The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has decided against the proposal for gas capacity tariffs on the Spectra Access Northeast pipeline. This announcement comes on the heels of decisions by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission rejecting similar proposals. The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (RIPUC) declined to kill the local version of the plan in September, but the plan seems doomed anyway.
“With yet another state abandoning proposals for more natural gas pipeline capacity, these efforts to expand fossil fuel infrastructure in New England have hit a virtually unsurpassable roadblock,” said Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) president Bradley Campbell in a statement. “Without Massachusetts, New Hampshire or Connecticut in the mix, Spectra has lost a whopping 84 percent of the customer base needed to finance this ill-conceived proposal. It’s time to kill this project altogether and look forward to opportunities for the clean, renewable alternatives that our families demand, our markets expect and our laws require.”
It is unknown when the RIPUC will act to reject the proposal here.
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Governor Gina Raimondo was the introductory speaker Tuesday morning at the AWEA Offshore WindPower 2016 conference in Warwick. Raimondo spoke to the conference attendees, mostly representatives of various wind power companies and allied industries, with some federal and state government employees on hand as well. Raimondo was keen on selling Rhode Island as a place for the growth and development of renewable energy such as solar and wind.”
“I am an advocate for the environment,” said Raimondo, “and I usually begin my comments in audiences such as these talking about the reality of climate change… Climate change is real, caused by human activity and not going to go away on it’s own. It’s up to us, policy makers, business leaders, entrepreneurs to meet the challenge of climate change.”
Comparing the problem of climate change to her work on pension reform, Raimondo said, “Climate change isn’t that different from big, thorny fiscal issues, which is to say it’s not going to go away unless we take action and it’s only going to get harder the longer we wait. So we have to meet the challenges of climate change with urgency and a seriousness of purpose, in the same way we would with other fiscal challenges.”
The governor then made her pitch for creating jobs in the state. “As Governor of Rhode Island I want my state to be a leader. Number one, it’s the right thing to do, number two, I want our state to be known as the state that solves problems and meets challenges. But number three, the silver lining in meeting the challenge of climate change is that we can create jobs.
“The good news here is that we can create jobs in solar, in wind, in energy efficiency, and those are the kind of jobs that I want to have here in Rhode Island.
“My message is that all the things about Rhode Island that enabled us to be first, with Deepwater Wind, are the reason you ought to think about doing business in Rhode Island,” said Raimondo, before making a very questionable claim that, “we have no fossil fuel industry here in Rhode Island. We’re not ‘as attached’ to [the] ‘good old’ fossil fuel industry. That’s a big deal. That means we have a culture embracing of this industry [wind energy].”
The governor’s press secretary, David Ortiz, later clarified what Governor Raimondo meant by this statement, saying that, “her point was that the state has no fossil fuel deposits and does not extract natural gas, crude oil or coal.”
Though this is true, it does not follow that Rhode Island has a “culture” embracing alternative energy. The fossil fuel industry has a giant economic, political and environmental presence in the state.
Putting aside the proposed Burrillville power plant, or any other of the proposed LNG infrastructure expansions in various stages of being approved, “Rhode Island’s Port of Providence,” according to the US Energy Information Administration (USEIA), “is a key regional transportation and heating fuel products hub” and “natural gas fueled 95 percent of Rhode Island’s net electricity generation in 2015.”
The USEIA goes on to say that Rhode Island “does not produce or refine petroleum,” as Raimondo’s office clarified, but, “Almost all of the transportation and heating fuel products consumed in Rhode Island, eastern Connecticut, and parts of Massachusetts are supplied via marine shipments through the Port of Providence. The port area has petroleum storage tanks, and a small-capacity petroleum product pipeline runs from the port to central Massachusetts.”
Rhode Island is heavily dependent on LNG imports. “Electric power generators and the residential sector are Rhode Island’s largest natural gas consumers. More than half of the natural gas consumed in the state goes to the electric power sector and almost all in-state electricity generation is fueled with natural gas,” says the USEIA, “Historically, natural gas has arrived in Rhode Island from producing areas in Canada and from the U.S. Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent regions, but increasing amounts of natural gas are coming from Appalachian Shales, particularly the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania.” This makes Rhode Island heavily dependent on fracked gas for its power generation.
And finally, as far as the dirtiest fossil fuel, coal, goes, “Providence is one of the leading coal import centers in the northeast, receiving one-tenth of the imported coal delivered to eastern customs districts in 2015. The state is part of the six-state Independent System Operator-New England (ISO-NE) regional grid. And, although Rhode Island and Vermont are the only two states in the nation with no coal-fired electricity generation, the ISO-NE grid remains dependent on coal-fired facilities during periods of peak electricity demand.”
So, although Rhode Island has no industry producing or refining fossil fuels, Rhode Island is heavily burdened and intertwined with the fossil fuel industry. We are soaking in fossil fuels as an importer and exporter. We fund the fracking of America with our energy choices, and even as we are economically and politically dictated to by companies like National Grid, Spectra, Invenergy and Motiva (a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco and Shell Oil Company, we bear the environmental scars of their abuse of our habitats and our health.
This is the fossil fuel industry in Rhode Island.
It is massive and it is killing us.
Also speaking at the AWEA Offshore WindPower 2016 conference was Deepwater Wind’s Jeff Grybowski, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative David Cicilline.
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National Grid’s proposed pipeline tariff, now under an indefinite stay per the Public Utilities Commission here in Rhode Island, was rejected in New Hampshire last week. The controversial and complicated plan, which would make electricity ratepayers in New England financially responsible for the creation and profitability of a new fracked gas pipeline, involves multiple companies working together across multiple states. Here’s a description from the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission:
“Eversource is a public utility headquartered in Manchester, operating under the laws of the State of New Hampshire as an electric distribution company (EDC). Algonquin is an owner-operator of an interstate gas pipeline located in New England. Algonquin is owned by a parent company, Spectra Energy Corp (Spectra), a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. Algonquin has partnered with Eversource’s corporate parent, Eversource Energy, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, and with National Grid, the parent company of EDC subsidiaries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, to develop the Access Northeast pipeline. In general terms, Eversource Energy’s EDC subsidiaries in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire and National Grid’s EDC subsidiaries in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, are each individually seeking regulatory approval of gas capacity on the Access Northeast pipeline.”
When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against National Grid’s pipeline tariff in Massachusetts, the Conservation Law Foundation brought a motion to dismiss the proposal here in Rhode Island. Instead, the PUC issued an indefinite stay in the proceedings, with the caveat that National Grid file a progress report on January 13, 2017.
Last week the New Hampshire PUC ruled against their state’s involvement in the plan, writing,
“The proposal before us would have Eversource purchase long-term gas pipeline capacity to be used by gas-fired electric generators, and include the net costs of its purchases and sales in its electric distribution rates. That proposal, however, goes against the overriding principle of restructuring, which is to harness the power of competitive markets to reduce costs to consumers by separating unregulated generation from fully regulated distribution. It would allow Eversource to reenter the generation market for an extended period, placing the risk of that decision on its customers. We cannot approve such an arrangement under existing laws. Accordingly, we dismiss Eversource’s petition.
“We acknowledge that the increased dependence on natural gas-fueled generation plants within the region and the constraints on gas capacity during peak periods of demand have resulted in electric price volatility. Eversource’s proposal is an interesting one, with the potential to reduce that volatility; but it is an approach that, in practice, would violate New Hampshire law following the restructuring of the electric industry. If the General Court believes EDCs should be allowed to make long-term commitments to purchase gas capacity and include the costs in distribution rates, the statutes can be amended to permit such activities.”
The Maine Public Utilities commission has voted in favor of the pipeline tariff.
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“At breakfast this morning my nine year old, out of the blue, said, ‘Mom, what are you doing about climate change?’” said Governor Gina Raimondo at a press event in the offices of Newport Solar on Monday, “What a perfect day to ask the question! So I told him all about this and he was proud of me that we were on that.”
Newport Solar in North Kingstown is where Raimondo chose to kick off National Energy Awareness Month with her new Office of Energy Resources (OER) commissioner Carol Grant. Newport Solar is a Rhode Island leader in solar installation, and its successful efforts should be lauded.
“Our clean energy sector in Rhode Island has created a slew of new opportunities for education and jobs, and that will continue as we move forward in building the clean energy industry,” said Raimondo at the event.
Commissioner Grant spoke about Rhode Island’s high ranking in the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. The American Council on Energy‐Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently ranked Rhode Island fourth in the country for best energy efficiency programs and policies. “We want to educate Rhode Islanders on the many benefits of the state’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs,” said Grant, “and we look forward to further developing a future of clean, affordable, reliable and diversified energy.” [italics mine]
Also at the event was Michael Ryan, Vice President of Government Affairs at National Grid, encouraging Rhode Islanders to save energy.
Energy in Rhode Island needs to be “affordable, reliable, and clean” said Raimondo, “It’s got to be all three, and it can be all three.”
Later, Raimondo’s three criteria had mysteriously become four, or more. “So I’m going to continue to lead and push, as your governor, towards more clean, affordable, and reliable and diversified energy sources… to lead the nation in more and more sources of clean, renewable, affordable, sustainable energy.”
Towards the end of the presser, National Grid’s Michael Ryan, ironically standing in front of a large Newport Solar banner emblazoned with the tagline, “Think outside the grid,” mis-repeated Raimondo, saying that the energy must be “efficient, affordable and reliable.
“Those are key with National Grid.”
In the video below you can watch the complete press event. Solar, wind and efficiency were lauded but fracked gas, the third leg of Raimondo’s energy policy, and a key driver of National Grid’s business, was never mentioned except via subtle dog whistles.
These dog whistles are words like reliable, diversified and efficient. These are the words anti-environmentalists use when they want to scare us into accepting fracked gas as a bridge fuel, like when Rush Limbaugh said, “Solar panels are not sustainable, Millennials. May sound good, yes. ‘Clean, renewable energy.’ But what do you do when the sun’s down at night? What do you do when the clouds obscure the sun? We’re not there yet.”
Limbaugh admits that solar panels are clean and renewable. But he’s doubting their reliability and sustainability.
This is how a politician like Raimondo can appease companies like National Grid, which are actively working to expand Rhode Island’s dependence on fossil fuels, while publicly talking only about the work she’s doing on energy that’s actually clean and renewable.
On April 13 Raimondo appeared at a solar farm in East Providence to announce the results of the 2016 Rhode Island Clean Energy Jobs Report released by the Rhode Island OER and the Executive Office of Commerce. At this event Marion Gold, who publicly supported the power plant planned for Burrillville, was still the OER commissioner.
“The clean energy economy is supporting nearly 14,000 jobs,” said Raimondo, “a forty percent increase from last year. That is amazing.”
The press release for this event noted that this job growth was likely the result of the “maturation of the solar industry, start up activity in smart grid technologies, and the progress made on the construction of the Block Island Wind Farm.”
There was no mention at this event of fracked gas, Burrillville, Invenergy, Spectra pipelines, or National Grid’s expansion of LNG at Fields Point, until reporters asked the governor about it directly, at which point Raimondo somewhat reluctantly admitted that she does in fact support Invenergy’s $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant planned for Burrillville.
In Raimondo’s capacity as vice chair of the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition she was proud to “support the foresight of my colleagues to broaden the Coalition’s focus and include solar energy development as a policy priority. Wind and solar provide complementary benefits to the U.S. electric grid and will help diversify the country’s energy mix. The need for states to take a broader view of renewable power is clear.”
Again, no mention of her support for fracked gas.
Raimondo has consistently touted her support for renewables like wind and solar, only occasionally voicing her support for fracking. Raimondo never holds a press release in front of a fracked gas pipeline or compressor station. She holds them at wind turbines and solar farms, giving the appearance of a strong leader on the environment.
But National Grid and Invenergy need to know she’s on board with their plans, so she signals her support during the press conference with careful phrasing.
And if the governor’s phrasing is off message, National Grid’s Michael Ryan will misquote her. “Clean” energy is out, “reliable” energy is in. In other words, “Let them eat fracked gas.”
Raimondo’s choice of location for her press conferences demonstrates that if she is not embarrassed by her support of fracked gas, she at least is beginning to recognize how history will ultimately judge her support.
As Bill McKibben said in a recent message to Rhode Island, “Five to ten years ago we thought the transition was going to be from coal, to natural gas as some sort of bridge fuel, onto renewables and now, sadly, we realize we can’t do that in good faith, because natural gas… turns out to be a dead end, not a bridge to the future but a kind of rickety pier built out into the lake of hydrocarbons.”
Fracked gas was well known to be a bad idea when Raimondo stood with Invenergy’s CEO Michael Polsky and tried to sell the idea to Rhode Island. Raimondo’s support for Invenergy’s power plant was a massive political blunder with consequences not only for her political career, but for the future of Rhode Island and the world.
A future, and a world, her children will be living in.
]]>As the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission considers a request from National Grid to have ratepayers help subsidize a controversial pipeline project, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against such pipeline tariffs in a decision released Wednesday.
“This is an incredibly important and timely decision,’ said David Ismay, the Conservation Law Foundation’s lead attorney on the case. ‘Today our highest court affirmed Massachusetts’ commitment to an open energy future by rejecting the Baker Administration’s attempt to subsidize to the dying fossil fuel industry. The course of our economy and our energy markets runs counter to the will of multi-billion dollar pipeline companies, and thanks to today’s decision, the government will no longer be able to unfairly and unlawfully tip the scales in their favor.”
The ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court may have an impact on National Grid‘s proposed “pipeline tariff” here in Rhode Island. The Massachusetts court deemed “it unlawful for Massachusetts to force residential electricity customers to subsidize the construction of private gas pipelines, requiring the companies themselves to shoulder the substantial risks of such projects rather than allowing that risk to be placed on hardworking families across the Commonwealth,” according the the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) who brought the case.
The CLF was the plaintiff in the Massachusetts case. The CLF maintained in their motion to intervene in the Rhode Island case that “an electricity distribution company” entering “into a contract for natural gas transportation capacity and storage services” and receiving “cost recovery for its gas contract from electricity ratepayers” is “something that has never occurred in the United States since the Federal Power Act was enacted in 1935, during President Roosevelt’s first term in office.”
Megan Herzog, one of the two lawyers representing the CLF before the RIPUC said in a phone call that the “pipeline is a bad deal for the whole region and that the Massachusetts court affirmed that.” Though the judge ruled on the case using Massachusetts law, there are statutes in Rhode Island that reflect similar principles.
According to Craig S. Altemose, a senior advisor forthe anti-LNG advocacy group 350 Mass for a Better Future, “It is unclear how much this will be a fatal blow to any of Spectra’s proposed projects, but we have absolutely undercut their financing (to the tune of $3 billion), called into question similar pipeline tax proposals in other states, [italics added] and have given Spectra’s investors greater reason for pause. Either way, we have unambiguously won a victory that the people’s money should be not used for private projects that further commit us to climate catastrophe.”
“Today’s decision reinforces what we already know: it’s not in the public interest to subsidize new fossil fuel infrastructure. It deals a serious blow to companies like Spectra who wanted to subsidize their risky projects with handouts from ratepayers. Communities facing an onslaught of fracked gas projects in their backyards like those in Burrillville have good reason to feel hopeful right now. We urge Governor [Gina] Raimondo and the Rhode Island PUC to follow the lead of Massachusetts and reject the pipeline tax,” Ben Weilerstein, Rhode Island community organizer with Toxics Action Center said.
Though the ruling in Massachusetts has no statutory value in Rhode Island, it may establish some lines of legal reasoning that will be helpful as the Rhode Island Public Utilities (RIPUC) Commission decides on Docket 4267, the Rhode Island part of National Grid’s ambitious plan to charge electrical ratepayers not only for pipeline infrastructure investments, but also to guarantee the company’s profits as they do so.
National Grid responded with the following statement: “This is a disappointing setback for the project, which is designed to help secure New England’s clean energy future, ensure the reliability of the electricity system, and most importantly, save customers more than $1 billion annually on their electricity bills. We will explore our options for a potential path forward with Access Northeast and pursue a balanced portfolio of solutions to provide the clean, reliable, and secure energy our customers deserve. While natural gas remains a key component in helping to secure New England’s long-term energy future, the recently passed clean energy bill also presents a welcomed opportunity to support the development of large-scale clean energy, such as hydro and wind.”
Yesterday The RIPUC held a hearing on Docket 4627, asking National Grid to explain why it used such a “broad brush” in redacting information in its application. In the meeting announcement it was said that RIPUC Chair Margaret Curran thought “it is not intuitively clear how the information redacted falls within the exception to the Access to Public Records Act.” Much of what National Grid argues that much of what it wants to keep secret falls into the category of trade secrets, and releasing the information would put it at an unfair disadvantage with competitors, such as NextEra Energy Resources, LLC (NextEra).
As pointed out previously, National Grid will not release how much money ratepayers will be on the hook for if this idea is approved by the RIPUC.
Here’s full video of the hearing:
NextEra brought a separate motion to allow its lawyers access to highly confidential parts of National Grid’s application.
Here’s the full video of that hearing:
The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement today in response to the favorable decision from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Conservation Law Foundation v. Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU):
‘This is an incredibly important and timely decision,’ said David Ismay, CLF’s lead attorney on the case. ‘Today our highest court affirmed Massachusetts’ commitment to an open energy future by rejecting the Baker Administration’s attempt to subsidize to the dying fossil fuel industry. The course of our economy and our energy markets runs counter to the will of multi-billion dollar pipeline companies, and thanks to today’s decision, the government will no longer be able to unfairly and unlawfully tip the scales in their favor.’
According to the opinion by Justice Cordy, DPU’s 2015 rule (“Order 15-37”) allowing Massachusetts electric customers to be charged for the construction of interstate gas pipelines is prohibited by the plain languages of statutes that have been the law of the land in Massachusetts for almost two decades.
In his opinion, Justice Cordy wrote, Order 15-37 is ‘invalid in light of the statutory language and purpose of G. L. c. 164, § 94A, as amended by the restructuring act, because, among other things, it would undermine the main objectives of the act and reexpose ratepayers to the types of financial risks from which the Legislature sought to protect them.’
Wednesday night’s Burrillville Town Council meeting began on a cautionary note as Council President John Pacheco warned those in attendance against outbursts, threats or cursing. These meetings are recorded, said Pacheco. The last meeting went too far, said Pacheco, and anyone acting that way tonight will be asked to leave. “Keep it civil, please,” said Pacheco.
Pacheco also acknowledged a change of policy regarding public comment under the Open Meetings Act. At previous meetings the town council maintained that they were not allowed to respond to comments and that only items on the agenda were allowed during public comment. Tonight Pacheco agreed that neither of these conditions are required under the law. This meant that tonight’s meeting was much more robust with the town council now having to say that they don’t want to answer certain questions, rather than saying that they are unable to answer.
Residents of Burrillville are up in arms about Invenergy‘s proposed fracked gas and diesel-oil burning power plant planned for the town. The plant’s owners promise lower taxes but residents say it will bring noise and pollution, as well as destroy precious wildlife habitats. The town council has been slow to respond to resident concerns about the power plant, and many feel that Town Manager Michael Wood has been actively working to bring the plant to town, rather than working in the best interests of residents.
Civility was maintained, but the anger of town residents was clearly on display. It was revealed at this meeting that on Saturday a group of anti-Power Plant protesters were asked to leave the Farmer’s Market because of their signs, petitions and tee shirts. This directive, say residents, came from Town Manager Wood. When asked about this at the meeting, Wood said that he only told the police and Burrillville Farmers’ Market Association Market Manager Deb Yablonski to not allow signs, not petitions and shirts. Wood said there is a long standing rule against “politicking” at the farmer’s market.
(When RI Future called Wood’s office earlier in the day to discuss this, Wood was out of the office and did not return our call)
Barry Craig, a lawyer, asked that the Town Council “provide guidance to the town manager” on the First Amendment, including the right to free speech and assembly. Lauren Niedel, a resident of nearby Glocester, rose to object to the word “politicking” saying that opposition to the power plant is not a political campaign.
Burrillville resident Jan Luby rose to express her distrust of Town Manager Wood. “I don’t believe our Town Manager is with us on this,” said Luby, “You’ve lied to us and we’ve caught you in those lies.” Christopher Watson rose to say, “He does not like this town, he does not treat the people of this town with respect.”
It was Jeremy Bailey who brought the conversation about Michael Wood to a boil, calling the town manager “a cancerous tumor.” Noting that he has heard from many people that Town Manager Wood is a bully, Bailey told the people on the stage, which included the entire town council and legal counsel of the Burrillville, “I bet there are people on the stage right now who have been bullied by Wood.” Bailey asked that the town council pass a resolution removing Wood from power, buying out his contract if necessary.
The town council took no action on Wood’s contract.
Residents were also concerned that the evening’s “executive session” of the town council, where the public is not allowed to observe, was being called by Wood to fast track a tax agreement with Invenergy for the power plant, ahead of Representative Cale Keable‘s bill that would allow the voters of the town to approve or reject such a tax treaty. Though the executive meeting was called by Wood and did concern Invenergy, residents were assured that no such action would take place.
There were a multitude of interconnecting issues discussed at the town council meeting concerning both the power plant proposed by Invenergy and the LNG compressor station upgrade proposed by Spectra. The compressor station emits a constant noise, which occasionally becomes extremely loud. Loud enough that some residents receive notifications ahead of “blow offs.” Residents fear that the new power plant will add to the noise once constructed, never mind the noise from trucks delivering materials to the build site and the sounds of construction.
Kathy Sherman said that Spectra, in their own materials, acknowledges that they are above the town mandated limit of 55 decibels. During a blow off, where LNG is literally released into the atmosphere to relive pressure in the pipeline, the sound is great enough that Sherman feels it would have given her husband a heart attack if he wasn’t given ample warning. Blow off, said resident Stephanie Sloman, emits 45 thousand tons of LNG a year from that one compressor station in Burrillville.
Spectra plans to build a bigger (and presumably larger) compressor station there soon.
Nicholas Cook gave a demonstration of the noise levels heard by residents. The low tone generated by Cook is not heard well on the recording below, but the sound immediately annoyed town solicitor Oleg Nikolyszyn, who asked that the sound be turned off almost immediately. Imagine that sound lasting from 10pm to 4am, almost every night, said resident Kathy Sherman, who lives 2050 feet from the compressor station.
You can watch Nick Cook’s noise demonstration, and all the rest of the Burrillville Town Council meeting, at least those parts concerning the power plant, below.
Peekskill, NY – Just four days after 21 people were arrested for peacefully blockading the entrance to a Spectra Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Pipeline work site, two people courageously locked themselves into a renewable-energy powered, 20-ft recycled shipping-container home at the work site, directly on the pipeline route. They plan to stay inside the container blockade for as long as possible.
The AIM Pipeline is a 42-inch, high pressure, fracked gas pipeline, which if completed will run through residential communities and within 105 feet of critical Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant safety facilities. The fully self-contained home is a strong symbol of both resilience and resistance: It is intended to halt construction of the dangerous AIM Pipeline and to represent the safe alternative living situation we need to move towards to fight climate change and to halt our dependence on fossil fuel, which drives the buildout of dangerous infrastructure like the AIM Pipeline. The container home was built using reclaimed and recycled materials, is powered by both photovoltaic solar panels and a bicycle generator, has a green roof growing succulents and herbs, has a solar-heated shower and a compost toilet, and comfortable living space and beds for two occupants. All of these measures are important, but without stopping fossil fuel infrastructure, we are still on a path to disaster – which is why this project is also designed to physically stop construction on the AIM Pipeline.
The sustainable home has two occupants, both of whom walked across the entire country to raise awareness about climate change as part of the Great March for Climate: Jane Kendall is a 65-year-old retired New York mother of two who would like to be spending more time with her family, but feels morally obligated as an elder to do her small part to stop Spectra and to fight for a renewable energy future; and Lee Stewart, a 29-year-old organizer with Beyond Extreme Energy, who has been working to stop FERC since they approved a fracked gas compressor station near his home as part of project that would feed Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility.
“I was inspired by the fierce, loving determination in the voices of 13 Resist AIM members who disrupted a FERC public meeting to call out the commissioners for their complicity in the destruction Spectra represents,” said Lee Stewart. “It is an honor to take up temporary residence in New York on the route of the AIM Pipeline.”
“Spectra has placed all of us on a destructive path and in harm’s way. Today this simple small house, built from reused and repurposed materials and powered by renewable energy, stands on the AIM Pipeline path to halt construction,” said Jane Kendall.
This action comes after years of residents and grassroots groups actively engaging in the regulatory process, only to be ignored by FERC. The City of Boston and several grassroots groups have filed a lawsuit in Federal Court challenging FERC approval of the project. In February, Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote to FERC asking for an immediate halt to construction while New York State conducts an independent risk assessment of siting the massive, high-pressure pipeline next to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. FERC denied the Governor’s request, and claimed that a risk assessment by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) showed that the plant was safe. Just five days ago, on May 20th, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand called for an immediate halt to construction. Spectra’s Director of Stakeholder Outreach, Marylee Hanley, responded that “Algonquin Gas Transmission resumed construction on the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project in April and will continue with its construction.”
“Now Spectra is rapidly proceeding with construction in our area despite opposition from thousands of New Yorkers and elected representatives,” said Kendall, “We are at a critical stage in this struggle, with project completion scheduled for November. Each day more trees are cut, more blasting takes place, and more pipeline is laid. It is necessary for us to stop this project now.”
There is no more time to wait. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has shown that it will not protect us from the fossil fuel industry that is destroying our climate. Instead, everyday people are stepping up and modeling the future we want to see while taking a stand against the dangerous pipeline that threatens us and our friends and neighbors.
“I am also taking this step because of the amazing connection I feel to the amazing people all over the state who are not only standing up to AIM, Spectra, and FERC, but who are also finding ways to build community during a time when the power that be are bent on keeping us isolated and narrowly focused,” said Stewart.
Online: www.resistaim.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/resistaim
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ResistAIM
#StopSpectra #ResistAIM #Blockadia
[From a press release]
Democracy Now! covered this story here.
Lee Stewart protested Textron in RI, as seen in this piece on RI Future.
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This Spring, FANG will continue to nonviolently escalate our efforts to stop Invenergy‘s fracked-gas power plant that’s proposed for Burrillville, stop Spectra‘s continued pipeline expansion schemes and confront other forms of injustice.
“In December 100 people marched in Burrillville and eight people were arrested as part of a nonviolent direct action. Now it’s time to go bigger and stop these fracked-gas projects once and for all. Plug into the resistance and into future actions by attending one this nonviolent direct action workshop!
“We’ll cover the history of nonviolent direct action, different types of action tactics, how to carry out an action and much more. These trainings are meant to immediately help people plug into actions that will happen this Spring.”
Four trainings are planned in all, two in Providence and two in Worcester:
- Tuesday, April 5th from 6-9pm at the First Unitarian Church of Providence (1 Benevolent St)
- Thursday, April 7th from 6-9pm at the First Unitarian Church of Providence (1 Benevolent St)
- Monday, April 11th from 6-9pm at Stone Soup in Worcester (4 King Street)
- Thursday, April 14th from 6-9pm at Stone Soup in Worcester (4 King Street)
You can register for the trainings here.
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During public commentary at the Burrillville Town Council meeting Wednesday night, two real estate agents talked about the negative effect the proposed gas and oil burning Clear River Energy Center is already having on property values in the town.
Jeremy Bailey, from Acumen Group Real Estate, testified that he recently had a prospective buyer from Riverside about to put half down on a $449,000 piece of property on East Wallum Lake Road.
“He liked everything about the property,” said Bailey, “But before the conversation ended he asked, ‘Where are they putting the power plant?’”
Bailey pointed up the road and explained that the proposed construction wasn’t too far away. By the time he finished the buyer backed out, saying, “Nah, I’m not interested anymore.”
After the meeting Bailey told me that the buyer told him to let him know how the March 31 public hearing on the power plant goes.
Paul Lefebvre, another realtor and owner of Acumen Group, testified that when he heard about the proposed plant two years ago, he didn’t think much about it. He couldn’t see any way that the Town Council might support such a plan. But recently he learned that the power plant has the support of both Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Governor Gina Raimondo, and it now appears the power plant is being “forced on the town.”
“Which is insanity,” said Lefebvre, “I don’t see any benefits for the town. I see all detriments. Nothing good, only bad.”
Speaking about the effect the proposed power plant is having on property values, Lefebvre said, “We’ve lost some interest and lost one sale at the company I own because of the talk, the perception, of this thing coming to town.”
“What surprises me,” said Burrillville native and retired schoolteacher Chuck Boucher, “is that the political system seems to have cut us out of the process. I was under the impression that we were a democracy… I would like to think that when Governor Raimondo hears the situation out here that she realizes that it will adversely affect everyone’s property values. It will adversely affect everyone’s health. It will adversely affect the community at large. I would like to believe that she cares enough about her constituents to reconsider locating something of this size in a rural area that’s known for being pristine.”
Kathy Martley, founder of Burrillville Against Spectra Expansion (BASE), asked the Burrillville Town Council to consider a resolution similar to the one Providence City Councillor Seth Yurdin submitted to the Providence City Council last week that was adopted unanimously. Yurdin was concerned about the health, environmental and safety effects of the proposed Fields Point Liquefaction facility to be located in South Providence.
“As a Burrillville resident and tax payer, I urge you to pass the same resolution to stop this project,” said Martley, until health, environmental and safety studies are done.
Jeremy Bailey pointed out that the power plant wants to tap into the town well and the sewer system. “At a minimum,” said Bailey, the Town Council could speak to state and federal agencies and ask them to, “hold off on entertaining or approving” the power plant.
In the past the Burrillville Town Council has claimed to be powerless against the corporate might of multi-billion dollar fossil fuel companies like Invenergy and Spectra, but as Martley, Bailey and other residents speaking before the Town Council last night pointed out, there is plenty that can be done on a local level.
- Burrillville Town Council claims to be powerless against Spectra, Invenergy
- Burrillville Town Council argues with, disappoints residents on gas expansion project
Video of all who testified on the proposed power plant here:
This story of course brings into discussion an important side-note worthy of dissection. My editor at CounterPunch, Jeff St. Clair, has been adamant in his work as an environmental activist that the nuclear energy industry might at some point try to parlay the approaching depletion of fossil fuels and the global warming trends into an excuse for using nuclear fission as a “bridge fuel” away from carbon-producing ones.
Besides the obvious problems of meltdowns and accidents akin to the disaster at Fukushima, there is also the fact that nuclear waste produced by such plants is poisonous and dangerous. Uranium and other materials that cease to be powerful enough to generate electricity still are potent enough to pose a risk to humans. The disposal of the stuff is quite problematic.
Right now, the University of Rhode Island is host to a small reactor dating back to 1960. While providing some research material for students, it also costs a good deal of money for the state. In 2011, an intern was “accidentally” exposed to radiation in the facility. It is located quite close to the water and, should something ever occur, it would prove to be quite dangerous for the entire Narragansett Bay. The air within a twelve mile radius would be filled with radioactive iodine were there to be a core breach.
The proliferation of the fracking industry poses a viable threat for future tectonic activity that could severely damage the reactor. Climate change will create more powerful storms that could also cause problems. With all these factors in mind, it is important to be on guard for the sneakiness of the nuclear industrial complex.
