• Energy

Three States Outlaw Pipeline Protests, As Pipeline Operators Request Production Slow Down

• oil
• oil glut
• pipeline
• price war
• protest
• spill

Bloomberg News reported last week that U.S. pipeline operators are requesting oil producers to cut back on production — a “clear sign” that the oil market is reaching a breaking point when the amount of crude oil is at capacity in storage tanks and pipelines due to the oil glut caused by the global price war. Meanwhile, the Governors of Kentucky, West Virginia and South Dakota recently signed laws effectively making it a crime to protest a pipeline — imposing stiff fines and penalties for anyone causing “damage, destruction, vandalization, defacing or tampering” to pipelines because they are deemed to be “critical infrastructure.”

• People

Funding Mass Protest, Will it Make the Difference?

• #ActOnClimate
• #ExtinctionRebellion
• climate protest
• protest

Yesterday, hundreds of arrests were made in London as activists with the Extinction Rebellion blocked more roads and held demonstrations as part of their two weeks of civil disobedience. While some might write off the recent wave of climate activism as disjointed, they might be surprised to learn that some of these protests are being funded by big names.

The What: In July a small group of environmental philanthropists came together to create the Climate Emergency Fund which helps support disruptive climate activism. 

• People

Hero of the Week: Rod Schoonover Who Resigned In Protest

• climate change
• climate security
• intelligence assessment
• intelligence committee
• protest

In July, Rod Schoonover resigned from his job at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research in protest because the Trump Administration blocked the written testimony prepared for a hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Schoonover was ultimately allowed to speak to the Committee but the White House blocked the written […]

• People

Gorilla Glue Warriors — Extinction Rebellion Activists Gum Up Capitol

• climate emergency
• Extinction Rebellion
• protest
• U.S. House of Representatives

Yesterday evening, in an effort to get Congress to declare a climate emergency, protesters with the group called the Extinction Rebellion superglued themselves across a corridor blocking a tunnel connecting offices to the House of Representatives preventing Members of Congress from getting to the House floor for a vote. 

• People

Climate Protests Breaking Out in NYC and DC

• arrests
• climate change
• debate
• Democratic National Committee
• mainstream media
• protest
• The New York Times

On Saturday, outside The New York Times building, 70 Extinction Rebellion protestors were arrested as they demanded greater coverage of the climate crisis by the notable news company.  Similarly, activists from the Sunrise Movement conducted a “sit-in” outside the Democratic National Committee yesterday demanding a primary debate focused solely on climate change.  

• People

New Research Suggests Climate Marches Sway Public Sentiment

• climate march
• protest

The uptick of climate and science marches since the 2016 election has certainly made the environmental community feel more hopeful and less alone but have these demonstrations actually swayed public opinion? Penn State just released a study that proves that large-scale climate marches do in fact help convince the public, including conservatives, that collaborative action […]