Protesters Call for a Halt to Three Massachusetts Pipeline Projects

Activists march to Boston to battle three major projects they say will lock the state into fossil fuel dependence for decades.

Hundreds of environmental activists protested at the Massachusetts Statehouse this week against natural gas pipeline projects that would significantly increase the amount of fracked gas delivered to the eastern part of the state.  Pipeline opponents said the added capacity isn't needed, would rely on increases in consumer utility rates, and would lock the state into future dependence on fossil fuels and their related emissions for decades.  

"We strongly believe that it is well past time to stop building fossil fuel infrastructure and to make sure that all of our energy that comes online is clean energy that we feel good about being dependent on for the next few decades," said Craig Altemose, executive director of Better Future Project and an organizer of the protest.

Altemose addressed more than 200 supporters Monday morning after a four-day, 43-mile march along three contested Spectra Energy pipeline projects ended in a rally inside the state capital.  It was the latest in a series of high-profile protests this summer that included the June 29 arrest of Al Gore's daughter, Karenna Gore, and prominent climate activist Tim DeChristopher at a pipeline construction site in Boston.

They come as proposed fossil fuel infrastructure projects nationwide face a mix of grassroots opposition and unfriendly market forces.  This week, the city of Oakland, Calif., confirmed its ban on a coal export terminal.  Since the Keystone XL pipeline was rejected by President Obama on climate grounds last November, at least two dozen other proposed energy projects have been rejected or delayed.

The Boston protests follow a report published in November by state attorney general Maura Healey that concluded the added capacity is not needed to meet electricity generation needs in the state for the next 15 years.

Read more at Protesters Call for a Halt to Three Massachusetts Pipeline Projects