The following is the press release distributed to local media.
Boston
(July 10, 2008) – Nearly fifty protesters gathered in
opposition to a new coal project in Massachusetts, donning haz-mat
suits and delivering a pile of coal while displaying "global warming
crime scene" caution tape on the front steps of the Office of Energy
and Environmental Affairs at 100 Cambridge Street in Boston. The
office has recently dismissed an appeal of the state's approval for a
coal gasification project in Somerset, MA.
Youth activists from across the region acted in solidarity with those
communities most affected by the use and extraction of coal. They held
signs reading "no new coal" and "climate justice now," and
cheerfully
shouted, "There's no such thing as clean coal."
"Not only does coal hurt the people living near coal plants, and
especially the people of the coal fields, but we are all feeling the
effects of climate change," says activist Deirdre Lally, "It's
amazing
that the State is ordering more coal to be burned under the lie of
'clean coal'. We've made a small delivery of coal to highlight that
fact."
The protest was organized, in part, by members of Mountain Justice,
a
national network of activists working for the abolition of mountaintop
removal mining in Southern Appalachia. Some of the coal being burned
in Somerset comes from the mountains of the Southeast, where
communities are poisoned and exploited by the coal industry and
corrupt state governments.
The Department of Environmental Protection, under the direction of the
Deval Patrick administration, has dismissed appeals to a permit
allowing NRG electric to employ experimental coal plasma gasification
technology at the Somerset Station. The administration has allowed
one of the state's oldest coal power plants to backtrack on its
promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and instead has given it
the go-ahead to continue releasing unacceptable amounts of harmful
carbon dioxide into the air.
The Commonwealth has dismissed the health concerns of South Coast
residents, and now activists across the state are joining in on the
call to action, holding the Patrick administration accountable.
"Governor Patrick has recently declared that 'the fossil fuel age
is
coming to an end.' Yet, he continues to support coal gasification. How
does "a clean break from the fossil fuel age' include the continued
use of coal, the dirtiest and most harmful fossil fuel?" added Lally.
If completed, this will be the first coal plant to use this untested
technology in the US, setting a dangerous precedent for the rest of
the country. Despite the warnings of prominent climate scientist Dr.
James Hansen, Energy and Environment Secretary Ian Bowles has ignored
public concern, and continues to support this climate-killing project.
Today's action is an example and a preview of escalating grassroots
resistance to new coal projects across the country. Activists
continue to repeat the mantra, "We won't stop until you do."
###
ABOUT SOMERSET STATION: In a final permit issued by
DEP, the Commonwealth said it would allow the Somerset Station power
plant to adopt experimental coal plasma
gasification technology and continue releasing carbon dioxide at
current levels. The decision runs contrary to a 2007 policy adopted by
the Patrick Administration to reduce global warming pollution. It also
allows the plant's owners to ignore a longstanding requirement to shut
down or re-power the plant with cleaner emissions by 2010 – a
commitment that had been made in order to meet the "Filthy Five" regulations.
The DEP's decision represents the latest step in the Patrick Administration's
unwillingness to protect against backsliding
on global warming pollution from the Somerset Plant.
