Eco-Activists Arrested After Using Their Bodies To Block Construction Of Key Pipeline

Environmental activists were arrested Thursday for impeding construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), according to The Guardian.

Six protesters, one of whom belongs to a group called Scientist Rebellion (SR), physically blocked an MVP construction site in West Virginia early in the morning on Thursday, The Guardian reported. The stunt resulted in a temporary work stoppage, and all six of the protesters were arrested on critical infrastructure misdemeanor charges by authorities.

SR is an activist group that receives funding from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), a nonprofit that receives donations from wealthy American liberals and then shells out grants to eco-activist groups in the U.S., Europe and Australia, according to CEF’s website. One of the two arrested SR protesters, Rose Abramoff, is a sitting board member for CEF, which has previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that its grants only support legal activities to advance its climate goals.

“This may be the first U.S. climate scientist to risk felony charges to fight climate breakdown,” SR said of Abramoff in a tweet about the protest.

Prominent donors to CEF include Hollywood writer Adam McKay, former Harvey Weinstein lawyer Lisa Bloom, “Succession” star Jeremy Strong and Hillary Clinton’s Onward Together foundation, according to CEF’s 2022 annual report.

“As scientists we have tried writing reports and giving presentations about the climate and ecological crisis to those in power,” SR’s website states. “We must now have the humility to accept these attempts have not worked. Now is the time for us to take action, so that we show how seriously we take our warnings.”

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which Congress negotiated in June to avoid having the country run out of borrowing power, contained language ordering all relevant agencies to issue the outstanding permits for the MVP. After the bill’s passage, legal cases against the pipeline continued to impede construction for several months, but the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday unanimously dismissed two legal challenges against construction filed by environmentalists in August, allowing for development to continue unabated by legal problems.

The MVP is planned to be more than 300 miles long, and it will transport liquefied natural gas from West Virginia into the Southeast once complete, according to the project’s webpage.

SR did not respond immediately to a request for comment.