Conference Minister Jim Antal, Associate Conference Minister Kelly Gallagher, and other representatives form the Conference were on hand Monday, Sept. 8, when a District Attorney dramatically announced he was dropping charges against environmental activists who had blocked a massive coal shipment with a lobster boat.
In May 2013, Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara used a lobster boat, the Henry David T, to block a shipment of 40,000 tons of coal to the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, MA, the largest coal plant in New England. They were charged with conspiracy, disturbing the peace and motor vessel violations and faced up to several years in jail. (more at: lobsterboatblockade.org)
In what Conference Minister & President Jim Antal called a case of "law bowing to reality," The Bristol County District Attorney, Sam Sutter, on Monday dropped the conspiracy charges and reduced the other charges to civil infractions, saying that he saw the need to take leadership on climate change. He called climate change “one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced” and told a cheering crowd that he would join them at the People’s Climate March in New York City on Sept. 21.
In May 2013, Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara used a lobster boat, the Henry David T, to block a shipment of 40,000 tons of coal to the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, MA, the largest coal plant in New England. They were charged with conspiracy, disturbing the peace and motor vessel violations and faced up to several years in jail. (more at: lobsterboatblockade.org)
In what Conference Minister & President Jim Antal called a case of "law bowing to reality," The Bristol County District Attorney, Sam Sutter, on Monday dropped the conspiracy charges and reduced the other charges to civil infractions, saying that he saw the need to take leadership on climate change. He called climate change “one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced” and told a cheering crowd that he would join them at the People’s Climate March in New York City on Sept. 21.