The following letter was sent to Bow plant officials July 5.

July 5, 2017

Dear Officers at the Merrimack Station,

We write to you to let you know of our planned religious pilgrimage through New Hampshire next week, and inviting you to join us at 10AM on Saturday July 15th for a worship service in the manner of Friends (Quakers) in front of the Merrimack Station.

Like many in these times, we are laboring under the weight of knowing that the abundance of cheap energy from fossil fuels that powered economic growth and the creation of the American way of life that we participate in and benefit from must end.

The truth is, as we understand from decades of research, that the continued burning of coal – and our developing reliance of “natural” gas – is incompatible with the continuation of human civilization. Recent reports indicate that if we do not dramatically curtail fossil fuel use, we will burn through the best chance of keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C and keeping civilization largely intact within the next four years.
(See https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-four-years-left-one-point-five-carbon-budget)

That fact causes us no small amount of anguish, and we are yearning for God to show us a way forward to live with integrity and create a world compatible with the truth. We know that these are difficult choices, and we are clear that the pain of this change should not be born by those whose jobs support themselves and their families in this old industry: the workers should be supported in this transition by all of us, as we all will benefit from the change.

Each of us in our own way is complicit with maintaining the status quo, and we are walking next week searching for repentance in our hearts and in our outward lives, asking God’s guidance for the openings of truth to be lived into reality. We come with love, praying that together we may find our way forward in these challenging times. We hope you’ll join us at the plant’s gate at 10AM on July 15th.

In Faith,

Minga Claggett-Borne, Jay O’Hara, John Humphries, Wendy Schlotterbeck, and Peter Blood-Patterson