Blockade of pipeline picks up pace

More protestors have turned up in Texas in an attempt to block the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through the state. On October 15, 50 people entered the blockade in defiance of police who have been trying to cut off access and arrest what they call “trespassers.”

According to Tar Sands Blockade, the protestors are being sued.

As the Winnsboro, Texas tree blockade enters its fourth week, over 50 blockaders publicly demonstrated on the Keystone XL easement despite the threat of a newly-expanded Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by TransCanada and egregious criminal overcharges by local law enforcement. Due to the SLAPP suits’ outrageous claims, the tree blockaders have by-and-large felt too threatened to safely reveal their identities, despite their protest being nonviolent. Today’s defiant walk-on protest is the largest in the history of protests surrounding Keystone XL construction sends a clear signal that we will not be deterred by SLAPP suits and other legal threats to limit our civil liberties.

Apparently we’ve been causing some serious delays of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

The blockade is now beginning to get mainstream media coverage, especially after actress and activist Daryl Hannah was arrested, and later released. The New York Times has also run a story on the protest.

This is what Tar Sands Blockade says about the pipeline:

A coalition of climate justice activists are converging from across the continent with local organizers and landowners to put a final stop to the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas.

Tar sands giant TransCanada has begun construction on the southern leg of the Keystone XL.

TransCanada has used money to influence elected representatives and to intimidate landowners, rural communities, and jeopardize the environment. The Tar Sands Blockade is calling on you to join one of our rolling actions to shut this pipeline down.

Leading NASA Climate Scientist James Hansen has called the Keystone XL “game over” for the climate, and Americans are already feeling the heat. The pipeline will make TransCanada rich while encroaching on ranch lands, poisoning Texas’ working class communities, and destroying the environment that makes the lone star state so beautiful.

According to Susan Scott, a landowner, she claims TransCanada did not say what the pipeline would carry across her land.

Democracy Now has also run coverage, see video: