BREAKING: Coal Train Blockade in Worcester, MA!

ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, MEMBERS OF THE WORCESTER COMMUNITY BLOCKADED A COAL TRAIN EN ROUTE TO THE MERRIMACK PLANT IN BOW, NH

Worcester, MA -- Currently, more than 20 members of the Worcester community’s student climate justice groups are blocking a Coal Train heading to the Merrimack Plant in Bow, NH. The students blocking the train are protesting the continued usage of the coal plant. This protest stands against the burning of coal that continues to destroy the climate, and the harm upon frontline communities that the fossil fuel industry inflicts, especially in the global south. This direct action is an important element to larger movements towards climate justice.

The Merrimack Plant in Bow, NH is the last large coal-fired power plant in New England. In September, 67 protesters were arrested in Bow; we act in solidarity with them. Burning coal is morally unacceptable in 2019. We are in a climate emergency, and frontline communities are currently facing the devastating impacts of climate change. This coal harms communities from the point of extraction to those where it is burned. People living in Appalachia, near mountaintop removal sites, suffer from high rates of cancer and other health issues, due to the high amounts of water and air pollution. Similarly, people living in Bow are adversely impacted by the burning of coal. What is needed is not individual action or market-based solutions, but collective direct action that demands change.

This is a developing story. For more information contact:

Amelia Balik

[email protected]

(973)224-4683

Ari Nicholson

[email protected]

(919)667-4458

Adam Crellin-Sazama

[email protected]

(617)515-9708

Marla Marcum

[email protected]