Nancy Nelson a member of the activist group Raging Grannies is escorted to a police cruiser after she and two other protesters blocked railroad tracks near 2302 East Trent to protest the movement of oil and coal trains through Spokane on Wednesday in east Spokane. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Police arrested three protesters calling themselves “Raging Grannies” on Wednesday after the women blocked BNSF tracks to protest oil and coal trains.

The women – all grandmothers – were the last of about 20 people who blocked rail lines near Trent Avenue and Napa Street to protest the movement of oil and coal trains through Spokane, and the burning of fossil fuels.

“People are sick and tired of the inaction on climate change,” said Kai Huschke, one of the protesters.

Trains carrying crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken region and Alberta’s tar sands pass through the city every day. Coal from the Powder River Basin heading to Northwest ports for shipment to Asia also moves through the city on trains.

“Climate change is the most urgent issue of our time. Today, short-term profit by fossil fuel corporations is coming at the cost of environmental destruction and our children’s future,” said Margie Heller, a protester and one of the “Raging Grannies” arrested Wednesday. The others were Deena Romoff and Nancy Nelson.

All three are members of the activist group Raging Grannies – an international nonviolent group that began in 1987 in Victoria, British Columbia, to protest the environmental impact of a U.S. Navy ship. Membership is restricted to grandmothers, though there is no age limit/Jonathan Glover, SR. (More here, subscription)