EXTRACTED: Daily News Clips 10/14/21
PIPELINE NEWS
People vs. Fossil Fuels: 90 More Arrested At “People vs. Fossil Fuels” Protest at White House as Biden Administration Stays Silent
Minnesota Reformer: Line 3 opponents deliver letter to White House
NM Political Report: Native groups protest fossil fuels in Washington, D.C.
Bridge MI: Michigan tribes to Biden: Enbridge Line 5 threatens our treaty rights
9and10News: Public Voices Concerns and Support for Proposed Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel
Truthout: As Tar Sands Flow Through Line 3, Water Protectors Fight Trumped-Up Felonies
Politico Morning Energy: EDF SIDE EYES SPIRE IN COURT
Reuters: Nuns challenge decision on Transco pipeline lawsuit
Aberdeen News: Brown County commissioners discuss $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline, speed limit change
Red Oak Express: CO2 pipeline inspection services tabled by supervisors
Petroleum Gas Journal: FERC Blesses MVP’s Use of Trenchless Technology
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico Morning Energy: THE SPILL BILLS
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Fossil-Fuel Use Could Peak in Just a Few Years. Still, Major Challenges Loom
Wall Street Journal: Big Energy Companies’ New Pitch: ‘Carbon-Neutral’ Oil and Gas
E&E News: Natural Gas And Net Zero: Can They Coexist?
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Science Daily: Living near oil and gas wells increases air pollution exposure
Oil Change International: Briefing: Greenhouse Gas Pollution Estimates of Proposed U.S. Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
CLIMATE FINANCE
New York Times: Private Equity Funds, Sensing Profit in Tumult, Are Propping Up Oil
Financial Times: Big banks resist most direct road map to net zero emissions
OPINION
DeSmog: I Was Targeted Under Louisiana’s Felony Trespassing Law for Reporting on Police Working for a Pipeline Company
PIPELINE NEWS
People vs. Fossil Fuels: 90 More Arrested At “People vs. Fossil Fuels” Protest at White House as Biden Administration Stays Silent
10/13/21
“Demonstrators returned to the White House on Wednesday morning for the third day of the “People vs. Fossil Fuels” mobilization, keeping up the pressure on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and stop all new fossil fuel projects. Under a giant banner that read “Biden: Our Communities Can’t Wait,” hundreds of people marched to the White House this morning to highlight the dangerous ongoing impacts of the climate crisis across the country and the world. As hundreds rallied in Lafayette Square Park, 90 people sat in at the White House fence, risking arrest for the third straight day of civil disobedience. The Biden Administration has so far avoided questions and refused to comment on the mass civil disobedience or respond to the demonstrator’s demands. Many in attendance at the White House today and throughout the week come from communities, like Cancer Alley in Louisiana or Native communities, that the administration has made public promises to defend but remain threatened by fossil fuel projects, including pending projects that Biden could reject right now. Many now say those promises are being broken… “How much longer will the future of our communities be on the shoulders of citizens without the backing of our elected officials?” said Jane Kleeb, the founder of Bold Alliance. “The farmers, ranchers and Tribal Nations should not have to fight for over a decade to protect the land and water. This should be everyone’s fight–including President Biden. We need to stop pretending we can tackle the climate crisis while still building fossil fuel pipelines. Biden has the power and we are asking him to choose us over fossil fuel corporations.”
Minnesota Reformer: Line 3 opponents deliver letter to White House
RILYN EISCHENS, 10/12/21
“A group of Indigenous and environmental organizations based in Minnesota and nationwide delivered a letter to the White House Tuesday urging President Joe Biden to take action on Enbridge’s Line 3 oil pipeline,” the Minnesota Reformer reports. “The 337-mile Line 3 pipeline began carrying oil on Oct. 1. The letter from pipeline opponents comes the day after more than 100 people received citations for blocking traffic during a rally outside the White House as part of the weeklong “People vs. Fossil Fuels” campaign. Local letter signers include Honor the Earth, MN350, TakeAction Minnesota and CAIR-Minnesota. Cleaning product company Seventh Generation, Earthjustice and Indigenous Environmental Network also signed on. “You have declared a code red climate emergency, stating that ‘the nation and the world are in peril.’ We agree,” the letter to Biden says. “It is past time to act in accordance with your declaration.”
NM Political Report: Native groups protest fossil fuels in Washington, D.C.
By Susan Dunlap, 10/12/21
“Native American groups have been protesting fossil fuel production this week in Washington, D.C., in order to help shine a light on the connection between fossil fuel extraction and violence against Native women,” according to NM Political Report. “Members of the New Mexico Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW) traveled to participate in the protest that began on Indigenous People’s Day in front of the White House to demand that President Joe Biden declare a climate emergency and end fossil fuel production. Many Native leaders from around the country are participating in the week-long protest. Angel Charley, Laguna Pueblo and executive director of CSVANW, told NM Political Report from the nation’s capital that “we don’t necessarily think of extractive industries as a violence against women issue.” “It’s a connection folks aren’t making. We know that where these industries exist, there’s a heightened rate of sexual violence against Native American women, especially in the Dakotas in the Bakken region,” Charley said. She said that, for Native women, violence against their bodies is not a matter of “if” but “when.” More than 80 percent – or four of out five Native women – will experience violence in her lifetime. More than half of the approximately 80 percent experience sexual violence, Charley said. In addition, it is not an issue that Native women are able to transcend through educational attainment or economic stability, she said. “Rates of violence and sexual violence increase when extractive industries are present,” she told the Report.
Bridge MI: Michigan tribes to Biden: Enbridge Line 5 threatens our treaty rights
Kelly House, 10/12/21
“As Canada leans on an international treaty to keep oil flowing through Line 5, Michigan Native American tribal leaders want the Biden administration to acknowledge that the pipeline’s fate affects their treaty rights, too,” Bridge MI reports. “In a press conference Tuesday, Bay Mills Indian Community President Whitney Gravelle called upon the Biden administration to make “a serious commitment” to uphold the rights of Michigan tribes as the federal government faces increasingly complex diplomatic issues regarding Line 5. Gravelle’s comments come a week after Canada invoked a 1977 treaty governing cross-border pipelines in an attempt to block Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s efforts to shut down Line 5, which runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Canada argues that the treaty, part of which says that “no public authority” in either the U.S. or Canada can impede the flow of petroleum products through international pipelines, leaves Whitmer powerless to shut down Line 5. Lawyers for the state of Michigan dispute that interpretation, and a University of Michigan legal expert earlier told Bridge Michigan that other language in the 1977 treaty gives Michigan the power to regulate the pipeline. Calling efforts to keep Line 5 open a “direct attack on our sovereignty,” Gravelle argued at a virtual press conference Tuesday that “tribal nations’ treaty rights in this area predate and supersede any of Enbridge’s interests, including any rights the government of Canada or Enbridge may claim.”
9and10News: Public Voices Concerns and Support for Proposed Line 5 Pipeline Tunnel
Kevin Hodge, 10/13/21
“Despite Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordering the shutdown of Line 5, Enbridge has continued it’s operation and are still in talks to build a tunnel for the pipeline,” 9and10News reports. “...At Wednesday’s meeting, members of the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority questioned the safety of the pipeline. “It’s important to hear from the tribes,” said Michael Nystrom, chair of the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority. “They’re very passionate about this and their voice must be heard and we look forward to working with them on it.” One tribal member spoke up during the meeting, condemning the actions of the Authority as well as Enbridge. “Honor the treaties,” he said. “That’s the foundation of what’s being overrun right now by all the people that don’t know what they’re talking about.” Others were in favor of Line 5 and the tunnel project. “Building this tunnel is a big thing and it’s about time Michigan moved forward and started doing big things again,” said another speaker. According to Enbridge, they’ve already spent more than $100 million dollars on the tunnel project.”
Truthout: As Tar Sands Flow Through Line 3, Water Protectors Fight Trumped-Up Felonies
Candice Bernd, 10/12/21
“After nearly seven years of resistance from Indigenous communities and allied climate activists, Canadian tar sands began flowing through Alberta-based Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline this month,” Truthout reports. “...But one Water Protector from Minnesota who planned on attending this week’s events in D.C. is being forced to stay behind: Scout is one of more than 80 people facing at least 90 felony-level charges, with all but one stemming from protests against the pipeline over the course of the summer, according to the Line 3 legal support collective Pipeline Legal Action Network (PLAN). Scout, who asked to be identified with a pseudonym because of the legally sensitive nature of his case, is forbidden from traveling across state lines under the conditions of his release from a Northern Minnesota jail in June. Scout told Truthout that his charges may escalate even further, as the prosecuting attorney may seek to up his charge from felony second-degree assault to three charges of felony first-degree assault. The current second-degree charge stems from an alleged incident in July in which Scout allegedly drove through an Enbridge work site while scouting for drilling fluid spills called “frac outs” and sites where the company was actively drilling underneath water bodies.”
Politico Morning Energy: EDF SIDE EYES SPIRE IN COURT
Matthew Choi, 10/13/21
“The Environmental Defense Fund and Missouri-based pipeline company Spire STL are duking it out in a Supreme Court docket this week,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “EDF on Monday asked the court to deny Spire’s request to issue an emergency stay to keep the gas in its pipeline that services the St. Louis region flowing throughout the entire upcoming winter season. The environmental group argued FERC’s decision to allow the pipeline to continue operating through at least mid-December means the commission won’t allow service to be disrupted as long as it deems customers in the area to be at risk. “Spire is ineligible for a stay because any interruption in the Spire STL pipeline’s operating authority is not merely unlikely; FERC’s actions to date show the scenario to be utterly fanciful,” EDF said in its filing. The environmental group supports maintaining the pipeline for reliability purposes, but argues that any operations should be strictly monitored. Spire responded to EDF’s filing on Tuesday, arguing “the ‘possibility’ of action by FERC ... is no substitute for the guarantee of continued operating authority that a stay would provide.” FERC will soon have a Democratic majority, the pipeline company pointed out, and it's unclear how the majority will rule on whether the pipeline should operate long-term, especially given Chair Richard Glick’s opposition in the past.”
Reuters: Nuns challenge decision on Transco pipeline lawsuit
By Sebastien Malo, 10/13/21
“A group of Catholic nuns on Wednesday challenged an Allentown, Pennsylvania federal judge's ruling that dismissed their lawsuit claiming the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co LLC "defile(d) the sacred nature of their property" in eastern Pennsylvania with a natural gas pipeline it built there,” Reuters reports. “The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, a religious order whose sisters say that the building of a section of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline on their land in Lancaster County violates their religious practice under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a September ruling that tossed their lawsuit… “The complaint says that the sisters are entitled under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a statute whose goal is to protect religious exercise, to punitive damages. But U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Schmehl, in a Sept. 30 ruling, said that the Adorers filed their lawsuit in the wrong venue and his court lacked jurisdiction. The Natural Gas Act, which governs interstate natural gas pipelines, gives the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit exclusive jurisdiction over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certificates, such as the one it handed Transco in 2017 for the pipeline, the judge said. That means the sisters should have challenged the decision first by petitioning FERC and subsequently by filing their lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit rather than in a district court, Schmehl added.”
Aberdeen News: Brown County commissioners discuss $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline, speed limit change
Trent Abrego, 10/13/21
“Brown County Commissioners heard a presentation Tuesday about a $4.5 billion carbon capture pipeline that could run through the Aberdeen area,” the Aberdeen News reports. “Dan Lederman, of Summit Carbon Solutions laid out a plan for a 2,000 mile pipeline crossing into five states -- North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska… “Land agents are currently visiting with landowners who will be impacted. Lederman said that South Dakota leads the five states in voluntary site surveys… “For many landowners, Lederman told the News, the easements will be the same as the Dakota Access Pipeline. Locally, Redfield Energy, Ringneck Energy and Glacial Lakes will be a part of the project. Glacial Lakes will have four plants connected to the pipeline. Lederman said they have also been in talks with POET, but that's still ongoing… “The pipeline will add up to 17,000 construction jobs to build the $4.5 billion pipeline, with 300 to 500 of them being "lasting jobs," Lederman said. "When you look at what it does for South Dakota, and what it does for the Midwest: it creates more jobs ... It's a boost to household incomes," Lederman said. "A lot of that ethanol we're talking about would have more uses or we'd be able to produce more ethanol and boost train markets."
Red Oak Express: CO2 pipeline inspection services tabled by supervisors
Nick Johansen, 10/13/21
“The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors has postponed any action on hiring inspection services for a proposed pipeline,” the Red Oak Express reports. “...While the permit for the pipeline construction has not been granted yet, Kruizenga said the company plans to seek the permit as soon as the public information meetings have been completed, and construction is not expected to begin until 2023. The reason they were coming to the county now, Kruizenga said, was because they knew the area landowners would have a lot of questions, and be a resource to answer those questions, and answer any questions the supervisors had themselves. “If the county were to sign a letter of intent with us, we would have a representative present at the Oct. 14 meeting to help answer any questions that the landowners present may have. The letter of intent is simply a statement that you intend to use our services, and when the project gets closer, we would make sure we have all the details of the plans to share with the supervisors, as this project will take a lot of inspectors,” Kruizenga explained… “Area residents Jam Norris and Elizabeth Wearin were in attendance at the meeting, and Norris urged the supervisors to wait on hiring inspection services. “We have not even had the Montgomery County public pipeline meeting yet. Is there an urgency? I urge you to not take any action. Let’s hear what they have to say, and postpone this decision,” commented Norris.
Petroleum Gas Journal: FERC Blesses MVP’s Use of Trenchless Technology
Stephen Barlas, 10/13/21
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), bringing fracked gas 300 miles (483 km) from West Virginia to Virginia, cleared its latest federal regulatory hurdle when FERC said in an environmental assessment that the trenchless technology MVP plans to use when crossing water bodies met with FERC’s approval,” Petroleum Gas Journal reports. “FERC’s decision was not final, however, and it could be influenced by public comments that will be forthcoming. The MVP had originally planned to use open-cut dry crossings for the streams and water bodies at issue… “Total project work on the MVP is more than 92-percent complete, including more than 264 miles (425 km) of pipe welded and in-place. Jessica Sims, a spokeswoman for Appalachian Voices, an environmental group that has been the leading opponent of the MVP, argues, “Trenchless methods of crossing have resulted in major pollution events during the construction of other pipelines, such as inadvertent returns and frac-outs, so FERC should be asking itself whether those risks have been fully mitigated.” The MVP is also awaiting final approval of its Nationwide Permit 12, which the Army Corps of Engineers grants for crossing of wetlands.”
WASHINGTON UPDATES
Politico Morning Energy: THE SPILL BILLS:
Matthew Choi, 10/13/21
“The House Natural Resources Committee is marking up two offshore drilling bills today following the oil spill that marred the Southern California coast last week,” Politico Morning Energy reports. “The Offshore Accountability Act (H.R. 570 (117)) and the Offshore Pipeline Safety Act (H.R. 2643 (117)) aim to prevent future spills and beef up oversight over offshore fossil fuel infrastructure. “The oil and gas industry has ignored public health and the environment for decades, and what’s happening in Huntington Beach today will keep happening to more American communities until Congress steps in,” Chair Raúl Grijalva said in a statement. Some Senate Democrats, including California’s two senators, have been pushing for legislation that bans oil and gas drilling in federal waters off the Pacific Coast to be included in reconciliation. Republicans dismiss any calls to end offshore pipelines as an overreaction. “We expect tomorrow’s markup to be another attempt to use smoke and mirrors to push for extreme offshore regulations, something that wouldn’t have even stopped this spill in the first place,” House Natural Resources Republican communications director Rebekah Hoshiko told ME on Tuesday.”
EXTRACTION
New York Times: Fossil-Fuel Use Could Peak in Just a Few Years. Still, Major Challenges Loom.
Brad Plumer, 10/13/21
“Clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles are advancing so rapidly that the global use of fossil fuels is now expected to peak by the mid-2020s and then start declining, the world’s leading energy agency said Tuesday,” the New York Times reports. “But there’s a catch: The transition away from coal, oil and natural gas still isn’t happening fast enough to avoid dangerous levels of global warming, the agency said, at least not unless governments take much stronger action to reduce their planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions over the next few years… “The new report finds that the world has made significant strides in the fight against climate change. Wind and solar power are now the cheapest source of new electricity in most markets and growing briskly. Sales of electric vehicles worldwide hit records last year. Across the globe, approvals for new coal-fired power plants, a major source of emissions, have slowed dramatically in recent years, as governments and banks have increasingly refused to finance them.”
Wall Street Journal: Big Energy Companies’ New Pitch: ‘Carbon-Neutral’ Oil and Gas
By Dieter Holger, 10/12/21
“Some energy companies are giving fossil fuels a carbon-neutral makeover, raising concerns that the pitch could undermine the case for less emissions,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The companies are selling fossil fuels bundled with carbon offsets and marketing the products as carbon neutral. While they acknowledge that the offsets alone aren’t enough to stop climate change, advocates of decarbonization say the offerings risk exaggerating the climate benefits.”
E&E News: Natural Gas And Net Zero: Can They Coexist?
10/13/21
“A new net-zero goal from CenterPoint Energy Inc., a Texas-based utility company, contains an eye-catching 2035 timeline that puts it 15 years ahead of many industry peers,” E&E News reports. “But the pledge to slash greenhouse gas emissions also arrives with asterisks that critics say undermine its value. That’s in part because CenterPoint has both natural gas and electricity operations — and most of its greenhouse gas emissions are tied to customers’ gas use that is outside the net-zero goal. The company also is planning to build some gas-fueled generation in the name of affordable and reliable power. ‘It’s pretty pure public relations here,’ David Pomerantz, executive director of the pro-renewables Energy and Policy Institute, told E&E…” When asked about gas and climate goals, the American Gas Association pointed to past comments, including a position statement on climate change. The industry group’s document lists gas utility commitments such as reducing methane emissions from gas utility systems, supporting renewable natural gas development and encouraging and supporting energy efficiency. Thomas with Public Citizen told E&E that CenterPoint doesn’t appear to be focusing its message on more use of building electrification, though she said that is ‘one of the simplest and efficient ways that we can reduce emissions.’
RESEARCH & SCIENCE
Science Daily: Living near oil and gas wells increases air pollution exposure
10/12/21
“In a 14-year analysis of air quality across California, Stanford researchers observed higher levels of air pollutants within 2.5 miles of oil and gas wells, likely worsening negative health outcomes for nearby residents,” Science Daily reports. “The scientists analyzed local air quality measurements in combination with atmospheric data and found that oil and gas wells are emitting toxic particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The findings, which appear in the journal Science of the Total Environment, will help researchers determine how proximity to oil and gas wells may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes, including preterm birth, asthma and heart disease. "In California, Black and Latinx communities face some of the highest pollution from oil and gas wells. If we care about environmental justice and making sure every kid has a chance to be healthy, we should care about this," lead author David Gonzalez, who conducted research for the study while a PhD student in Stanford's Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER), told the Daily. "What's novel about our study is that we've done this at a population, state-wide scale using the same methods as public health studies." The findings align with other smaller-scale studies that have measured emissions from a handful of wells. At least two million Californians live within one mile of an active oil or gas well.”
Oil Change International: Briefing: Greenhouse Gas Pollution Estimates of Proposed U.S. Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
10/12/21
“U.S. President Joe Biden can prevent from entering into service or halt with executive action two dozen United States fossil fuel infrastructure projects — including the Line 3, Dakota Access, and Mountain Valley Pipelines — which would significantly increase U.S. GHG emissions if completed or allowed to continue operation. If the Biden Administration does not stop these fossil fuel infrastructure projects, it will be much more difficult to meet its domestic and global climate goals. Our research finds that the 24 projects analyzed would release combined annual greenhouse gas pollution equivalent to approximately 20% of 2019 U.S. emissions. This total is equal to the average annual emissions from 404 U.S. coal-fired power plants, larger than all 294 coal plants operating in the continental United States. The vast majority of these potential emissions ? equivalent to 17% of 2019 U.S. emissions, or 316 coal power plants ? are associated with projects that have not received full federal approval, not started construction, or not finished construction. The Biden Administration, through its various agencies, will make decisions on these and additional projects in the next three years. Stopping these fossil fuel infrastructure projects would prevent a drastic increase in GHG pollution at a time when it is imperative to decrease GHG emissions to adhere to domestic and international climate goals and commitments, including the Paris Agreement that President Biden rejoined.”
CLIMATE FINANCE
New York Times: Private Equity Funds, Sensing Profit in Tumult, Are Propping Up Oil
Hiroko Tabuchi, 10/13/21
“As the oil and gas industry faces upheaval amid global price gyrations and catastrophic climate change, private equity firms — a class of investors with a hyper focus on maximizing profits — have stepped into the fray,” the New York Times reports. “Since 2010, the private equity industry has invested at least $1.1 trillion into the energy sector — double the combined market value of three of the world’s largest energy companies, Exxon, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell — according to new research. The overwhelming majority of those investments was in fossil fuels, according to data from Pitchbook, a company that tracks investment, and a new analysis by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, a nonprofit that pushes for more disclosure about private equity deals. Only about 12 percent of investment in the energy sector by private equity firms went into renewable power, like solar or wind, since 2010, though those investments have grown at a faster rate, according to Pitchbook data. Private equity investors are taking advantage of an oil industry facing heat from environmental groups, courts, and even their own shareholders to start shifting away from fossil fuels, the major force behind climate change. As a result, many oil companies have begun shedding some of their dirtiest assets, which have often ended up in the hands of private equity-backed firms. By bottom-fishing for bargain prices — looking to pick up riskier, less desirable assets on the cheap — the buyers are keeping some of the most polluting wells, coal-burning plants and other inefficient properties in operation. That keeps greenhouse gases pumping into the atmosphere. At the same time banks, facing their own pressure to cut back on fossil fuel investments, have started to pull back from financing the industry, elevating the role of private equity.”
Financial Times: Big banks resist most direct road map to net zero emissions
Owen Walker and Stephen Morris, 10/10/21
“Banks have resisted committing to the most explicit road map for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, just weeks before the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow,” the Financial Times reports. “Negotiators for a Mark Carney-led initiative to encourage finance groups to stop funding fossil fuel companies have struggled to convince leading banks to agree to end financing of all new oil, gas and coal exploration projects this year, according to internal messages seen by the Financial Times. This is aligned to analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Many of the 59 banks signed up to the former Bank of England governor’s initiative prefer to adopt targets derived from research on global warming scenarios by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN scientific body, which is not prescriptive, and would leave room to continue oil and gas financing. Carney’s initiative, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz), was formed in April, attracting support from nearly 300 financial institutions with assets of $90tn. The IEA published its analysis in May outlining a pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 to address climate change. “No one is willing to put their name against IEA 1.5C [targets]”, said a person close to the discussions with banks. “They think it’s a fairytale.”
OPINION
DeSmog: I Was Targeted Under Louisiana’s Felony Trespassing Law for Reporting on Police Working for a Pipeline Company
Karen Savage, 10/12/21
“For the first time in nearly three years, I woke up a few months ago without felony charges hanging over my head,” Karen Savage writes for DeSmog. “ I’m an investigative journalist and I’d been arrested twice in 2018, both times for allegedly trespassing on what’s known as “critical infrastructure,” a felony under a then-new Louisiana law that — at the urging of the oil and gas industry — redefined pipelines and their construction sites as critical infrastructure. (In the U.S., that term historically referred to systems necessary for society to function, such as power plants and communication lines.) In Louisiana, prosecutors have four years to decide whether they will press charges. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a Louisiana district attorney confirmed in July that he will not prosecute me or the nearly two dozen pipeline opponents, known as “water protectors,” who were also arrested. To be clear, it could have been worse. As a straight, older, white woman, I’m far less likely to be targeted at the various stages of the “justice” system than my colleagues and friends who are LGBTQ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Along with two water protectors, I filed a lawsuit shortly after my arrest, questioning the constitutionality of Louisiana’s law. The prosecutor wasn’t likely to press charges against any of us until that legal challenge was resolved — or at least that’s what I tried to convince myself whenever I slid from my usual optimism into full-blown panic over the combined 10 years in prison, with hard labor, and hefty fines I was facing if convicted. As it turns out, the district attorney announced he was rejecting all charges shortly after a federal court denied his motion to dismiss our suit in May.”