SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Romanians at anti-fracking protest in Barlad, Romania on September 1st, 2013. (AFP Photo/Andrei Pungovschi)
Romanian Fight Against Fracking Heats Up As Winter Sets In
Fracking blockade cleared by riot police, but protests continue
Dec 04, 2013
In the latest example of local residents organizing in opposition to the fossil fuel industry's "fracking boom," which has staked its claim in many communities around the world, U.S. oil giant Chevron has found itself engaged in a showdown in rural Romania.
"On a frozen field braving police, Romanian villagers hold vigil in a makeshift camp set up to block US energy giant Chevron from exploring for shale gas," Agence France-Presse reports.
"We have potatoes to eat, an improvised stove. We protest to protect our way of life and our health," said Romanian farmer, Alexandru Focsa, from the camp, which until now had successfully blocked Chevron from its prospects in the village of Pungesti, North-Eastern Romania since October when the company won approval to drill exploratory wells.
However, on Monday night riot police moved in wielding batons and cleared the camp, allowing Chevron to begin its exploration.
"Police arrived at night, they beat us up with batons and dragged us away," Focsa told AFP.
"The authorities do not want to listen to us but we are determined to go on despite the abuses and the fines handed by the police," he said.
The fight, however, is not over, as many of the protesters have returned to the protest camp since Monday night. While the blockade no longer holds, protesters are taking turns in a vigil against the operation.
"Villagers have been taking turns guarding the site since October, sleeping in tents," Reuters reports. "They oppose the project and say they do not want what they say are the environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure into shale formations to release the gas."
The remaining protesters are not alone, however. As fracking has become a hot-button issue in the country, many anti-fracking protests have popped up throughout the year and has spread to a nation-wide battle.
As Reuters reports, "Thousands of people have rallied across Romania in recent months to protest against government support for shale gas exploration and separate plans to set up Europe's largest open cast gold mine in a small Carpathian town."
_______________________
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In the latest example of local residents organizing in opposition to the fossil fuel industry's "fracking boom," which has staked its claim in many communities around the world, U.S. oil giant Chevron has found itself engaged in a showdown in rural Romania.
"On a frozen field braving police, Romanian villagers hold vigil in a makeshift camp set up to block US energy giant Chevron from exploring for shale gas," Agence France-Presse reports.
"We have potatoes to eat, an improvised stove. We protest to protect our way of life and our health," said Romanian farmer, Alexandru Focsa, from the camp, which until now had successfully blocked Chevron from its prospects in the village of Pungesti, North-Eastern Romania since October when the company won approval to drill exploratory wells.
However, on Monday night riot police moved in wielding batons and cleared the camp, allowing Chevron to begin its exploration.
"Police arrived at night, they beat us up with batons and dragged us away," Focsa told AFP.
"The authorities do not want to listen to us but we are determined to go on despite the abuses and the fines handed by the police," he said.
The fight, however, is not over, as many of the protesters have returned to the protest camp since Monday night. While the blockade no longer holds, protesters are taking turns in a vigil against the operation.
"Villagers have been taking turns guarding the site since October, sleeping in tents," Reuters reports. "They oppose the project and say they do not want what they say are the environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure into shale formations to release the gas."
The remaining protesters are not alone, however. As fracking has become a hot-button issue in the country, many anti-fracking protests have popped up throughout the year and has spread to a nation-wide battle.
As Reuters reports, "Thousands of people have rallied across Romania in recent months to protest against government support for shale gas exploration and separate plans to set up Europe's largest open cast gold mine in a small Carpathian town."
_______________________
In the latest example of local residents organizing in opposition to the fossil fuel industry's "fracking boom," which has staked its claim in many communities around the world, U.S. oil giant Chevron has found itself engaged in a showdown in rural Romania.
"On a frozen field braving police, Romanian villagers hold vigil in a makeshift camp set up to block US energy giant Chevron from exploring for shale gas," Agence France-Presse reports.
"We have potatoes to eat, an improvised stove. We protest to protect our way of life and our health," said Romanian farmer, Alexandru Focsa, from the camp, which until now had successfully blocked Chevron from its prospects in the village of Pungesti, North-Eastern Romania since October when the company won approval to drill exploratory wells.
However, on Monday night riot police moved in wielding batons and cleared the camp, allowing Chevron to begin its exploration.
"Police arrived at night, they beat us up with batons and dragged us away," Focsa told AFP.
"The authorities do not want to listen to us but we are determined to go on despite the abuses and the fines handed by the police," he said.
The fight, however, is not over, as many of the protesters have returned to the protest camp since Monday night. While the blockade no longer holds, protesters are taking turns in a vigil against the operation.
"Villagers have been taking turns guarding the site since October, sleeping in tents," Reuters reports. "They oppose the project and say they do not want what they say are the environmental risks of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - the process of injecting water and chemicals at high pressure into shale formations to release the gas."
The remaining protesters are not alone, however. As fracking has become a hot-button issue in the country, many anti-fracking protests have popped up throughout the year and has spread to a nation-wide battle.
As Reuters reports, "Thousands of people have rallied across Romania in recent months to protest against government support for shale gas exploration and separate plans to set up Europe's largest open cast gold mine in a small Carpathian town."
_______________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.