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Gore condemns West Roxbury pipeline construction before Boston court appearance, says she’ll be back – Metro US

Gore condemns West Roxbury pipeline construction before Boston court appearance, says she’ll be back

Gore condemns West Roxbury pipeline construction before Boston court
Flickr/Creative Commons

The daughter of former Vice President Al Gore made brief remarks outside West Roxbury Municipal Court before appearing there for a hearing Friday.

Gore, who heads the center for Earth Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York, was one of 23 arrested last month while trying to block construction of Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral pipeline. She and other activists laid down on the site to disrupt construction and later had to be carried away on stretchers.

“This pipeline is being built in West Roxbury against the will of the community. Elected officials have opposed it,” Karenna Gore said outside of the courtroom, according to Boston.com. “We’re in a position with climate change where, if we just keep on going like nothing is wrong and continue to use fossil fuels… then we are really headed for the worst.”

Gore turned down a plea deal offered by prosecutors, meaning they now all face trespassing charges. The plea deal included an order to stay away from the site, she told the Boston Herald.

“I am absolutely going to continue to protest the West Roxbury lateral pipeline,” she said.

The West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline is a five-mile stretch off a larger project called the Algonquin Incremental Market Project, which covers four states and will be coming from Westwood through Dedham and into West Roxbury.

According to the proposal, its metering and regulation station would be located in an area of residential homes and adjacent to an active stone quarry on Grove Street that engages in significant and ongoing blasting activity.

The pipeline has been the focus of many protests over the past couple of years, including some by those in Star Wars costumes and local religious leaders. It’s also been criticized by a number of local political leaders, including Mayor Marty Walsh.

Spectra Energy said the construction will help keep energy costs low for businesses and consumers.