Connecticut Action Week Recap

On Wednesday, we attempted to meet with leadership at Atlas Holdings, one of the co-owners of the Merrimack Generating station. When we demanded that they shut down the coal plant and cease their unethical gas-powered bitcoin mining project on Seneca Lake. No Coal No Gas was immediately ejected from the office. In response, we created a protest art installation with signs and several buckets of coal delivered to their doorstep, for which we were detained and given warnings by the Greenwich Police.

On Thursday, we arrived at the Stamford CT headquarters of Castleton Commodities (the other co-owner of the plant), which was put into lockdown by police and security to prevent us from entering. We chanted and sang outside with banners, signs, flyers and chalk art before dropping a banner above a major highway thoroughfare.

Beyond Castleton and Atlas, the Merrimack Generating Station is also kept afloat by our regional grid operator ISO New England, which uses ratepayer dollars to fund power plants. That’s why on Saturday, we visited the residence of ISO New England President and CEO Gordon Van Welie, demanding a transparent plan for a rapid grid transition and an end to coal subsidies. We delivered a written copy of our demands to his door, together with a container of coal from the Merrimack Generating Station, amid banners, speeches, and chalked messages.

Throughout the week, it was very clear that Atlas, Castleton, and the ISO took us extremely seriously, and were alarmed by our mere presence. We were frequently harassed by police, refused meetings, and ejected from public spaces. Dana reflected, "Their fearful reaction to our nonviolent presence speaks to the moral bankruptcy going on here.” We are heartened to know that those in power are paying attention and reacting to our presence and message. If you’d like to join us in sending a message to ISO’s supervisors, go here, and check out this interview to learn more about our corporate campaign!)

Climate Activists Arrested Demanding Shutdown Date for Merrimack Generating Station

Over 150 people gathered in Bow, 50 took to the river in boats and 18 were arrested building a garden at the Merrimack Generating Station.

(image credit: Candace Hope)

BOW, NEW HAMPSHIRE-- Over a hundred and fifty people descended on Bow this Sunday to take direct action to shut down the Merrimack Generating Station - the last coal-fired power plant in New England. The Merrimack Generating Station is destroying the river, the land and the water and making the Bow community sick. It is contributing to the escalating climate crisis. The No Coal No Gas campaign is taking action to end the use of coal in Bow. The group gathered in the field across from the coal plant for a rally demanding a shutdown date for the coal plant.

“There’s a boat ramp across the way [from the coal plant] with a sign that reads ‘Merrimack Station is pleased to share this boat ramp with the Bow community, please use this property safely and responsibly,’” recounts Mary Fite, resident of Bow. “When I first read this sign, I felt like crying. Is operating a coal-fired power plant on the banks of the Merrimack River safe? Is polluting our air, land, and water responsible?”

After a rally across the street from the coal plant, the group broke into three groups - one went to the Merrimack River with kayaks, one marched down River Road chanting, and a third headed towards the entrance of Merrimack Station holding signs, plants, and gardening tools. No Coal No Gas activists blockaded the entrance to the coal plant and tore up the pavement to plant a garden in its place to begin to heal the polluted soil from toxic coal. 18 people were arrested. 

(photo credit: Candace Hope)

“The Merrimack Generating station only stays open because it receives millions of dollars in forward capacity payments - essentially fossil fuel subsidies” explains Rebecca Beaulieu, Communications Director with 350NH Action. “We must end this unjust system that pays polluters to destroy our environment. Our politicians and the plant owners think that they can ignore the problem and just let people in Bow keep getting sick. We are here to say enough is enough. If our elected leaders won’t end the use of destructive fossil fuels, then we will take matters into our own hands and keep coming back until we end the use of coal once and for all.”

The No Coal No Gas campaign formed in 2019 with the goal of forcing the Merrimack Generating Station to shut down. Since then, the campaign has built a large community of supporters, taken direct action at the coal plant, blockaded six coal trains heading for Bow, and targeted ISO-New England, the regional grid operator responsible for the coal plant's subsidies. At this event, No Coal No Gas activists started the process of remediating the land by planting native NH plants that will absorb toxins from the coal. 

“The owners of this plant, Granite Shore Power, which is owned by Atlas Holdings and Castleton Commodities, are getting rich, destroying lives and entire communities. But while they and the ISO do nothing to prevent the harm happening in Bow, we are ready to act. We are ready to decommission and dismantle this coal plant ourselves. And we will replace it with the seeds of a better future,” said Leif Taranta, Organizer with the Climate Disobedience Center.

(photo credit: Noah Harrison)

“What do I have to lose fighting for climate justice? Nothing. I have nothing to lose. My future and the future of the planet are on the line. If we are complicit in the climate crisis, my generation will have nothing left. I will fight with everything I have for a just transition to renewable energy in New England, the United States, and the world, and I hope you all will join me,” Said Kai Parlett, organizer with No Coal No Gas and freshman at UNH, in her speech at the rally.

Millions of people and the planet continue to suffer from the effects of the climate crisis. We will keep fighting for a shut down date for the coal plant and for an end to fossil fuel use and expansion until we run the world on 100% renewable energy. Go to nocoalnogas.org or strikedowncoal.org for more information about the campaign.

Youth Climate Activists Call For Dinosaur Fossil Fuels to Go Extinct

February 17, 2021

MANCHESTER NH – On Saturday February 13th, a group of youth organizers from 350NH, a local climate justice organization, staged an art installation outside a Liberty Utilities facility. This action was in solidarity with the No Coal No Gas campaign, a grassroots coalition working to end the use of fossil fuels in New England and transition to 100% renewable energy, beginning by securing a shut down date for coal-fired coal-fired Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH. 

The organizers painted and hung posters and banners on the chain link fence outside the office. Their messages included, “It’s time for diNOsaur fossil fuels to go extinct, and, “tell the ISO it’s time for coal to go extinct.” ISO is shorthand for Independent Systems Operator of New England, the entity that manages the region’s electricity grid. The group also made cardboard dinosaurs to illustrate the concept that “dinosaur” fossil fuels are antiquated and dangerous. 

One of the organizers, Olivia Kreps, a senior at Coe-Brown Northwood Academy and Social Media Lead and Youth Fellow with 350NH, was motivated to participate in this action because she “will be moving on into the world and [she does not] want that world to be one where we still use coal.” 

This action comes a week after thirty activists from the No Coal No Gas campaign gathered at the ISO-New England headquarters in Holyoke, MA. The activists delivered a letter accompanied by two wheelbarrows full of coal, and demanded the regional grid operator cease funding for coal and other fossil fuels. The next day, ISO-NE held its annual forward capacity auction to determine how much funding fossil fuel plants like Merrimack Generating Station will receive to stay operable through 2025.

As one of the youth activists at this Saturday’s protest, Jordan King, a senior at Milford High School and member of the 350NH Youth Team, stated, “Because I’m a young person, my future is on the line and I don’t want to be the next thing to go extinct.” 

The group hopes to gain visibility for and bring more people into the No Coal No Gas campaign. Further, they aim to draw attention to an upcoming period from public comment on the ISO-NE auction results expected to take place between late February and April. 

[Photo: From left to right: Jordan King, Oliva Kreps, and Jake Vogler]

Climate Activists Deliver Wheelbarrows of Coal to ISO-NE Headquarters

Call for grid operator to cease funding coal, other fossil fuels in this week’s forward capacity auction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2.7.2021

Rebecca Beaulieu, 350NH, 978-491-7511, rebecca@350nh.org
Marla Marcum, Climate Disobedience Center, 781-475-0996, marla@climatedisobedience.org

HOLYOKE, MA -- Today, thirty climate activists gathered at the ISO-New England headquarters in Holyoke, Ma, to call on the grid operator to cease funding coal and other harmful fossil fuel sources. Some of the crowd wore white tyvek suits, carried buckets of coal, and chanted “Hey Ho ISO, we don’t want no dirty coal!” while walking to the entrance of ISO-NE’s headquarters. The individuals in tyvek suits dumped their buckets of coal into two wheelbarrows that were delivered to the front gate of the building.

ISO-NE will hold its annual forward capacity auction on Monday, February 8th, to determine how much guaranteed funding plants like Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH will receive to stay operable through 2025. The results can either limit or expand the speed of our transition from fossil fuels to renewables across the region. 

“As a resident of Holyoke I feel a special responsibility for holding the ISO accountable to the residents and ratepayers of Massachusetts and New England,” says Elizabeth Ramírez, organizer with the No Coal No Gas campaign. “Before knowing that ISO is right in my backyard, I was already alarmed about the high rates of asthma in Holyoke and nearby Springfield. I am a public school teacher in Springfield, which is infamous for being the asthma capital of the United States, ranking #1 for the highest number of asthma cases and asthma-related visits to emergency rooms. This results in high rates of absenteeism in my district and asthma, along with poverty, is one of the contributing factors.The jet stream brings pollution from other parts of the country and it settles here in our Valley and the same thing happens in Bow, NH. The pollution from their coal-burning does not stay there...it gets picked up by the jet stream, blows to other cities and towns and making THEIR students sick. Unfortunately, Black and Brown populations frequently bear the largest burden of the pollution load and this is not just or fair.”

Activists are calling on ISO-NE to suspend capacity payments and cancel existing capacity contracts to fossil fuel generators, starting with the coal-fired Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire. Instead of committing ratepayer dollars to subsidies in the form of fossil fuel capacity payments, activists are calling on ISO-NE to redirect that money to ratepayer relief and payment forgiveness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to combat the climate crisis, we must move to 100% renewable energy, and ISO-NE is getting in the way by propping up outdated fossil fuel plants.

“ISO must use its power to support the transition to renewable energy rather than continuing to subsidize fossil fuels. We join with the Massachusetts Attorney General and U.S. Senators from around New England in calling on ISO to adopt energy market rules that promote affordable clean energy, healthy communities, and climate protection,” said Steven Botkin, one of the campaign organizers. 

This action is part of the ongoing No Coal No Gas campaign, a grassroots coalition organizing to stop the burning of coal and other fossil fuels for electrical generation in New England once and for all. For more information about the campaign, visit nocoalnogas.org and strikedowncoal.org.

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Here is a folder with photos & video from the action.

19 Climate Activists Sentenced to 30 Hours of Community Service

Concord, NH - More than 15 months after they were arrested, 19 climate justice activists from the No Coal No Gas campaign were each sentenced to 30 hours of community service after a procedural hearing, which paved the way for automatic appeal to Superior Court and a jury trial. All of the activists were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass following a September 2019 protest at the Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire; the last coal-fired power plant operating in New England without a shutdown date.

The 19 defendants spoke before Circuit Court Judge Edwin Kelly on January 14th. His written sentencing decision was released on January 26th. In it, Judge Kelly noted that the activists participated in “an organized act of civil disobedience … to demonstrate their opposition to the use of fossil fuel by the owner of the Bow Power Plant. … In the opinion of the Court, the cases before it represent a stark contrast to the recent experience in our nation's capital. The conduct of the defendants was entirely peaceful throughout the event.”

Activists and their legal team declared this a victory - albeit a procedural one - which clears the way for them to proceed to a full trial in which they will ask a jury of their peers to consider that their actions were taken in order to prevent a greater harm and, thus, both necessary and required by conscience.

The decision from Judge Kelly was a sharp rebuke of Concord City Prosecutor Tracy Connolly, who painted the activists as dangerous repeat offenders at their sentencing hearing earlier this month, recommending stiff sentences with minimum $1000 fines and 30 or 60 days of jail time for some of the defendants. 

In response to Connolly’s assertion that these activists pose a danger to the public, defense attorney Kira Kelley argued, “Passively accepting climate collapse is dangerous. So is continuing to burn coal. ‘Dangerous’ is anything less than a principled, multi-faceted campaign to combat the fossil fuel industry – including nonviolent civil disobedience when other lawful avenues for change have proven ineffective. This sentence reflects Judge Kelly’s understanding that unlawful behavior does not equate automatically to danger.”

Reflecting on the sentence, defense attorney Logan Perkins said, “We appreciate Judge Kelly’s ability and willingness to recognize the spirit and resolve of our clients and to consider the nature and circumstances of these cases, as well as our clients’ reasons for their actions. We expect those reasons will play a large role in the upcoming jury trial on these matters.” 

Nathan Lyczak of Keene, New Hampshire, received the news of his sentence with calm and clarity. "We do not get to choose the moment of our entry into the world, the circumstances that confront us during our lifetime, the choices available, or the consequences that face us for making them – but we can always decide how we will respond to the situation at hand." Lyczak continued, “When confronted by the circumstances of this climate change emergency and the inertia of state and federal government in protecting corporate profitability above public health, our conscience now compels us to respond with non-violent direct action.”

When asked to recount why she felt called to take action at the coal-fired power plant, defendant Marcy Kass of Williston, Vermont, observed, “The social contract between the governors and the governed, which is based on the assumption that our leaders are making the best decisions for our well-being, is broken. We are bound by our love for all of our children to advocate and fight for what’s right when their survival is at stake.”

Merrimack Generating Station continues to operate, propped up annually by tens of millions of dollars of subsidizing “forward capacity payments” that are taken from electrical ratepayers and funneled through ISO-New England, the region’s electricity grid operator. In his written statement to the court, defendant Jeff Gang of Somerville, Massachusetts stated, “Right now, every New Englander’s electric bill supports this power plant — not just by paying for the electricity produced at Merrimack Generating Station, but also sending $188 million in “forward capacity payments” (which amount to subsidies) between 2018 and 2023 to prop up this otherwise uneconomical plant. This number boils my blood at a moment when millions of our neighbors can’t afford rent, when demand at food pantries is higher than ever. If more people knew that their electric bills were subsidizing dirty coal that was deepening the climate crisis, I believe, things would have to change.”

On February 8, 2021, Merrimack Station will bid again to be awarded subsidies to operate into 2025. The No Coal No Gas campaign will continue to organize to stop the climate crisis until the plant is shut down. The 19 activists sentenced this week are moving toward a jury trial in the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord, New Hampshire. Updates on this case and others are posted at NoCoalNoGas.org/news

19 Activists Face Sentencing For 2019 Coal Plant Protest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 14, 2021

Contact:

Jay O’Hara, Climate Disobedience Center, 774-313-0881, jay@climatedisobedience.org 

Rebecca Beaulieu, 350NH, 978-491-7511, rebecca@350nh.org

Concord, NH - Today in Concord District Court, 19 climate justice activists appeared virtually before Circuit Court Judge Edwin Kelly for provisional sentencing en-route to trial by a jury of their peers under Rule 21a. Activists are charged with criminal trespass following a September 2019 protest at the Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire; the last coal-fired power plant remaining in the region without a shutdown date.

In a nearly three and a half hour session, Judge Kelly heard an offer of proof and sentencing recommendation from the prosecution, a counter recommendation from the defense, and up to five-minute allocutions from 18 of the 19 defendants who are part of the No Coal No Gas campaign to close Merrimack Station and end the use of coal in the region. 

The Reverend Kendra Ford of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, spoke of her commitment and motivation to take action to end the burning of coal in the region. In her testimony, Ford shared some of the challenges of parenting a 7 year old as the climate becomes more unstable: “with a young child who is immersed in the world we have to navigate the pain of talking about the harm and losses of climate change all the time. He sees and experiences the effects on a daily basis. We all do, but mostly can get busy and ignore them. He doesn’t, he keeps calling us back to the world as it is. And I can see and feel the losses that are coming.”

“That’s what brought me to Bow, New Hampshire in September 2019,” Johnny Sanchez of Orono, Maine told Judge Kelly. “A search for any semblance of a reassurance that everything wasn’t already a forgone cause, that there were people who hadn’t already given up hope. What I found was a community of people ready to step into their courage and make their voices heard. Those peaceful voices rose up in song, in the face of riot gear and helicopters.”

That vision of community and nonviolence echoed throughout the proceedings (sometimes literally with audio trouble on the telephonic court system), as activists shared facts about global climate change and the coal industry, mingled with personal stories about what motivated them to participate in the September 28, 2019 protest.

Concord City Prosecutor Attorney Tracy Connolly, however, painted the activists as dangerous, proposing stiff sentences for nonviolent trespass on the coal plant’s property. Attorney Connolly recommended at minimum $1000 fines, with $500 suspended for a year of “good behavior”. Activists with alleged breaches of bail conditions or other alleged violations were recommended higher fines and 30 or 60 days of jail time, suspended pending a year of “good behavior”.

In light of the impacts of catastrophic global climate change, defense attorney Kira Kelly argued, “That’s the important question that we keep raising… what IS bad behavior in this context?” Kelly and other defense attorneys argued that all defendants should receive unconditional discharge, suggesting that the record of a criminal conviction is sufficient sanction for this act of community defense.

Attorney Connolly’s tough sentencing recommendation stood in marked contrast to her offer to other activists involved with the 2019 protest, many of whom took an offer of “placed on hold without a finding” for as little as two months of “good behavior.” These 19 defendants refused that offer, asserting their right to a trial by jury. Marla Marcum, of the Climate Disobedience Center, who has been working with the defendants since their arrest, said, “the prosecution’s sentencing recommendations are typical of the heightened penalties often faced by defendants who choose to exercise their full constitutional right to a trial by jury. These sentencing recommendations are a reminder that justice is out of reach for so many in the criminal legal system, especially those Black, brown, Indigenous and low-income people who are systematically pressured to plead guilty and resolve their cases without the benefit of a trial.”

Jeff Gang, an Eagle Scout from Somerville, Massachusetts, recalled years of working to avert climate catastrophe and how the experience led him to Bow on September 28, 2019, “I didn’t arrive at this decision lightly. Since my college days, I have been involved in efforts to get our government to act on climate change -- and it has shaped my entire career. I worked for years professionally to help elect climate champions. Then I worked in green finance, trying to help move money toward climate solutions. I later worked on projects with the Sierra Club and League of Conservation Voters to educate and inform people, and help make sure they cast their votes.

“In each of these avenues, I saw some signs of hope: an election we won, or another cosponsor signed-on to a legislative solution, or billions of dollars slated for renewable energy.” Gang continued, “I’m not giving up on these avenues of change, but none of them has been enough -- we’re still drastically off track from what science says we must do.”

New Hampshire statute permits the potential for rehabilitation as a grounds for sentencing. In making her case for unconditional discharge, defense Attorney Logan Perkins closed saying, “My client does not need to be rehabilitated from his determination to fight climate change.” 

Merrimack Generating Station continues to operate, propped up annually by tens of millions of dollars of subsidizing “forward capacity payments” that are taken from electrical ratepayers and funneled through ISO-New England, the region’s energy grid operator. On February 8th, Merrimack Station will bid again for subsidies to operate into 2025.

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Reunion Gathering & Action, 10.17.20

On Saturday, October 17, 2020, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the massive bucket-by-bucket action at the Merrimack Generating Station that took place on September 28, 2019. The rain cleared out and the sun shone on the peak autumn foliage as around 35 of us gathered near the Merrimack River in Hooksett, NH. Only a few miles south of the power plant, we came together for remembrance, community building, song, ceremony and some fall fun — and topped it off with a little ghostly visit to the plant.

Speakers Samrawit Silva, Anna Rose Marion, and Kai Parlett from 350 New Hampshire, and Quincy Abramson of New Hampshire Youth Movement, spoke powerfully of doing what must be done. Samrawit, a resident of the town of Bow, said, “I am here today to fight for my community’s and my family’s right to breathe clean air. There is no reason this plant hasn’t already been shut down.”

Isaac Petersen, Sonja Birthisel, and Julie Macuga acted out a hilarious halloween-themed skit, which included copious puns and ribbing Gordon van Welie, the CEO of ISO-NE, the region’s electrical grid manager. 

Isaac: “I have a really good reason to scare somebody. You see, it’s Gordon van Welie….”
Isaac’s Aunt: “Wiley? Like the coyote!? Is that coyote still running off cliffs?”
Isaac: “No, not the coyote, but he is running us off a cliff. See, he’s the one who decides if New England is going to keep using fossil fuels on the grid.”
Isaac’s Aunt: “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A FOSSIL!?!?  You’re not going to get any candy if you’re rude like that!”

The pressure is mounting on van Welie, and not just from No Coal No Gas; five New England governors recently joined forces to pressure changes at ISO-NE to ensure states can achieve their emissions reduction goals. 

The speeches were followed by a time of ceremony led by Emma Schoenberg, who guided the group in a ritual around reconnection to the Earth and each other, and preparing ourselves for the work ahead.  

“Although it’s been a year since our mass direct action last September, this campaign is much older and larger than that,”’ she said. “In many ways, we've been practicing to shut down the Merrimack Station for a long time.The skills and community we’re building now are going to last far beyond this one coal plant.”

The event was broadcast on Facebook, so if you want to be a part of it, you can watch the recording here.  

We then transitioned to a fall fest of pumpkin carving and more. Alex Chatfield brought hand-built wooden frames to be the bones of tyvek-suit-wearing scarecrows. Michelle Vitti taught people to make beautiful and haunting paper-mache crows, painted black.

And at the end of the afternoon a crew put together a spooky tableau at the Merrimack Generating Station, replete with a “CLOSED” banner and tombstones warning “Zombie Coal Plant Ahead.” 

It certainly is a zombie. Recent data indicates that coal was used 80% less so far this year compared with the same period last year. Which means that the tens of millions of dollars of annual subsidy (in the form of ISO-NE capacity payments) make this the walking dead. It’s time for reality to catch up, and for this plant to finally close once and for all. We hope you’ll be there with us when we do.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to help drive the final nails in the coffin by joining the New England Utility Strike. Let’s pressure our utilities and ISO-NE to do the right thing, and move our money from subsidizing fossil fuel generators like Merrimack station to support those most in need in these economically desperate times.