Last night in Bainbridge, NY, a public forum was held for the Leatherstocking Gas, LLC, distribution pipeline. As mentioned in another post, Piping the Anti-Gas Agenda in Coventry, this pipeline is for distribution purposes which basically means it will bring gas to the end-user so they can heat their homes, cook their food, etc. Without this pipeline, residents of this town will be forced to find other sources for their gas — or do without it altogether.

Anti-Gas Turn Out

I received word earlier in the day that anti-energy protesters planned on rallying outside of Bainbridge’s town hall, in the same fashion as the Coventry Town Board meeting. One could only assume their intentions were to make such a disturbance that residents would either stay home or not be able to attend the meeting. I think Josh Fox calls this process civil disobedience. Below is some video of this anti-protest and its less than rational comments:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYisxWrm4rk

Whatever the protesters hoped to accomplish by standing outside of Town Hall, in the roads, holding signs, and yelling absurd comments, I can assure you they did not succeed. Here is a great article from a local news station, WBGN 12 Action News, covering the event.

The residents of Bainbridge clearly did not take kindly to protesters fron out of town coming to stop their right to access affordable, reliable natural gas. As you can see from these pictures, residents showed up in force, outnumbering the protesters 4 to 1 (by my count). The sheer presence of this pro-gas crowd, at times, even drowned out the protesters attempts to use sound equipment to amplify their strange chants.

Here are a few interviews with some residents of Bainbridge discussing the pipeline, and the protest.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UijmMpoc1UY

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIltkDd36kw

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SACknpaPpms

Here is an update from another town board meeting which happened earlier in the day.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLFI5pQsWss

Final Thoughts

The initiative by the residents of Bainbridge shows how coming together organically for a sensible cause will win out over feigned outrage and choreographed protests every day. I applaud the motivation and courage of all the residents of Bainbridge who did not let the disruptive and sometimes scary nature of these protestors dissuade them from showing up and making their views known.