There was more than the usual lurking going on Thursday afternoon in Lurker Park in East Hanover, New Jersey. More than 50 people turned out to protest the Obama administration’s fast-tracking of a proposed electrical power line that would bring coal-fired power to New Jersey. The protesters say we should be using less, not more, coal-fired power and new information now shows that clean energy solutions can keep the lights on in New Jersey.

The proposed power line, called the Susquehanna Roseland line, will run right through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. The power line would connect coal plants in Pennsylvania to consumers in New Jersey. Earthjustice attorney Abigail Dillen was at the rally and, in this video, spoke to why conservation groups and local officials are opposing the project.

Drops in energy demand and the success of energy efficiency programs now mean the transmission project isn’t needed in 2012 as its developers originally claimed, and it may not be needed at all.

Earthjustice and the Eastern Environmental Law Center are filing a brief with the New Jersey Superior Court on behalf of Environment New Jersey, The New Jersey Highlands Coalition, Sierra Club - New Jersey Chapter, Stop the Lines, and New Jersey Environmental Federation, seeking to force the Board of Public Utilities to reconsider its approval of the Susquehanna-Roseland electrical transmission line.