This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
2 Women Charged With Conspiracy, Arson Over 2017 Dakota Pipeline Protests
Federal authorities on Wednesday charged two women who set fire to machinery and attempted to pierce portions of the Dakota Access Pipeline with torches with counts of conspiracy and arson.
Ruby Montoya and Jessica Reznicek worked in November of 2016 to damage the controversial pipeline, hosting a news conference in July of 2017 in front of the Iowa Utilities Board describing their actions. The charges come more than two years after that press conference, and the women could face decades in prison if convicted.
Authorities also charged a South Dakota man this month with a felony conspiracy to commit criminal mischief for participating in a September 2016 #NoDAPL protest, claiming that DNA from a cigarette butt collected at the scene links him to the action. Native protesters have faced particularly harsh charges and convictions in the aftermath of the pipeline protests.
As reported by The New York Times:
"Some may view these actions as violent, but be not mistaken," Ms. Montoya said at the news conference in July 2017. "We acted from our hearts and never threatened human life nor personal property. What we did do was fight a private corporation that has run rampantly across our country seizing land and polluting our nation's water supply."
"We're up to nine states that have passed laws that are substantially close to the model policy that you have in your packet." https://t.co/48O6RB0Pvo @DeSmogBlog
— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) August 25, 2019
For a deeper dive:
Women: The New York Times, Des Moines Register. Man: Bismarck Tribune
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.
- Could "Liking" an Anti-Pipeline Facebook Post Soon Be Illegal ... ›
- Pipeline Protesters Could Face up to 20 Years in Prison Under New ... ›
- Anti-Protest Legislation Is Threatening Our Climate - EcoWatch ›
- Texas Bill Would Make Protesting Pipelines a Felony on Par With ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Greenland’s Ice Sheet Is Melting at Rate That Surpasses Scientists' Expectations, Study Shows
The rate that Greenland's ice sheet is melting surpassed scientists' expectations and has raised concerns that their worst-case scenario predictions are coming true, Business Insider reported.
By Pedro Biondi
Extinct in its habitat for at least three decades, the Alagoas curassow (Pauxi mitu) is now back in the jungle and facing a test of survival, thanks to the joint efforts of more than a dozen institutions to pull this pheasant-like bird back from the brink.
By Julia Conley
Sen. Elizabeth Warren expanded her vision for combating the climate crisis on Tuesday with the release of her Blue New Deal — a new component of the Green New Deal focusing on protecting and restoring the world's oceans after decades of pollution and industry-caused warming.
A judge in New York's Supreme Court sided with Exxon in a case that accused the fossil fuel giant of lying to investors about the true cost of the climate crisis. The judge did not absolve Exxon from its contribution to the climate crisis, but insisted that New York State failed to prove that the company intentionally defrauded investors, as NPR reported.
Trending
By Sharon Elber
You may have heard that giving a pet for Christmas is just a bad idea. Although many people believe this myth, according to the ASPCA, 86 percent of adopted pets given as gifts stay in their new homes. These success rates are actually slightly higher than average adoption/rehoming rates. So, if done well, giving an adopted pet as a Christmas gift can work out.