The Houston Ship Channel was closed on September 12 after 22 Greenpeace USA climbers formed a blockade from the Fred Hartman Bridge in Baytown, Texas.
The protesters closed the waterway at 6.30 a.m. local time, claiming that they intend to remain in place for 24 hours, preventing the transport of all oil and gas through the channel ahead of the third Democratic primary debate in Houston. According to the latest updates from Greenpeace, the blockade lasted for 14 hours.
GAC informed that the channel was closed to all traffic passing the Fred Hartman bridge, but shifting in the upper channel and traffic below the bridge was open. As at 7:30 a.m., the vessel queue was one vessel inbound and two vessels outbound.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that a portion of the upper channel near Baytown was closed during the protest, between Light 102A and Light 104.
Nearly a dozen Greenpeace protesters were arrested following the action.
“These brave activists took action today because we’re in a climate emergency created by fossil fuel CEOs and made worse by Trump. Now it’s up to the rest of us — and especially the Democratic candidates here in Houston tonight — to follow their lead and demand a world free of fossil fuel,” Greenpeace USA Executive Director, Annie Leonard, said.