Environmental activism in the age of Trump
By Canton CitizenDear Editor:
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to “Make America Great Again.” While what he meant remains ambiguous, what is clear is that he liberally invokes divisive rhetoric and blame and that caring for our environment is not part of his program.
President Trump demonstrated that he is a climate change denier by announcing that the United States will withdraw from the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement. That agreement was negotiated by 195 countries and committed to a plan to make sustained progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which jeopardize our planet. Myron Ebell, head of his EPA transition team, promised that Trump will be scaling back the limited restrictions on gas and oil companies and cites the environmental movement as “the greatest threat to freedom and prosperity in the modern world.” Appointees like Rex Tillerson, former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil, and Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general who has sued the EPA 14 times, endanger the progress the United States has made with climate action. Trump is also working to pass the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines, despite significant efforts of the Obama administration to stop them. By signing the executive order to push them through, he chose to ignore massive citizen protests. Regarding the Keystone XL, “That pipeline will get built” is his battle cry.
What does his climate denying policies mean on a local level? Spectra Energy Corporation wants to build a new 30-inch, high-pressure pipeline through Canton. The purpose of this project is to carry fracked gas from the Marsalis Shales in Pennsylvania to Canada via Canton to sell the on the international market, not to meet our energy needs. Although the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against us taxpayers footing the bill for their pipeline project, Spectra is currently seeking a new funding scheme for their pipeline project. No Canton Gas Pipeline is a group of Canton residents who oppose this destructive pipeline project and support safe and renewable alternatives. (Visit Facebook.com/nocantongaspipeline)
What does this mean for us? Your voice matters. All of our efforts help to urge our elected officials to combat dangerous environmental policies. Let’s make a difference by working together to prohibit Spectra’s costly, damaging, and unnecessary build-out. Let’s hold the gas companies and elected officials accountable to ensure that leaks are fixed in our existing 24-inch gas pipelines. Together we can make our town a model of renewable energy that will benefit us and future generations.
Jennifer Wexler
No Canton Gas Pipeline
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=35435
Posted by Canton Citizen
on Feb 10 2017. Filed under Featured Content, From One Citizen to Another, Opinion.
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