Posted on 12/17/2019 3:37:36 AM PST by grundle
Protesters flagged down the coal train to stop it and then occupied the tracks in Massachusetts early Sunday. (Courtesy of 350 New Hampshire Action)
More than 20 protesters were arrested Sunday trying to block a train from delivering coal to Merrimack Station power plant in Bow.
The climate activists who organized the blockades also marched on the plant at a demonstration in September, when dozens more were arrested.
Lila Kohrman-Glaser is an organizer with one of the protest groups, 350 New Hampshire Action. She says they want to end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels in the region.
"It is crucial that the actions that we take not be one-off actions,” she says. “They are part of a campaign, and we will continue until the power plant is taken offline once and for all."
She and about 100 others joined the protest Sunday, delaying the train at three different points along its route – in Worcester and Ayer, Massachusetts, and in Hooksett.
About two dozen people were arrested on misdemeanor trespassing charges.
Two who climbed a railway bridge in Hooksett and were removed by police are also charged with resisting arrest.
Kohrman-Glaser says their goal is to speed the region's transition to renewable energy.
"We have decided that we're not going to allow business as usual to proceed at the plant,” she says. “That means that we're not going to allow coal trains to arrive to Bow unhindered, and it means that we are going to do everything in our power to make sure that the plant cannot run."
Merrimack Station is New England's largest remaining coal-fired power plant that doesn't have a retirement date. It typically runs most when energy demand is at its peak.
Having experienced power failures during winter in Southeastern Massachusetts, I feel I am qualified to say that these alleged people are ENEMIES and should be treated accordingly.
These are probably the same idiots that did not support The Northern Pass project to bring hydro electric power from the St. Lawrence River in Quebec to NH, MA & CT because it would ruin someones view.
Yes, it is much more efficient in the winter to have power failures. That way everybody gets a chance to pull out their gasoline or diesel generator out of their garage and fire it up.
Then after one day everybody has to drive to the gas station to fill up their three or four gas cans to run their generator for another 24 hours.
In addition everybody also burns a fire in their fireplace and or wood stove. Plus people get the invigorating experience of cooking outside on their gas grill or Weber charcoal grill when it is 20 degrees out.
Lastly, the police and firefighters get the once in a lifetime chance to go to some ones house where the occupants DIED of carbon monoxide poisoning. Maybe there will be children involved. Yippie.
Or the chance to fight a house fire because somebody decided to build a camp fire on their concrete basement floor.
(True story told to me by a fireman)
(DRIPPING WITH SARCASM)
I am a widowed senior citizen who lives alone and has neither a garage, wood stove, fireplace, gas grill, nor a generator.
But yeah, you’re right.
Oh...and since I live in a trailer, I don’t have a basement with a concrete floor either.
I was born/raised in Wisconsin & spent much of my life in California & Nevada. EVEN I know that most of the power plants east of the Mississippi are fueled by coal. IIRC, they have shut down all the nuclear powered electricity sources.
I traversed the Pony Express Trail from St Joseph, Missouri to Virginia City, NV in 2001, along with a large group of other riders on horseback. 2000 miles-— 50 miles a day—5 days a week-—8 weeks. A trip of a lifetime.
The 2nd weekend we were at the fairgrounds at Mitchell, Nebraska, just west of Scott’s Bluff.
The COAL TRAINS came thru, west to east, about 3/4 mile south of our camp. The sound of the train whistles going thru the small town were music. 2 or 3 Yellow Diesel engines, and 120 cars-——EVERY 30 MINUTES. That works out to 120 cars X 48 = 5760 open freight cars FULL of coal for the power production east of the Mississippi, coming out of mines in Wyoming, etc, EVERY SINGLE DAY. That adds up to 2,102,400 cars in a 365 day year.
When our 2 day break was done, we continued to ride west, and about 3 miles from the fairgrounds, there was a 8 LANE switching yard——and every single train we saw had 120 cars....no more ... no less. I have no idea how many tons of coal were on each car, but it was a very impressive sight.
Funny how these same activists have laptop computers that need recharging-—cell phones that use chargers-—HUGE screen TV’s that use electricity-—drive electric cars that need to be recharged...and somehow they cannot connect the dots. I only went to a one room grade school-—but I certainly CAN connect the dots.
The IDIOTS who think that they can shut down the power fuel at their whim need to be shot. Sooner or later, they will cause an unimaginable problem, and only then will someone get their heads on straight.
Take down their names and addresses and then turn off their electricity.
I was born/raised in Wisconsin & spent much of my life in California & Nevada. EVEN I know that most of the power plants east of the Mississippi are fueled by coal. IIRC, they have shut down all the nuclear powered electricity sources.
I traversed the Pony Express Trail from St Joseph, Missouri to Virginia City, NV in 2001, along with a large group of other riders on horseback. 2000 miles-— 50 miles a day—5 days a week-—8 weeks. A trip of a lifetime.
The 2nd weekend we were at the fairgrounds at Mitchell, Nebraska, just west of Scott’s Bluff.
The COAL TRAINS came thru, west to east, about 3/4 mile south of our camp. The sound of the train whistles going thru the small town were music. 2 or 3 Yellow Diesel engines, and 120 cars-——EVERY 30 MINUTES. That works out to 120 cars X 48 = 5760 open freight cars FULL of coal for the power production east of the Mississippi, coming out of mines in Wyoming, etc, EVERY SINGLE DAY. That adds up to 2,102,400 cars in a 365 day year.
When our 2 day break was done, we continued to ride west, and about 3 miles from the fairgrounds, there was a 8 LANE switching yard——and every single train we saw had 120 cars....no more ... no less. I have no idea how many tons of coal were on each car, but it was a very impressive sight.
Funny how these same activists have laptop computers that need recharging-—cell phones that use chargers-—HUGE screen TV’s that use electricity-—drive electric cars that need to be recharged...and somehow they cannot connect the dots. I only went to a one room grade school-—but I certainly CAN connect the dots.
The IDIOTS who think that they can shut down the power fuel at their whim need to be shot. Sooner or later, they will cause an unimaginable problem, and only then will someone get their heads on straight.
I am in N Nevada-—
10 here this AM. Frost everywhere. Ice on horse water tanks.
I was not addressing specifically you, just the thread in general.
Merry Christmas
I know. I was just keeping my answers in line with your irony! We both know that the “protesters” have no clue about the reality of winter in new England.
Merry Christmas to you, too, FRiend. :-)
The story about the people who started the camp fire on the floor of their basement during a power outage happened in Auburn, NH.
A guy I knew was a volunteer fire fighter in that town.
Those people were lucky. All they had was smoke damage and a few scorched floor joists.
He repeated that story to me after I asked him what was the stupidest thing somebody had done during a previous power outage.
During that same outage some guy had started his generator and then parked it under his mobile home to keep it dry and out of the rain. He then went to bed and never woke up. Darwin Award winner.
Yikes!
I once went a whole month without power. Luckily I was living in Florida at the time. Life w/o AC can be miserable but it is not nearly as bad as freezing to death.
I think some New Hampshire plants still burn demolition-lumber and wood chips for electric power.
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