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Tar Sands Blockade Marks One Month of Resistance Against Keystone XL
By Tar Sands Blockade | EcoWatch
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Read this blog post on the originating site
The tree blockade outside Winnsboro, Texas has successfully held it’s steadfast position in the pathway of Keystone XL for one entire month! Today’s milestone reminds us that everyday has been a story of perseverance in the face of mounting odds. Below is a day-by-day account of the blockade’s sustained resistance to the tar sands over the last month.
On Sept. 24, eight brave blockaders climbed into 80-foot trees and refused to come down until the tar sands pipeline was stopped for good. Today two blockaders remain as the others have been arrested or escaped to help organize the growing campaign across the region.
During the last month TransCanada has tried everything to deter us from doing what we know is right. They’ve encouraged police to use torture tactics, operated heavy machinery dangerously close to peaceful protestors, confiscated our cameras, hit us with a SLAPP law suit, hired local law enforcement to set up a police state around the blockade, denied us food and water, arrested journalists, subjected blockades to 24/7 surveillance and floodlights … the list goes on.
Despite this barrage of repression, last week we held our biggest action yet when more than 50 people bravely defied TransCanada’s police state and entered the tree blockade to supply our friends with essential food and water. After eight arrests we shut down construction operations at the site for the entire day and managed to get some more supplies to our friends in the trees. Demonstrate your support with a generous donation for additional supplies.
Our movement has continued to grow with the pledged solidarity of more than 40 organizations, major press coverage in New York Times, Washington Post, Fort Worth Weekly, LA Times and solidarity actions springing up across the country.
Today it appears TransCanada is planning to circumvent its original easement contract and build its toxic pipeline around the west side of the tree blockade. The two remaining tree blockaders have made it clear that they have no intention of coming down yet. They wish to remain in the path of Keystone XL’s destruction long enough for their actions to strategically prevent its construction and demonstrate to the world the threat of this dirty, dangerous pipeline to our communities.
Tagged with: protest, keystone, opposition, texas, blockade, xl
