Climate justice activist Tim DeChristopher, who was given a two-year sentence in prison for making fake bids in a Utah public land auction that later was found to be corrupt, is finally free. He appeared on “Democracy Now!” this morning to give his first interview since being released Sunday from the halfway house where he was finishing his sentence.

An environmental activist, who was prosecuted by the Justice Department for engaging in acts the department considers to be terrorism, has found out through a lawsuit of which he is a plaintiff that he was transferred to a prison in Marion, Illinois, and held in isolation for his political speech.

This morning four people in Nacogdoches, Texas, “locked themselves to heavy machinery used along the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline route, according to the Tar Sands Blockade group. The action interrupted and halted ongoing pipeline construction until police pepper sprayed the blockaders and were able to arrest and remove them in flexicuffs.

The action was planned in “solidarity with local landowners struggling to protect their water and land from TransCanada’s toxic tar sands pipeline.”

Two young women from New England who attempted to start a second tree blockade to stop TransCanada’s construction of the Keystone XL pipeline have been charged with felonies. They were arrested in the last twenty-four hours.

As this blog reported yesterday, in Sacul, Texas, Pika of Vermont and Lauren of New Hampshire climbed up onto platforms in trees to halt construction near a highway crossing. Tar Sands Blockade media spokesperson Ron Seifert told Firedoglake heavy machinery was in the area to the destroy the forest and cut a path for the pipeline. The Blockade tied ropes to the heavy machinery. The ropes went up into the trees and over big tree branches. Hanging from the ropes were platforms for Pika and Lauren. That was how they would disrupt construction.

In an effort to connect the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline being constructed by the multinational corporation TransCanada to extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein showed up to support the Tar Sands Blockade.

As Hurricane Sandy thrashes the northeastern part of the United States, the connection between climate change and this extreme weather must be made. That connection must involve a reflection, especially one on the politics of the present that have only intensified the impact of climate change.

Foytlin was arrested after chaining herself to a gate to the multinational energy corporation TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipe yard. She was brought before a judge hours after and charged with a Class A Misdemeanor for “criminal trespass of a habitation, shelter, superfund, or infrastructure.” Her arrest brought the number of arrests during Tar Sands Blockade actions in Texas to thirty-two.

In East Texas, TransCanada, a multinational energy corporation, has transformed property surrounding the easement it has control over for construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline into a police state, according to the Tar Sands Blockade. Enlisted off-duty police officers are intimidating, harassing and arresting just about anyone they think is trespassing, even if those people happen to be on property they own. And, officers who are acting as armed henchmen for TransCanada have arrested three journalists in the past twenty-four hours for simply being there to report on resistance to the pipeline construction.

A report from the Congressional Research Service was recently released and it looked at how law enforcement had been cracking down on animal rights and environmental activists. It highlighted how the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is used against activists.

Diane Wilson is truly an eco-outlaw. And yes, in case you are wondering, I consider that to be a huge compliment. The courage and perseverance she displays in the stories shared in this volume should be an inspiration for anyone concerned about the role of corporations in society or what those corporations are doing to the planet.