Q&A with Carrboro mayor Mark Chilton

Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton, a UNC alumnus and an environmentally conscious activist, traveled to Washington, D.C., on Sunday to participate in a protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline proposal, which would create a pipeline system to transport oil from Canada to the United States.

Daily Tar Heel staff writer Sam Fletcher caught up with him to discuss his trip.

Daily Tar Heel: What was it like to take part in the protest?

Mark Chilton: It was a great experience. It was fun — very cold that day, but we were bundled up, and it was inspiring in a lot of ways to see all the people that had come out to participate in the rally. There were some great speakers.

DTH: How many people were at the protest?

MC: I have read an estimate that says 35,000. That seems pretty plausible to me based on the people I saw there. The thing about having a rally based on the capitol mall is that the mall is really humongous. It is a space that can accommodate a million or two million people for public events … If we want Washington, D.C., to be responsive to the issues we are talking about, we really need to turn it up tenfold, twentyfold, fortyfold to get Congress’ attention.

DTH: What do you think the chances are that the pipeline will get built?

MC: I guess I’m optimistic that President (Barack) Obama will do the right thing. The project does not really benefit the American economy as much as it does either Canada or Mexico, and it has a lot of potential for very negative environmental effects in northern Canada and on our whole planet’s atmosphere. I’m hopeful that with his re-election behind him he will feel less beholden to the interest of Wall Street or big oil and kill the project if he can.

DTH: How did you first get involved in clean energy campaigning?

MC: I was involved with the student environmental action coalition on UNC’s campus when I was an undergraduate at UNC 23 years ago, and I have been involved mostly at the local level in Chapel Hill and Carrboro in trying to work on alternative transportation issues, trying promoting bicycling and walking and public transportation for the last 20-plus years, and I see this as being the think-global part of that issue.

DTH: Do you agree with the recent student referendum urging UNC to divest from coal?

MC: Yes. I say that without knowing what it would take for UNC to accomplish that goal. Certainly in principle I think it is a good idea. When I was a student activist it was more about getting disentangled from apartheid South Africa. That was a struggle that took years, but it was also something that ultimately had a real impact on the events in South Africa. I think this, combined with similar initiatives on other university campuses around America, could actually have an impact on the coal industry as well.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.