Monday, March 7, 2016

Bill McKibben Joins Seneca Lake Civil Disobedience Campaign

This is insane!!

Why do people get arrested for protecting the environment!!

The total number of arrests in the 17-month-old civil disobedience campaign has now surpassed 500.

WASL Blockade 3-7-16 with Bill McKibben

Updated 4 hours ago

Watkins Glen, NY – The fight over the fate of the Finger Lakes became national today when best-selling author, environmentalist, and founder of the international climate campaign, 350.org, Bill McKibben joined the opposition. McKibben, 55, was arrested this morning with 56 area residents as part of an ongoing civil disobedience campaign against proposed gas storage in Seneca Lake’s abandoned salt caverns.

Photos: Bob Nilsson

Photos: Bob Nilsson

“Methane is Madness. Break Free from Fossil Fuels”

“We Are Seneca Lake. Can You Hear Us Now?”

Photos: Bob Nilsson

The group was charged with disorderly conducted and arrested shortly before 8 a.m. by Schuyler County deputies, Watkins Glen police and New York State troopers, and transported to the Schuyler County Sheriff’s department.

Photos: Bob Nilsson

From EcoWatch

"Also arrested today were several prominent local residents. Among them were the Rev. Felicity Wright, pastor of Elmira’s famed Park Church, and Phil Davis, 63, co-owner and operator of Damiani Wine Cellars on the east shore of Seneca Lake and a seventh-generation resident of Schuyler County.
Ranging in age from 30 to 76, today’s protesters represented at least 19 different New York counties.
At 6:45 a.m., the group unfurled banners that read, “Methane is Madness. Break Free from Fossil Fuels” and “We Are Seneca Lake. Can You Hear Us Now?” Read More here
"
Crestwood’s methane gas storage expansion project was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2014 in the face of broad public opposition and unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, and possible salinization of Seneca Lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for 100,000 people.

Photos: Bob Nilsson

http://www.alternet.org/environment/bill-mckibben-and-dozens-more-arrested-ongoing-campaign-against-proposed-gas-storage

http://ecowatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/mcarrest7501.jpg

Photos: Bob Nilsson

Bill McKibben being arrested by Schuyler Co sheriff for disorderly conduct for blocking a truck from entering Crestwood’s Seneca Lake methane gas storage facility. Photo credit: We Are Seneca Lake

It calls for direct action. It calls for immediate action. It calls for the whole community to come together and to defend itself. Not just for us—some of us have lived a lifetime already—but for the children, for the next generation. What water are they going to drink? Those of us who live here are determined, determined to work night and day to prevent this from happening.

–Louis Valdez, father of Chicano Theater, speaking of the threat that fracking brings to San Benito County, California

Look at ALL these strong brave souls!!
Why are they being arrested for protecting the earth!!

The Seneca Lake Defenders -
http://www.wearesenecalake.com/seneca-lake-defendes/

https://www.facebook.com/WeAreSenecaLake/