Just across the water from the Brayton Point coal and gas plant, eighty citizens from across New England converged for a rally to kick off the 66 mile “Energy Exodus” march to the future site of Cape Wind, the nation’s first offshore wind farm, on August 28.
At the rally, speakers called for Governor Deval Patrick to shut down Brayton Point and other coal plants in the state, ensure a just transition for workers and local communities, and replace the coal plants with renewable energy projects.
The Brayton Point powerplant is the largest coal- and gas-fired plant in New England, and the region’s second largest carbon emitter. Marchers oppose the plant for both its climate impacts and the high health costs that the plant inflicts on the local community, including dozens of premature deaths, heart attacks, and asthma attacks each year.
“ The toxic Brayton Point plant is making Somerset residents sick and causing climate disruption around the globe,” said John Griese, one of the march organizers and a member of Students for a Just and Stable Future . “We have much better alternatives, like wind and solar power, that are ready to be built. Our politicians, like Governor Patrick, need to stand up to the fossil fuel industry so we can develop those clean, safe sources of power.”
At the rally, Somerset native and community labor organizer Camilo Viveiros called for a “new movement for economic, environmental, and climate justice.”
The “Energy Exodus” march, organized by Better Future Project and Students for a Just and Stable Future , lasted from August 28th to September 2nd. With hundreds of people expected participating, the march will build political momentum to speed up the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, like that which the Cape Wind project would provide.
[mappress]
Press release, September 3, 2013; Image: energyexodus