2 weeks Ago
The rally was hosted in the 7th Street Park Thursday afternoon by the environmental organization Food & Water Watch. Roughly a dozen residents of both Columbia and Greene counties attended the rally with signs calling for a stop to the expansion of the Iroquois pipeline project, and for Molinaro to improve his stance on climate change. The proposed Iroquois pipeline expansion project entails adding a compression-only enhancement on two compressor stations located in Dover, in Dutchess County, and Athens.
Expansion of the pipeline will allow for an additional 125 million cubic feet of natural gas to pass through it per day, according to a brochure from Iroquois. Changes to the Athens station will include the addition of 12,000 horsepower of compression and gas cooling. A formal application was filed by Iroquois in January 2020 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to permit the project, according to the Iroquois website.
Having access to clean air and water is a human right, Camille Kritzman, an organizer for Food and Water Watch, said during the rally on Thursday. “Our access to these things are being threatened by corporate greed and by people in power, such as Congressman Molinaro, who is quick to put the demands of corporate donors over the health and well being of his constituents that he’s in office to protect,” she said. People should not be a casualty of corporate greed, Kritzman said.
“We are not collateral damage of corporate greed,” she said. “While politicians stuff their pockets with money from the fossil fuel industry, which ultimately influences their votes.” Attendees of the rally held signs containing statements such as “Molinaro blocks climate action” and “no fossil fuels.
” They also shouted various chants including “climate justice” and “fossil fuels have got to go.” Molinaro’s lack of action on the proposed expansion of the Iroquois pipeline shows his lack of concern towards expanding gas, Mary Finneran, co-chair of the Gas Action Team of the Atlantic chapter of the Sierra Club said. “And his denial of climate change realities is indicative of a lack of understanding or accountability,” she said.
“Molinaro has to wake up, he has to smell the methane.” Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and cofounder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, said that the purpose of science is to explain how the world works in order to make it better, and avoid disasters. “Scientists can provide the data, but then we need political leadership to act on the science and turn it into informed policy,” she said.
“The climate crisis is the serial killer of our generation.” The job of political leaders is to protect their constituents from harm, and protect the climate, Steingraber said. “That’s not happening, so I’m here as a scientist to say we need political leadership who looks at the data, who believes the data and is willing to have the courage to act on the data and do what scientists say is necessary,” she said.
Everyone wants to solve the climate crisis, Laura Shindell, New York State director of Food & Water Watch said during the rally on Thursday. “So, if our members of Congress are going to ignore the data that Sandra (Steingraber) spoke about, could they at least stop ignoring the people who vote them into office?” she said. “People do not want their communities to experience extreme weather, have pipelines built that go right through them, and have compressor stations that are noisy and polluting.
” Molinaro should better represent the will of his constituents, Shindell said. “He has not come out against the Iroquois pipeline proposed for his district, despite enormous public opposition,” she said. “We think Congressman Molinaro needs to wake up, stop blocking climate action, and represent the will of the people.
” Attendees of the protest also called Molinaro’s Leeds and Washington, D.C. offices during the rally to call for more action on climate change.
Molinaro has done work to clean up the Hudson River and preserve open space, Matt Organ, Molinaro’s campaign organizer said in a statement. “No one in politics today has done more to clean up the Hudson and preserve critical open space than Marc Molinaro,” he said. “What’s laughable is this so-called environmental group is ignoring D.
C. Insider Josh Riley’s record of personally profiting from having big oil as a client.”.
