The Yale College Democrats and Yale Student Environmental Coalition joined a rally in Hartford to stop fracked gas expansion.

Emily Khym

10:57 pm, Feb 12, 2025

Staff Reporter

Phoenix Boggs, Contributing Photographer

The Yale College Democrats and Yale Student Environmental Coalition rallied alongside other environmental advocates to stop Project Maple on Tuesday in Hartford.

“Stop Project Maple” is an ongoing campaign in Connecticut that aims to oppose the expansion of a gas pipeline from New York to Massachusetts. Tuesday’s protest targeted Eversource, a utility company interested in purchasing additional gas from the project.

“Yesterday, we were at Eversource calling on them to both stop funding fossil fuels and stop purchasing our electricity and our heating from fossil fuels,” said Sena Wazer ENV ’26, a Stop Project Maple intern. “At the same time, we also wanted to call them out for having prices that are really unaffordable and taking advantage, especially of low-income ratepayers in Connecticut.”

Wazer claimed that Connecticut’s electricity bills are 91 percent higher than the national average due to companies such as Eversource. 

The two organizations hosted a poster-making event the night before where students made posters that read “Stop Project Maple” and “End Ever Sour.” Yalies went to Hartford Tuesday afternoon to join the protests.

“We started by listening to the organizers as they gave speeches,” said Christian Thomas ’26, Yale College Democrats president. “We participated in a die-in to represent the potential climate catastrophe that can come from oil pipelines like Project Maple.”

The protest included listening to speeches and a march to Eversource’s headquarters in Hartford. Alycia D. Jenkins, an organizer for the Connecticut chapter of the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization, started the rally by reading one of her poems.

Wazer and other activists also gave speeches on the environmental harms of fossil fuels as well as the need for clean energy. The protest called on Eversource to stop funding fossil fuels, stop purchasing electricity and heating from fossil fuels and address unaffordable prices, particularly affecting low-income ratepayers in Connecticut.

Eversource did not immediately respond to the News’ request for comment.

“It was really impactful to stand there out in the freezing cold holding our signs and seeing other people who came out from all over CT to raise awareness about the harms that Project Mapel will incur upon our communities in Connecticut and the broader New England area,” Phoenix Boggs ’26, YSEC political outreach chair, said.

Boggs hopes that joining this rally can act as a springboard for YSEC to be more involved in policy advocacy work.

For Yale Dems, local clean energy and sustainability is a priority in campaigning. 

“Our aim was to advocate for a more sustainable approach to gas transport and consumption and urge Connecticut lawmakers to support clean energy options,” said Jack Dozier ’27, Yale Dems communications chair. “We were incredibly excited to co-sponsor the trip to Hartford as we recognize that these are incredibly important priorities, especially in a time when many environmental resources and whole chunks of the EPA are being gutted.”

Stop Project Maple is hosting a workshop on writing a Letter to the Editor on Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. online.