Al Gore’s Daughter Arrested While Protesting West Roxbury Pipeline
Photo via AP
Karenna Gore, daughter of former vice president, Nobel Prize laureate, and PowerPoint extraordinaire Al Gore, was arrested Thursday while protesting the West Roxbury natural gas pipeline.
Gore, who graduated from Harvard in 1995, was one of 23 people arrested for obstructing the construction site, lying in the open trench on Grove Street and refusing to move. Members of Boston Fire Department reportedly had to remove the demonstrators on stretchers.
“There are higher moral principles at stake here that merit nonviolent civil disobedience,” Gore told the Herald. “The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should be helping us transition to renewable energy like solar and wind, but instead they almost always defer to the fossil fuel industry.”
Despite local, state, and U.S. elected officials opposing the project, as well as numerous protests, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission won’t budge on its approval of the controversial Spectra pipeline, which opponents say is not only unnecessary, but presents a danger to residents.
“It’s our obligation to safely and securely operate these facilities, and we can neither tolerate nor allow trespassing,” a spokesperson for Spectra told the Herald. “The fire department had to respond to this incident to safely extract the individuals, and we don’t condone actions that take first responders away from their duties.”
Gore was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, and resisting arrest, according to police. She and the other protesters are scheduled to be arraigned in West Roxbury District Court Friday.
