On September 8th, environmental activists Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara came to Fall River District Court to stand trial for criminal charges that included disturbing the peace and conspiracy. The two men had anchored a lobster boat – aptly named the “Henry David T” – at the entrance to the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts a year earlier in order to block a shipment of coal from reaching the plant. The Brayton Point Power Station is a coal burning plant which has, over the last fifty years, emitted more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other coal plant in New England. As a result of the actions of Mr. Ward and Mr. O’Hara, the Somerset police and the Massachusetts State Police dive team had to respond to Brayton Point to remove the anchor of the lobster boat from the riverbed floor so that the entrance to the plant was once again clear.
As the District Attorney of Bristol County, I oversee the prosecution of approximately 25,000 criminal cases each year, as well as the investigation of several hundred matters, including all unattended deaths, suspicious deaths, homicides, major drug trafficking, gun trafficking, and the like. We have in Bristol County four cities, sixteen towns and a population of approximately 550,000. As I walked into Fall River District Court last Monday accompanied by the trial prosecutor, Robert Kidd, I was acutely aware of the various responsibilities I had to fulfill on this case. The first was to my oath, sworn to at the outset of my term, to uphold the law in each case. The second was to those whom I serve every single day: the people of Bristol County. And standing alongside these imperatives was my responsibility to my conscience, to my own personal set of beliefs. These beliefs naturally and necessarily inform every decision, every policy and every practice I have authority over as the district attorney. Finally, I also wanted to take into consideration the taxpayers of Somerset who had to foot the bill for the overtime costs for the local officers who responded.
All of this was on my mind as I walked into the courthouse and I am completely confident that each one of these concerns was addressed in the resolution which was reached between myself and the defense attorneys, Matthew Pawa and Joan Fund. The conspiracy charge was dismissed. The other charges were reduced to civil infractions. And Mr. Ward and Mr. O’Hara agreed to reimburse the town of Somerset for the police overtime costs.
Following the conclusion of the case in court I decided to read a short statement to the local media assembled outside the courthouse, simply explaining my reasons for taking the action I did on the case. I wasn’t looking to grandstand and I wasn’t thinking about any aspiration for higher office. There were only a handful of reporters outside and as I recall no television cameras. I just wanted to articulate the factors that went into the decision I made and express my fervent agreement with the view of the activists present that climate change is a crisis that demands much more decisive action on the part of the political leadership in this country. So I walked outside the courthouse, read a short speech, received fervid applause from the 100 or so activists who were present and then walked back inside the courthouse to my office expecting that would be the end of it. In fact, it was just the beginning. The statewide and national attention and publicity has surpassed anything else I have done in seven and a half years as District Attorney, including the arrest and prosecution of former NFL All-Pro Aaron Hernandez.
But I welcome the attention and the spotlight because this will enable me to do more about the critical issue of climate change. I also accept the inevitable criticism from the right because it goes with the territory I have arrived at by being outspoken on this issue. And my constituents in Bristol County seem pleased with my action on the case and my statements afterwards. We have received numerous complimentary phone calls to the office and no negative ones. You see, here in Bristol County, we are framed by the coal burning plant at Brayton Point to the west and a nuclear reactor in the adjourning county in Plymouth to the east. The sooner both are shuttered the better for the people of the entire region. The plant at Brayton Point has the ignominious distinction of being the largest emitter of CO2 in all of New England for many years running. Last year, the American Lung Association gave our county an “F” in their State of the Air report, largely because of Brayton Point’s emissions. Even though the plant is scheduled to close in 2017, the two hulking, cooling towers, spewing steam and visible for miles, are a constant reminder that the transition from coal to clean energy is not taking place nearly fast enough.
When I decided to dismiss the criminal charges against Ken Ward and Jay O’Hara my views on the damage being created by the moribund coal burning plant at Brayton Point and the rapidly escalating crisis caused by climate change spurred my decision. The response to what I did that morning and to what I said afterwards has inspired me to try to do even more. I said that day at the courthouse entrance that I wanted my office of 130 people to take a leadership role on this issue. We are working on that goal now. I will continue to speak out about the gravity of the crisis and what I believe can be done to ameliorate it every chance I get. I will take more steps to make my office a model of energy efficiency and conservation. This Sunday, I will be marching with my family and members of my office in the People’s Climate March. Two days later, as we all know, Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, will call to order his summit on climate change. We hope the sounds of our voices on the march will still be reverberating during the summit.