And New York state environmental regulators have denied a key permit for a natural gas pipeline to a $900 million power plant being built north of New York City. The ruling is a major victory to environmentalists opposing the 650-megawatt plant in Wawayanda, New York, who say it would increase hazardous air pollution and consume gas fracked in neighboring Pennsylvania and other states. Among opponents of the plant is Oscar-nominated actor James Cromwell, who was sentenced to a week behind bars for taking part in a nonviolent protest outside the plant’s construction site in late 2015. This is James Cromwell speaking recently on Democracy Now!

James Cromwell: “We basically came up with an idea to chain ourselves together. We chained ourselves together with bicycle locks, and we blocked the entrance to the plant for about—according to the prosecution, about 27 minutes. And the judge and the prosecution seemed to imply that it made absolutely no difference to what happened with this plant. But it does make a difference. What we’re trying to get out is the message that this is one instance, but it is happening all around this country and all around the world.”

That was James Cromwell, speaking on Democracy Now! the day before he went to jail.