Activists protest proposed pipeline

They stood in the chill morning air, holding signs, leaflets and makeshift windmills — propellers mounted on thin branches.

“We’re going to stay on the sidewalks, and then our first teach-in is at the Farmers’ Market,” Rebecca Mahan, an organizer of the protest, said to the crowd. “They want us to take a picture in a line. That’s the theme — ‘Draw the Line.’”

The 30 attendees were protesting the Keystone XL oil pipeline that is set to transport crude oil sands through the continental United States.

The pipeline has drawn controversy because of potential environmental damage oil sands can cause, as well as the disruption of environmental habitats and the potential of leaking or spilling.

The 9 a.m. “Draw the Line” demonstration on Saturday was one of hundreds across the nation organized by environmental group 350.

Mahan said the Bloomington march began at Bloomingfoods Market and Deli Near West Side, then passed through the Farmers’ Market before circling around the Monroe County Courthouse.

Mahan said the goal of the protest was to inform the public about the environmental hazards of the pipeline and to petition President Obama to reject the building of the southern half of the line, which he is to decide on by the end of the year.

“We want to attract attention, inform people and get them to act by signing the petition,” Mahan said.

The protesters had signs that read “Green Power” and “Stop the Tar Sands.” Three of them carried an 8-foot-long mock pipeline fashioned out of trash bags with the words “NO XL” written in white tape.

Former Bloomington Mayor Tomilea Allison was among the people who protested the
pipeline.

“We have to do something about how we get our energy,” Allison said, spinning her propeller windmill.

Allison said demonstrations are nothing new in Bloomington.

“We have an activist town,” she said. “That’s how I got started in politics — protesting for peace and stopping the Vietnam War.”

The protesters started their march, picking up chants of “no pipeline” and “clean power” and stopping at the Farmers’ Market to chant and convince people to sign the petition.

“If there is drilling of tar sands, there will be very bad effects on the environment,” said Paul Eisenberg, former president of the Bloomington Faculty Council at IU. “This is just one of thousands of protests around the country, and together, I hope they’ll be effective.”

The protesters spent five minutes at the Farmers’ Market, gathering a few signatures before moving on to the Courthouse Square.

Almost all participants were elderly. Mahan said that while activism is often a young person’s game, these protesters felt compelled to act.

“It’s our kids’ future, but they’re going to ask, ‘Why didn’t you do anything?’” Mahan said.

One of the few youths to join the march was Bradley Stoot, a 2012 IU graduate.

Stoot said while he believed in the cause, he didn’t know how much the protest could do.

“I think the pipeline is going to be built anyway,” he said. “I actually want to have a discussion about ‘Draw the Line’ and what it really means to make sure it’s not just empty rhetoric.”

After circling the square several times, the protesters had failed to gather any more signatures or even run across anyone they could talk to.

They moved back to the B-Line Trail near Bloomingfoods, but still had trouble convincing people.

One man took a flyer only to crumple it up and toss it on the side of the road 30 feet later.

David Vadan, who was walking downtown, took a look at a flyer and handed it back, saying he cared more about the rising price of fuel than its environmental
impact.

“I love the pipeline,” Vadan said. “We need the cheap energy.”

Protestor Ria Collee said it was a personal act as well as a national one.

“One has to ask ‘What good does this do?’ And part is that it makes you feel better that you did something,” Collee said. “It’s also about changing your own life. It can seem difficult, but don’t give up.”

The next step for the protesters is a protest if the pipeline is approved, protestor Jack Brubaker said.

Some in Bloomington have pledged to risk arrest with the protest, which is sponsored in part by the activism group CREDO Action.

Mahan said while they didn’t reach as many people as they wanted, she believed it was still a success.

“It didn’t really evolve with the public since it wasn’t a busy day, but it was symbolic,” she said. “We acted. We did something.”

Follow reporter Stephen Kroll on Twitter @stephenkroll1.