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Rhiannon12866

(203,035 posts)
Tue Aug 20, 2019, 03:01 AM Aug 2019

Oil Companies Persuade States to Make Pipeline Protests a Felony

States criminalize demonstrations near energy infrastructure
Alliance of chemical makers and oil refiners pushing measures


After protesters disrupted construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota by chaining themselves to construction equipment and pitching tents along the route, oil and chemical companies found a way to keep it from happening again.

They made it a crime.

The companies, including Koch Industries Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Energy Transfer Partners LP -- whose Dakota Access project in North Dakota was targeted three years ago -- lobbied state legislatures to effectively outlaw demonstrations near pipelines, chemical plants and other infrastructure. Nine states have gone along so far, in some cases classifying the activities as felonies. More are considering measures.

The lobbying campaign, documented in state disclosures and other records reviewed by Bloomberg News, has raised concerns about corporate influence muzzling free speech.

“Oil refiners, especially Koch Industries and Marathon Petroleum, orchestrated this unholy alliance of oil, gas, chemical, and electric utility companies to crush resistance to polluting industries,” said Connor Gibson, an investigator with Greenpeace who has tracked the efforts.


Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-19/oil-companies-persuade-states-to-make-pipeline-protests-a-felony



Dakota Access protesters in Feb. 2017.


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Oil Companies Persuade States to Make Pipeline Protests a Felony (Original Post) Rhiannon12866 Aug 2019 OP
We have a right to protest ...it's in the Constitution. YOHABLO Aug 2019 #1
That's certainly what I thought - so how can the states overrule it?? Rhiannon12866 Aug 2019 #2
plutocracy at every turn. sigh Kurt V. Aug 2019 #3
A 1,000 F's for this decision. Duppers Aug 2019 #4
KOCH and ALEC - they buried the lede in this article - info the PUBLIC needs to know CousinIT Aug 2019 #5

CousinIT

(9,151 posts)
5. KOCH and ALEC - they buried the lede in this article - info the PUBLIC needs to know
Tue Aug 20, 2019, 08:30 AM
Aug 2019
People, both Koch Industries and ALEC MUST. BE. TAKEN. DOWN. somehow and SOON. How? I don't know. First step: GET DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF THE US GOVERNMENT - then pester Dem POTUS and reps about this

From the article:

Their template is model legislation endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, the conservative group backed by the Charles Koch Institute, which encourages state lawmakers to advance ready-made bills on topics ranging from gun rights to tort reform.

. . .

The state efforts respond to a wave of activism by environmentalists opposed to oil, gas and coal, because burning those fossil fuels creates carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change. The activists increasingly are focused on fighting the infrastructure needed to transport and process those fossil fuels.

. . .

Project Completed

The state measures gained momentum after high-profile protests against Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017 that led to confrontations with police and more than 700 arrests. Activists led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe camped along the oil pipeline’s route in North Dakota and sometimes locked themselves to construction equipment. At one point, police sprayed water, fired tear gas and shot rubber bullets at the demonstrators, with videos of the altercations shared widely online.

After months of protests -- and after President Donald Trump reversed his predecessor’s rejection of the project -- Energy Transfer completed the line in 2017.

The Trump administration is moving on a separate path to go after pipeline foes and blunt the power of states to block energy projects. Under Trump, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has asked Congress to allow 20-year-prison sentences for “damaging or destroying” pipelines. . . .
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