Houston police arrest eight protesters outside CERAWeek energy conference
by Rebecca F. Ward
Houston Chronicle
March 10, 2025
Houston police arrested eight climate protesters Monday after they linked arms to briefly block a street next to CERAWeek by S&P Global, an annual energy conference that draws oil and gas executives as well as top government officials.
"Human rights for my people!" Yvette Arellano yelled in Spanish as several officers used zip ties to handcuff the activist and founder of the Houston environmental group Fenceline Watch.
The eight activists arrested Monday were among hundreds who marched from nearby Root Memorial Square Park to the conference, which is hosted annually at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel and the George R. Brown Convention Center. They carried banners with slogans like "CERAWeak by BS Global," and signs calling for clean water and air.
Hundreds protest CERAWeek
The activist and environmental groups traveled to Houston from across the country, brought together by Texas Campaign for the Environment and local Houston community leaders. Hundreds of protesters also gathered in downtown Houston on Sunday.
About an hour before the arrests, Arellano held a microphone to rally the crowd of colorfully clad climate activists as they prepared to march.
"We have governments that refuse to fund our schools and instead fund fossil fuel and petrochemical projects. We demand justice," Arellano told the crowd. "CERAWeek is taking place behind closed doors and has shut out civil society from entering and understanding the projects that are coming to harm our communities."
In past years, some climate activists, including Arellano, raised thousands of dollars to purchase pricey tickets to attend the conference itself. But in 2024, several were blocked from entering despite having the cash in hand. S&P Global organizers did not respond to a request for comment on the decision to prevent several activists' attendance last year, but in 2023 they cited safety over a decision to bar a separate environmental advocate.
This was the first year they marched on the conference itself, shepherded by more than a dozen Houston police officers on horseback and many more in vehicles and on foot. Conference attendees in suits pulled out their phones to record the protesters as they marched by, chanting and singing with backup from a local band known as the Free Radicals.
Protesting 'Drill, baby, drill'
Trevor Carroll, an organizer with Texas Campaign for the Environment, thinks the "drill, baby, drill" emphasis of the Trump administration has further motivated those resisting fossil fuel development along the Gulf Coast.
"I think that under this new Trump administration, the veil has been lifted," Carroll said.
"This administration has taken the mask off of something that a lot of us already knew was there, which is that in this country, we essentially have an oligarchy, corporations who make decisions about our future."
President Donald Trump and his nominees for key energy and environment agency roles have promised to do away with many of the country's climate policies and grow the traditional energy sector, a message that members of his new administration are expected to reiterate throughout CERAWeek.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke Monday morning at the conference, calling for more oil and gas production in the United States. Other officials from the Trump administration are scheduled to speak later in the week.
