Latest news with #environmentalprotest
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Ten arrests after Greenpeace protest closes Forth Road Bridge
Ten people have been arrested after environmental protesters abseiled off the Forth Road Bridge in a demonstration against a tanker carrying fracked protest against the Ineos ship Independence - which was making its way to Grangemouth - was reported to police at about 13:00 on men, aged between 35 and 40, and five women, aged between 25 and 42, were later arrested in connection with the bridge remains closed. Images from the scene had shown protesters on wires holding red banners displaying a number of slogans decrying Ineos' influence in the plastics accused the firm, and its owner, Jim Ratcliffe, of attempting to sabotage a global plastics treaty due to be voted on by UN member states in Switzerland next described the action by Greenpeace as "dangerous, disruptive, and entirely counterproductive," adding it "threatened skilled jobs in Scotland".
E&E News
5 days ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump's Michigan coal order draws legal challenge
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a coalition of environmental groups are calling on a federal appeals court to intervene in the Trump administration's first national order to keep an aging coal plant online, a move they argue is illegal and costly. Nessel (D) on Thursday filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to review the Energy Department's order for Consumers Energy to continue operating its J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in southwestern Michigan. The Sierra Club, Earthjustice and seven other groups also filed a petition with the same court Thursday. The requests target an order that Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued May using emergency authorities in the Federal Power Act to force the plant to keep operating. Wright argued that the plant is needed to keep sufficient electricity on the grid. The local utility Consumers Energy planned to shut down the plant at the end of May. Advertisement 'President Trump has declared under his authority a national energy emergency. The Energy Department and Secretary Wright are ensuring Americans have access to all forms of reliable energy,' said Ben Dietderich, a spokesperson for DOE.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scores gather in protest over Dresden, Ont., landfill project
Scores of residents, advocates, and local leaders on Thursday staged a rally against the proposed Dresden landfill, which appears to be moving full steam ahead with the recent passage of a controversial Ontario mining law. Bill 5 was passed by the province on June 4 and gives Premier Doug Ford's government the power to suspend provincial and municipal laws for chosen projects in areas it deems to have economic importance. Al Kominek, a local cash-crop farmer, said he and several other farmers have their farms right along the edge of the proposed landfill. Kominek, who describes himself as a Conservative, said he's written to the premier to let him know he opposes Bill 5. "I just sent a letter yesterday about just how unhappy I am about the whole thing," he told CBC News. "Toronto doesn't care about our community but we do, and we should have a say and a right to complain about something that's just thrown upon us." Kominek said he's "disheartened" for the people who live closest to the proposed landfill. "They've been fighting so hard to prevent this from happening and all of a sudden they just show up," he said. "It's disheartening for everyone who lives in the community to see this." The company responsible for the project — York1 Environmental Waste Solutions Ltd., based just outside Toronto — says a small crew has arrived in the area and prep work is underway for the landfill. In an emailed statement to CBC Windsor, the company said everything being done is permitted under the site's existing environmental compliance approval. The company also stressed that the site will not be used for household waste but for non-hazardous construction and demolition materials. Ashley Khouathip, another resident, says she remains optimistic that Bill 5 would be rescinded. "I think we're all still very hopeful. Bill 5 might have passed, but we're not done fighting," Khouathip said. "There's still a lot of little things along the way that they need to set in stone before they can go full throttle." Khouathip said a dump in the area is "going to affect us greatly, because the kids play out here. It's not like being in the city, they roam free, they fish, a lot of us kayak and we're on the water all the time." Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who is on a three-day visit to Windsor and area, was also at the protest. She joined members of Dresden C.A.R.E.D. and Chatham-Kent municipal councillors to call on the Ford government to repeal Bill 5. "This is not a partisan issue … but what really gets me about what's happening to Dresden is that this is a prime example of a government and a premier making another promise and commitment and breaking it," Stiles said. Stiles assured residents and those at the protest rally that she will keep the issue alive in the provincial legislature. "I want you to know that back at Queen's Park, where many of you have come to show your opposition to Bill 5, the voices of the people of Dresden and this area are echoing around the halls of Queens Park," she said. Lyle Gall, a representative of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said all workers in Canada should stand in opposition to Bill 5, which has sparked a fierce opposition and anger among First Nations. "We stand in solidarity with Indigenous leaders who oppose this attack on their national sovereignty and treaty rights," he said. "We will not stand for this direct attack on First Nations, we will not stand for this direct attack on workers, we will not stand for this direct attack on the land. We called for an immediate repeal of Bill 5," Lyle added.
ABC News
02-07-2025
- ABC News
Stench gas activists avoid jail over protest at Woodside's Perth headquarters
Three environmental protesters have avoided going to prison over the release of stench gas that forced the evacuation of Woodside Energy's headquarters in Perth. The release of the gas caused more than 1,000 people to leave the 29-storey building in West Perth in June 2023, with some complaining of physical reactions. Kristen Morrissey, Joana Partyka and Emil Davey had all pleaded guilty to creating a false belief, while Morrissey had also admitted to a charge of causing poison to be administered. Judge Hayley Cormann told the court while the stench gas was not meant to be harmful, it could be "toxic when inhaled in high concentrations". "Each of you intended to create alarm or concern," Judge Cormann said. Morrissey had gone into the foyer of the Woodside building and released the stench gas, which is used in the mining industry to alert workers to hazards. Several of those who left the building complained of reactions such as headaches and sore throats. Some police officers who attended also suffered headaches and dizziness. The court had heard that a small number of workers suffered symptoms for several days, including nausea and "blotchy" rashes. The incident prompted a large response from emergency services, including ChemCentre staff. Police discovered the stench gas canister in Morrissey's handbag. The day after the incident, Morrissey inadvertently recorded a conversation with Partyka on her phone. On the recording, Partyka could be heard saying the action went to plan because the entire building was evacuated, and described it as "one of the more high profile ones that we've done." While Kristen Morrissey was the one who released the gas, Partyka and Davey were involved in planning and preparation. The prosecutor had told the court the intention was "to disrupt the activities of Woodside", and was not motivated by animosity towards the workers. Prosecutor Peter Phillips said there was significant planning, and the action represented a "substantial escalation" in offending by the activists. People were in "distress" on the day, he said, because they did not know what had occurred. Judge Cormann accepted the three were motivated to bring attention to the environmental cause they were committed to, but said what they had done represented "forthright defiance of the law". She said the trio did not regret their actions, and she asserted they could not continue to protest "through unlawful means". Morrissey, 51, was given an 11-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. Partyka, 40, was given a seven-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. Davey, 23, was placed on a community-based order which will include 50 hours of unpaid work. There was no reaction from the trio as the sentences were read out.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protesters line highway in Florida Everglades to oppose 'Alligator Alcatraz'
A coalition of groups, ranging from environmental activists to Native Americans advocating for their ancestral homelands, converged outside an airstrip in the Florida Everglades Saturday to protest the imminent construction of an immigrant detention center. Hundreds of protesters lined part of U.S. Highway 41 that slices through the marshy Everglades — also known as Tamiami Trail — as dump trucks hauling materials lumbered into the airfield. Cars passing by honked in support as protesters waved signs calling for the protection of the expansive preserve that is home to a few Native tribes and several endangered animal species. Christopher McVoy, an ecologist, said he saw a steady stream of trucks entering the site while he protested for hours. Environmental degradation was a big reason why he came out Saturday. But as a South Florida city commissioner, he said concerns over immigration raids in his city also fueled his opposition. 'People I know are in tears, and I wasn't far from it,' he said. Florida officials have forged ahead over the past week in constructing the compound dubbed as 'Alligator Alcatraz' within the Everglades' humid swamplands. The government fast-tracked the project under emergency powers from an executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis that addresses what he views as a crisis of illegal immigration. That order lets the state sidestep certain purchasing laws and is why construction has continued despite objections from Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and local activists. The facility will have temporary structures like heavy-duty tents and trailers to house detained immigrants. The state estimates that by early July, it will have 5,000 immigration detention beds in operation. The compound's proponents have noted its location in the Florida wetlands — teeming with massive reptiles like alligators and invasive Burmese pythons — make it an ideal spot for immigration detention. 'Clearly, from a security perspective, if someone escapes, you know, there's a lot of alligators,' DeSantis said Wednesday. 'No one's going anywhere.' Under DeSantis, Florida has made an aggressive push for immigration enforcement and has been supportive of the federal government's broader crackdown on illegal immigration. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has backed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' which DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said will be partially funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But Native American leaders in the region have seen the construction as an encroachment onto their sacred homelands, which prompted Saturday's protest. In Big Cypress National Preserve, where the airstrip is located, 15 traditional Miccosukee and Seminole villages, as well as ceremonial and burial grounds and other gathering sites, remain. Others have raised human rights concerns over what they condemn as the inhumane housing of immigrants. Worries about environmental impacts have also been at the forefront, as groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Friends of the Everglades filed a lawsuit Friday to halt the detention center plans. 'The Everglades is a vast, interconnected system of waterways and wetlands, and what happens in one area can have damaging impacts downstream," Friends of the Everglades executive director Eve Samples said. 'So it's really important that we have a clear sense of any wetland impacts happening in the site.' Bryan Griffin, a DeSantis spokesperson, said Friday in response to the litigation that the facility was a 'necessary staging operation for mass deportations located at a preexisting airport that will have no impact on the surrounding environment.' Until the site undergoes a comprehensive environmental review and public comment is sought, the environmental groups say construction should pause. The facility's speedy establishment is 'damning evidence' that state and federal agencies hope it will be 'too late' to reverse their actions if they are ordered by a court to do so, said Elise Bennett, a Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney working on the case. The potential environmental hazards also bleed into other aspects of Everglades life, including a robust tourism industry where hikers walk trails and explore the marshes on airboats, said Floridians for Public Lands founder Jessica Namath, who attended the protest. To place an immigration detention center there makes the area unwelcoming to visitors and feeds into the misconception that the space is in 'the middle of nowhere,' she said. 'Everybody out here sees the exhaust fumes, sees the oil slicks on the road, you know, they hear the sound and the noise pollution. You can imagine what it looks like at nighttime, and we're in an international dark sky area,' Namath said. 'It's very frustrating because, again, there's such disconnect for politicians.'
