Demonstrators in New Paltz last Tuesday. (photo by Brandon Missig)
Following on the heels of resolutions opposing Pilgrim Pipeline passing in Rosendale and New Paltz — and just one day after PGS&E dealt a major blow to the increasingly controversial pipeline by denying it rights of way — demonstrators in New Paltz demanded last Tuesday that the NYS Thruway Authority follow suit and deny Pilgrim Pipeline corporation the rights of way it is seeking. The increasingly organized pipeline opponents aim to stop what New Paltz Climate Action Coalition calls a “dangerous, polluting and climate-damaging pipeline” from ever becoming a fact on the ground in the Hudson Valley.
The group gathered at the intersection of Main Street and South Putt Corners Road. Pilgrim proposes to build two brand new pipelines from Albany to Linden, NJ, which, if allowed, would carry Bakken Shale oil south and refined products north.
The demonstrators, who are part of a much broader two-state coalition to Stop Pilgrim Pipeline with over 40 organizations involved, held up a big black pipeline dripping with symbolic oil, a banner proclaiming “No Fracking Pipeline” and photographs of exploding pipelines with the question, “Are you prepared?”
“We are aware that Pilgrim Pipeline Corporation has already behaved in an intimidating way towards property owners in Tillson, Plattekill, Saugerties, Tuxedo Park and other towns along the proposed pipeline route,” said Miriam Strouse, co-chair of New Paltz Climate Action Coalition. “We will not tolerate such bullying, not towards our communities and not towards our climate.”