Studies consistently show that fracking and associated infrastructure leak more methane than previously estimated, and that rising methane levels are now driving adverse climate impacts.
“We have a shot at stopping some pretty extreme behavior at the end of the cannibal or the 'wendigo' economy. And that is, in my estimation, a great spiritual opportunity for us all.” -- Winona LaDuke
In the past week there was another confrontation near the pipeline construction area on Beech Plain Road in Sandisfield between police and protesters in which three more arrests were made. One woman, Karla Colon-Aponte, was thrown down and pinned to the ground by a Massachusetts State Trooper hired as security for the pipeline project. A video captured that incident.
Markey cited solar and wind power as future drivers of the economy and he questioned why the Trump administration did not see it as a source of jobs for unemployed workers, especially the blue-collar workers Trump purports to represent.
At the Lower Spectacle Pond picnic area, about 80 people gathered at 10 a.m. to not only protest the pipeline but support "the need for solidarity against fossil fuel infrastructure across the country," said a Sugar Shack Alliance spokesperson.
State Sen. Adam Hinds: "If anybody's learned anything from this election, it's that elections have consequences – serious policy consequences. They are absolutely gutting the EPA at a rate that even the most pessimistic person would be surprised about right now." Hinds was also sharply critical of the state in allowing the pipeline project to move through the Otis State Forest, which is state-owned land ostensibly protected from development.
Earlier in the day. Sugar Shack had been staging what it called the Funeral for the Age of Fossil Fuel by carrying a coffin out onto Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s easement.
Sitting right next to the existing right-of-way being widened aggressively by Tennessee Gas Company is a "Thoreau Cabin," so named for American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, who wrote the famous essay on civil disobedience.
“I want to raise the idea of conservation and civil disobedience. This is a symbol of our resistance and our resolve to stop this.”
--- Sugar Shack Alliance member Will Elwell
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission not only failed to engage in meaningful consultations with the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office, it also delayed studying the cultural resources until it was too late to protect them.
So where were the Massachusetts officials who could have negotiated with Connecticut to save Otis State Forest because the gas wasn’t really needed after all?
According to deputy tribal historic preservation officer Doug Harris, one-third of the ceremonial stone landscapes will be disturbed or destroyed during the construction of the pipeline.
That sacred Native American sites are along the path is just the latest controversy over the pipeline in Otis State Forest. Tennessee Gas is still tied up in court with environmental groups over potential harm to water and animal habitats; the company reneged on a deal to give the town of Sandisfield $1 million for wear and tear to its roads and reimburse legal fees.
