For the past ten years, a climate organization named Beyond Extreme Energy, or BXE, has targeted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, because it’s the government body that decides whether to grant permits for interstate gas pipelines; liquefied natural gas — or LNG — export terminals; and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Over the past few decades, FERC has denied only a handful of projects, approving the vast majority of proposals submitted.
BXE protests every monthly FERC commissioner’s meeting, both outside on the street and inside the meeting itself, where residents whose communities are threatened by fossil fuel projects or already affected speak out, joined by climate activists in support. The monthly meeting on Sept. 19 was attended by dozens of Gulf Coast residents from Louisiana and Texas who were protesting FERC’s continued approval of LNG terminals in their communities. Many members of Third Act, a relatively new climate and democracy organization whose members are over 60 years old, joined the Sept. 19 protest, alongside BXE activists.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus, who is an original member of BXE but who did not attend this action, spoke with Lisa Finn, an organizer with Third Act Virginia. Finn noted that BXE members supported a Third Act event in Washington, D.C. last year, and Third Act wanted to reciprocate. She describes the Sept. 19 FERC climate protest.
[Web editor’s note: The audio version of this interview has been edited to fit broadcast time constraints.]
LISA FINN: You know, I realized that FERC is sort of the BXE lane, and it really seemed to be a good thing for Third Act to be involved in, because it’s a disruption, so you’re actually doing something more than writing a petition or doing a march or something else, but in 10 years BXE has been doing this and nobody has ever gotten arrested, so it’s a kinder, gentler disruption that you can do and feel like you did something and then maybe go on to do something that’s a little bit more risky, like getting arrested. So it’s a nice introduction to disruption and nonviolent direct action.
MELINDA TUHUS: This particular one there were dozens of people who came up from the Gulf Coast, from Louisiana and Texas, who were specifically concerned about the increasing buildout of so-called “liquefied natural gas” or LNG export terminals that have contaminated their lives and also turbocharged climate impacts. And FERC has to approve all these projects. So, the action on Sept. 19 involved a blockade outside, then a rally, then disruption of the meeting itself. Tell us how it all unfolded.
LISA FINN: Yeah, so I kind of thought of it as a three-ring circus. So, we started out with a blockade at 7:30 in the morning. We had seven rocking chairs and all the people who sat in them were Third Actors, and some of them from Ohio, Charlottesville, Virginia. Then we were able to sit there for an hour. There was no police presence for awhile, which was kind of interesting and surprising.
And then we moved our rocking chairs over for the rally part. And I will say that having the Gulf South folks – the frontline communities — there, it really kind of hammered home what we need to be doing. We need to be showing up for these people. I think they were really happy that we there. They’re the ones being affected first. We’re all going to be affected but they’re the ones affected most and are involved in these things. They talked about the D.C. Court of Appeals that struck down these projects, but FERC has not made these projects stop. So, it really kind of struck home about what FERC is still doing and has been doing for many years.
The rally was awesome, and then we had 15 people disrupting, which was great, and they all came out and commented on how they felt the commissioners didn’t really care. And who knows what’s going on in their hearts and brains?
But it just seemed like they would just stop talking when a disruption was happening and then they would keep going when the disruption was over. So we made sure there were 15 disruptions – there was almost a half-hour of disruptions. We had a disruption from the overflow room. We also disrupted in the lobby. We really tried to make our voices heard and I think they heard us.
MELINDA TUHUS: I know that a lot of people at the action in D.C. are heading up to what’s called Climate Week in New York City, when the UN talks about climate. And there are many grassroots organizations in the street. What do you know about what’s coming up?
LISA FINN: Yeah, so there’s going to be a big blockade on the 23rd, that’s a Monday, and I think they’re going to do the Citibank blockade, which kind of reminds Citibank that yes, Summer of Heat – summer is over, but we’re not stopping.
And I think that’s really important for Citibank, their CEO and their board to know that, that we are going to keep going with that. And I think Tuesday is in front of insurance organizations, which is really powerful because they are making it possible for these projects to happen. Here they are cutting off insurance for homes and they’re still insuring these huge projects that are very dangerous and horrible.
For more information, visit Third Act at www.thirdact.org and Beyond Extreme Energy at www.beyondextremeenergy.org.
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