During a Woonsocket City Council meeting Monday evening it was revealed that the City of Woonsocket is in some kind of negotiations with Invenergy regarding its proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant. When the question was brought up, City Solicitor Michael Marcello answered only that the city council had been briefed in closed session and would not directly answer the question. As to the question of a power plant being built in the city, Marcello gave a direct answer: No.

City Councillor Daniel Gendron put an item on the city council’s agenda because of the number of calls he had received based on the rumors that such a deal was in the works. He also said that he prepared his question carefully, “so that I could read the question and give the administration [of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt] the opportunity to answer that question definitively. So what I would like to ask, and I’m asking this of the administration and of my fellow councilors, but specifically the administration. I was hoping the Mayor would be here to respond but, in her absence, somebody in the administration could answer.”

Gendron asked two questions. The first concerned rumors that Invenergy was in negotiations to locate the power plant in Woonsocket, as an alternative to locating the plant in Burrillville, where there has been fierce local and statewide opposition. The second concerned the possible sale of water to Invenergy, for the plant planned for Burrillville.

“My question is a simple question,” said Gendron, “Has the administration had any discussion or communication with Invenergy or anyone else with respect to either siting a power plant in the city or about acquiring water from the city to be used in connection with a power plant?”

Council President Robert Moreau suggested City Solicitor Michael Marcello answer the question. Gendron repeated once more that he was going to address it to the mayor, but would be satisfied with an answer from Marcello.

“Councilor,” answered Marcello, “as you know you are a member of the council and you were briefed by the administration in closed session.” The closed session Marcello refered to took place at 5:30pm, shortly before the 7pm city council meeting. “The reason that we have a closed session,” said Marcello, “is to keep communication closed until such time as the law requires us to disclose it. I will say that emphatically, that there have been no discussions with the administration, that we’re aware of, that I’m aware of, to relocate the power plant within the City of Woonsocket.

“But with regard to your second question,” said Marcello, “you received a briefing in closed session, and that’s where that information must lay right now. In closed session.”

To the residents of Burrillville who had filled the city council chambers, this was confirmation of weeks of rumors.

“At the direction of our council I will not taint the sanctity, if you will, of the executive session meeting and I will not pursue this any further at your direction Mr. Marcello,” said Gendron.

“In summary,” said Council President Moreau, “that was pretty much what you’re going to hear about it tonight from this council because we had an executive session and the City Solicitor explained that we need to abide by that forum.”

“I put this item on the agenda tonight,” said Gendron, “for discussion purposes… that is what precipitated the executive session that took place prior to this meeting.” The item was “an effort to bring out the truth,” said Gendron. “I think that we needed to start this talk, we needed to squelch some of the rumors.” The solicitor denied completely that there was a power plant coming to Woonsocket, said Gendron. Before today, “none of [the city council] knew what was going on, and that was the benefit of the executive session.”

To the dozens of Burrillville residents and anti-fossil fuel activists from around the state, the city council meeting confirmed the existence of the “third option” ominously hinted at by Attorney Richard Sinapi at a meeting of the Harrisville Fire District and Water Board back in August. At that time Harrisville voted not to sell water to Invenergy, and it was known at that time that Pascoag was also going to vote against selling the power plant water.

Rumors had been swirling for weeks that Woonsocket was in negotiations with Invenergy regarding water. RI Future had put in an Access to Public Records Act request with the city on September 23rd regarding this issue. BASE (Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion), took to Facebook to ask people to call the office of Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt “and urge her to stop negotiating a water deal with Invenergy.”

The time frame on any potential deal between Invenergy and Woonsocket is difficult to determine. Yesterday Invenergy was given ten days to prepare for a “show cause” hearing with the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB). EFSB board member Janet Coit, who noted that Invenergy lacks a water plan said that, “from the perspective of the board, we have a big gap.” As part of the show cause hearing, Invenergy will have to submit their new water plan. Though Councillor Roger Jalette, (who is running for Mayor of Woonsocket) said that Invenergy might be making their case before a new city council after the elections in four weeks, Invenergy might not have that much time to wait until after an election.

There was also the hint that this issue may have implications for Woonsocket’s mayoral race between Jalette and Baldelli-Hunt, as Jalette said he is sympathetic to Burrillville’s cause.

During the public commentary period, the Woonsocket City Council was given a taste of what the Burrillville Town Council has been experiencing for nearly a year, that is, speaker after speaker objecting to new fossil fuel infrastructure being built in our state at a time when climate change threatens us all. “We don’t want it in our backyard,” said Ray Trinque of Burrillville, “and we don’t want it in your backyard and we don’t want it in anyone’s backyard…”

Burrillville resident Denise Potvin was born in Woonsocket and has family there still. Potvin said that Alan Shoer of Adler Pollock & Sheehan, one of Invenergy’s attorneys, “conveniently happens to be an attorney for the City of Woonsocket’s water department.” She mentioned that attorney Richard Sinapi is an attorney for Harrisville and large labor union with an interest in seeing the power plant built. “A lot happens behind the curtain,” said Potvin. She ended by suggesting the council educate itself by reading articles like this one on RI Future.

City Council Vice President Albert Brien interrupted public testimony and explained that right now, there was no proposal before the council.

Councillor Roger Jalette is leaving the city council as he runs against Lisa Baldelli-Hunt for Mayor of Woonsocket. “I want you to know that I am very very sensitive to your plight,” said Jalette. Jalette warned that there will be a new city council in four weeks, after the election, as neither he nor Council President Moreau will be on the council.

Burillville resident Jeremy Bailey pointed out that City Solicitor Michael Marcello is also a Ste Representative. Rep Marcello voted against a bill in May that would have allowed Burrillville residents to vote on any proposed tax treaty the town made with Invenergy. Rep Marcello was one of two representatives to attend the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues Breakfast Thursday morning where Invenergy‘s director of development John Niland was the guest speaker.

Since National Grid’s plan required the consent of all New England states, CLF moved to dismiss the docket here in Rhode Island, yet Meg Curran, chair of the RIPUC, didn’t agree that the project was necessarily dead, saying she still had questions about the project. Curran felt that National Grid’s offer to withdraw their application and refile at a later date or accept a ruling that the docket be put on hold were better options.

RIPUC board member Herbert DeSimone Jr agreed. He said that dismissal would not be appropriate, and withdrawing the application would create “unnecessary redundancies” upon refiling, as all the evidence heard to date would have to be heard again and all motions re-decided. DeSimone suggested that the RIPUC issue an indefinite stay in the proceedings, with the caveat that National Grid file a progress report on January 13, 2017.

Curran and DeSimone then unanimously voted in favor of the plan. Marion Gold, the third member of the RIPUC, had recused herself.

The meeting was attended by representatives from and members of People’s Power and Light, the FANG Collective, Food and Water Watch, Toxics Action Center, Fossil Free RI, NoLNGinPVD and the RI Sierra Club.

“The Commission’s decision to delay this proceeding is a step toward the inevitable death of the pipeline tax. Forcing Rhode Island electric customers to foot the bill for a gas pipeline we don’t need defies our best interest and our laws,” Megan Herzog with the Conservation Law Foundation said. “Both Massachusetts and the federal government have rejected the project, and we will keep fighting until Rhode Island follows suit.”

“Rhode Island consumers should not have to take on the long-term risk of a new, unnecessary natural gas pipeline. We must protect electric customers from being charged for a natural gas pipeline, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has already done this by deciding that the unprecedented cost-recovery scheme proposed by utilities is illegal, according to Mass. law,” said Priscilla De La Cruz of People’s Power and Light, also in attendance.

The arrests happened on the first day of the Rubber Stamp Rebellion, a week of action protesting FERC’s endless stream of approvals of the fracked-gas projects that plague the nation. FERC’s projects, accepted with nary a whimper of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation,  have gained special notoriety in Rhode Island with Inverenergy’s planned gigawatt power plant in Burrillville and National Grid’s proposed gas liquefaction facility in Fields Point, Providence.

Explaining why he had participated in the blockade, Peter Nightingale, a member of Fossil Free Rhode Island and a URI physics professor, stated that he helped block one of the driveways leading to a FERC parking garage as an act of civil resistance and a symbolic attempt to stop what he calls a crime in progress:

 Our government no longer serves “the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community.”  [See article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution, the Right of Revolution.]  As trustee of the environment, government is delinquent in its fiduciary duty to preserve a habitable climate for present and future generations.  The pretense that the Paris Agreement of 2015 can be implemented by expanding the fracked-gas infrastructure here and abroad is an act of ecocidal recklessness.”

An employee of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia wrote: “I cannot find Peter Nightingale, Claude Guillemard, Don Weightman, or Clarke Herbert in the system.”   This sound like perfect case of gender bias, except that Claude Guillemard happens to be a woman.  She once was lost but now she’s been found.

Attorney Mark Goldstone, a First Amendment lawyer who regularly defends political protestors—includingDouglas Hughes, the postal worker who landed a gyrocopter on a White House lawn—explained  that if a case is “not papered,” the government has decided not to go forward with the charge. This does not guarantee that they could not paper it later, but, as Goldstone added, he has never seen this happen in his 30 years of experience.

Whitehouse mistakenly refered to the sign holders as members of FANG, but of course FANG was in Boston during Whitehouse’s keynote, as can be seen here. Whitehouse seemed to say that while he appreciates the efforts of those holding signs, his priorities are on things other than preventing the expansion of natural gas infrastructure in Rhode Island.

I think the biggest message here, though perhaps not the one Whitehouse intended to deliver, is that the residents of Burrillville can count on getting no help from their Senator on this issue.

They are on their own.

More on the climate conference will be released over the weekend.

Here are Senator Whitehouse’s full comments:

In a short interview with Ted Nesi, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, widely considered to be the most environmentally conscious member of the US Senate, threw his support behind Invenergy’s Clear River Energy Center in Burrillville, a power plant to be run on fracked methane.

Whitehouse said, “Rhode Island and a large part of Southern New England are on the wrong side of a couple of gas pipeline choke points, with the result that at certain times costs soar in Rhode Island because the choke point creates a supply-demand imbalance which causes prices to soar, and in other states that’s not happening.

“I don’t think it’s valuable from Rhode Island’s perspective to make Rhode Islanders pay high winter gas prices when it doesn’t change the overall complexion of the gas market. So I am not objecting to that particular plant, because it’s a choke point issue.”

When Nesi asked Whitehouse if he’s received any blowback  for his refusal to oppose the plant, Whitehouse said,  “Some. There’s a small group of people who would like to have me change my position.

“From the larger environmental movement – the Save the Bays and the League of Conservation Voters and the Nature Conservancies and all that – there’s no blowback whatsoever. They understand the difference between the national and the local concern.”

So do Save the Bay and the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) really support Whitehouse’s position on the new Burrillville power plant as the Senator implies?

Not quite.

I asked both Save the Bay and the League of Conservation Voters for comments on what Whitehouse said. Neither group came close to backing the Senator up.

Seth Stein, National Press Secretary for the League of Conservation Voters, said, “LCV does not have an RI state league partner. We focus on Federal policy, and do not generally weigh in on local politics in states where we do not have a state league.”

Topher Hamblett, director of policy at Save the Bay, said, “Save The Bay has not taken a position on the project (we’re focused on a host of Bay issues). On development projects like this we usually evaluate potential impacts to water resources, wetland systems and Bay/coastal eco-sytsems.”

Save the Bay’s executive director Jonathan Stone wrote, “Save the Bay has not taken a position on the plant. On energy development proposals like this we always evaluate impacts on water quality, wetlands habitat, public access, and other impacts on the health of the Bay and coastal Rhode Island.”

Burrillville is not positioned near the Bay.

Given that two of the three groups that Whitehouse named have no position on the project, and the third group, “the Nature Conservancies and all that” doesn’t specify any particular agency, it appears that Whitehouse’s answer was intended to minimize the importance of local opposition to the power plant, not honestly appraise the support for natural gas infrastructure expansion that exists in the wider environmental community.

One nature conservancy that does have a strong position on Invenergy’s plans is one that will be directly impacted by the plant. The Burrillville Land Trust, has been granted intervenor status in the process to determine the power plant’s fate and has filed a motion to shut the application process down.

So none of the environmental groups that Whitehouse implied would support him, do. Instead, we have wide ranging opposition to the plant from a host of groups that understand what is at stake in allowing Rhode Island to continue to depend on fossil fuels for its energy.

The Conservation Law Foundation, the Burrillville Land Trust, Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion  (BASE), Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG), Fossil Free RI, Rhode Island Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Green Party of RI, Occupy Providence and the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats have all come out against the plant.

In his interview with Nesi, Whitehouse cavalierly dismissed the concerns of local environmental groups, and could name no environmental groups that support his position.

If Whitehouse is truly the Senate’s climate champion, we are all in serious trouble.

Local environmental groups and activists have responded to comments made by RI House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D District 15 Cranston) made about his support for Invenergy‘s new planned methane gas and oil fueled power plant at the 2016 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit.

In the video, Mattiello says, “I’ve been an advocate working with the Office of Energy Resources. I think we have to expand our traditional energy sources and we’re doing so somewhat in Burrillville. I fully encourage that because we have to provide traditional energy as cheaply and efficiently as possible for our ratepayers. However, the world is changing and we have to look at renewables and we have to encourage the growth of renewables. Some people want just the carbon based some people want just the renewables. I think we have to take a practical viewpoint and I encourage both and we’ll grow them both just as fast as we can and let the economy and the marketplace play a little bit of a role. As far as I’m concerned we’re going to encourage the expansion of all forms of energy so that our citizens and our businesses have the cheapest energy available to them so that we can grow and thrive as a community and that our citizens can heat their homes and power their homes as efficiently and cheaply as possible.”

“An ‘all-of-the-above’ approach may provide a good soundbite for Speaker Mattiello,” said Conservation Law Foundation press secretary Josh Block, “but it is an illogical and irresponsible solution when it comes to our energy grid. Renewable energy is the only path to ensuring breathable air, drinkable water and stable energy prices for decades to come, and suggesting we continue building payphones when cell phones are getting cheaper and more prevalent each day defies basic economic and common sense.”

Professor Peter Nightingale of Fossil Free RI says that “Speaker Mattiello does not get it: going green will stimulate Rhode Island’s economy more than his supposedly cheap fossil fuel energy.  He calls himself practical, even as he ignores common sense economics and the laws of nature. Unfortunately, he fits in perfectly with the rest of our leadership as they sell present and future generations down “Clear River” for short-term gain.  Is dark and out-of-state money interfering with their sense of decency and grasp of reality?”

Greg Gerritt, head of research for ProsperityForRI.com speaking only for himself, berated the Speaker’s understanding of economics, saying, “The more I listen to Representative Mattiello the more it becomes obvious that he has absolutely no understanding of how the economy works and where it is going, has no understanding of the relationship between healthy ecosystems and the Rhode Island economy, and no conception that economies are built from the bottom up not the top down.”

Nick Katkevich of Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG) sent a video, saying, “Way back on a hot summer day in June a group of us went to Mattiello’s law office in Cranston over a rumor that he was planning to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Burrillville Spectra expansion. To our surprise he showed up while we were there at his office.”

More on the 2016 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit:

Business leaders decide issues elected officials will pursue at economic summit

State leaders demonstrate their priorities, and it’s not you

More on Speaker Mattiello and his economic ideas from the 2015 Rhode Island Small Business Economic Summit:

Mattiello’s ‘dynamic analysis’ is long discredited economics

Governor Gina Raimondo today announced the formation of the Rhode Island Outdoor Recreation Council, touting the health benefits of outdoor recreation and the value of pristine open spaces, even as environmental activists challenged her on her continued support of the fossil fuel industry in Burrillville.

Members of Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG), Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE) and Fossil Free RI all attended the press conference in the freezing cold Goddard Park Carousel in Warwick, silently holding signs that said, “Save Burrillville.” After Governor Raimondo signed the executive order creating her new council, one member started chanting “No new power plant!” and was escorted from the room.

In a press release, Governor Raimondo said, “All Rhode Islanders should have the chance to enjoy the countless outdoor recreational opportunities in our beautiful state, and take advantage of these resources as they fulfill New Year’s resolutions and lead healthier lifestyles. Rhode Island’s natural assets are unmatched, with amazing beaches, parks, campgrounds, bike paths, the bay and waterways. The State can do more to encourage use of these resources and promote this critical sector of Rhode Island’s economy.”

Raimondo’s staff has not responded to a request to explain how increasing Rhode Island’s dependence on fossil fuels will make for healthy environments in the state.

Raimondo did not engage with the protesters, but exited quickly after the event. One member of FANG waited in line on stage for a chance to speak with the governor but was turned away. Pia told me, “I was very angry I got kicked off the stage and couldn’t talk to my governor even though I was next in line to do so.”

Director Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH, of the Rhode Island Department of Health and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian did briefly engage. Among the protesters were Kathy Martley of Burrillville, who founded BASE, Sister Mary Pendergast and Sally Mendzela, who were arrested on Spectra property in December, Peter Nightingale who was arrested on Spectra property in August, and Nick Katkevich who was arrested on Spectra property in September.

In a statement Peter Nightingale said, “Fossil Free Rhode Island will continue to confront the Raimondo administration with the fact that natural gas is more dangerous for the global climate than coal and oil.  Fossil Free Rhode Island will not stand idly by as front line communities and Burrillville in particular are treated as sacrifice zones.”

I’ll have some video on this later today, and will update if the Governor’s office responds.

The Rhode Island Energy Facilities Siting Board (RI EFSB) has scheduled a preliminary hearing to consider Invenergy’s application for January 12 at 9:30am. Public commentary will not be heard at this hearing, only those parties and participants granted intervenor status by the Siting Board will have a voice in the proceedings.

In their court filing, Invenergy objected to the following groups and individuals’ motion for intervenor status: property owners Dennis and Kathy Sherman and Paul and Mary Boldue; activist and political groups Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI, the Progressive Democrats of Rhode Island (RIPDA), Fighting Against Natural Gas (FANG) and  Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE); and Sister Mary Pendergast, as an individual.

Invenergy does not have “specific objections” to the intervention requests of the Town of Burrillville, the State of RI Office of Energy Resources, National Grid, the Burrillville Land Trust or the Conservation Law Foundation.

Invenergy contends that intervention should only be granted to “Parties that have either statutory rights to intervene, directly affected interests that will not be adequately represented by other parties, or special public interests that compel intervention as a Party.”

Invenergy also objects to a separate motion “to extend the intervention period and to postpone the Preliminary Hearing” submitted by FANG and BASE.

In their motion requesting a 45 day extension of the deadline to intervene, FANG and BASE argued that, “At the December 9th Burrillville Town Council Meeting, several residents voiced their confusion with the intervenor process and expressed frustration with the lack of information provided about the process. Residents posed questions to the Town Council that the Council was not equipped to answer.” Note that the Town of Burrillville, though ill-equipped to answer rudimentary questions about the process at the Town Council meeting, is one of the groups that Invenergy says will “adequately” and “capably” represent the public interest.

The requested extension, maintains FANG and BASE, would allow “interested individuals and parties… more time to learn more about the intervention process, seek legal counsel and draft motions to intervene.”

The Siting Board, according to the motion filed by FANG and BASE, sent out “the first announcement for the public hearing… on November 17th to only sixteen parties, most of whom were local or state government agencies or elected officials. November 17th was one week before the Thanksgiving holiday. The deadline for filing as an intervenor was set as December 22rd, leaving two days before Christmas and one day before Eid Milad ul­Nabi (the observance and celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s life). Also happening during the intervention period was the Hanukkah holiday from December 7th-­14th.”

Residents affected by the proposed power plant’s siting were informed of the process with little time to seek counsel or determine if their interests were to be covered by approved intervenors. At the December 9 Burrillville Town Council meeting, Town Manager Michael Wood told Kathy Sherman that the town council’s job is to represent Burrillville, but that doesn’t mean that the town council will be representing every concern of every resident.

Yet in their court filing objecting to intervenor status being granted to Dennis and Kathy Sherman and Paul and Mary Boldue, Invenergy claims that their interests will be adequately protected by the Town of Burrillville as a Party.

Invenergy objected to Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI  and RIPDA being granted intervenor status because none of the groups is represented by a lawyer. The groups maintain that the rule cited by Invenergy is applicable to Parties, as legally defined, and not to participants. Further, Invenergy claims that the groups will not “be ‘directly affected’ by the project in a manner that will not be represented by other parties.”

Hilariously, one of the Parties that Invenergy claims will represent the interests of Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI  and RIPDA is National Grid, a company with a history of disregarding the concerns of Rhode Islanders and the environment in its endless craving for corporate profits.

Invenergy further claims that “interests related to carbon emissions and the state’s overall energy policy will be more than adequately represented by other Parties” including the Governor’s Office of Energy Resources. Governor Gina Raimondo has very publicly supported the proposed energy plant, so it is highly doubtful that the interests of Occupy Providence, Fossil Free RI and RIPDA will be represented by Parties advocating for her interests.

FANG and BASE were represented by a lawyer in their motion to intervene, but Invenergy says that these “grassroots organizations” will be “cabably represented” by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), the Town of Burrillville, the DPUC and the RI Department of Environmental Management.

This is another strange statement, because when I emailed Josh Block, the press secretary for the Conservation Law Foundation, he wrote back saying, “By intervening in the pending Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB) docket, CLF will present multiple arguments as to why Invenergy should be denied a permit to build an expensive, long-lived, carbon-emitting fossil-fuel power plant. A proposal such as this which makes little economic or environmental sense has unsurprisingly garnered opposition from a large number of stakeholders, each with unique interests and perspectives. Thus, any assertion that CLF’s participation in the docket is a reason for excluding other intervenors in the process is as misguided as the proposal itself.” (Italics mine)

Sister Mary Pendergast, explaining her reasons for being arrested during a protest organized by FANG and BASE, said, “Pope Francis has called us all to an ecological conversion and he said it is essential and not an option.” Her motion to intervene has also been opposed by Invenergy, apparently, because her philosophical and theological concerns will be “adequately” and “capably” represented by the corporate and governmental interests of approved Parties, which is errant nonsense.

The fact is that the interests of the people will not be adequately represented in these proceedings if these motions for intervention are denied. The interests of the public are routinely and bureaucratically sidelined by relegating our voices to public commentary hearings with no real power or weight. Invenergy, though, depends on these public hearings to provide the appearance of public input where there is none, saying, “There will be ample opportunity… to provide comments, views, oppositions and data, in the form of public comment, in writing or in public testimony, at the appropriate time…”

This is how the voices of the public are silenced. We are relegated to separate, lesser forums, scheduled after the real decisions have been made. We are allowed to speak only when our objections have been rendered moot. It is only after our rights have been sacrificed to appease corporate power and after our world is destroyed that our voices will be heard, and that will be too late.

The motions for intervention should be granted.

Ahead of the COPS21 Climate Change Summit convening in Paris today, and in solidarity with what was supposed to be a massive climate march in Paris that devolved into a clash with police clamping down on demonstrators in the wake of terrorist attacks, one of the hundreds of world wide solidarity marches took place in the appropriately named Peace Dale, Rhode Island, “to demand an ambitious, binding, and just treaty to avert runaway, catastrophic global warming and save our children’s future.”

Hosted by Lisa Petrie of Fossil Free RI,  the march began in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of South County meeting house. Climate activist Robert Malin gave a great talk setting the march within the context of the global climate movement. Two high school students, Jessica Ivon and Allegra Migliaccio presented must-see short talks about the challenge of confronting a future shrouded by climate disaster. (see video below) The participants then marched to the Dale Carlia Shopping Center, carrying signs and chanting, as passing motorists honked in solidarity.

The event was sponsored by Fossil Free RI, RI IPL South County Action Team, and the Green Task Force of the UUCSC, in partnership with the Sisters of Mercy, RI Interfaith Power & Light, and AFSC-SENE.

To fast is absurd. This is true especially for someone like me who doesn’t believe anything absent systemic, revolutionary change will do much good.

Yes, I had read Lee’s testimony; it sums up my feelings.

This is what Steve wrote about his experience occupying the Sidewalk at the FERC Gates of Hell:

Being here, eating no food for 18 days, has taken me down a fascinating and disorienting rabbit hole, where “normal” appears absurd and even suicidal, and where unrealistic may be our only way out. I recall hearing Starhawk saying something like this many years ago. “The time for reasonable is past,” she said. But I have struggled to make sense of this. The fast is a journey into unreasonable.

The other day was hot on the sidewalk in front of FERC, I was talking with a guy I dislike – he dominates conversation and is loud and bombastic. He mentioned something about money in the middle of our conversation, but I got so tired of him after 15 minutes I got up and, so as not to appear impolite, distributed fliers to passersby on the sidewalk. He continued talking to another faster, but when he decided to leave, I asked if he was serious about donating money. He hemmed and hawed, but we talked for a minute about the $1000 BXE wanted to give to Lincoln Temple, the very poor African American Church which generously has been providing us space for sleeping. He left, and I forgot about him. But half an hour later he returned and gave me an envelope with $1000 in cash. “Use this for whatever BXE needs.” We’ve given it to the minister of Lincoln Temple.

On Thursday twenty year old Berenice Tomkins, a college student, went into the “open” FERC commissioners meeting, which does not allow public comment. The five polished FERC Commissioners are the corrupt decision makers in this powerful regulatory agency which makes life and death decisions for communities and people all over the country. Most of us are not allowed entry because we have disrupted meetings in the past, but this was Berenice’s first time, so she got in. She wasn’t sure what to do and waited through the incomprehensible conversations of the Commissioners, which in a coded language talk about decisions already made behind closed doors. When they started talking about forest fire mitigation she could no longer hold her tongue. She stood up and with a twenty year old’s strong voice took over the meeting: ” What are you talking about? It’s your policies which are creating the climate crisis, and you can’t mitigate the fires without talking about the climate crisis!” She talked for a minute or so until until FERC Security grabbed her arm and dragged her out. She was crying and proud as she came out.

The brave people of BXE need our love and support, they and all others who put their lives on the line to expose the ecocidal and communicidal crimes of our federal and state governments in support of their sponsors on Wall Street: No New Fracked-Gas Power Plant in Burrillville, RI!

Please join us at the People’s House in Providence tomorrow—come and hear the what motivates some of our local fasters in Rhode Island.

Help us avoid this:

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks and everything sown by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

Maybe it’s not too late yet.