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Friend, Yesterday I was honored to take part in a day of action in which a coalition of activists demanded that Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe withdraw his support for fracked gas pipelines like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), and stand with the people of Virginia, whose property rights and environmental safety are being trampled on.1 The ACP, which is being proposed by Dominion, LLC (the same fracked gas barons that brought us the Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas [LNG] export facility in Maryland) would transport fracked gas 554 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. And to make matters worse, a section of Virginia's constitution allows corporations like Dominion to enter private property of citizens for surveying the route of perilous pipelines without their permission. Well, our coalition had a lot to say about that and many other things associated with the ACP. After a brief press conference, we delivered over 5,000 signatures, including yours, in a stack of boxes to Governor McAuliffe from concernes citizens who are demanding that their property rights be upheld and Virginia get of the pipe to climate catastrophe -- Thanks to all of you that have already taken action. The signatures definitely got the attention of the governor's Public Liaison who was described by McAuliffe staffers as being "overwhelmed" by the public reaction. That means our voices are being heard, but it does not mean we're close to finished.
After the press conference, we took part in a meeting with the governor's Deputy Secretary for Natural Resources (DSNR). During the meeting we discussed the many issues that Virginians have with the ACP including the governor's staunch support for it. We explained the issues we have with the governor's stance and even provided the DSNR with a recent market report indicating that LNG facilities and infrastructure are fast becoming obsolete.2 The meeting might as well have never happened. Because, literally, as soon as we left, the governor released a statement inidcating that he will continue to support the ACP and other projects like it because, "they reduce energy costs and creates jobs."3 I guess our discussion about the ACP being more about Dominion's profits than lowering enrgy costs, and the small number of permanent jobs it would create (36) are too little for the high cost of climate catastrope went in one ear and quickly out the other. Clearly we have more work to do get the governor to understand that Virginians want a fracked gas free future. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved. Thank you for all you do, Anthony and The Environmental Action Pipeline Poppers 1. Rogers-Wright, Anthony. Are VA Property Rights Fracked? Environmental Action. April 8, 2015. 3. Bahorich, Susan. Virginians Hope Pipeline Plan Runs Out of Gas. NBC 12. April 7, 2014. |
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