From the Berkshires to Boston, scores of us from around the state will take to the roads between July 14 and 18 to demonstrate the danger that soon could lurk beneath our feet.

That danger will become reality if energy and utility companies are allowed by the state to expand their gas pipeline infrastructure, in order that they might continue to keep making a profit off the fossil fuel that comes from fracturing shale rock with poisonous compounds, which travel with the gas to our homes and businesses through a spider-web of pipelines that leak constantly and are an ever-present danger.

The 43-mile march, dubbed “People Over Pipelines” because the marchers will be following the route of the proposed pipeline projects, is being organized by the climate groups 350MASS and Mass Power Forward, whose goals are two-fold and shared by similar organizations all over the world: the drastic and immediate reduction of emissions caused by fossil fuels that are turning the earth’s atmosphere into a blanket through which the emissions can’t escape; and speeding up the process of switching over to clean, sustainable fuels, such as sun, wind and water.

The South Shore has a particular stake in this event since the Texas energy company Spectra has proposed siting a compressor station on a strip of land that juts into the Fore River Basin and is surrounded by heavy industry, hundreds of residents, schools, a veterans home, a facility for the elderly and, oh yes, the Fore River Bridge, over which thousands of cars travel daily.

One couldn’t pick a more dangerous location to put a volatile structure, which would contribute to the pollution already there, be brightly lit 24/7, make the sound of a jet breaking the sound barrier when the pressure it creates to move the gas has to be relieved — sending CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, key components of global warming — and, as has happened in other places, be capable of exploding.

Sending out this terrifying message on July 16, at the proposed compressor site, and under the aegis of the activist group FRRACS (Fore River Residents Against Compressor Station), will be marchers, and speakers on all subjects relating to the terrible consequences of expanding the gas pipeline infrastructure in Massachusetts. Also there, will be sign-carriers, whose long-time message has been: “You Are in the Incineration Zone,” which refers to the fact that anything within a half mile of a gas explosion could be incinerated — Spectra’s own word.

Following the demonstration in Weymouth, participants will walk along the route of Spectra's proposed Access Northeast pipeline to West Roxbury, where, hard by a working quarry and many residences, Spectra already is laying pipeline. At that point, the marchers will stand with their Boston allies before moving on to Beacon Hill.

For those of us who live in the Northeast and are enjoying this gentle summer of fragrant breezes, gentle waves and balmy sunshine it’s hard to believe that our planet is in so much trouble. Not so, for folks who live in other parts of the country, where, in some states, the heat is so intense it probably seems for many to be coming from the deepest recesses of hell. While, at the same time, other states are submerged in flood waters.

Two winters ago, our own complaints were of a different variety. Snow storms came upon us with ferocious regularity, until many roadways were narrowed to single lanes because there was no place to move the piled up detritus from an endless gray sky.

These dramatic extremes are the best evidence we have that our climate is changing, that the planet is becoming less habitable to all its species, because the changes are happening too fast for us to adapt to them.

Fast is the operative word. It is why grass-roots environmental groups now feel a desperate need to do more to educate the populace and to stop as fast as possible the causes of global warming.

Hard upon us is what scientists call “the tipping point,” the moment when our efforts to lower the emissions that are heating the planet can not be reversed. In that moment our fate will be sealed, the earth will be irretrievably changed. Our home no longer will be welcoming to any of the species now thriving here.

So, more and more of us are marching, demonstrating, lobbying, writing, making movies, not only to alert the masses but to try to match the fierce pressure that our leaders — local, state and federal — are constantly under from corporate entities to maintain the status quo for their bottom line. Never mind rising sea levels, the extinction of species, deadly droughts, and revolutions by populations who don’t have enough to eat because of the droughts.

To that end, the five-day march will culminate, on July 18, at the State House, when participants will appeal to both legislators and the governor to not allow the pipeline expansion to happen. That might seem quixotic, when our opponents are so rich, so powerful, so cozy with our elected officials. But, then, so did the fight between David and Goliath.

Those who wish to take part in the South Shore leg of the march can join the kick-off rally at 9:30 am on July 16, at the site of the proposed compressor station, 6 Bridge St, Weymouth. At 10 a.m. the march will begin; 11:30-11:50 am: Snacks and rally at Quincy Center; Mid-afternoon: snacks at second stop (location TBD); 5 pm: Arrival at Theodore Parker Church, 1859 Centre St, West Roxbury. For more information or to register for any part of the march, visit: peopleoverpipelines.org.

Constance Gorfinkle of Hull is a member of 350MASS South Shore.