Goodness, it feels weird coming back from a long break to the one-year anniversary of the very storm that prevented me from starting at Daily Kos on my intended date, to say nothing of what else Aug. 29 represents. Before my vacation and trip to Netroots, the Inflation Reduction Act was on the verge of being signed amid concerns about the provisions built in to cater to Sen. Joe Manchin’s fossil fuel-powered desires. One project seemingly at the top of the West Virginia senator’s wish list, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), could set an unfortunate precedent for future oil and gas infrastructure thanks to the carveouts Manchin insisted upon to get the natural gas pipeline operational. Those carveouts include rethinking the permitting process as a whole.
Specific to MVP, Manchin hopes to shuttle all appeals related to the project to the D.C. Court of Appeals instead of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. As Reuters reports, a ruling earlier this year from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals prevented the companies behind MVP from moving forward with sections of pipeline that would’ve been built in federal forests due to their negative impact on wildlife. The Fourth Circuit is also weighing whether the project runs afoul of state Clean Water Act permits. The D.C. Court of Appeals, on the other hand, previously sided with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and MVP’s owners about adding an additional 75 miles of pipeline to the already massive (and massively over-budget) project.
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It’s worth noting that the companies collectively working on this project represent some of the most notorious polluters in the nation, including NextEra, AltaGas, and ConEd. Equitrans, which has a 48% stake in the project, also has its own history of misdeeds. And, instead of holding those companies to account, FERC chose to extend the pipeline’s completion date to 2026. The project was originally set to come online in late 2018 at a budget of around $3.5 billion. Environmental organizations like the Sierra Club believe the project is nearly 55% completed at a total of $6.6 billion and growing.
“FERC’s decision disregards the experiences of those harmed by Mountain Valley Pipeline, the evidence of environmental degradation and the tens of thousands who weighed in asking for denial of the certificate extension” Appalachian Voices Virginia Field Coordinator Jessica Sims said in a statement. “Granting MVP more time to harm Appalachian communities and water resources is appalling, but FERC’s decision will only strengthen the growing national opposition against this unnecessary fracked-gas pipeline.”
Community members like the activists featured in a recent Mother Jones article on the pipeline continue fighting its development and a rally in Washington, D.C. is scheduled for Sept. 8. Dubbed “No Sacrifice Zones: Appalachian Resistance Comes to DC,” the joint rally with Stop MVP and People vs. Fossil Fuels calls attention to exactly what the many communities at the front lines of the Mountain Valley Pipeline will become if they already haven’t been ravaged by the fossil fuel industry keeping people like Manchin rich and in power.
The term is frequently used in relation to environmental justice, so I’ll quote the movement’s founding father, Robert Bullard, on sacrifice zones:
“Sacrifice zones are often ‘fenceline communities’ of low-income and people of color, or ‘hot spots’ of chemical pollution where residents live immediately adjacent to heavily polluted industries or military bases. Quite often, this pattern of unequal protection constitutes environmental racism.”
No community should be left to die for the sake of oil and gas profits. Showing up and showing out for these “fenceline communities” is crucial if we are to fight the climate crisis and bring about a just transition in the process.
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