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July 13, 2011

Environmental Activists Occupy Montana Governor's Office 
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More than 100 environmental activists rallied at the office of Montana
Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Tuesday protesting a number of carbon-intensive
projects throughout the state. The activists called on Schweitzer to
halt construction of Trans Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline and end Exxon
Mobil megaload shipments bound for the Alberta Tar Sands. Five people
were arrested and charged with trespassing and obstruction after they
locked their arms in a mock pipeline made of PVC pipe and took up
position in a hallway.

Peter Dolan: "I am from Montana. I grew up 60 miles away in Great Falls.
I cherish Montana, I cherish the beauty here. I know a lot of people
from all of the country think of this as being like God's country. It
really is a unique place. Governor Schweitzer is catering to big oil,
allowing for bigger and bigger pipelines that are jeopardizing that."
(video courtesy of Murphy Woodhouse)

Gov. Schweitzer eventually agreed to speak to the protesters, but
refused their calls to renounce support for the Keystone pipeline. The
action follows the rupturing of an Exxon Mobil pipeline near Montana's
Yellowstone River earlier this month, leaking as much as 42,000 gallons
of crude oil.



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