August 27, 2012
Protesting fracking - in Albany
There were at least a dozen Dryden residents in Albany today, including two families, joining the Don't Frack New York! rally and march.
Sungiva settles into the crowd.
One of my favorite protest signs was completely simple: the New York State flag.
Excelsior at the opening speeches.
The march was slow and steady, moving from the Corning City Preserve on the Hudson River over I-787 and the railroad tracks on the pedestrian bridge, then through the streets of Albany to the State Capitol, with a special pause at the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Marching.
Once we reached the Capitol, people settled in to listen to speakers. I was happy to see a few state employee IDs among the crowd, I think people taking their lunch during the event. At one point my ears perked up, noticing a familiar voice: Martha Robertson, Chair of the Tompkins County Legislature and representative from the western half of the Town of Dryden. She even (wisely!) kept it short and to the point.
Speakers platform.
The strongest conversation I had, though, wasn't during the event. We stopped at a diner in Duanesburg, and sat in a booth next to two people talking about today. They recognized us from the march - I suspect because of Sungiva and Konrad - and asked where we were from. They were delighted to hear Dryden, and said Dryden was really leading the way. At first I thought they meant the craziness with the Anschutz lawsuit, but they meant more than that - that Dryden was willing to take a stand with a ban and stick with it. Unfortunately, they were in a town where the conversation wasn't going so well.
I'm delighted to live in a town that makes people excited for all the right reasons. I just wish there were better ways to share more than inspiration.
I've posted a gallery with a lot more pictures, including pictures of the Dryden folks I saw there. (And apologies once again that they all came from my cell phone, which is a generally lousy camera for this kind of thing.)
Posted by simon at August 27, 2012 11:13 PM in energy , excursions , politics (state)Note on photos