Thread by @grumpygrumpyowl, Reading this piece on NY killing lots of gas projects (YESSS!) and [...]

Reading this piece on NY killing lots of gas projects (YESSS!) and comparing it to our gas compressor fight here in Weymouth, MA.

TL;DR? We need some NY in MA. 1/ https://grist.org/fix/how-activists-shut-down-key-pipeline-projects-new-york/

How activists successfully shut down key pipeline projects in New York

In the past half-decade, grassroots opposition in New York has led to the cancellation of four major interstate pipelines — a total of 931 miles — that would have cut through communities and ecosys...

https://grist.org/fix/how-activists-shut-down-key-pipeline-projects-new-york/

2/ ///Yet the developers did not anticipate landowners, neighborhood residents, community leaders, and anti-fracking activists statewide forging a coalition to kill the pipeline.///

We had this

3/
///Years of coordinated grassroots opposition///
///Activists scored these wins by building large grassroots coalitions — drawing in many people who were new to fighting pipelines — and hammering state officials...///

We had this

4/
///“We lobbied, we protested, we did research reports and studies, and we got local elected officials to oppose the project and start pressuring the governor. It was a very strong in-depth effort over multiple years.”///

We had this

5/
///Much of what the public learned about these pipelines came from activists who conducted research and then held public forums and went door-to-door sharing what they’d found.///

We had this

6/
///Even as the activists increased public pressure, they continued amassing “a really solid record” of scientific reasons why the Department of Environmental Conservation should deny the pipeline’s water-quality permit,///

We had this, from @gb_psr

re: air permit

7/ *My* assessment only: what didn't MA have in its fight against Enbridge's gas transmission compressor?

Sheer numbers of ppl. Incredibly difficult to raise the #'s, even w/ outside group participation

Community activists not diverse as the area isn't terribly diverse

8/ *outside groups = outside the immediate communities

FULL EJ community outreach: citizens did their best, but language barriers & Fed/state agencies unwilling to reach out to EJ as things progressed made it difficult

These 3 things are frustrating but could've been overcome

9/

COULD

HAVE

been

overcome if not for the fact that @MassGovernor @CharlieBakerMA is a fully captured Governor who rules his environmental agencies w/ an iron hand. @MassEEA @MassDEP @MassCZM all had a chance to deny permits by merely following policies & laws, BUT DIDN'T

10/ NY followed their own environmental laws, regulations, & policies and denied permits. Decisions like these by states DO make a statement to gas co's to take their business elsewhere.

MA doesn't believe in its rights to deny environmental permits, & gas co's have free rein.

11/ EXHIBIT A by @projomike working for @GlobeSpotlight. State employees are too worried abt losing their jobs rather than doing their jobs bc of an autocratic Governor who's literally invested in allowing MA to become gas highway for export
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/12/metro/was-it-ever-fair-fight/#:~:text=A%20Globe%20investigation%20finds%20residents,%2C%202020%2C%201%3A58%20p.m.

In Weymouth, a brute lesson in power politics - The Boston Globe

A Globe investigation finds residents who fought a six-year battle with an energy giant over a controversial gas compressor never had much of a chance, with both the federal and state governments...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/12/metro/was-it-ever-fair-fight/#:~:text=A%20Globe%20investigation%20finds%20residents,%2C%202020%2C%201%3A58%20p.m

12/. EXHIBIT B from May 2019 by @aimee_ortiz

Dr Landrigan: ///”[T]here’s an unresponsive state government that is refusing to look at the public health hazards, is refusing to look at the safety hazards.”

He adds: “This is Flint on the Fore River.”/// https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2019/05/23/weymouth-echoes-flint/1ksKThEGt03z7haMV7jTgJ/story.html

In Weymouth, echoes of Flint - The Boston Globe

Four undeveloped acres on a peninsula in the northern part of this town have become a battlefield, pitting environmental activists against a massive energy company.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2019/05/23/weymouth-echoes-flint/1ksKThEGt03z7haMV7jTgJ/story.html

13/13 I'll close this by saying none of these gas fights are in competition, it's ALL tough & heartbreaking w/ few & far between chances of victory. But what this comparison *does* do is illustrate the HUGE role of a Gov & its agencies in a fight's chances of success.
#mapoli

LAST THOUGHT: Please, MA reporters, ask Baker abt the DEP rehearing decision due Jan 11th at his next COVID press conf.

In light of Globe's Spotlight investigation into him guiding permit approvals w/ iron hand despite laws & huge opposition, will his DEP finally see reason?

cc @Karynregal @BethWBZ @MikeLaCrosseWBZ @HagerWBZ @dhausleon7 @EricKaneTV @Michael7News @mikesacconetv @ShieldsWBZ @JHall7news @scooperon7 @SharmanTV @rgoulston @Liz_Boston25 @dougmeehan @seracongi @CConnNBCBoston @NiaNBCBoston @MattReedNews @CrystalHaynes @JohnMonahanTV

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