Hundreds in Los Angeles protest climate
change, North Dakota pipeline
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[October 24, 2016]
By Olga Grigoryants
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of people
gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday to protest against climate change and
show support for activists demonstrating against the construction of an
oil pipeline in North Dakota.
Several Hollywood stars, including Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon, were
among the more than 800 people who attended the climate rally in
MacArthur Park. Rallygoers carried signs urging to "shut it all down
now" and chanted slogans like "water is life."
"Not only is it an environmental, but it's a problem in terms of social
justice," Sarandon told the rally. "We can do it. We can stop fracking.
We can stop the pipeline. But really it's only because of great numbers
of people."
Also among celebrity attendees was actress Shailene Woodley, who earlier
this month was arrested in North Dakota while protesting the planned
pipeline in an incident that was live-streamed on Facebook.
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In North Dakota, more than 80 protesters were arrested on Saturday after
clashing with police near a pipeline construction site, according to the
local sheriff's department, which pepper sprayed demonstrators.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmental activists have been
protesting construction of the 1,100-mile (1,886-km) pipeline in North
Dakota for several months, saying it threatens the water supply and
sacred sites.
The pipeline, being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer
Partners LP, would be the first to bring Bakken shale from North Dakota
directly to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
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![](../images/102416pics/news_e9.jpg)
Lehi Thundervoice Eagle Sanchez looks up during a climate change
rally in solidarity with protests of the pipeline in North Dakota at
MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California October 23, 2016.
REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon
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Supporters say the pipeline would provide a safer and more
cost-effective way to transport Bakken shale to the U.S. Gulf than
by road or rail.
There were no reports of arrests at the Los Angeles rally, where
demonstrators assembled into the evening decrying climate change,
hydraulic fracturing and oil pipelines as a threat to the safety of
future generations.
"I'd rather walk miles today to protest the building of the pipeline
than have my children walk miles to get clean water in the future,"
22-year-old college student Steffany Urrea said.
(Reporting by Olga Grigoryants; Writing by Curtis Skinner; Editing
by Sandra Maler)
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