. And that's really the reason that it was overturned later on is that the government admitted that the BLM hadn't done an adequate environmental impact statement, they hadn't weighed the consequences, they hadn't discussed things with other government agencies the way they were supposed to. And it also later turned out that the BLM was in violation of a law that went into effect in 2001 requiring them to weigh the impacts of climate change with any decision like this that they make.

Second Interview by Emma Coleman of the Huffington Post

Emma Coleman: What compelled you to go to the auction and do what you did?

Tim DeChristopher: I saw the auction as a confluence of several issues. The one that got a lot of attention around that time was the destruction of our natural heritage -- that these were beautiful public lands that were being destroyed. But more important to me was what I thought was the destruction of our democracy that this auction represented. That this was public property and yet the public had been locked out of the decision-making process. And the government agencies weren't following their own laws in the way that they ran this auction. But probably the biggest motivation for me was the threat of climate change. And the threat that this "drill now, think later" mentality represented to my own future and to the future of the people that I care about. We've certainly seen the results of that mentality over the past few months and its directly destructive impact.

Tim DeChristopher Faces Sentencing on the Felony Charges on July 26th 2011

Tim was convicted on March 3rd and faces sentencing on July 26th (Delayed from June 23rd, read about the delay here).  Anyone able to donate to help his legal team prepare for appeals can do so here.

But Tim is not lying down for anything.

Power Shift 2011 Keynote Address

To understand a little more about the man behind Bidder 70, we should listen to him express his convictions when he spoke about staying human as we wonder what we should do to save the Planet Earth during our lifetime.

Notes:
1. As a lot of people may be trying to view this video, please do be patient and let it load before you can enjoy viewing it.
2. Remember that the Title of this Blog Article is also a link to the support site for Tim DeChristopher and the Peaceful Revolution.