Barbara Carter and Lisa Leggio of MICATS
All three women were found guilty of misdemeanor and felony charges related to their peaceful direct action last summer in Stockbridge protesting the (re)building of the Enbridge pipeline. The charges could result in a sentence of as much as two years in jail for Carter and Hamlin and even more for Leggio (because of a previous conviction).
Enbridge is the Canadian company responsible for the oil spill in the Kalamazoo River in 2010. The incident remains the largest on-land oil spill in the history of the United States.
The three protesters are members of MICATS - the Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands. The group is devoted to bringing attention to the dangers of tar sands and their contribution to climate change.
There is a particular irony in the fact the three women were found guilty on the same day the U.S. State Department gave its approval for the Keystone pipeline, putting pressure on President Obama to approve the project. Environmental Bill McKibben of 350.org strongly disagrees and argues the State Departments report should be used to deny approval of the proposed tar sands pipeline project:
The intrusion of reality into this process is really important. The report concluded that in a scenario where we take climate change seriously and regulate climate pollution, this pipeline will indeed have a ‘significant impact’ on climate change. So now we’ll find out if that’s the world Barack Obama and John Kerry want. This report gives President Obama everything he needs in order to block this project. This is the first environmental issue in years to bring Americans into the streets in big numbers, and now they’ll be there in ever greater numbers to make sure the President makes the right call.”
Poster by Pat Perry
This is important to follow. Great reporting!