As Big Polluters and Climate Villains Kicked Off CERAWeek, Community Leaders Rallied For a Liveable Future

Faith leaders, youth, and community leaders gather to challenge fossil fuel executives who profit from pollution and climate disasters. At least 8 people were arrested during the demonstration.

HOUSTON, Texas —  As CERAWeek, the fossil fuel industry’s largest annual conference, began, faith leaders, young people, and people from across the Gulf South impacted by the fossil fuel industry hosted a press conference and “March for Future Generations” to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects and government subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. They rallied outside the venue in defiance of CERAWeek’s decision to exclude community organizers, which limits public understanding of fossil fuels slated to be built in their backyards. So far, eight have been arrested near the CERAWeek venue.  

The March, which drew several hundred people impacted by the fossil fuel industry, kicked off with a press conference at Root Square Park and ended in front of the George R. Brown Center in downtown Houston, where CERAWeek takes place. 

Press conference speakers included: 

• Yvette Arellano, founder and executive director of Houston environmental justice organization Fenceline Watch 
• Sue Page, former educator, member of Better Brazoria, and Surfside, TX resident
• Jake Hernandez, organizer with Texas Campaign for the Environment and Corpus Christi, TX, resident 
• Breon Robinson, Coastal Organizer for the Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas at Healthy Gulf 
• Bekah Hinojosa, Co-Founder of South Texas Environmental Justice Network in the Rio Grande Valley, TX 

Many of the world’s biggest polluters and climate villains are attending CERAWeek, including: 

• CEOs and executives of every defendant in People of the State of California v. Big Oil, a landmark case to hold oil companies accountable for their decades of deception about the climate crisis.
• Six CEOs who attended a private Mar-A-Lago dinner at which Trump promised to roll back essential environmental safeguards in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions. 

Press conference quotes:

“Our community has been resisting LNG projects for over 10 years. Those projects are the Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and the Rio Bravo pipeline. Last year, our community proved in court that these LNG facilities would be environmental racism. We are a low-income, brown, Native community, and LNG would be a cancer factory,” says Bekah Hinojosa, Co-Founder of South Texas Environmental Justice Network in the Rio Grande Valley, TX. 

“We have a human right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and spread our roots in our homes. We cannot do that as long as these poisonous companies, like Cheniere, continue to encroach on our communities. I’ve seen a lot of harms and consequences that LNG buildout can cause to our communities. This is just an earnest plea to help us put an end to LNG!,” says Jake Hernandez from Texas Campaign for the Environment.

“We have people who are over there [in CERAWeek] who are making decisions for our communities, who are telling us that “This is what you guys are going to get – scraps.” They see us as scraps. They see us as a sacrifice zone. But we’re here to tell them hell no!” – Breon Robinson, Coastal Organizer for the Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas at Healthy Gulf 

Note to the editor:

• Speakers and other spokespeople are available for interviews 
• High resolution images and b-roll available here. Please credit the Texas Campaign for the Environment or the organization / individual’s name on the folder.