Guest article by Judith Black
Black delivered these remarks at a die-in rally at the Danversport Bridge on September 27, 2022.
At a time when cities throughout the nation are closing their peaker plants and replacing them with battery storage sourced from clean energy, a new peaker plant is being built in Peabody, MA. [Peaker plants provide electric power during times of exceptional "peak" need for electricity.]
The people of Peabody care for each other, honor their fallen heroes and nurture their children and their youth.
On May 26, 2022, demonstrators from the North Shore and across the Commonwealth gathered on the Danversport Bridge over the Waters River in Danvers to demand that Governor Baker must do health and environmental studies for the fossil fuel Peabody peaker electrical generator. The organizers of the event included Susan and Ron Smoller of Breathe Clean North Shore with the support of Mireille Beijani of Community Action Works and Logan Malik of Mass Climate Action Network, and with the sponsorship of several advocacy groups. Demonstrators flew kites and sang protest songs. Some paddled a fleet of kayaks and some rode bicycles to join the demonstration.
For the future of this child, Peyton Massie, we demonstrate. We, the people demonstrating on the Danversport Bridge, are energy democracy in action. We are teenagers, grandparents, storytellers, musicians, poets, singers, teachers, ministers, doctors, reporters, videographers, photographers, and a man from Ireland. Our goal is to empower people to work together to save our planet from global warming, save our wetlands and forests, and protect everyone from harmful pollution. We share an obligation and a desire to improve our communities, work for the common good, and be stewards of the world today to preserve it for the future.
This letter was submitted to the Boston Globe on April 21, 2022, but was not published.
To the Editor:
In his Earth Day “Fireside Chat” with the Globe’s Sabrina Shankman, Governor Baker emphasized his awareness of the climate emergency. When Baker signed the Climate Roadmap Bill last year, the Commonwealth committed to a phaseout of fossil fuels in electricity generation. How can Baker support a new fossil plant?
Story: Judith Black; Photography: Jerry Halberstadt
We are sleepwalking to climate catastrophe—can we awaken from this nightmare? On April 16, 19, and 21 we climate activists stood out in Peabody Square to say that a new fossil fuel facilities in the year 2022 is an example of
“immoral and economic madness.”— UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Children holding sign, LLuveia and Amaya Luz Segura-Leigh
Do we want a livable planet for ourselves, our children and grandchildren?
This peaker plant, built, would be another nail in the coffin of a livable future. This peaker plant stopped is the beginning of a swift transition to a better tomorrow.
The standout by six hunger strikers, "Fasting for the Future," at Memorial Park in Marblehead on March 17, 2022.
We are concerned about the future of our grandchildren. Their future depends on our rapid action to replace burning fossil fuels to produce energy with renewable energy sources. This goal is essential to mitigate climate disaster and must be met by everyone working together, especially by the government. Therefore we are advocates for a responsive government that serves the public—but people that we trust to do the people’s business are not acting in our interests.
On a bright November Saturday, advocates for clean energy from across Massachusetts joined Peabody residents in the "Peabody Peaker Push" at the courthouse in Peabody Square to advocate against the proposed gas- and oil-fired electric generator (“Project 2015A”).
Among them was Peabody resident Hunter, a young man of 8 years, holding a sign that said, “Non Renewable Energy is Peak Stupidity.”