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Bye-Bye, Big Oil: Obama Administration Scraps Arctic Drilling Plans
Campaigners say that the Obama administration is heeding the call of the climate movement—and slowly shifting action to match its rhetoric on global warming
Oct 17, 2015
The Obama administration announced late Friday that it was canceling new lease sales for drilling in the Arctic's Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Environmentalists hail this decision as a step toward keeping unburnable oil "in the ground."
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell declared that two offshore lease sales scheduled for 2016 and 2017 would be canceled, citing "current market conditions" and "low industry interest" and Shell's recent decision to scrap its Arctic drilling plans.
However, campaigners said the move was likely the result of the fierce opposition campaign and the growing awareness that if the White House intends to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, the country must cease new oil exploration and, instead, invest in more renewable energy alternatives.
"Scientists have long been clear that fully 100% of Arctic oil is unburnable if we're serious about averting the worst impacts of climate change. That's why the climate movement stepped up and forced even the most irresponsible company on Earth to admit that it wouldn't make sense to drill in the Arctic," said 350.org executive director May Boeve. "Now, the Obama administration is heeding the call as well--and slowly shifting action to match its rhetoric on climate change."
Boeve said that the Keystone XL pipeline company, TransCanada, and the rest of Big Oil should "take this as a very bad sign for their future."
The Interior Department also noted that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) also denied requests from Shell and Statoil for extensions on their drilling leases, meaning the current lease for drilling in the Beaufort Sea will expire in 2017 and 2020 for the Chukchi Sea.
Miyoko Sakashita with the Center for Biological Diversity hailed the move as a "huge win for Arctic wildlife and our climate."
"Americans have spoken repeatedly about the perils of Arctic drilling," Sakashita said. "It's gratifying to see these leases finally canceled, and now it's time to declare the Arctic off-limits to drilling forever."
Echoing the sentiments of other groups that want to see the administration follow through with strong decisions against the Keystone XL pipeline and fossil fuel leasing on public lands, Sakashita added: "It can't stop here though: It's time to take the next step and pledge to keep this oil in the ground and transition quickly to energy sources that are safer, smarter and better for all of us."
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The Right Whale and The Wrong Company
Aug 28, 2015
The North Atlantic Right Whale is a symbol of the biodiversity and fragility of the Bay of Fundy. It is a magnificent marine mammal and it is also the most endangered whale in the world. August and September are the months when these and other whales come into the Bay of Fundy in the largest numbers, attracted to the rich biodiversity of the Bay of Fundy that rivals the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon rainforest.
It is also a critical feeding stopover area along the eastern seaboard of North America for 34 species of fall migrating birds on their way to Central and South America, including hundreds of thousands of sandpipers and plovers, making it one of 6 Canadian sites in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. These birds come to the salt marshes and vast stretches of mudflats of the Bay of Fundy, exposed twice a day during low tide.
So, what does TransCanada do at this critical time? They bring in a barge into the Bay of Fundy to do borehole drilling at this time. Why would TransCanada conduct this work just as whales and migratory birds are coming into the Bay of Fundy in increasing numbers in August & September? This type of borehole testing generates continuous noise, which has the potential to adversely affect whale behavior several dozens of kilometers from the source.
And to create additional public uproar, TransCanada planned this work and towed the barge into the harbour without consulting the residents.
And did TransCanada give notice and meaningful consultation to Indigenous people? No. The Bay of Fundy and Saint John River Basin in New Brunswick is a territory where aboriginal land titles and rights have never been ceded or surrendered by the Wolastoqey Nation. Instead, both New Brunswick and Indigenous people are bound by pre-Confederation treaties called the Peace and Friendship Treaties. This Nation's territory is the present location of 6 Wolastoq (Maliseet) First Nations.
And what care did TransCanada give to homes near where the testing is being conducted just off the shore? Why has TransCanada not conducted independent, 3rd-party testing of their foundation and water wells prior to any drilling? Without this baseline testing, residents who experience a problem would be put in a "prove-it-was-the-testing-that-caused-your-problem" situation.
TransCanada talk about their extensive review process and public outreach, yet the plans and date for this testing in the Bay of Fundy were kept secret. It was only after a 6-page work plan was leaked to a resident that the public learned of TransCanada's plans.
And how does this company react to their secret being let out? Their spokesperson, Tim Duboyce, stated publicly that the residents near the planned testing were notified. But the company spin is wrong. No work plan was shared for this drilling. No timeline was shared. And at a July 15th meeting of an invitation-only "community liaison meeting", there was just a passing reference to testing in the future.
TransCanada is using their highly restrictive meetings - with only a few selected residents - as a public relations hammer against the community of Red Head. To test the genuineness of this "community liaison meeting", other Red Head residents who attempted to simply sit in and observe a previous meeting were stopped at the door by private security and escorted off the property.
No transparency. No consultation. No due diligence.
This mess by TransCanada is a wake-up call for how this entire Energy East project might proceed.
TransCanada is the wrong company to have near the right whale. Please take your barge and leave the Bay of Fundy. Leave the right whale and the Bay of Fundy alone. #NoEnergyEast
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Sensing Keystone XL Rejection, TransCanada Scopes NAFTA Lawsuit
Provisions in trade pact may provide legal basis for suing U.S. over tar sands pipeline
Aug 10, 2015
TransCanada Corporation, the company behind the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, is furtively planning its next steps--including suing the U.S. government--if U.S. President Barack Obama rejects the permits which would allow construction of the project to move forward, the Canadian Press reported on Monday.
While the company has publicly maintained hope that Obama will permit it to build the pipeline, those close to the project say TransCanada expects rejection and is quietly considering suing the government under the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), using articles in the pact that protect companies from discrimination, unfair or arbitrary treatment, and expropriation.
NAFTA also includes a mechanism known as the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), which allows corporations to sue a country for damages based on projected "lost profits" and "expected future profits." As Common Dreams has previously reported, the potential award has no monetary cap.
Experts have warned that TransCanada could bring a NAFTA challenge over Keystone XL. Natural Resources Defense Council international program director Jake Schmidt told Politico in February that such a case was "definitely a possibility."
Derek Burney, former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. and chief negotiator on the trade deal, as well as its U.S.-Canada predecessor, told Politico at the time, "If the pipeline is actually vetoed on so-called environmental grounds, I think there is a very strong case for a NAFTA challenge."
But would suing the government under NAFTA work? It's unlikely.
The Canadian Press continues:
The U.S. government has a 13-0 record in NAFTA cases. A suit would likely fail, cost the company a few million dollars, and possibly antagonize the U.S. government, said David Gantz, who was been a panelist on NAFTA cases and who teaches trade law at the University of Arizona.
....But another expert said the company might as well try. She said a recent decision against the Canadian government in the Bilcon case involving a Nova Scotia quarry could give TransCanada some hope.
"Why not? And see where it goes," said Debra Steger[.]
Another option on TransCanada's radar is immediately filing another permit application with the U.S. State Department ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Opponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a corporate-friendly agreement between the U.S. and 12 Pacific Rim nations described as "NAFTA on steroids," have cautioned against including an ISDS mechanism in the still-pending deal.
"Given NAFTA's record of damage, it is equal parts disgusting and infuriating that now President Barack Obama has joined the corporate Pinocchios who lied about NAFTA in recycling similar claims to try to sell the [TPP]," Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said in February.
The project source told the Canadian Press that whenever the announcement comes, TransCanada will "let it cool for a while. And then we'd have this more vigorous discussion."
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Confronting Irving Oil and TransCanada at the End of the Line
Unprecedented march signals new stage in fight against Energy East pipeline
Jun 02, 2015
For many years I have been organizing in support of First Nations communities working to stop the expansion of the Canadian tar sands and associated infrastructure. This fight has seen the emergence of a powerful movement of First Nations and their allies.
A new battlefront has emerged with the $12 billion, 4,500+ km, 1.1 million barrel per day Energy East pipeline proposed by energy transport giant TransCanada. Yet another foolish project by the archaic dirty-energy sector, it would threaten thousands of First Nations' and municipalities' access to water through pipeline spills and catastrophic climate change. And it would pave the way for one of the earth's biggest carbon bombs: the Alberta tar sands. The pipeline's carbon footprint would be equivalent to putting 7 million new cars on the road.
Just like Northern Gateway, Trans Mountain, or Keystone XL, Energy East would be a climate disaster. Just like those pipelines, Energy East has provided a direct path for Indigenous rights and climate justice organizers to unite communities in struggle against the ambitions of the Harper government and the tar sands sector.
One area of concern is the community of Red Head in Saint John, N.B., located on the traditional territory of the Wolastoq Nation, where the Energy East pipeline would end at the shore of the Bay of Fundy. In partnership with the Peace and Friendship Alliance, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous allies formed to oppose the pipeline, the local Red Head - Anthony's Cove Preservation Association organized a march for May 30 to let the world know that they are not going to stand by and let TransCanada and local oil giant Irving threaten their way of life.
I arrived in the community of Red Head, Wolastoq territory, with allied 350.org Energy East campaigner Aurore Fauret. We were glad to be in the land of the rising sun, and attended an organizing meeting at a local house to finalize plans for the March to the End of the Line. We talked and shared a meal as the sun travelled west toward the tar sands and the pipeline battles of South Dakota and British Columbia.
The hospitality of the community of Red Head is legendary. Our host, community organizer Lynaya Astephen, opened her house to us and other activists from another recent precedent-setting victory in Cacouna, Quebec. Cacouna was in the news recently due to the rejection of an oil-export terminal on account of the threat it posed to the endangered beluga whale.
In the morning, over 750 people joined the demonstration. We were there to support the local protest of TransCanada's and Irving Oil's plans to turn Red Head into a massive tanker farm and export terminal. Irving also wants to enhance its refineries, including a billion-dollar upgrade of a coker. The company seeks to transition the area into a free-trade super corridor to facilitate and accommodate bilateral free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, ratified earlier this year by the Harper government.
Activists in the region, including the Peace and Friendship Alliance, had organized for months to prepare for the day of the march, and all the hard work paid off in a big way. Wolastoq and Mi'kmaq leadership led the opening ceremony. A war canoe captained by Elsipogtog war chief John Levi glided into shore off the Bay of Fundy. Hundreds of marchers met the group, arriving at the literal end of the line of Energy East.
The canoes were met by pipe carriers, drummers, and singers who sang a traditional trading song of the Wolastoq. After a pipe ceremony and sharing of the Wolastoq creation story, rally attendees were treated to a dynamic list of presenters, including local organizers, labour leaders, First Nations, and other pipeline fighters from across the continent. Two First Nations leaders from the Yinka Dene Alliance, Jasmine Thomas and Geraldine Flurer-Thomas, came to stand in solidarity with the Peace and Friendship Alliance and to share their experiences in fighting and winning against another tar sands pipeline, Northern Gateway, in their territory in northern B.C.
The official police count for the march was 750 people, an incredible validation of the Red Head - Anthony's Cove Preservation Society's months of organizing and planning. After hearing from the dynamic speakers, everyone joined hands along the shoreline to symbolically draw a line in the sand of the Bay of Fundy and say no to TransCanada's Energy East carbon bomb and Irving's super port and tanker farm. Into the afternoon, community members mingled with visitors and enjoyed a barbecue by the Bay of Fundy. That evening, the community celebrated the day's events with a bonfire and fireworks show.
Moving forward from the success of the day, organizers are focused on July 4th actions in Saint John and Fredericton in partnership with the 350.org National Day of Action for Jobs, Justice, and Climate. Attendees of the massive July 5th climate march in Toronto will be strengthened and inspired by the words, wisdom, and commitment of grassroots First Nations representatives of the Wolastoq and Mi'kmaq Nations.
VIDEO: March to the #EndoftheLine Woolostoq organizer and community leader Ron Tremblay speaks about Saturday's ceremony and demonstration:
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Climate Youth Lead #XLDISSENT Civil Resistance to Ensure Our Civil Existence
Mar 04, 2014
More than a thousand climate youth leaders and allies converged on Washington, DC this weekend for the largest student-led civil resistance action at the White House in a generation. They came to register their dissent against extreme fossil fuel exploitation and to demand that President Obama reject the northern leg of TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The scene outside the White House on Sunday was remarkable. After marching through the streets, the students rallied at Lafayette Square, chanting: "Obama, come out! We've got some shit to talk about!" and "The people are rising! No more compromising!" A short while later, in a sudden burst of energy, a sea of bodies surged toward the White House to occupy the fence, while others fell to the ground, victims of a mock tar sands oil spill. All did it knowing they would be arrested.
Student leaders from nearly 50 universities and colleges from across the country signed the #XLDISSENT call to action, which calls "into question" President Obama's "willingness to govern in an environmentally responsible manner." Their statement goes on to say:
President Obama has indeed made several responsible choices, such as increasing the mileage standards for cars. But he has also made some disastrous ones. He opened vast swaths of Western lands for coal mining, repeatedly endorsed an "all-of-the-above" energy approach, and even supported the Southern leg of the Keystone pipeline.
I suspect many students who participated in this action share my sense of betrayal over President Obama's 2012 fast-track approval of Keystone XL's southern leg (which has 70% of the capacity to transport tar sands as Keystone XL's northern leg). By calling out the president on this gross injustice, they are reminding everyone that with Obama's ownership of Keystone South comes responsibility for any tar sands spills that occur in Texas and Oklahoma, and for toxic emissions breathed by families living in fenceline communities near tar sands refineries in Houston and Port Arthur.
Time is slipping away for President Obama to salvage his tattered environmental legacy. He can start by denouncing Keystone North, jettisoning his "all-of-the-above" energy policy, and producing a new climate action plan that has a real chance of averting climate chaos.
In solidarity, I share this video of an emergency direct action several of us organized at the White House on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 85th birthday in January. Inspired by what Dr. King called "the fierce urgency of now," it was a last-ditch effort to try to prevent Keystone South from starting up:
Civil Resistance to Ensure our Civil Existence: Going to Jail to Stop Keystone XL SouthWARNING: Watching long, drawn out arrests can be kind of like watching paint dry... While some sing, chant, pray and drum, ...
Action by action, we are building what Dr. King called "the beloved community." Future generations will honor these young climate justice leaders who sacrificed their freedom to demand an end to these immoral assaults on our collective future. Call it civil resistance to ensure our civil existence.
(All photos by the author. Used with permission)
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Communities Resist as Tar Sands Flow Through KXL South
Sacrificing the health of the people and planet, 590,000 additional barrels of oil will now flow to refineries on the Gulf
Jan 22, 2014
Tar sands oil began flowing through the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline Wednesday as operations commenced delivering the "the dirtiest fuel on Earth" to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
The southern leg--the lesser known half of Transcanada's pipeline--originates in Cushing, Oklahoma and passes through countless communities in Oklahoma and East Texas before arriving at refineries and shipping ports along the coast.
"We are the story that isn't often told," East Texas resident Maya Lemon said in a statement circulated by the group NacSTOP (Nacogdoches County Stop Tar Sands Oil Permanently), "the story where Obama's decision to delay on KXL north was paired with an endorsement to fast track KXL south."
While opposition to the project has lacked the national attention given to protests against the northern section, local activists and community members on the front lines of the pipeline have long fought the project and the eminent domain laws that bullied it through.
"We are dissatisfied with the process that allows this pipeline to begin operation, we are frustrated that landowner rights and issues related to eminent domain have never been fully resolved, and we are concerned that our communities are not prepared to respond safely from this pipeline," NacSTOP writes in a letter calling for solidarity action nationwide.
Answering that call, two activists in Portland, Maine were arrested for protesting in solidarity with the communities along the pipeline route Wednesday by locking themselves to the front door of a TD Bank, one of the biggest investors in the pipeline.
The activists, both with the group Maine Trans and/or Women's Action Team, braved 15 degree weather hoping to draw attention to the 590,000 additional barrels of oil that will now flow to refineries located in largely minority communities in Manchester, Texas.
"Climate change's origin is deeply rooted in this practice of sacrificing of communities that are deemed dispensable," Betsy Catlin, one of the protesters locked to TD Bank, told Common Dreams.
"It comes as no surprise that these are mostly low-income, communities of color: majority Latina/o on the East End of Houston and majroity African-American in Port Arthur," said life-long Houston resident and community activist, Maria Jimenez, who added that these communities "are living examples of environmental racism."
According to a recent comparitive health study, children raised amid refineries in Houston's Manchester neighborhood are already 56% more likely to contract childhood leukemia, says Yudith Nieto, an organizer with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS).
"[R]efining tar sands will only increase that percentage while the refineries keep up their blatant disregard for the lives of those of us forced by circumstance to breathe their dangerous emissions on a daily basis," she added.
Fully operational, the 486-mile southern pipeline will transport 830,000 barrels of crude per day between vast underground storage tanks in Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf Coast, the Dallas Morning News reports. Other pipelines and rail services feed into it from the north.
National environmental groups responded to the news with despair, both for the communities along the pipeline route as well as for what the moment spells for the priorities of American politicians and their approval of the northern half.
"Expediting KXL south was not the mark of a president who really 'gets' climate change," said leading climate activist and founder of 350.org Bill McKibben, who later tweeted:
"Tar sands is more corrosive, more toxic, and more difficult to clean up than conventional crude. Coupled with lax oversight and TransCanada's dismal safety record, this pipeline spells bad news for farmers and families whose land, health, and safety were forfeited so that oil companies can reach export markets with their deadly product," said Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune in a statement.
"We hope from this point on that unity is the clarion call for the climate movement," lamented Juan Parras, founder of TEJAS.
"Environmental Justice communities, private property owners, residents living in proximity to the pipeline, and all those up and downstream - we're are all affected here in the same struggle: to permanently stop the most ecologically devastating mining operations in the world and address the ongoing injustices of petrochemical refining," he added.
Speaking with residents along the pipeline route, Al Jazeera produced this report on the impact of the southern leg:
Residents React to Keystone XL South Pipeline Startup - Al Jazeera AmericaTransCanada's controversial Keystone XL South tar sands pipeline built through Oklahoma and Texas is scheduled to start up in ...
Activists posted a video of this solidarity protest in Maine:
Two arrested in Maine for blocking TD Bank, Solidarity with communities along Southern KXLTwo members of the group "Maine Trans and/or Women's Action Team" locked themselves to the front doors of the TD Bank ...
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A Report from Tar Sands Blockade in Texas
Oct 22, 2012
In January 2012, I, like many other people, thought the Keystone XL pipeline controversy was over. We had won a hard-fought victory in suspending the proposed tar sands pipeline from crossing the border from Canada into the USA. It seemed a major win for the environmental movement.
But shortly after reveling in the victory, I read the words of President Barack Obama (the same man who claimed he wanted to lead America away from dependence on oil) said during a March speech in Cushing, OK. "And today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done," the president said.
To my horror and disappointment, that is exactly what he did. Today TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, has already started construction on the southern leg of the pipeline that will potentially stretch from Montana all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
In this case, "cutting through the red tape" includes allowing eminent domain laws to be used to take land from families, farmers, and Indigenous people in order to push this extremely dangerous pipeline. If completed, the pipeline will be filled with highly corrosive and toxic tar sands oil that will be pumped through the heartland of America and then (some of it, at least) will be exported to other countries.
Some residents in Texas and other allies who have come from all over the country are trying to stop this from happening. Last week I visited the courageous landowners and blockaders in rural East Texas who are putting their bodies on the line to slow down and, hopefully, halt the pipeline construction.
I am honored and humbled to be able to share part of their story.
* * *
In April of last year, I went to Dallas, TX and met with one of the landowners, David Daniel and his family, who were facing imminent destruction of their land from TransCanada and standing against the taking of their land through eminent domain abuse. He shared with me his story -- how he and his wife had travelled to many places looking for their perfect place to buy a piece of property where they would care for and steward their little piece of "Heaven on Earth" and raise their child to feel connected to living with the Earth and not just on it. They found exactly what they were looking for in East Texas. A property that had beautiful woods, huge, old trees, and spring-fed creeks curving and meandering through 22 acres. There was one, particularly large, very old tree right next to one of the creeks that had a magic to it, that both David and his wife both felt drawn to so powerfully. It was on that spot that they both knew they had found "their place."
One day while walking around his land -- two years after purchasing it and almost finishing building their dream home made from salvaged, re-purposed, and recycled items -- David found survey ribbons and stakes marking off a 150-foot swath cutting through the middle of his property. TransCanada had entered his property without ever seeking or being granted permission and marked the area they were intending to take and claim as their own.
In our meeting that day, David told me that as he walked around and saw the surveying ribbons and stakes, one right next to one of his most favorite trees, he looked up into the tree, overwhelmed with how he was going to stand against such a huge, politically connected corporation, and he immediately remembered interviews he had seen of me and my tree-sit in Luna. He said in that moment, it gave him the inspiration and resolve he needed to stand against such seemingly overwhelming odds.
After meeting this soulful, soft-spoken man and his beautiful family and feeling his deep heart-breaking anguish, and at the same time, his fierce resolve to fight with everything he had to protect his land, his family, and his child's future to live on a safe and healthy planet, I knew I would do whatever I could to help.
* * *
Fast-forward to this fall. I have been put "on-call" to be ready to go to East Texas at a moment's notice to help bring attention and support to the protests there. Sadly, since I visited him last year, David Daniel had been so bullied and threatened by TransCanada with losing everything he worked so hard for that he has agreed to end his efforts to fight the company.
But at the same time incredible activists calling themselves Tar Sands Blockade have been building blockades and doing direct action lock-downs in efforts to slow-down TransCanada's clearing of easements for the tar sands pipeline. Although their efforts are absolutely amazing, almost no one outside of social media sites and a very few progressive media sites have been sharing what is happening.
My manager, dear friend, and staunch ally in the work to protect this planet, Paul Bassis, has been involved in this issue since the beginning of the fight to stop the pipeline. My soul sister, amazing advocate, and actress, Daryl Hannah, has also been involved from that beginning, even getting arrested in the action in front of the White House in Washington DC, which played a huge part in elevating Keystone XL into the national dialogue and prompting President Obama to temporarily suspend it. Another fellow tree-sitter and amazing artist/activist, John Quigley, has come to Texas as well as incredible friend and ally, Janet MacGillivray Wallace who has also come along for legal support. Our collective goal was to help break through the media silence on this critical issue and provide legal and other support for both the blockaders and the landowners.
Everyone else arrived a couple days before me and was able to scout out the situation and see what our best possible strategy was for hopefully breaking through the wall of silence. I arrived to a group of sleep-deprived yet incredibly committed people. Yet all of the strategizing and planning took a u-turn when, on October 4, we heard TransCanada's heavy equipment rumbling through Eleanor Fairchild's land and smelled smoke from burning piles of trees.
Our group -- including photographers, videographers, and supporters -- quickly gathered together to rethink strategy. We received a clear message from Mrs. Fairchild: "Not on my land. Not on my watch. Not as long as I can do something." The rest of us rallied around her resolve and after making sure everyone was as prepared as we could be, we took off towards the noise and smoke.
Mrs. Fairchild, Daryl Hannah, and John Quigley ran out in front of the huge earth moving excavators with their arms raised, yelling to be heard above the noise, telling the driver of the massive machinery to stop. The rest of us surrounded the site, documenting what was happening as well as letting TransCanada's armed private security and workers know that there were observers, and they better behave legally and properly. (Earlier actions by peaceful blockaders had been met with pain compliance and torture techniques, including choke holds, pepper spray and tasers.)
Daryl Hannah was grabbed early on by a security man who then put a pain-hold compliance on her, twisting her wrist aggressively and bending it backward. Fairchild remained in front of the huge machine, in the midst of burning stacks of trees with her hands raised for an incredibly long time. I was in awe of her stamina and courage and her depth of conviction to peacefully defend her farm.
Eventually, the sheriff showed up with backup forces. The officers approached. Fairchild and tried negotiating with her, offering her the chance to just walk away and not be arrested, trying to convince her that those of us who were there to support her were not really her friends. (As if somehow TransCanada is her best buddy.) She told them that unless they let Daryl go free as well, then they would have to arrest both of them.
The sheriff and his men walked Fairchild and Daryl to their trucks to take them to jail while the rest of us on the support team finished taking photos and documentary footage and returned to the house to regroup and start getting the word out to the media as well as wait for a call from the jail, so we could work on the release of Daryl and Fairchild.
The judge let Eleanor Fairchild go on her personal recognizance, but he decided to make an example of Daryl Hannah and set a $4,500, cash-only bail for her release. It was around 10 p.m. by then and absolutely impossible for us to come up with $4,500 in cash. Eventually, at Daryl's urging, the jail officers convinced the judge that his demands were unreasonable and that Daryl was clearly not a threat to society and should be allowed to have a bail bondsman post a bond for her release.
A few of us went to the bail bondsman to start the process of Daryl's release, then right around midnight, crossed over to the jail house to meet Daryl. She did an incredible job answering questions for the regional media, who had been stationed there for up to seven hours, especially considering how much she had just been through and how exhausted she was. We then took her over to finish the bonding process (with the bondswoman), who was incredibly nice and very helpful in walking us through the process of what to expect over the coming days and weeks.
The next day we saw that the news was spreading like wildfire. Paul and John took Daryl and Eleanor off to the network affiliate television studios in Dallas to do live national media and respond to TransCanada's statement on the confrontation. I went to visit the courageous blockaders still holding down the line in the trees and on the "wall" (a wall made of trees and platforms and rope lines.) I told them they were our inspiration, thanked them for their courage and sacrifice, and asked them what they needed in the terms of support. I told them that we were working hard to support getting their efforts out to the greater public and hopefully helping build the critical support necessary in stopping this injustice.
The TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline is a huge threat to people, the planet and our democracy. It has been railroaded through by Obama (whose campaign hired a former TransCanada lobbyist) and is supported by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose former 2008 campaign advisor, Paul Elliott, is now TransCanada's lobbyist in Washington. Highly respected scientists have said that moving ahead with tar sands extraction is one of the single greatest threats to a stable climate. Native Americans face having their lands being stolen yet again for this pipeline. And families up and down the heartland of America face the devastation of all they worked so hard to create. More actions are taking place every single day with this campaign, and all of us need to pay attention however we can. Families' lives, beautiful land, and our future are at stake.
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