[HuffPost]
“Dawn Goodwin spent her 50th birthday among towering pines and yellow birches whose tree rings make her lifespan seem like a child’s in comparison. [She] was at this river crossing near Palisade, Minnesota, to protest the construction of the energy company Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, a $9.3 billion project to carry tar-sands oil ― one of the dirtiest varieties of crude oil”.
“Without realizing it, she’d stepped over an invisible border and had officially trespassed into a construction site. Within seconds, half a dozen police officers surrounded her, carrying zip ties to arrest her. Video footage of the incident shows her ― bundled in an oversize green hoodie, a black winter jacket and matching mittens ― apologizing repeatedly as fellow activists chant, “Let her go.” It proved enough to talk the officers down to a misdemeanor citation. She’s due in court next week.”
“Under a new bill in the Minnesota legislature, Goodwin could face much steeper consequences. Had any of her fellow activists caused even minor damage to equipment at the site, the bill could’ve held virtually anyone even remotely involved — especially those caught trespassing — liable for the damage, threatening protesters with up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.”
“An activist wouldn’t even need to be convicted of trespassing to be held liable ― an arrest is enough under the legislation.”
“Minnesota’s bill is tougher than similar legislation proposed in other states, but it’s not unique. The legislation follows a model that’s been approved in 14 states and is also under consideration in Arkansas, Montana, and Kansas. The model designates ― if it isn’t already so ― any oil, gas, coal, or plastics facilities as “critical infrastructure” and adds aggressive new penalties for vague charges of trespassing or tampering.”
“The uptick in these proposals is a sign that state lawmakers are using the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot to justify new restrictions on peaceful demonstrations that are meant to prevent protests in the first place, free-speech experts say.”
“The similarities among the state bills are no accident.”
“The legislation is based on a model bill that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing policy shop funded by corporations and conservative billionaires, drafted and began promoting to Republican state lawmakers in the wake of the fight over the Dakota Access pipeline project. State disclosure records routinely show lobbyists for companies such as Enbridge, Exxon Mobil Corp., Koch Industries and Marathon Petroleum consulting lawmakers on the legislation.”
“Bills of this type have surfaced in roughly half of states over the past four years, but they’ve passed at a more rapid pace since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the country fell into crisis, the governors in Kentucky, South Dakota and West Virginia all signed legislation in the middle of March 2020.”
“Some bills have proven too harsh even in states where the fossil fuel industry is most powerful. Louisiana’s Republican-controlled legislature, for example, passed a bill last May that would have imposed mandatory three-year prison sentences for trespassing on fossil fuel sites. […] The state’s Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, vetoed the bill.”
“Yet, brutal outcomes for typically sympathetic figures have done little to dissuade other governors.” The legislation could “win approval in Arkansas, Montana, Kansas.”
“The fearmongering harkens back to the years immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when the FBI declared ecoterrorism the biggest domestic threat and used the sweeping surveillance and law enforcement measures passed under the Patriot Act to harass environmental radicals.”
Read more: 4 More States Propose Harsh New Penalties For Protesting Fossil Fuels
2021-week35
