(The Guardian) As the CERAWeek oil and gas conference convened fossil fuel bigwigs in Houston on Monday, hundreds of activists staged a protest down the street.
“We need clean air, not another billionaire,” they chanted.
Among the featured speakers at the rally was Yvette Arellano, founder and director of Fenceline Watch, a Houston-based environmental justice organization. Last year, she was barred from attending CERAWeek despite raising $8,500 for a ticket.
“Unfettered” fossil fuel expansion, she said, is taking a toll on the climate while polluting vulnerable communities in Texas and beyond. “It’s our communities that are being harmed,” she said.
Other activists hail from communities as far flung as Appalachia and the Standing Rock Indigenous reservation in North Dakota.
Activists were arrested while disrupting the CERAWeek fossil fuel conference on Monday, chanting “people over profit”.
The protesters blocked the street outside the conference hotel in Houston, where energy secretary Chris Wright and top brass from energy companies including Shell and Exxon spoke on Monday.
Among those arrested was local organizer Yvette Arellano of Texas environmental justice group Fenceline Watch. “Human rights, not sacrifice,” she chanted as the police escorted her away.
“We need clean air, not another billionaire,” they chanted.
Among the featured speakers at the rally was Yvette Arellano, founder and director of Fenceline Watch, a Houston-based environmental justice organization. Last year, she was barred from attending CERAWeek despite raising $8,500 for a ticket.
“Unfettered” fossil fuel expansion, she said, is taking a toll on the climate while polluting vulnerable communities in Texas and beyond. “It’s our communities that are being harmed,” she said.
Other activists hail from communities as far flung as Appalachia and the Standing Rock Indigenous reservation in North Dakota.
Activists were arrested while disrupting the CERAWeek fossil fuel conference on Monday, chanting “people over profit”.
The protesters blocked the street outside the conference hotel in Houston, where energy secretary Chris Wright and top brass from energy companies including Shell and Exxon spoke on Monday.
Among those arrested was local organizer Yvette Arellano of Texas environmental justice group Fenceline Watch. “Human rights, not sacrifice,” she chanted as the police escorted her away.
