And in the Vermont capital Montpelier, community members shut down an eminent domain proceeding Tuesday that would have helped pave the way for a gas pipeline—by breaking into song.
Protesters, singing: “Officer, my dear, all the people here are telling you to leave these folks alone. There’s no need to take their land and home. Officer, my dear, all the people here.”
The protesters kept singing, and the hearing was adjourned, stalling efforts by Vermont Gas to seize land from Claire Broughton, a 77-year-old resident of Monkton, Vermont. Protesters say the pipeline would fuel global warming by carrying gas extracted through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.