The Paddle in Seattle has reached the mean, too-clean streets of Washington, D.C. From TheHill.com:

The "kayaktivists" will protest in front of the White House on Saturday. They are calling for President Obama to revoke oil and gas exploration leases in the Chukchi Sea, which surrounds Alaska.

At the White House protest, the kayaktivists will stage an Arctic marine scene and show up with their kayaks and inflatable boats to raise awareness about the issue.

"The kayak has become this symbol of resistance to drilling in the Arctic,” said Marissa Knodel, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth.

TheHill.com evidently missed the context for "kayaktivists" when their reporter called the protesters "a group of kayakers." Kayaktivists—including many people who didn't know how to kayak before an Arctic drilling rig showed up in Elliott Bay—were borne of a grassroots movement to stop Arctic drilling right here in Seattle. (C'mon, TheHill.com! Even Le Monde picked up on that.)

Shell plans to launch its exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea this month, despite setbacks with one of its icebreakers and permitting. This morning, the Guardian's Suzanne Goldenberg published an interview with Al Gore in which the former US vice president called Arctic drilling "insane." Gore mostly applauded Obama's climate change record otherwise.

"I think the Deepwater Horizon spill was warning enough," Gore told Goldenberg. "The conditions are so hostile for human activity there. I think it’s a mistake to drill for oil in the Arctic. I think that ought to be banned."

P.S. When all the right wing think tanks in D.C. get the memo that HOLY SHIT, KAYAKS ARE MADE OUT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS AND THAT'S HYPOCRITICAL!, they ought to check out The Stranger's think-tank on that argument, right here.