Protests at Amazon HQ object to use of fossil fuels in Oregon

A protest Wednesday morning at Amazon headquarters pitted activists, objecting to the use of fossil fuels, against company employees trying to get to work.

“I think this might be a little bit of inconvenience to make a point of a potential worldwide catastrophe,” one protester told KIRO 7.

“I understand their point, but I’m just trying to get to my morning meeting,” an Amazon worker exclaimed.

At issue is Amazon’s use of fracked gas from a controversial natural gas pipeline project that would run from Canada through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.

Amazon plans to access the gas through an expansion of the GTN Xpress pipeline, which will fuel three data centers in Oregon.

The company also reportedly lobbied against legislation in the state to create clean energy regulations for data centers. The measure failed.

Lisa Levandowski, Amazon spokesperson, in an email to GeekWire:

“Amazon is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy globally, and that’s been the case for four years in a row. Amazon also co-founded the Climate Pledge, committing to reaching net zero carbon by 2040, and has made incredible progress on its path so far — we match more than 90% of the electricity our operations use with renewable energy, and we’re deploying the world’s largest fleet of electric vehicles with more than 10,000 on the road today.”

The protest began around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Dozens of people protested at the company Wednesday morning. With banners and bicycles, they blocked doors and garage entrances at the building.

By 9 a.m., Seattle police were able to get workers inside the building.

The protesters are part of a group called the Troublemakers. The group opposes big corporations that damage the environment.

Last week, the Troublemakers sent a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy obtained by several news outlets:

“Amazon Web Services is your baby, and by almost any measure, a successful one. Why risk marring Amazon’s reputation (and yours) by locking AWS into decades of fossil gas while also providing justification for the plans for expansion to begin with?”

Originally posted at MyNorthwest.com

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