Opposing Invenergy from Charlestown to Burrillville

Hiking RI’s North-South Trail

By Steve Ahlquist in Rhode Island’s Future

Mike Lamoureux, Sean Trinque, and Paul Ernest

Three hikers set off from Blue Shutters Town Beach in Charlestown Sunday morning, beginning an intense three day, 78 mile hike along Rhode Island’s North-South Trail.

Their hike is intended to raise awareness about Invenergy‘s unneeded $1 billion fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant planned for Burrillville.

Hikers Sean Trinque, Mike Lamoureux, and Paul Ernest were seen off at a beach side ceremony at which former Governor Lincoln Chafee, State Representative Cale Keable (Democrat, District 47, Burrillville), Brown Professor Timmons Roberts and Burrillville Town Councilor Ray Trinque spoke.

The hikers touched the ocean before starting their hike.

Also in attendance was Charlestown Town Council Vice President Julie Carroccia, who helped secure the permissions needed for the small ceremony.

The entirety of Rhode Island’s North-South Trail is not well documented, so one of the things the hikers hope to do is some mapping of the trail along the way.

The hikers intend to reach the state line at Douglas, Massachusetts Tuesday evening.

Keep Rhode Island Beautiful (KRIP), a non-partisan grassroots community of citizens working to preserve the forests of Burrillville from Invenergy has a hashtag you can use to follow the hikers on their adventures, #kribhike

From the beach you can just make out the
Block Island Wind Farm

In their latest tweet, the hikers announced that they had made it to their first stop, Oak Embers Campground.

Steve Ahlquist  is an award-winning journalist, writer, artist and founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action. The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com and Twitter: @SteveAhlquist