The group SAGE–Safe, Affordable, Good Energy for Tennessee–will host an event Thursday focused on the proposed Upper Cumberland Pipeline.
Event Coordinator Breanna Ortner said the event is part of SAGE Tennessee’s current efforts against Enbridge’s Ridgeline Pipeline expansion. They said it will showcase short films about previous pipeline projects that were halted by community involvement to show people they can make a difference.
“I just want to emphasize that we are a grassroots organization; we’re just a bunch of concerned citizens–regular people,” Ortner said. “And also know that we absolutely 100 percent want to achieve a means to an end through 100 percent legal means.”
Ortner said that people can sometimes attach a negative label to environmental activists because of a stigma that they only perform political stunts to make a point. They said this event will showcase different short films from many different artists and periods to disprove this stigma.
Ortner said this event will also be a great opportunity to show people how they can fight Enbridge and cases like it. They said there is always time in big cases like this because construction planning takes so long.
“There’s a process to this and there’s a process for us to make our voices heard in that,” Ortner said. “There are different comment periods where people can and should make their voices heard.”
Ortner said Tennessee is a great place to be spreading awareness because our state has a lack of environmental regulations. They said this can be fixed, but it is up to the people.
“If you look at things like the Kingston Coal Ash Spill and various egregious things that have happened there’s a labor cost to that, there’s an environmental cost to that, and of course, these are things that have been overlooked in the past.”
If you wish to attend, the film event will be held at the Waterloo Venue at 145 Virgil Murphy Circle in Cookeville.
