Protesters flock to Olympia to demand state take action on climate change

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Climate change protesters camped out the state capitol steps in Olympia Tuesday night and say they are not leaving until Gov. Inslee takes action.

At the height of the protest late Tuesday evening, protesters had had set up tee pees, and one man was on top of one refusing to come down. At midnight, troopers moved into clear the area and most of the protesters were convinced to follow the law that says you cannot camp overnight on the capital grounds. It was a mostly peaceful, if not noisy, process.

The protesters are from a group called Protectors of the Salish Sea. They are demanding Inslee halt all fossil fuel projects in the state, such as the liquefied natural gas plant in Tacoma.

"Demands that Jay Inslee declare a climate emergency and Jay Inslee issue an executive order terminating all fossil fuel expansions in the state of Washington," said Paul Wagner, one of the protesters on scene.

They also say they want an end to any new pipelines in the state.

There is no word from the State Patrol if anyone was officially arrested but video from the scene showed at least one person being led away in handcuffs.

Many of the protesters who left Tuesday night say they were going to come back at dawn on Wednesday.