Last week my fellow intern Elaine and I took the subway to City Hall and, armed with a WEDO banner and a couple camera phones, joined dozens of other New Yorkers in protesting two new fracking pipelines.
Check out my pictures and Elaine's write-up on the WEDO blog here!
We followed the brave renewable energy warriors, carrying paper mache windmills, around City Hall Park while singing "Hey! We want renewable energy, renewable energy, to stop the pipelines, stop the pipelines" to the beat of a small band of trumpets and guitars.
Honestly, I felt a bit out of my element, as I've only marched in Penn's Take Back the Night rallies, but Elaine's reassuring smiles made the experience exhilarating and more than a little fun. It's a powerful sentiment, to feel like you're on the 'right' side of history.
The risks of fracking have been thoroughly documented by governmental and non-governmental organizations alike. Several countries have outlawed the practice. The dangers to human health (read: cancer, leukemia) and the environment are shocking. In essence, 'hydraulic fracturing' is a process by which extremely high-pressured water, mixed with toxins, is pumped deep into the earth to fracture the bedrock and form conduits along which natural gas can flow toward a well. Side effects include poisoned ground water (anyone in the Delaware River watershed has heard all about this), air pollution, and the health effects thereof.
The protesters with whom I marched are fighting for investment in truly 'clean' energies -- wind and solar -- in lieu of expanding fracking pipelines. The political issues here are, of course, complex and nuanced. For a summary of what's happened in America over the past 5 years, I highly recommend the documentary films Gasland (nominated for an Academy Award in 2011) and Gasland II, released this year.
Fighting for the integrity of people and the environment always reminds me of my initials-sake. Here's to a lifetime of fist-shaking at the Man, Grandmom!
L
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