Saying the proposed pipelines are all one system, just like the nation's rivers or even our arteries, activists from across the Northeast gathered on the east steps of New York’s State Capitol to protest the expansion of natural gas pipelines.
The environmental rally in Albany demanded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo not sign the 401 water quality certificate currently sitting on his desk. It would allow the Constitution Pipeline to be built.
According to Anne Marie Garti, founder of the group Stop the Pipeline, if approved, the Constitution would cut down 700,000 trees, and rip up 35 miles of slopes, blast 43 miles of bedrock and cross over 10 miles of wetlands and almost 300 streams.
Several rally participants say their land rights have been taken by pipeline companies using eminent domain.
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They also accuse government agencies like the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission, also known as FERC, of capitulating to the demands of the gas industry.
After their rally on the Capitol, the protesters took their message through downtown Albany, to the headquarters of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
