I learned today about a new blog, NPR’s “Goats and Soda,” which gives details about growing health emergencies in emerging countries. I love the name, partly because I raise goats. But also, I love the image that it conjures in my head – choices. Goats symbolize existence – able to find food where others can’t; able to carry a load, or give a kiss when it’s needed; willing to share their milk so a friend can survive, and able to provide food to a human friend if that is what it costs. That is a truly noble animal.
Then there’s soda. I must confess here that I was basically raised on soda. It was, and still is, my preferred drink, only because I am so addicted to the caffeine. Even my doctor has said “Just try to cut back, the headache isn’t worth the benefits.” But I know that’s frivolous. I hate that Coca-Cola owns more water in Africa than any public water district there. I know that the sugar or other sweeteners are disguises for the acids, preservatives and other evil things in that potion. I know that the Coke that I used to love to drink I once used to remove rust from an old tricycle.
How does this relate to our Blasted Towns? Because so many of our neighbor are focused on the “coke,” of energy – the pipeline that promises jobs, like those sodas that lace their preservatives with a little juice. Those people who think ‘new’ is better than ‘tried and true.’ Because people will believe the advertising tripe about “bridge fuels,” and “cleaner,” over the basic truth. That truth is that calories count, whether they are sugar or mega=calories from megawatts. We have it in our power to live comfortably with existing technology, reasonable conservation methods and corporate responsibility.
Keeping warm is crucial to survival, but so is breathing, drinking safe water, and having healthy food to eat. Local farms, like those with goats, are cleaner sources for food from a carbon efficiency standpoint. In New England, they are less likely to be heavily treated with industrial chemicals because the scale of our farms is much smaller than in other parts of the country. More of our farms are sustainable, much like the goat, which yields tastier, safer, accessible food that will disappear if we have this pipeline come through our towns. Isn’t it better to have the source of our energy/food nearby, like the sun, wind, wood, local farms than to have to rely on someone to process it, transport it, and then pump it right past us on the way to another country? That’s like being passed up by the waitress while you wait at the bar for that soda.
Really? No one is perfect, and each of us has our vices. But those vices should only affect us individually, not our neighbors, or our descendants. My habit hopefully is counteracted by the good that I try to do with my goats, my work, this blog. If we are going to stop this pipeline we have to show people that they lose choices, personal power, quality of life, as well as potential water and food quality, if they allow this pipeline to come through. Is it really “for the greater good,” to give someone else the power to alter our survival resources? How is it for the “greater good,” if we receive none of the benefits, but lose many of our inherent rights to a healthy environment by allowing this pipeline to come through?
“Goats and Soda,” is a great dichotomy to make people think about survival. “Safety or Gas,” isn’t as catchy, but it comes down to the similar issues. We need to fight for our own water, food, air, and communities, and illustrate to those who only care about their ‘cheap energy,’ that it isn’t cheap, it won’t be “theirs,” and they will suffer the consequences in other ways. We can be the “herd queen,” that leads the herd to safety, or we can be the “bellwether,” that tells the predators where the sacrificial kids are. Which do you want to be?
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Think for Yourself! Then Find Those Who Can Teach You!
As our nation experiences weather like we’ve not seen in recorded history, tremors and sinkholes are popping everywhere, and mysterious holes appear in the middle of Siberia, it must surely be the time to hold on to that knowledge which gives us security and confidence.
But what is that knowledge? Is it the knowledge that gas gives power and money, and for most of us it comes out of a pipe, not the ground, so we are cut off from “cause and effect?” Is it that money is voice and voice is protected by the Supreme Court, even if that one voice drowns out the effects of millions of other voices? After all, that voice is speaking for what you believe in. You can’t even understand the drivel from those other voices.
Is knowledge defined by fancy colorful graphs placed behind pretty people, explaining how gas in a “clean fuel?” Or is defined by the scientists who have been studying the climate and the causes of climate shift, usually for less money than any corporate executive makes? After all,money talks right. People don’t actually DO THINGS because they feel they are the right thing to do .
Or is the knowledge you learned in kindergarten, “The roots go down and then the plant grows up?” The simple idea that plants grow based upon what they consume, and since we eat those plants, we will ultimately eat that same energy. What does it tell you that the plants can’t grow in places where the water table has been disrupted, or even worse, blown up? What will you eat while you’re toasty warm in your fancy house, if the Midwest is full of fracking wells destroying those very plants that provide our national food supply?
But wait, let’s not over-react. After all this pipeline coming through New England isn’t BEING fracked, is it? No, it’s not, but it will carry the fruits of that destruction. It will leak that toxic methane that Mother Earth has sequestered underground, not for “until later,” but “for safe keeping.” If you’re God believing person, like I am, you certainly expect that He knew what he was doing when he put toxins away from our reach. We’re not talking about the Midwest, we’re talking about New England, the land that grows rocks instead of grains for the most part. “Hard as a rock,” doesn’t mean it’s not impermeable, just that it will shatter at some point, not necessarily in a predictable fashion. The blasting that will happen here may be as destructive to our water supply as the initial drilling that happens during fracking. We won’t be experiencing the forcing of polluted water into our water supply, but eventually, who says they won’t try? Once they are allowed into an area they can expand without much trouble, because the legal precedent has been set.
It’s time to listen to our hearts, not our pockets. It’s time to think for ourselves, do the research, talk to informed people, and stop swallowing the pablum that is overly simplified on commercials and laced with “cheaper for the consumer,” spices. Is it cheaper when we can’t drink our water? Is it cheaper when our health bills climb because of illness, or our utility bills climb because there are no other options and they control the supply ? Is it cheaper when the planet isn’t liveable, but you’ve had a comfy home for a generation? Too bad for those grandkids.
Turn on your brains! Listen to the voices that speak from the heart, not the pocket. Ask questions, and then make sure you get answers. If you don’t, assume that the real answer is too uncomfortable for that person to say. Our media is controlled by those who can pay their advertising rates. Those same people have as much cash as they need to reach our politicians. The only way to be heard above the din of self-interest is to BAND together to demand answers, and ACTIONS. Once our water is gone, it’s gone. Once our planet is beyond saving, where else do we go? I like it right here, in my Blasted Town. What do you think?
But what is that knowledge? Is it the knowledge that gas gives power and money, and for most of us it comes out of a pipe, not the ground, so we are cut off from “cause and effect?” Is it that money is voice and voice is protected by the Supreme Court, even if that one voice drowns out the effects of millions of other voices? After all, that voice is speaking for what you believe in. You can’t even understand the drivel from those other voices.
Is knowledge defined by fancy colorful graphs placed behind pretty people, explaining how gas in a “clean fuel?” Or is defined by the scientists who have been studying the climate and the causes of climate shift, usually for less money than any corporate executive makes? After all,money talks right. People don’t actually DO THINGS because they feel they are the right thing to do .
Or is the knowledge you learned in kindergarten, “The roots go down and then the plant grows up?” The simple idea that plants grow based upon what they consume, and since we eat those plants, we will ultimately eat that same energy. What does it tell you that the plants can’t grow in places where the water table has been disrupted, or even worse, blown up? What will you eat while you’re toasty warm in your fancy house, if the Midwest is full of fracking wells destroying those very plants that provide our national food supply?
But wait, let’s not over-react. After all this pipeline coming through New England isn’t BEING fracked, is it? No, it’s not, but it will carry the fruits of that destruction. It will leak that toxic methane that Mother Earth has sequestered underground, not for “until later,” but “for safe keeping.” If you’re God believing person, like I am, you certainly expect that He knew what he was doing when he put toxins away from our reach. We’re not talking about the Midwest, we’re talking about New England, the land that grows rocks instead of grains for the most part. “Hard as a rock,” doesn’t mean it’s not impermeable, just that it will shatter at some point, not necessarily in a predictable fashion. The blasting that will happen here may be as destructive to our water supply as the initial drilling that happens during fracking. We won’t be experiencing the forcing of polluted water into our water supply, but eventually, who says they won’t try? Once they are allowed into an area they can expand without much trouble, because the legal precedent has been set.
It’s time to listen to our hearts, not our pockets. It’s time to think for ourselves, do the research, talk to informed people, and stop swallowing the pablum that is overly simplified on commercials and laced with “cheaper for the consumer,” spices. Is it cheaper when we can’t drink our water? Is it cheaper when our health bills climb because of illness, or our utility bills climb because there are no other options and they control the supply ? Is it cheaper when the planet isn’t liveable, but you’ve had a comfy home for a generation? Too bad for those grandkids.
Turn on your brains! Listen to the voices that speak from the heart, not the pocket. Ask questions, and then make sure you get answers. If you don’t, assume that the real answer is too uncomfortable for that person to say. Our media is controlled by those who can pay their advertising rates. Those same people have as much cash as they need to reach our politicians. The only way to be heard above the din of self-interest is to BAND together to demand answers, and ACTIONS. Once our water is gone, it’s gone. Once our planet is beyond saving, where else do we go? I like it right here, in my Blasted Town. What do you think?
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Comment on the proposed gas Kinder Morgan Pipeline
By Walt Cudnohufsky 8.13.14
Gas is neither a bridge fuel nor a cleaner fuel! It contributes at least equally, with other dirty
fuels, to our accelerating climate problem. Substantial methane, freed by gas drilling and
transport, has recently been calculated as sixty eight times more impactful and longer lasting
than co2. Clean and green is thus a myth!
By allowing the proposed Tennessee (Kinder Morgan) gas pipeline, even if against our will,
we are enabling destructive fracking and more pollution that any life time of conscious living
could ever mitigate. By voting no, this proposed pipeline gives us an opportunity, possibly the
single largest in our lives, to make a discernable difference on climate change and reducing
environmental impact.
It is my widely shared opinion that FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is little more
than a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry and our all too corrupt government. FERC will
almost assuredly find a “public need/necessity” where none exists.
It is critical to notice, even if you are now just learning of this pipeline proposal, that it is not
early in the planning process! On the contrary it is very late and near the end of that process.
As a land planner with some experience with transmission routing and road alignment, I have
come to know the four major stages of planning and design for such networks.
(1) Corridors several corridors would normally be reviewed--each multiple miles wide. Then
(2) Routes which can be up to one or two miles wide and within a selected corridor.
(3)Alignment the more specific path within the route and finally
(4) Design the technical specification for construction.
Kinder Morgan are assuredly in the fourth and final design stage for this pipeline, no matter
what they pontificate.
Sophisticated environmental data for the first three stages is readily accessible to the
corporations without going on the land. The important thing to note is there is only minimal
flexibility in their plans at this late fourth stage and with a favorably inclined FERC (they
know already of their favored odds of achieving approval) what we say and think is severely
discounted if ever it had value.
I submit that the cumulative effect of impacts of the pipeline, must be assessed for the entire
pipeline even if in multiple states and tabulated and reviewed cumulatively by state and at the
federal level.
The impact studies must also include any lateral distribution pipes (mentioned in their
presentations) which could rival the proposed direct pipe line in aggregated length and
impact. The laterals are likely to be equally impactful and damaging because of certainty to
be in populated areas. If Kinder Morgan claims there are no laterals planned or designed,
it is assured that the huge proposed volume of gas is destined to be shipped off shore. The
container ships and LNG stations are on order, being planned and constructed as we ponder
this pipeline.
The environmental impacts of fracking in addition to the pipeline itself (PA, NY, elsewhere)
must also be a simultaneous part of an environmental and cultural impact assessments.
Incremental review of any part of this fracking-pipeline system is severely deficient. There
are ample town, state and federal regulations that support and require this cumulative and
aggregated environmental review.
There is currently encouraging momentum in the mounting resistance across the affected
Towns in Massachusetts. By use and electricity rate increases, everyone in the State is involved
not just the directly affected communities.
My conclusion: If ever you were to speak up and take action, now is that time! Support your
neighbors and fellow citizens and all the Massachusetts and New York communities certain to
be harshly impacted. See http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/
By Walt Cudnohufsky 8.13.14
Gas is neither a bridge fuel nor a cleaner fuel! It contributes at least equally, with other dirty
fuels, to our accelerating climate problem. Substantial methane, freed by gas drilling and
transport, has recently been calculated as sixty eight times more impactful and longer lasting
than co2. Clean and green is thus a myth!
By allowing the proposed Tennessee (Kinder Morgan) gas pipeline, even if against our will,
we are enabling destructive fracking and more pollution that any life time of conscious living
could ever mitigate. By voting no, this proposed pipeline gives us an opportunity, possibly the
single largest in our lives, to make a discernable difference on climate change and reducing
environmental impact.
It is my widely shared opinion that FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is little more
than a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry and our all too corrupt government. FERC will
almost assuredly find a “public need/necessity” where none exists.
It is critical to notice, even if you are now just learning of this pipeline proposal, that it is not
early in the planning process! On the contrary it is very late and near the end of that process.
As a land planner with some experience with transmission routing and road alignment, I have
come to know the four major stages of planning and design for such networks.
(1) Corridors several corridors would normally be reviewed--each multiple miles wide. Then
(2) Routes which can be up to one or two miles wide and within a selected corridor.
(3)Alignment the more specific path within the route and finally
(4) Design the technical specification for construction.
Kinder Morgan are assuredly in the fourth and final design stage for this pipeline, no matter
what they pontificate.
Sophisticated environmental data for the first three stages is readily accessible to the
corporations without going on the land. The important thing to note is there is only minimal
flexibility in their plans at this late fourth stage and with a favorably inclined FERC (they
know already of their favored odds of achieving approval) what we say and think is severely
discounted if ever it had value.
I submit that the cumulative effect of impacts of the pipeline, must be assessed for the entire
pipeline even if in multiple states and tabulated and reviewed cumulatively by state and at the
federal level.
The impact studies must also include any lateral distribution pipes (mentioned in their
presentations) which could rival the proposed direct pipe line in aggregated length and
impact. The laterals are likely to be equally impactful and damaging because of certainty to
be in populated areas. If Kinder Morgan claims there are no laterals planned or designed,
it is assured that the huge proposed volume of gas is destined to be shipped off shore. The
container ships and LNG stations are on order, being planned and constructed as we ponder
this pipeline.
The environmental impacts of fracking in addition to the pipeline itself (PA, NY, elsewhere)
must also be a simultaneous part of an environmental and cultural impact assessments.
Incremental review of any part of this fracking-pipeline system is severely deficient. There
are ample town, state and federal regulations that support and require this cumulative and
aggregated environmental review.
There is currently encouraging momentum in the mounting resistance across the affected
Towns in Massachusetts. By use and electricity rate increases, everyone in the State is involved
not just the directly affected communities.
My conclusion: If ever you were to speak up and take action, now is that time! Support your
neighbors and fellow citizens and all the Massachusetts and New York communities certain to
be harshly impacted. See http://www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/
Friday, July 25, 2014
Making Our Case
Things have been rolling along in the Citizens vs. TPG Pipeline Public Case. For weeks now, young people from all over America have been riding the proposed pipeline routes, giving the Earth a voice through their presence and words.
People all over the Commonwealth, as you can see from the awesome posts from my co-authors, have been speaking for their communities and the resources beneath their feet. Even Boston heard about the pipeline when WGBH actually let Roberta Flashman ask Governor Patrick a question about the pipeline. I didn’t know if they would let a non-Bostonian speak, let alone a person who was going to put the Governor in the corner. But they did! And now, Mr. Governor, if you’d like a reminder of the document you signed, we can make it available to you. Those of us who are working against the Pipeline have really been doing their research, much more than me, I’m afraid.
So now comes the Tyngsboro/Dracut Rally in the Lowell/Dracut State Forest! Thanks to Better Future Project, the folks that brought us the Climate Summer Riders (Thank you! One and All!) there will be a great presence speaking for those towns, and the remainder of “We Blasted Towns.” It looks like solar power really wants to show its stuff, too, as the weather is calling for a glorious days for raised voices and heightened awareness!
Then, next week, scores of people will be at Boston Common for the Big Rally! Let’s make it hundreds, even thousands, on July 30 from 11-1 in front of State House. Let’s remind the government, both state and federal, that they work for voters, not for Kinder Morgan or any other corporation! Those corporations think with their wallets, and they don’t breathe air or drink water. They don’t care about our environment – they don’t live here, or really anywhere!
But the Rally can’t be the end of things. The TPG/Kinder Morgan pipeline project will be a spectre over this region until the time comes when energy comes from sun, wind and water. They will be waiting for people to get complacent, and maybe a little cold, and then they’ll raise those ugly heads of theirs. We need to be vigilant, active and involved!
Natural gas is a “bridge fuel to nowhere.” Like an oil-bearing train, it brings short term gain with long term costs, and a track full of danger along with it. It’s time to Change things up, and make sure that the future is considered, not just tomorrow, but for next year, and beyond.
People all over the Commonwealth, as you can see from the awesome posts from my co-authors, have been speaking for their communities and the resources beneath their feet. Even Boston heard about the pipeline when WGBH actually let Roberta Flashman ask Governor Patrick a question about the pipeline. I didn’t know if they would let a non-Bostonian speak, let alone a person who was going to put the Governor in the corner. But they did! And now, Mr. Governor, if you’d like a reminder of the document you signed, we can make it available to you. Those of us who are working against the Pipeline have really been doing their research, much more than me, I’m afraid.
So now comes the Tyngsboro/Dracut Rally in the Lowell/Dracut State Forest! Thanks to Better Future Project, the folks that brought us the Climate Summer Riders (Thank you! One and All!) there will be a great presence speaking for those towns, and the remainder of “We Blasted Towns.” It looks like solar power really wants to show its stuff, too, as the weather is calling for a glorious days for raised voices and heightened awareness!
Then, next week, scores of people will be at Boston Common for the Big Rally! Let’s make it hundreds, even thousands, on July 30 from 11-1 in front of State House. Let’s remind the government, both state and federal, that they work for voters, not for Kinder Morgan or any other corporation! Those corporations think with their wallets, and they don’t breathe air or drink water. They don’t care about our environment – they don’t live here, or really anywhere!
But the Rally can’t be the end of things. The TPG/Kinder Morgan pipeline project will be a spectre over this region until the time comes when energy comes from sun, wind and water. They will be waiting for people to get complacent, and maybe a little cold, and then they’ll raise those ugly heads of theirs. We need to be vigilant, active and involved!
Natural gas is a “bridge fuel to nowhere.” Like an oil-bearing train, it brings short term gain with long term costs, and a track full of danger along with it. It’s time to Change things up, and make sure that the future is considered, not just tomorrow, but for next year, and beyond.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Rolling March in Pepperell
“Russ Schott reports that the Pepperell Walk was held on Tuesday and the event ran smoothly, and seemed to be enjoyed by all, despite the 90 degree temperatures. Our intrepid group of walkers, maxed out with a headcount of over 80 men, women and children (and a few dogs), during the morning segment. At noon the group stopped at Pepperell Town Hall, and we had over 100 people (including a walking group from Hollis, NH, who walked north following a proposed line) line up for a group picture, holding signs and performing “No pipeline chants”.
 |
| From Facebook, credit to Kristin Yargeau |
Highlights included:
· Stopping at the Pepperell Brick One Room School for a picture;
· Stopping at one of the nicest vistas in Pepperell on Win Duke’s farm, overlooking his hayfields and scenic pond. His farm is one of the “places in peril”, as the Pipeline is proposed to pass between his home and pond;
· Stopping for a loooonnnng water/energy bar/watermelon/orange slice/shade break in between Win’s and Paula Terrasi’s homes;
· A similarly nice break at Vince and Denene Premus’s home, (impacted property owners) where Vince spoke passionately to the group about how the threat of the pipeline is affecting their lives.
· A nice 3/8 mile walk across the Keyes Farm Conservation Area, one of Pepperell’s nicest conservation lands;
· And lastly, completing the Walk on property owned by Paul and Mimi Matisse on the banks of the Nashua River. This property will also be directly impacted should the pipeline be approved. There we met Groton resident Marion Stoddart, founder of the Nashua River Watershed Association, who was then joined by nine (9) canoes and seven(7) kayaks, for the paddle across to the Groton side of the River.
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| (photo S. Stromsted) |
· Paula Terrasi and Russ Schott then made the hand-off of the symbolic Pipe to Groton residents Richard and Diane Hewitt and Nick Miller, at the stone boundary along the Ayer-Nashua Rail Trail/Bike Path. Groton’s Walk will be held on Wednesday, July 23rd.
· Our total walking route was 5.1 miles, and our paddling route was .5 miles;
· Many thanks to Stephen Wicks and his Partner Judy who gamely moved ahead of the Walkers and Paddlers and worked tirelessly to film the Walk and river crossing, and to Jeanne Nevard and other photographers, who took countless still photos. We hope to post photos once they are processed, later this week. Additionally the Pepperell Police and Fire Departments provided wonderful safety support during the Walk and the river crossing.”
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Pipeline Resistance Rally at Clarkdale Fruit Farms
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| photo credit: d.o. |
Lots of activities planned for tomorrow (Sunday July 13th)!More than 8 walkers and 100 enthusiastic activists had a great day Friday, July 11, opposing the Kinder Morgan pipeline at the Clarkdale Fruit Farm.Looking out at manicured orchards and fields, you could see a line of bright orange balloons marking the line of the intended pipeline through this three-generation old pristine farm in Deerfield.Clarkdale Fruit Farm has posted a sign telling us, that if the pipeline runs through the farm, it will be the end of 600 of their bountiful fruit trees (I heard people talking about Clarkdale peaches being the best peaches anywhere).There was a wonderful spirit among the crowd, with uplifting music, homemade free ice cream from the Wagon Wheel Restaurant and a heartening talk by State Representative Steven Kulick, D-Worthington, who encouraged us to work tirelessly to stop the unneeded pipeline and its potential ravaging environmental consequences e through the state. He said we had much support in the legislature but needed to get the executive branch on board.Families with young children, bicyclists, and many seniors participated. People bought lawn signs and signed petitions. I felt that everyone was energized through the wonderful hospitality provided by the Clarkdale Fruit Farm family and profound dedication not to allow a destructive pipeline to get a single toe into Massachusetts.The walk will continue through Massachusetts, rolling from town to town from day to day, and end at the statehouse July 30when we hope a large crowd will gather at let the executive branch know we need its clear opposition to the Kinder Morgan Tennessee pipeline so that not a Massachusetts landowner experiences Kinder Morgan's survey of a single plot of land.by Hattie Nestel
Deerfield- Meet at 8:45 under the railroad trestle on River Road, just after Rt 5&10.
Montague- Meet at 10:00 am on Greenfield Rd (in Montague) where the bike path crosses in time to get to the bike bridge. OR hop in a canoe or kayak to be under the bridge by 10:00 am. Nearest put-in (just upstream of the bike bridge) is at the end of Poplar st. in Montague
Erving- meet at 2:00 pm on the Millers Falls bridge (Rte 63) for a 3 mile walk to Northfield.
Picnic at 4:00 pm at Riverview Picnic and Recreation Area in Northfield. Hamburgers, etc. provided. Thinking of hungry walkers? Bring a potluck dish to share!
Montague- Meet at 10:00 am on Greenfield Rd (in Montague) where the bike path crosses in time to get to the bike bridge. OR hop in a canoe or kayak to be under the bridge by 10:00 am. Nearest put-in (just upstream of the bike bridge) is at the end of Poplar st. in Montague
Erving- meet at 2:00 pm on the Millers Falls bridge (Rte 63) for a 3 mile walk to Northfield.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
The Rolling March has begun!
The Rolling March to Stop the Pipeline is all about building enthusiasm, awareness, and making a statement so loud that it will carry us to Boston on July 30th. Along we way, we're carrying a pipe that holds a petition with over 10,000 signatures calling for Massachusetts legislators to ban new "fracked gas" pipelines and to champion sustainable energy. We're looking to add signatures and stir up conversation along the way. We're hoping that the media will follow our efforts, and stir up conversation at a higher level.
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| Enjoying the vistas in Richmond while carrying the pipe "baton |
Sunday, July 6th, was a beautiful day to kick off the March in Richmond. Hilltop Orchards hosted "Fossil Fuel Independence Day," where a crowd of about 150 gathered to talk, listen to rousing speakers, and to walk. There were people from as far east as Pepperell, MA and as far west as Canaan, NY. Someone from Kinder Morgan came, but he stayed quiet and opted not to walk with us. As we walked, many people honked and gave us the "thumbs up" in support.
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| Marchers set off from Hilltop Orchard |
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| Marchers pass the existing pipeline easement |
Yesterday (July 7th), a crowd of about 40 gathered in Pittsfield for a "stand-in" rally against the pipeline. There, the baton was passed from Melanie Masdea of Richmond to Cheryl Rose of Dalton.
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| Photo by Rose Wessel |
This morning, Tuesday July 8th, a group of walkers walked across Windsor from Alpine Solar down Route 9 to the West Cummington Parish House. More walkers joined in a few miles later. Many cars honked and gave us the "thumbs up" sign. One guy raised his hands asking "what pipeline?" but didn't stop to hear an answer--hopefully he remembers us and reads a newspaper or hears someone talking. Another car did stop, and had plenty of questions about the pipeline, surveying, FERC, etc. This walk can be a chance to educate.
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| Some of the Windsor Marchers gather in front of Alpine Solar |
Tomorrow, Wednesday July 9th, walkers from Cummington will gather at the West Cummington Parish House at 8:00 am (coffee served!); depart at 8:30, walking to Earthdance (all are welcome to continue on through Plainfield or return to the Parish House to disperse).
A Plainfield contingent will pick up the baton at Earthdance around 9:30 and walkers will congretate at the Plainfield Town Hall for a 10:00 am walk about 5 miles to the Ashfield line.
Find frequently updated schedules of the march through all towns at www.nofrackedgasinmass.org/rolling-march or on the Facebook event: Rolling March to Stop the Pipeline.
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