Between The Lines - Sydney Grange: Protesters Demand Federal Energy Commission Stop Rubber-Stamping Gas Industry Projects (Week Ending June 12, 2015)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

Thank you for donating

If you've made a donation and wish to receive thank you gifts for your donation, be sure to send us your mailing address via our Contact form.

See our thank you gifts for your donation.

The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

Subscribe to our Weekly Summary & receive our FREE Resist Trump window cling

(Car window cling)

Email us with your mailing address at contact@btlonline.org to receive our "Resist Trump/Resist Hate" car window cling!

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

BTL Blog

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Special Programming

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Progressive Resources

A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view

Share this content:

|

Subscribe to BTL

Podcasts: direct or via iTunes

Subscribe to Program Summaries, Interview Transcripts or Counterpoint via email or RSS feed

If you have other questions regarding subscriptions, feeds or podcasts/mp3s go to our Audio Help page.

Between The Lines Blog

Stay connected to BTL

Learn how to support our efforts!

Tweets by @BTLRadioNews

Protesters Demand Federal Energy Commission Stop Rubber-Stamping Gas Industry Projects

Posted June 3, 2015

Interview with Sydney Grange, Warren Wilson College student, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

From May 21 to 29, about 200 people from all over the eastern U.S. participated in protest actions called Stop the FERCus!, which was organized by the group Beyond Extreme Energy. Climate activists protested each morning outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Washington, D.C. headquarters. FERC was the target of protests because the agency has approved almost all corporate applications seeking permits for interstate fracked gas pipelines, polluting compressor stations, gas storage facilities and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals. The rush to drill, transport and burn "natural" gas through the resource-intensive and dangerous practice of fracking is putting communities and families at risk all over the country. Climate activists believe natural gas is a dangerous climate killer, because the main component of natural gas is methane, which has 86 times more impact on global warming than does carbon dioxide.

On May 27, five people were arrested when they refused police orders to move from blocking the FERC office door in an effort to keep employees out – and bring home to them the harmful impacts of fracking. One of those arrested was Sydney Grange, a 19-year-old student at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. Grange and four other protesters were held in jail for 30 hours – a much longer time than dozens of others who were arrested at FERC last fall. Ultimately charges were dropped against the five when the head of the federal police agency responsible for arresting them stated that the arrests had been a mistake.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Sydney Grange outside of FERC’s offices just before the student activist returned to North Carolina. Here, Grange explains why she participated in the civil disobedience action and the importance of the climate change movement to future generations.

Find more information on local and national campaigns targeting the natural gas industry by visiting Beyond Extreme Energy at beyondextremeenergy.org.

SYDNEY GRANGE: My name's Sydney Grange. I'm originally from California, San Francisco area, and now I'm living in North Carolina where I'm studying conservation biology and environmental policy.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Okay. So, you were one of five people who was arrested. You were blocking the doors to FERC with a bigger group of other people and when the police announced that they would start arresting people if they didn't move on the third warning, and also said that it would not be what the police did last fall – which was just take people to the building next door, process them in ten minutes and fine them $50, but that you would actually be arrested and taken to jail for processing – you decided to stand your ground. Explain what your thought process was, and your emotional process.

SYDNEY GRANGE: Yeah, well, it was definitely a hard decision to make. I wasn't sure about what was at stake, but I looked over and saw Steve and others standing strong despite these consequences that were mentioned. And I just decided I wanted to stand up for what I knew was right, and stand in solidarity with them and with all the communities that are being affected by FERC, so I decided to just stay.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And then just describe a little bit what happened, because you were held quite a bit longer even than other people who have been arrested in these situations.

SYDNEY GRANGE: Yeah, I was expecting to be released within two to five hours after they finished processing. However, the processing took longer than they intended, or expected, and because we missed the processing deadline we ended up being held overnight. And I was pretty unaware of what was going on throughout the whole time; the system wasn't very good about informing us of where we were going or when we would be going there, etc.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Of the five people arrested, there were three males and two females. So were you with your fellow arrestee?

SYDNEY GRANGE: Yeah, luckily I was with Geri the whole time. It was great to get to reflect and talk with her and be together in the situation.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And I know that a lot of people who do these kind of actions have certain dietary restrictions or commitments. I don't know if you do, but I know that can be a challenge.

SYDNEY GRANGE: Yeah, definitely. They only had one meal to serve us the whole time: baloney sandwiches or cheese sandwiches. I'm a vegetarian who prefers to eat vegan, so it wasn't that flexible of a meal to deal with. I ended up just eating the bread, which was fine. I feel bad for those who are gluten-free or have celiac's or something. Definitely not many meal options available.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So even though you're a vegetarian, not thoroughly vegan, you chose not to eat the cheese in the sandwich. You must have been hungry!

SYDNEY GRANGE: Yeah, I was a bit hungry, but the bread sustained me.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Talk a little bit about your commitment, why you came to this action, and what you hope will come out of it.

SYDNEY GRANGE: Well, the climate crisis is just so present; it's affecting everyone everywhere. And to hear about FERC and what it's doing to all these communities, it's just devastating. And to see that these pipelines and this infrastructure is coming from this one specific agency makes it pretty clear that we should be standing here, right at their headquarters. And I just wanted to stand in solidarity with the frontline communities that are most affected as well as take a stand for climate justice and the more general perspective, too.

BETWEEN THE LINES: This particular part of the movement is made up, not totally, but heavily of people under 30 and people over 60, and I'm in one demographic and you're in the other. It's a little hard...I mean, I feel horrible about it, but I definitely have a different timeline than somebody who's 19. So how do you feel about it? Do you feel hopeless? Do you feel there's still a chance? Do you feel like enough of your peers are involved?

SYDNEY GRANGE: The issue of climate change is definitely daunting. However, being here and being with this group has actually been very empowering. I love the mix of different generations and how we can each use our knowledge and come together for a common cause. I found that pretty powerful. So, although I can definitely get down on climate change sometimes, it's important to connect with those who care about the same issues and take a stand.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What do you think will be your next step?

SYDNEY GRANGE: Just to continue to be involved with the people I've met here and the issues I've learned about here. And to remain involved at school and draw some resources I've learned about and gained here and bring those back to school and hopefully get some more students involved.