Candlelight Vigil Against the Pipelines

Tonight, from 6:30-8:30pm on Governor's Street at the Virginia Capitol (between East Main and East Broad, Richmond VA), the Chesapeake Climate Action Network is holding a candlelight vigil against two proposed gas pipelines, the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. Last week, the Department of Environmental Quality rubber-stamped necessary permits for the Mountain View pipeline despite the lack of substantive environmental review. The state Water Control Board is meeting today and tomorrow to decide if it will permit the Atlantic Coast pipeline.

McAuliffe has the power to put a stop to both projects, but he's chosen to heed the big donors in the energy sector. The only way to flip him is to demonstrate such overwhelming and disruptive opposition to the pipelines that he understands that his continuing support will incur serious political consequences.

For more info and to RSVP, see the event page. If you have questions or can't find the vigil, call Jamshid Bakhtiari at 757-386-8107.

Two vital State Water Control Board meetings this week

We've got two important State Water Control Board meetings coming up tomorrow and Tuesday (December 11th and 12th 2017). The Water Control Board will be considering- and attempting to approve- permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Last week, they rubber-stamped approvals for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has not yet had a substantive environmental impact review. Go over to No ACP, Free Nelson, and Appalachian Voices for more information. It's very important that the public show up to oppose this pipeline; come for a day, come for an hour, just come for however long you can.

Both the December 11th and 12th meetings will begin at 9:30am, and be held at the Trinity Family Life Center (3601 Dill Road, Richmond VA).

If the meeting regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline is any indication, there will be a substantial police presence.

Pipelines and other fossil fuel related infrastructure are dangerous. Not just in terms of leaks and explosions, although those things will definitely happen and definitely devastate the communities and ecosystems around the project, but in terms of the existential threat posed by climate change. Every multi-billion-dollar pipeline like this is the energy industry doubling-down on climate-change-accelerating power sources. Do you think Dominion Power will bother investing in renewables if it's got a pipeline to send natural gas to harbors for export? Of course not; renewables just aren't a substantive part of their plans, not because they're untenable, but because they will be somewhat less profitable during the transition. We can't just sit by while the architects of the climate apocalypse speed up the disaster.

The People's Pipeline Protest: a Peaceful Sit-In

Thursday, September 14th 2017, from 12-1pm, at all seven Department of Environmental Quality offices throughout the state (see link for addresses), the CCAN Action Fund is holding a peaceful sit-in protest at the doors to demonstrate opposition to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. The proposed fracked gas pipelines would require the seizure of people's homes and farms, would place unacceptable risk on the communities they traversed, and would ultimately accelerate climate change. The project has enjoyed abiding support from governor Terry McAuliffe. From the event description:

"In a culminating appeal, a group of peaceful community leaders led by farmers and landowners from across the state will sit silently across the office entrances in a time-honored act of dignified protest. If you deem these pipelines such a major threat that you’ve considered creative peaceful protest, the time is now. This will likely be your best and perhaps last chance to exercise your freedom of speech in this most powerful way BEFORE any final state decisions are made."

For more info and to RSVP, see the link. DEQ offices are located in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Glen Allen, Woodbridge, Harrisonburg, Roanoke, and Abingdon.