Roughly 60 activists gathered in Eugene’s Park Blocks Friday afternoon to rally against fossil fuel projects. As KLCC’s Brian Bull reports, there was even some environmental theater.
Surrounded by activists holding large wooden sunflowers, Monica Olson of the group, Friends of the Earth, arrived in black clothes and streaked makeup. She fell and sprawled on the ground, before being covered with a tarp. Olson explains her performance.
“We had an oil spill and a cleanup, of the...you know, the sunflowers, and all the magic of the people on the planet,” she says.
Organizers of today's event wanted to do something creative and different to get their message out.
Fellow organizer Gabrielle Raviolo says for all the fun they’re having, there is a chilling turn of events this past week for pipeline opponents.
"The Department of Energy decided to rebrand fossil fuels as 'molecules of freedom',” Raviolo tells KLCC.
"So what they’re going to do next, is of course, is brand people and activists that are fighting the pipelines as enemies of freedom.”
The protesters say they want Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Peter DeFazio to support a transition to clean energy. A large part of their activism is directed at developments including the Jordan Cove pipeline and LNG export terminal.
Pipeline advocates say natural gas is safely transported daily across the state.
Copyright 2019, KLCC.
