No Coal, No Gas. Nobody will shut Merrimack down for us.

The Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH, is the last large coal plant in New England without a shut-down date. On September 28th we will gather in Bow for a mass nonviolent direct action to shut down this plant.

Nobody’s going to close this coal plant for us. Continuing to burn coal and build fracked gas infrastructure in New England is immoral. That our political leaders stand idly by, or worse claim to believe in climate science, but refuse to take the actions necessary in the midst of this climate emergency is unconscionable. We must act ourselves.

The action has already started. Activists removed hundreds of pounds of coal from burn pile #BucketbyBucket and delivered it to the doorsteps of the New Hampshire Legislature and other ineffective political leaders.

Now, they’re calling for backup to finish the job: Can you Join us in Bow, NH, on Saturday, September . 28 for a powerful action to stop fossil fuels and climate chaos?

When we took action in DC this week, we chose as our message based on firefighter’s badges: to symbolize that we were the emergency responders coming to the rescue of a planet that’s on fire. In the same way, this week we’re going to show up and remove a little fuel from the fire that is burning our future.

The coal industry/fossil fuel industry has been reaping profits by stealing from our future for generations. They try to tell us that it’s our fault, that we should change our diet, drive less, travel less. But just 100 companies are responsible for 70% of emissions worldwide. And coal kills 13,000 people per year in the US and 800,000 a year globally, plus countless more deaths as a result the climate crisis driven by fossil fuels.  Any nonviolent act that prevents fossil fuels from being burned is an act of reclaiming a small piece of the future that is being stolen from us.

Activists have campaigned for decades to close down Merrimack. But local elected officials are bought by the fossil fuel industry and lack the political courage to confront the climate crisis. Nobody is going to shut down this power plant for us. But by physically carrying away the coal, removing the fuel from the fire, we are reclaiming our power and our future in our own hands.

This moment calls for mass resistance – the status quo is the enemy. On September 28th we will converge in Bow to remove the fuel from the fires of climate catastrophe – even if we have to do it bucket by bucket. Will you join us?

There are two basic ways to join us in action, and you can learn more about both of them at the nocoalnogas.org website:

• Those pledging to take part in direct action on Saturday should plan to join us Friday night for final preparations and get paired up with an affinity group.
• Those who are not risking arrest can arrive on Saturday morning at 479 River Road, Bow, NH – Park on the west side (the southbound side) of the road south of the plant gate. Gather at the softball field across from the plant entrance to urge the operators of the plant to shut it down, and bear witness to those taking more escalated action. Please bring your own lunch.

It is past time to move past comfortable responses to the climate crisis. As Greta Thunburg said in her speech to UN ministers last week:

“For more than 30 years the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you’re doing enough when the politics and solutions needed are nowhere in sight.”

If you’re ready to take the action we need, not simple what is politically feasible, join us in Bow this weekend and take the fuel from the fires that are burning our planet #BucketbyBucket.