Please consider the impact and act.

Thank you

Tomorrow, Wisconsin state senators are holding a hearing on a felony trespass bill, SB 386 — a bill that seeks to further restrict the locations where protesters can engage in First Amendment protected activities.

Wisconsin may be the next state to increase criminal penalties for fossil fuel pipeline protests, and we need everyone to speak out. Can you take one minute right now to email your state senator and urge them to vote NO on SB 386?

A companion bill passed in the Wisconsin State Assembly recently, and it was clear that oil lobbyists have spent months lining this play up. The American Petroleum Institute has been lobbying legislators to support the bill; if enacted, protesters could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine, simply for nonviolently trespassing.

Around the country, companies like Koch Industries, Marathon Petroleum, and Enbridge, have enlisted a legion of lobbyists to pass these anti-protest bills.¹ They are using ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, to spread the felony anti-pipeline protest bills in a cookie-cutter fashion. Nine states have passed these laws. Lawsuits challenging them are unfolding in South Dakota and Louisiana.

Please – refuse to be silent. Contact your state senator today to defend free speech and the right to peaceful protest. 

Politicians that support these bills are on the wrong side of history. Instead of responding to Big Oil lobbyists — urge them to respond to community needs.

This is an assault on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It’s a cynical attack on everyone who understands that our global climate is continuing to change at dangerous and unprecedented rates. Fossil fuel companies would rather imprison people who stand up to them than be a productive part of the solution. 

We must ask Wisconsin state senators to put people and the planet before Big Oil and ALEC lobbyists. Let your state senator know — Wisconsinites will not be silenced! 

For a green and just future,

Jonathan Butler
Democracy Campaigner, Greenpeace USA

P.S. If you have already sent a message to your state senator, send a message along to your friends and family to take action as well. It’s imperative that everyone urge their WI state leaders to refuse SB 386, and halt the criminalization of peaceful protests for climate action. 

[1] https://polluterwatch.org/State-Bills-Criminalize-Peaceful-Protest-Oil-Gas-Critical-Infrastructure-pipelines

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