Videos

Week 1: On September 24th, eight people climbed 80 feet into trees in the path of Keystone XL construction, and pledged not to come down until the pipeline is stopped for good. Construction could not proceed until tree-sitters descended and TransCanada clear-cuts through hundreds of trees to make way for the toxic tar sands pipeline. They remained for 80+ days. [Read more: Eight People Climb Trees And Start Indefinite Tree Sit to Stop Keystone XL (Day 1)]

After an audacious move by TransCanada to cut around the west side of the tree blockade and completely outside of the designated Keystone XL pathway, or easement, blockaders took action.  In the middle of the night blockaders erected a 30 foot high timber pole in the newly clear-cut pathway. Lifelong Texan Maggie Gorry climbed atop the pole and stopped the Keystone XL for two full days. [Read more: Texan Climbs 40 Foot Pole in Path of Keystone XL Clear Cut (Day 9)]

One month: Watched by security 24/7, cut off from from people trying to resupply them with more food and water, the tree blockade reaches one month. Even though TransCanada knew they were up there, the continued to clear cut trees feet away from the village while our friends in the trees could do nothing but watch and shoot video footage. This short video has a rare glimpse of video from up in the trees. [Read more: Tree Blockade Sustains an Entire Month of Resistance!]

As Hurricane Sandy pushed further inland to devastate Appalachia and Canada, three women from New England, including Green Party Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein, were arrested to highlighting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline’s connection to extreme weather events and climate change. Dr. Stein, a Massachusetts resident, resupplied tree sitters in Winnsboro, Texas [Read more: Green Party Pres. Candidate Dr. Jill Stein Resupplies Winnsboro Tree Blockade as New Tree Blockade is Launched in Sacul, TX (Day 38)]

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Following a weekend of nonviolent civil disobedience training in North Texas by Tar Sands Blockade, dozens of protesters and supporters rallied at the site of the largest and longest tree sit in Texas history to stage the largest walk-on site protest and civil disobedience in the history of Keystone XL pipeline construction. Several individuals defended the tree sitters and the trees by locking themselves to construction equipment being used in proximity to the tree blockade. [Read more: Over 50 Enter Tree Blockade in Defiance of Police Repression to Defend Tree-Sitters]

“LOCKDOWN,” is a ten minute documentary by Mutual Aid Media on the Tar Sands Blockade–a group of activists and landowners in Texas who have built a campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. This short doc follows activists as they plan an action camp, lead workshops, and execute a lockdown. We hope that this piece can be used to help promote direct action as well as gain support for Tar Sands Resistance campaigns.

Four people locked themselves to heavy machinery used along the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline route. They were joined by several others forming a human chain to block the movement of heavy machinery onsite, while more than 30 people walked onto the same construction site to halt work early this morning. Meanwhile, three others launched a new tree blockade at a crossing of the Angelina River, suspending themselves from 50 foot pine trees with life lines anchored to heavy machinery, effectively blocking the entirety of Keystone XL’s path.

When supporters attempted to blockade the cherrypicker being brought in to extract the treesitters, police opened up a can of pepperspray on the crowd. [Read more: 120 People Stop Keystone XL Construction: Four Lock to Machinery, Nacogdoches Student and Two Others Launch New Tree Blockade]

‘Line in the Sand’ is an ongoing independent documentary produced by three students at Ithaca College about the Keystone XL. This 15-min short doc covers the stories of several Texas landowners and includes footage from our November Mass Action.

Several protestors with Tar Sands Blockade sealed themselves inside a section of pipe destined for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to stop construction of the dangerous project. Using a blockading technique never implemented before, Matt Almonte and Glen Collins locked themselves between two barrels of concrete weighing over six hundred pounds each. Located twenty-five feet into a pipe segment waiting to be laid in the ground, the outer barrel is barricading the pipe’s opening and neither barrel can be moved without risking serious injury to the blockaders. [Read more: Three People Barricade Themselves Inside Keystone XL Pipe To Halt Construction]

Wonder what it’s like to get ready for an early morning treesit? Here’s video of blockaders preparing for the Diboll tree-sit. [Read more here: Spectacular Aerial Tree Blockade Halts Construction in Solidarity with Idle No More First Nations Movement]

Over 100 blockaders stormed the lobby of TransCanada’s Keystone XL office in Houston. Protesters danced, spilled black ‘tar sands’ balloons and hung neon orange hazard tape to highlight the deadly effects of TransCanada’s corporate greed on communities and ecosystems. After being forced out of the lobby by police, the protesters gathered on the sidewalk and performed street theatre in which a “pipe dragon” puppet destroyed homes and poisoned water until being slain by knights representing the grassroots coalition of Tar Sands Blockade, Idle No More, Earth First! and others. [Read more: Over 100 People Storm TransCanada Offices in Houston]

Dubstep Remix:

TransCanada executive Tom Hamilton’s presentation of a Keystone XL case study at the Pipe Tech Americas 2013 conference was interrupted when a blockader chained himself to audio equipment and delivered a speech to the nearly 300 attendees. The blockader revealed photos of holes in the Keystone XL already buried in East Texas. [Read more: Blockader Disrupts Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference]

A Tar Sands Blockader disrupted the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio this afternoon during the PGA golf tournament. Douglas Fahlbusch was a standard bearer for the event and used the opportunity to bring attention to Manchester, a low income, predominately Latin@ community in Houston’s toxic East End where Valero operates a refinery that consistently violates EPA and TCEQ (Texas Commission for Environmental Quality) laws and regulations. Once the tournament reached the 18th hole, Doug changed the sign, ordinarily used to display the players’ names and scores, to read “TAR SANDS SPILL. VALERO KILLS. ANSWER MANCHESTER.” He refused to leave the green and was dragged the entire way off the premises by police. [Read more: Blockader Disrupts Valero-Sponsored Golf Tournament, Demands Accountability for Manchester]

Tar Sands Blockade spill response team interviews Duck, 12-year resident of Mayflower, AR, about the effects of Exxon’s tar sands spill into Lake Conway and the surrounding area.

Houston residents and activists with Tar Sands Blockade condemn the property of Keystone XL Project Director Les Cherwenuk with the power of the People’s Eminent Domain.