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Dedham selectman doesn't wait for court action; tries to block pipeline construction himself, gets arrested
By adamg on Thu, 06/18/2015 - 10:29am
Dedham Selectman Mike Butler just arrested to protest West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline #StopSpectra #pipelineWRox pic.twitter.com/SyrCRS0Jyv
— Emily Kirkland (@ERKirkland) June 18, 2015
Earlier:
Feds allow West Roxbury pipeline construction even as they reconsider their approval of it
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Comments
I'm sure he will be treated
I'm sure he will be treated with the same vitriol and angery comments here that the people arrested on 93 were a few months back. (Obviously I know he won't, he's white and older than 30).
Early reports have him merely
Early reports have him merely walking onto a construction site, not chaining himself to a barrel full of concrete on a major transportation artery causing a massive rush hour traffic snarl, but we'll wait for more info to decide if we want to get angery.
I'm sure his intent wasn't the same.
Both acts of civil disobedience, this one more heroic and less terroristic in my opinion.
terrorism
ter·ror·ism
/ˈterəˌrizəm/
noun
1. The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.
2. Any unlawful actions committed by those with whom I do not share political beliefs
Thanks for clearing that up for us, Pete! Next on our collective list of priorities: burning Fenway to the ground, for repeatedly fouling up traffic in Longwood whenever the Sox play at home. Because apparently that's terrorism.
blocking a highway sure can be seen as a terrorist act.
If you are delaying emergency services.
So yea, I stand by my statement that this incident is less terroristic than the one with people putting cement blocks on a highway.
(Plus there are many different definitions of terrorism)
I'm sure that, given the
I'm sure that, given the proximity of Fenway Park to the Longwood area hospitals, more than one person has died who might have lived had traffic not been backed up due to a Red Sox game.
That, of course, does not make the Red Sox into a terrorist organization, even though their actions (encouraging large numbers of people to converge on a single destination at a specific time) resulted in deaths.
terrorism
You don't think it's fair to equate the 9/11 WTC attack with a Dedham selectman asking the police to arrest him at a gas pipeline job site?
Relax...
I know that in this age of fearful mass hysteria, everything is "terrorism". But your comments are a stratch...at best.
Emergency services delay = canard
While I think the 93 protesters were self-important derps, the assertions that emergency services were significantly impacted by their actions has been pretty clearly debunked.
By continuing to reference it and use loaded terms like 'terrorist' to include only certain attention-hounds, you are exhibiting a disappointing ideological bias. In addition, an argument can be made that the widespread lowering of the bar wrt the definition of 'terror' may lead to a 'boy who cried wolf' outcome, where the use of hyperbole increases anxiety among the general public in the short-term, but then is followed by a rebound effect of increased cynicism in the long-term.
Since there actually are people in the world who would like to hurt and kill Americans, it behooves us to be discerning. If you are walking through the jungle, then assuming every shadow is a tiger is just as bad a survival strategy as never looking for tigers at all.
If you are delaying emergency services...
So all those people in cars, blocking the box during rush hour, are........terrorists?!
Wonder why the police aren't giving any attention to terrorism like that.
Emergency services is only one part of that....
They disrupted an economic activity (thousands of people driving to work) in order to make a political point. Their Intent was to block traffic. That's the difference between a Red Sox game and someone's negligence blocking the box.
I'm sure he will be treated....
As well he should be treated with similar vitriol. He broke the law; his behavior should be above that. By the way, there were many white fools over 30 stopping traffic, causing dangerous conditions, and bothering working commuters that day on 93 that were treated with angry, (not *angery), comments.
I'm going to call anyone names,
but I will say that you are being ridiculous if you think this is analgous to the BLM protest.
He is being arrested for trying to physically impede the construction of a pipeline at the worksite.
BLM "succeeded" by blocking a major highway at rush hour.
You are comparing apples to starfruit.
civil disobedience
Both protests were acts of civil disobedience, the one yesterday was blocking a work site, the one in January was blocking an Interstate in two places, both were non-violent. The January protest was significantly more disruptive.
What's more interesting to me is the issues they're protesting;
The neighbors would be happy to show you what blasting has done to the foundations of their homes. This while distribution pipelines throughout Boston are leaking like a sieve and you, not the gas company, pays for the leaked gas.
In 2012, researchers from BU and Duke mapped methane leaks in Boston and the NY Times published an article about it here, Mapping Gas Leaks from Aging Urban Pipes
Remember, fracked gas was supposed to be a bridge fuel to a renewable energy future. Spending billions on new pipelines in Mass (gas ratepayers pays for new pipelines but they wanted the electricity ratepayer to pick up the tab for new pipelines!!) kind of puts the word lie to the premise, bridge fuel. Gas burns more cleanly than heating oil but it's not and better when you factor in methane leaks from well head to your stove or furnace.
In addition, it turns out that electricity generators who said a gas shortage in Mass will cause an electricity rate spike were crying wolf. We got the rate spike because they convinced rate regulators (in advance of the winter) but all the data says says the gas shortage never materialized. New rates will reflect the over billing.
Enough about gas, let's talk about electricity. The cost of generating your own electricity with solar is affordable in Mass. and what you don't use you can sell at market price. The state legislature has made this possible for the greater good. It gets installed on your roof. This srtategy reduces peak demands on the system. That's what electricity system are built to handle, peak demands.
I'm no expert so if I've gotten anything wrong, let me know.
Did he block any emergency vehicles in the process?
Cause I remember that one ambulance being re-directed as one of the bigger issues people had with the Occupy 93 clowns.
Of course, emergency vehicles are blocked daily in this city by cars but thats ok because of reasons.
From the looks of it, no
When I look at the picture I see plenty of space for an emergency vehicle to get through. Plus, if the arresting officers hears sirens, I'm sure they could have moved everything to the side of the road because the selectman wasn't in a barrel filled with concrete.
Something that nobody has
Mentioned. This man is an employed contributing member of society. Not an unemployed art major living at mommy and daddy's $1m home in JP.
"I'm sure he will be treated
"I'm sure he will be treated with the same vitriol and angry comments here that the people arrested on 93 were a few months back. (Obviously I know he won't, he's white and older than 30)."
This is simply a foolish and ill-informed comment.
The people who blocked I-93 were protesting events that happened in Missouri and New York. I'm certain that most people in Boston and Massachusetts agree that the heavy handed actions of the metro St. Louis police were simply wrong.
Yet some folks feel that their fellow citizens are not outraged enough because they continue to drive to and from work everyday and spend time with family and friends. If I understand their argument correctly (please correct me if I'm mistaken), If drivers get stuck in traffic, perhaps they'll put their radios on and learn about St. Louis.. Or perhaps that if there are protesters who are so upset that they are willing to risk paying fines and jail time.
Just as the monthly mass bike rides last year that blocked intersections and snarled traffic, did not help win over supporters of urban cyclists., the I-93 protesters did something else than help their cause.
Whatever the case, IMO, they most likely pushed some folks away from their cause.
To contrast this with the Dedham Selectman, I imagine that he views his act of civil disobedience as part of his leadership position, rather than to just annoy fellow citizens.
So, when is the Town
going to suspend Mr. Butler from his duties pending the outcome of his case?
The town shouldn't have any say.
This guy was elected. If the people want him out, then fine. But the Town should have nothing to do with it.
As a resident of Dedham, I
As a resident of Dedham, I want more of this from the town's representatives.
As another resident of
As another resident of Dedham, I'd vote for Mr. Butler TWICE if I could!
Do you mean selectmen or town meeting members?
Pretty much anyone can be a town meeting member. They're the ones who represent the people of Dedham. The selectman are like the City Council and it's a lot harder to get elected to a seat.
It seems like it would be a lot of fun being a town meeting member and I don't think it's that hard to get elected.
Boston City Councillors?
So my question is...where are the Boston City Councillors who represent West Roxbury on this issue? Are they supporting the pipeline, opposing it, or what? This issue has been a big nonstarter for most people "there is nothing we can do...it's just gas lines, what the big deal?" I think it is cool that the "suburban townies" of Dedham are taking it to the streets on this one.
Seriously?
Where have you been? Just look around this site. Use the search bar. Here are two results, there are more:
http://www.universalhub.com/2014/expert-tells-west-roxbury-residents-the...
http://www.universalhub.com/2015/councilors-willing-sue-keep-high-pressu...
point taken
I've been a mile away, thinking about a half dozen other things, having a job, raising a family, etc. In Westwood, the issue has not attracted a lot of attention, but there is a public forum next Wednesday night with Rep. McMurtry, State Sen. Rush, and reps from Spectra and the Sierra Club. I thought I was pretty informed on local issues so, given as little as I know on this topic, I can tell you that 95% of the people who are not daily readers of Uhub have no idea it's going on, and, because they have not seen any media coverage of any elected leaders opposition, may have the impression that the project is a routine infrastructure thing opposed by a small group of environmentalists. It changes the perception to know that in fact, most of the local leaders are very much opposed to this project.
What's this guy's point?
As I like to note on this issue, I like to rip on West Roxbury. It is one of the most self-important neighborhoods in the city, but unlike the rest it also likes to think of itself as not a part of Boston most of the time. That said, running a large natural gas line and having a facility across the street from a constant blast zone just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
However, how could this thing be impacting Dedham in a bad way? Is he anti-natural gas in general? Is he proposing that gas electricity plans be converted to coal power or nuclear? Replacing gas furnaces to oil? Changing the CNG buses that the T runs through Dedham to diesel?
Don't get me wrong, I support West Roxbury (on this issue), but they could still run the line through Dedham and avoid the Grove all the same.
shared interests
Well, in Dedham, the pipeline will run down the center of town and under a soccer field, so I think that is the source of the concern.
It is interesting to me that someone would criticize another town for getting involved in an issue they feel has no direct negative impact on that town. Usually, it's the other way around; i.e. it is hard to get people interested in something that does not run through their backyard and then they are accused of not caring about the people who do get stuck with it. Next time, it could be you.
On the substantive merits of the complaints, I'm still not sure. We have gas lines running all over the place and it's far less intrusive than big giant power lines above ground or fuel trucks rumbling through neighborhoods. But it seems to me this is a much larger and riskier line and that perhaps it will benefit no one in the local area, but just allow Spectra to push gas to new markets. It should concern everyone that these corporations and federal regulatory bodies that nobody has ever heard of before a controversy erupts are able to basically do whatever they want and when people complain about it, they are marginalized as a bunch of ignorant fools. Then, when elected officials stand up, they get smacked down too and the reality of the power structure starts to really sink in...that a selectman, city councillor, or U.S. Congressman has no more power and influence on this issue than anyone else.