No Pipeline Bike Ride and Action

MEDIA ADVISORY

press@times-up.org

Monica Hunken 917-399-7563

Benjamin Shepard – 917 586 7952

Time’s Up! Stages Awareness Ride to alert the community to the dangers of Spectra Pipeline.

Pipeline threatens West Village, the Highline and Meat Packing District   

No Pipeline Bike Ride and Action

Saturday May 12, 2012

2:00 PM meet at Union Square leave from Mathieu’s Street Memorial on Meserole and Morgan
3:00 PM  Pier 54 (Hudson River and 13th st.)

NEW YORK, NY (May 12, 2012) – On May 12, 2012, Times-Up! will stage an awareness bicycle ride travelling throughout the West Village sounding the alarm about the proposed Spectra pipeline.  Throughout the ride, activists dressed as windmills and toxic chemicals will alert the public about the dangers of the pipeline and demand a green, sustainable New York, New Jersey, and world.

This is a skate/blade/stroller/pedestrian-friendly action!  

Texas company Spectra Energy is hoping to build a 16 mile ‘natural’ gas pipeline from New Jersey to NY, that would run under a school, a military base, many homes, businesses, the Holland Tunnel, ending at a storage tank in the West Village, directly under the new Whitney Museum at the base of Highline park.  The pipeline is proposed as a conduit to transport natural gas obtained via the highly controversial and dangerous method of hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as “fracking.”

"Bloomberg is trying to fast-track a disaster plan that will leave New Yorkers vulnerable to explosions, carcinogenic exposure, radon risks, decrease in property value and a reliance on an unsustainable fossil fuel,” noted organizer Monica Hunken.  “ We have plenty of alternative green energy resources available to us now and need to stand up against this dirty plan!"

“Why is a pipeline even necessary?  We already have gas. We use it in our stoves. The infrastructure is already in place,” noted Times Up! volunteer Benjamin Cerf.  “It would seem Spectra wishes to build its pipeline, forcing an artificial "need" to drill NYC's Water Reservoir.”

The ride will culminate at 3pm at Pier 54 (Hudson River and 13th st.) where it will be joined by Sane Energy Project, OWS Environmental Solidarity and Reverend Billy and the Church of Earthalujah for a procession and radical, colorful blessing!

The ride and event will conclude at a garden clean up in the Lower East Side. We will actively contribute to maintaining and celebrating our community public spaces! La Plaza Cultural @ 9th st. and Ave. C 

Top 10 reasons why the Spectra Pipeline is a terrible idea: 1) It’s a danger to local residents. 2) Spectra has a history of safety issues. 3) Pipeline regulation and oversight is sorely inadequate. 4) We don’t need more gas, demand is flat. 5) The gas is intended for export. 6) Projected supplies are limited. Shale gas is a bubble. 7) It increases the demand to frack. 8) Gas will worsen, not improve our air quality. 9) It could increase our risk from Radon. 10) It’s the wrong direction. Our future is renewable. More info:http://saneenergyproject.org/

“Investing in a pipeline will delay our switch to clean renewable energy and implementation of comprehensive energy conservation programs - these can also create more jobs and generate a handsome
payback for the city and our communities,”noted Wendy Brawer, founder of Green Map System, an environmental group which has charted initiatives that offer a real alternative. http://GreenMap.org/nyc-energy.  “New York City lacks a Department of Energy, and this impacts our  ability to systematically address a host of issues generated by our overuse of finite fossil fuels.”

 Reclaim our commons- air, water, earth, get off fossil fuels and wake up to renewable revolution!