Protesters block BLM oil and gas lease auction in Lakewood

“It feels like there is so much opportunity to take a different approach…The BLM should support us.”

Protesters rallied outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Lakewood on Thursday, May 12 in opposition to the auction being held inside by the Bureau of Land Management for six parcels of public land for mineral development. KGNU’s Tony White brings us the story.

Over 100 activists chanted protest songs in unison and waved banners advocating for renewable energy. “Keep it in the Ground” was the protester’s main rally cry for the event, a message to halt the natural gas extraction sights, often known as “fracking.” Inside the hotel, several protesters blocked the entrance into the auction, and were willing to face arrest in a demonstration of nonviolent protest. Dozens of activists crowded into the hotel’s lobby, where Lakewood Police Department officers barricaded them from advancing into the auction.

Emma Ruffin, of C3 Boulder, thinks federal support is in the wrong place. “It feels like there is so much opportunity to take a different approach…The BLM should support us.”

No arrests or incidents of violence were seen in the lobby. Several environmentalist groups were represented in the crowd, including Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Wild Earth Guardians and 350.org as part the Break Free campaign, which is an internationally coordinated effort to intensify actions to promote clean, renewable energy.