'Will people rise up against corporations?' asks 98-year-old activist after being arrested

Frances Crowe has been arrested three times since turning 90 for protesting against the construction of a gas pipeline

Longtime peace and environmental activist Frances Crowe, 98, smiles after her arraignment on trespassing charges in Southern Berkshire District Court (Heather Bellow/The Berkshire Eagle via AP)

"Are corporations going to rule the future, or will people rise up and say no?"

This is the question an 98-year-old American longtime peace and environmental activist asked outside a court room as she faced charges of trespassing on state-owned land while protesting against the construction of a gas pipeline.

Frances Crowe was among eight anti-pipeline activists arrested during the protest.

Tennesse Gas Pipeline Co was given the go ahead in April to begin cutting down trees in the Otis State Forest in Massachusetts to start the construction of a natural gas storage loop.

But the controversial plans in the Berkshire County has seen mass opposition from environmental activists, who argue the state-owned land is protected by state constitution and that the construction site borders a treasured old forest and a lake.

Speaking from her wheelchair outside the courtroom to The Berkshire Eagle, Ms Crowe said: "This is a serious business we're involved in. This is the future life of the planet. Are corporations going to rule the future, or will people rise up and say no?".

Ms Crowe and her peers were told that the state had decriminalised their charges and that a civil hearing will go ahead later this month.

The activists had crossed into the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co's site and temporarily stopped the pipe-laying work, which is part of the company's 13-mile Connecticut Expansion Project which expands across three states.

The project is well under way but activists and residents have not given up the fight.

Although the land is protected by Article 97 of the state constitution which protects the right of citizens to "clean air and water... and the natural... qualities of their environment", a judge ruled that the federal Natural Gas Act held sway over state laws.

Ms Crowe told the Berkshire County newspaper: "Corporations come and go, but life is in jeopardy."

She suggested that modern complacency was similar to the one during the Second World War, which allowed Adolf Hitler to carry out the atrocities he did.

Ms Crowe said she has been arrested numerous times in her life, including three time since she turned 90.

The activist believes she has not yet been arrested enough in her protest against the £93m (£71m) pipeline but she admitted that the day in court had not been easy.

She said the money invested in the project would have been better spent on developing solar and wind energy and she added that corporate profit was fine as long as it was not at the expense of health and the planet.

Work on the pipeline is expected to take another four months to complete but activists said they have new and more creative ideas to escalate their non-violent protest.

Meanwhile, Ms Crowe said she would devote the rest of her life to the planet.

"I'm fortunate to be here," she said.