Marbleheaders Protest Fossil Fuel Plant

Jack Weltner, Linda Weltner, Nancy De Muth and Tricia Sullivan, all members of the Unitarian-Universalist Church’s Climate Matters Task Force, hold signs to protest the building of an outdated fossil-fuel Peaker plant to meet times of high energy demand in Marblehead and other towns in the Commonwealth.

Members of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Marblehead joined the September 7^th protest against the fossil-fueled Peaker plant being constructed in Peabody. In 2015 the Marblehead Light Department committed $31 million of Marblehead taxpayer money to build an outdated gas-fueled plant to meet our energy needs during peak hours, although other states are currently building modern state-of the-art battery-based plants which do not contribute to climate change. 

The protest was followed by a dramatic die-in, during which protesters lay on the ground in chalk outlines while a tuba player performed “Taps,” to call attention to the fact that fossil fuel pollution also contributes to higher rates of asthma and heart disease in neighboring towns