Springfield Climate Justice Coalition invites your organization to join us as a co-sponsor of the Rally to Stop the Springfield-Longmeadow Eversource Pipeline. The event will be held on Saturday, April 9, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. at the Federal Courthouse Building in Springfield. The location is wheelchair accessible and we will provide Spanish language interpretation. In case of inclement weather, the rally will be postponed until April 30.

We envision a lively, family-friendly rally that will ramp up the campaign against the proposed Springfield-Longmeadow pipeline. This high-pressure pipeline would originate at a new point of delivery (POD) station in Longmeadow, travel under major roads, through environmental justice residential neighborhoods in Springfield, and connect with the Bliss Street Regulator Station in downtown Springfield.

By co-sponsoring this rally, your organization would join other groups around the state in rejecting this proposed pipeline because it is unhealthy, dangerous, climate-changing, costly, and unnecessary. The pipeline is not needed. It would put Springfield and Longmeadow communities at risk, disproportionately impact marginalized groups, and set us back in our efforts to meet the clean energy targets set by the Massachusetts’ Climate Roadmap bill: 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Eversource claims that this is a “reliability” project that will reduce Springfield’s vulnerability to gas supply disruptions. However, the Bliss Street Regulator Station would remain a single point of failure for Springfield’s entire gas supply. In reality, this proposed pipeline is not about reliability. In the face of the climate emergency, this pipeline would deepen Springfield’s reliance on natural gas, increase Eversource’s profit margin, and keep this fossil fuel company in business despite the state’s efforts to decarbonize our society and reach net zero by 2050.

The path to true energy reliability in Springfield is to diversify our energy sources, invest in clean, renewable energy, and retrofit our buildings to increase energy efficiency and get dangerous, polluting natural gas out of our homes and our communities. Even as we are fighting this pipeline, we are working towards a clean energy future for Springfield and Massachusetts grounded in the principles of energy democracy, that centers the health and well-being of the public and the planet.

We are gathering a host of co-sponsors, including community groups, service organizations, local businesses, non-profits, and faith communities. We ask co-sponsors to help us spread the word through social media and their usual channels of communication, and to encourage their members to attend. They can facilitate participation by, for example, organizing carpools or even a bike brigade!

We appreciate our co-sponsors! We will include your organization in our social media campaign, thank you publicly at the rally, and keep you updated as the campaign unfolds.

For further information, contact Naia Tenerowicz at rovingrabbit@protonmail.com