Above Photo:A sign held at an anti-Enbridge protest in Vancouver. (Photo: travis blanston/flickr/cc)
Washington, D.C.—At the status hearing today in Superior Court of the District of Columbia, three of the FERC4, Peter Nightingale of Kingston RI, Claude Guillemard of Baltimore, MD, Ellen Taylor of Washington, D.C., and Donald Weightman of Philadelphia, PA, committed to representing themselves at their criminal trial, scheduled for June 21, 2017.
The FERC4 were arrested with three other activists during a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in May, 2016. The action was part of the Rubber Stamp Rebellion, a demonstration led by the activist group Beyond Extreme Energy. The FERC4 have been charged with “unlawful entry,” Attorney Mark Goldstone will advise the FERC4 and represent Ellen Taylor, who stated: “We need to show the world that FERC is on trial.”
The FERC4 denounce FERC for approving fracked gas pipeline projects that poison water, pollute air, and overheat the planet. This federal agency has resisted every attempt to make it accountable to the public.
Nightingale, a professor of physics at the University of Rhode Island and member of Fossil Free Rhode Island, said: “Thinking about the future, and my grandchildren in particular, I do not know how to explain the destruction we are visiting upon the Earth they shall inherit.”
To stay in touch with the FERC4 and to receive updates or to support their legal defense fund visit their web site: https://ferc4.org