Students marched against fracking and for a healthier future.
“Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go!” So chanted the one hundred protestors — among them, 12 Choate students — who participated in the “People Over Pipeline Walk” last Saturday, September 24.
With the Connecticut Expansion Pipeline Project scheduled to begin construction in the coming months, several environmental justice groups decided to take a stand against the use of fossil fuels and climate change by organizing the protest. The eight-mile walk began in Agawam, Massachusetts, continued into Suffield, CT, and ended in East Granby, CT.
A part of the goal was to raise awareness about the implications of fracked gas pipelines. The event was sponsored by the Connecticut Sierra Club, 350 CT, Toxics Action Center, Bethlehem Ecodefense, and Berkshire Environmental Action Team. Their statement about the event concluded, “It’s time to take a stand for our planet’s future, and make sure that CT politicians hear the message that fracked gas is not a bridge to the future, but the road to climate disaster.”
Fracking is the process of drilling through layers of rock below the ground. Fracked gas is packed into pipelines at high pressure, which increases the risk of leaks or explosions. In addition, the extraction and transmission of natural gases involves a large amount of methane emissions. Methane is 25 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and is one of the main contributors to global warming.
The proposed gas pipeline route is 13.42 miles and would run through parts of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Kinder Morgan, the largest energy infrastructure company in North America, applied for their project permits on March 11, 2016. However, 2.3 miles of their proposed pipeline system would loop through Otis State Forest in Sandisfield, MA. Opponents of the pipeline argue that Otis State Forest, a beautiful spot for camping, hiking, and fishing, is protected by Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution. It states, “People shall have the right to the natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic qualities of their environment.”
When Arielle Landau ’17 heard about the plans for the pipeline and the “People Over Pipeline Walk,” she wanted to get other Choate students involved, so she organized a group to attend the walk.
Landau said, “The organizers were so excited when I told them I was trying to get a group of high schoolers to come to the event.” The walk was “part of the larger fight to keep fossil fuels in the ground and stop gas expansion projects,” she added.
Ananya Karanam ’18, who participated in the walk, said, “I knew it was successful when we were walking down the street and people started coming out of their houses and cars to join the march. When people come together like this, the collective human spirit is so inspiring.”
As Mr. John Calandrelli, the Chapter Program Manager of the Connecticut Sierra Club, put it, “There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder ‘what the hell just happened?’” The protesters hope they can fall in the first category and fight against fracking.
