PowerShift 2009

Back in February 2009, I attended Power Shift, an environmental summit for college age youth in Washington DC. President Obama had been recently sworn in and everyone was high on hope and change for the future. Along with 11,ooo others, I was trained on how to lobby my congressional representatives about climate change.  All of our hope filled eyes were on COP 15, the big UN climate talks in Copenhagen.  Our goal was to encourage Congress to create strong climate legislation, so our country would head into the talks as a climate leader. President Obama had the wind at his back at that time in 2009, with a Democratic majority.

Sadly, no meaningful climate legislation was agreed upon in Congress that year and COP15 was a dismal failure, resulting in no global agreement on climate.

Tar Sands destruction

One other thing that came across my radar while attending PowerShift was the tar sands of Alberta Canada.  This incredibly destructive oil excavation project was eradicating massive boreal forests and contaminating rivers on a scale never seen before.

When Bill McKibben started touring the country in 2010 to encourage folks to take a stand against a giant tar sands pipeline project using non-violent civil disobedience as a tactic, I was more than ready to step up.  I am proud to say I was one of the 1,253 Americans who went to jail for protesting against the Keystone XL pipeline in front of the White House.

My 2011 arrest, an act of civil disobedience in front of the White House.

Many of us arrestees found that this action of civil disobedience was a catalyst in our lives. We stepped up even further after this action, we stayed engaged in the ongoing struggle to keep the tar sands in the ground.  That journey continues to this day. I remain an active member of the Keystone XL Pledge of Resistance.

Think global, act local.

Fast forward to this year, 2015. Climate chaos continues to increase with each passing year. Despite our nationwide conversation about climate change,  our country’s thirst for fossil fuels continues unabated.

And a new climate talk is on the horizon COP21, the UN climate talks in Paris are scheduled for the end of this year, but I’ll be headed up to Peekskill instead.

Peekskill is one of many locations where Spectra Energy’s jumbo fracked gas AIM pipeline project will take gas from the Marcellus Shale through NY, CT, RI and MA. The final destination of this pipeline is the coast of Massachusettes, the grand plan is to export this gas overseas to the highest bidder.

Despite all the talk of “natural” gas being clean, safe and a bridge fuel, the reality is that this fracked gas is no cleaner than coal, extremely flammable and potentially explosive. This is not a bridge, it is a gangplank to an even warmer future.

Placing this dangerous gas pipeline next to an aging nuclear plant is truly an exercise in insanity that must be stopped. Despite the fact that local and state leaders do not want this project in their communities, Spectra Energy was given the green light by FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

 “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.” Thomas Jefferson

I have signed the Algonquin Pipeline Pledge of Resistance and would encourage you to do so as well. Expanding the delivery of fracked gas in any form commits us to a future that will destroy our health, food sources, and landscape, as climate chaos continues to accelerate.

Going to Paris will not stop this pipeline from happening, going to Peekskill, we might have a chance at stopping it or at least slowing it down. If you want to have a direct positive impact on climate change, don’t fly to Paris and burn all that fuel, take the train to Peekskill instead.

Join us in saying NO to climate change. Say NO to Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Pipeline. Sign the Spectra Pledge of Resistance.

Join us. Pledge to stop the pipeline.