Protestors at the Thruway entrance in New Paltz (photo: Jim Lennon)
NEW PALTZ – Residents of the area line roads by the Thruway in New Paltz, Saugerties and Catskill Sunday afternoon to show their opposition to the proposed Pilgrim Pipelines. Their concern was heightened by an April 29 oil spill into the New Jersey region of the Hudson River.
The Hudson Valley rallies were conducted by members of the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines- NY and the New Paltz Climate Action Coalition.
The 72 plus organizations associated with the Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipelines of New York and New Jersey have been continually holding demonstrations and lobbying against the proposed pipelines that would transport Bakken crude oil from Pennsylvania and return refined product, along the Thruway corridor.
The opposing groups are baffled by the Cuomo administration and New York State DEC halting the Constitution Pipeline project due to water quality risks, but have yet to deny the Pilgrim project that these groups believe will present similar risks. The Constitution pipeline would have transported natural gas.
Jennifer Metzger, a town of Rosendale councilwoman, said in addition to the risks the Pilgrim Pipeline would present, she also sees no conceivable benefits to its construction.
“The proposed Pilgrim Pipeline will have a lot of really dangerous impacts on our communities,” said Metzger. “There are absolutely no benefits to it. My town, the Town of Rosendale and dozens of other communities have passed resolutions of opposition to it. Basically, the only benefits are the money that are earned by the companies themselves and we’re fighting it.”
Metzger added that because the Pilgrim Pipelines are transporting crude oil, rather than natural gas, the authority to move forward is left in the hands of the state instead of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which has been criticized previously for their “streamlining” of pipeline projects.
“We have the power, in this state, to say no and we need to say no,” she said.
Ann Guenther, co-chair of the New Paltz Climate Action Coalition, said the idea of the demonstrations, aside from bringing public awareness to the Pilgrim Pipelines, is to encourage incremental, green changes among the public and those who represent the interests of the Pilgrim Pipelines.
“We’re finished, kind of, with the oil and fossil fuel era and we need everybody to get on board, in whatever way they want to do it,” Guenther said. “Whether it’s solar, or whether it’s wind, or whether it’s cutting back and forming groups to buy energy up that’s really good energy and green energy; there’s so many ways people can get involved now and we don’t have to rely on the fossil fuel industry.”
To keep the pipelines from being built, protestors are urging for the support of Bill A9831a, proposed by Assemblyman Frank Skartados (D, Milton), which would make hazardous liquid transport near the Thruway illegal. They ask that locals write their respective officials in support of that bill and are asking officials to pass a similar bill in the Senate.
