The pipeline dragon

In latest Keystone Pipeline protest, environmentalists storm offices of oilgiant TransCanada

On Monday, environmental activists stormed the Post Oak offices of TransCanada,owners of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline.
Photo by Tar Sands Blockade/Flickr
Protestors fro the Tar Sands Blockade group flooded the building's lobbystarting at 10 a.m.
Photo by Tar Sands Blockade/Flickr
Organizers brought out a paper mache dragon, representing the social andenvironmental havoc the pipeline will unleash. Protestors slayed the dragonthroughout the event.
Photo by Tar Sands Blockade/Flickr
Two activists were arrested after chaining themselves to a doorway.
Photo by Tar Sands Blockade/Flickr
The events lasted two to three hours, bringing approximately 100 protestors tothe building, according to Tar Sands Blockade.
Photo by Tar Sands Blockade/Flickr

Two activists were arrested Monday during a protest at the Galleria-area offices of the TransCanada Corporation, whose Keystone XL pipeline is currently under construction to bring controversial tar sands to the Gulf Coast oil industry.

The Tar Sands Blockade — a non-violent coalition of climate change organizers and Texas-Oklahoma landowners — kicked off events at 10 a.m. by flooding the building's lobby with about 100 protestors, according to the group's spokesperson Ron Seifert.

"Tar sands are the dirtiest hydrocarbon on the planet and we want to send a clear message to TransCanada that they'll be held accountable for anyone harmed by this pipeline."

"There was a lot of political theater this morning," he told CultureMap Monday afternoon. "Tar sands are the dirtiest hydrocarbon on the planet and we want to send a clear message to TransCanada that they'll be held accountable for anyone harmed by this pipeline."

After taking over the ground floor public space, the group marched around the building for several hours with the organization's Pipeline Dragon, which Seifert described as a large paper-mache creature standing in for Keystone's effects on communities and the environment. "In the end," he added, "the dragon's slain by several Tar Sands Blockaders."

The two protestors were arrested during a scheduled "Death by Tar Sands" skit, which Seifert said involved activists locking themselves to an office door and pretending they were killed by TransCanada crude.

According to the Houston Chronicle Fuel Fix blog, dozens of Houston police officers patrolled the scene on horseback as protestors passed out hand-written fliers and chanted “Toxic tar sands spill! Tar and benzene kill!”

“This is another example of the protestors’ attempt to stop a project that is currently providing thousands of jobs to American workers,” explained TransCanada in a statement.

TransCanada spokesperson David Dodson told CultureMap the protests mainly disrupted building operations for only 15 to 20 minutes, adding that most of the workers effected by the events were not even associated with the Calgary-based company or the pipeline.

“This is another example of the protestors’ attempt to stop a project that is currently providing thousands of jobs to American workers,” Dobson explained in a subsequent statement. "TransCanada has secured every permit needed to build the Gulf Coast Project. We have followed the law to the letter. We are building the safest pipeline ever built, one that will greatly enhance America's energy security."

The Monday incidents come less than a week after Tar Sands Blockaders camped out on treetop platforms to halt Keystone construction in Diboll, 100 northeast of Houston. The group arranged another tree campsite in November closer to the Dallas area.

Also on Monday, according to Ron Seifert, two members of the organization officially ended their 40-day hunger strike on behalf of citizens affected by toxins from a Houston Valero refinery expected to receive tar sands when the Keystone XL is complete.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”