Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher Trial Underway
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Back in December 2008, before President Obama took over, Tim DeChristopher was attending the University of Utah and spending his free time at a Bureau of Land Management auction for oil and gas lease sales. To say that DeChristopher crashed this auction is an understatment—he actually signed in as a bidder and bought $1.8 million in oil and gas rights. DeChristopher's reason for this auction crashing? Climate change.
According to The Salt Lake Tribune, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson has forbidden DeChristopher and his attorneys from using a “necessity defense” of disrupting the auction to help the environment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Romney says that DeChristopher took his activism too far and instead engaged in criminal activism. DeChristopher could face a maximum of ten years in prison if he gets convicted.
Keep updated on the trial, which began Monday, with The Salt Lake Tribune.
–Mattie Schuler