In the latest example of local residents organizing in opposition to the fossil fuel industry’s “fracking boom,” which has staked its claim in many communities around the world, U.S. oil giant Chevron has found itself engaged in a showdown in rural Romania.
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“On a frozen field braving police, Romanian villagers hold vigil in a makeshift camp set up to block US energy giant Chevron from exploring for shale gas,” Agence France-Presse reports.
“We have potatoes to eat, an improvised stove. We protest to protect our way of life and our health,” said Romanian farmer, Alexandru Focsa, from the camp, which until now had successfully blocked Chevron from its prospects in the village of Pungesti, North-Eastern Romania since October when the company won approval to drill exploratory wells.
However, on Monday night riot police moved in wielding batons and cleared the camp, allowing Chevron to begin its exploration.
“Police arrived at night, they beat us up with batons and dragged us away,” Focsa told AFP.
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