NOT TOO LATE to Pray & Write to FERC
Environmental groups oppose four natural gas pipeline projects in Virginia and West Virginia
From an Article by Tamara Dietrich, Daily Press (Newport News, VA), October 26, 2015
A coalition of environmental and citizens groups is urging federal regulators to collectively assess the need for four regional pipeline projects that would carry fracked natural gas through Virginia, including one that would spur off into Hampton Roads.
The Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Environment Virginia and Sierra Club Virginia are among 31 groups that submitted a letter Monday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission calling for a comprehensive Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement of the pipelines, rather than individual reviews.
“We believe the pipelines are unnecessary,” environmental attorney Joe Lovett told reporters in a conference call Monday. “And that if FERC reviews them together, and together with existing infrastructure, it will determine there is currently enough capacity in pipelines that are already in place to carry the gas from the Marcellus (shale) region south to Virginia and North Carolina.”
Lovett is with the West Virginia-based Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
Virginia already has about 3,000 miles of natural gas pipeline, but almost none are the big 42-inch lines that three of the projects propose, the letter states. The fourth project would expand and upgrade an existing 36-inch pipeline.
The four projects are the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Appalachian Connector Pipeline and the WB XPress Project, all of which are proposed for the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountain region of Virginia and West Virginia.
Dominion Resources hopes to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in partnership with three other utility companies at a cost of about $5 billion. It would stretch for some 550 miles from Harrison County, W.Va., through Virginia to Robeson County, N.C.
At the North Carolina border, a lateral spur would head northeast through Southampton and Suffolk counties to end in Chesapeake.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline a “game-changer” for the state that would create 8,800 jobs during construction, $14.6 million in tax revenue and about $1.42 billion in economic activity.
But others say that line and the others are not only unnecessary but would threaten sensitive ecosystems, aquifers and wells, and could be damaged by earthquakes such as the 5.9 temblor that struck the state in 2011.
“Earthquakes, like heart attacks, don’t come with a warning,” said state Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke. “The one in Louisa County came as a huge surprise to everybody. … And if it happens again, a 42-inch, high-pressure natural gas pipeline, the likelihood of destruction is very high. And, if ruptured, would explode and have a huge, disastrous impact on the region.”
Opponents also argue that much of the natural gas to be transported in the lines would be bound for Europe, where it commands a higher price, and that the U.S. should be pursuing more renewable energy, instead.
See also: Appalachian Mountain Advocates
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Friends, Breaking News! Keystone XL pipeline rejected
We just made history together. 4 years to the day after we surrounded the White House, President Obama has rejected the Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline!
This is huge!!!
A head of state has never rejected a major fossil fuel project because of its climate impacts before. The President’s decision sets the standard for what climate action looks like: standing up to the fossil fuel industry, and keeping fossil fuels in the ground.
Make no mistake: this victory belongs to us, the movement. President Obama’s courage today is a reflection of the courage shown by thousands of people who have sat in, marched, organized, (and opened a lot of emails) across North America against this pipeline.
This fight started with First Nations in Canada where the tar sands are extracted, and spread to farmers, ranchers and tribal nations along the pipeline route. Since then people from all walks of life have joined hands against Keystone, and the 830,000 barrels per day of destructive tar sands oil it would have carried through the country to be burned.
Together, we have shown what it takes to win: a determined, principled, unrelenting grassroots movement that takes to the streets whenever necessary, and isn’t afraid to put our bodies on the line.
Politicians in Washington DC didn’t make this happen. Our movement did. We want to thank everyone who has been a part of this campaign — from calling Congress to getting arrested on the White House fence.
You can join us in appreciating everyone who made this day possible by co-signing our thank you card to the movement — we’ll deliver personalized versions of the card with your messages to everyone who has led or attended an action against Keystone XL since 2011. Click here to sign the thank you card to the #NoKXL Movement.
Powered by our organizing, the tide is turning against the fossil fuel industry — every major new project they propose is being met by organized opposition on the ground, and politicians are lining up to stand behind our movement and say that we must keep the vast majority of fossil fuels underground.
Resistance is growing because the fossil fuel industry is more reckless than ever: from Texas where the Southern leg of Keystone XL pumps toxic tar sands, to Alberta where Big Oil foolishly plans to expand its mines, to California where they want to frack during a historic drought, to the enormous coal pits of Appalachia and Australia.
We have more tools than ever to work with. A strong fossil fuel resistance is already taking shape across the globe. Since we began fighting Keystone XL, the movement for divestment from fossil fuels has grown into a global powerhouse able to move tens of billions of dollars and undercut the social license of the fossil fuel industry. Fracking bans have stopped drilling in towns, counties and now whole states across the country. Communities are seizing their energy futures by demanding 100% renewable power in record numbers.
And when world leaders meet in Paris later this year, they’ll do so knowing what our movement can do, and what climate action really looks like: keeping fossil fuels in the ground.
Today we can approach all of our work with new eyes. We know that we can fight, and we can win.
This isn’t just a victory for the climate movement — it’s a victory for everyone who believes in the power of organized people, from the streets of Missouri, to the border crossings of Arizona, to the hills of South Dakota and Nebraska.
Together, we’re on the path to real, substantive change.
>>> With joy, and immense gratitude, Bill McKibben
The 350.org Keystone XL pipeline fighting team:
Bill, Cam, Clayton, David, Deirdre, Duncan, Jamie, Jason, Joshua, Linda, Matt, May, Phil, Rae and Sara
While We’ve Been Debating Keystone XL, The U.S. Has Grown Its Pipeline Network By Almost A Quarter
By Katie Valentine, Think Progress, March 16, 2015
Americans have been waiting for the federal government to come to a decision over the Keystone XL pipeline for more than six years, enduring countless protests, Congressional hearings and even a Presidential veto over the controversial project. But during that time, pipeline construction in the U.S. hasn’t slowed — in fact, it’s surged.
The U.S. has added 11,600 miles of oil pipeline in the last decade, increasing its network of pipelines shipping oil through the country by almost a quarter, according to a report published Monday by the Associated Press. Since 2012, according to the AP, more than 50 pipelines have been constructed, approved, or are in the process of being built. Also since 2012, 3.3 million barrels of oil per day of pipeline capacity has been built in the U.S. — a figure that dwarfs Keystone XL’s capacity to ship about 800,000 barrels per day.
Some of those pipelines have been approved even after facing harsh opposition in the states where they were proposed. The Flanagan South pipeline, which has the capacity to ship 600,000 barrels of diluted tar sands and Bakken crude each day, was completed in December of last year. The pipeline, which runs from Pontiac, Illinois to Cushing, Oklahoma, endured multiple lawsuits and opposition from local anti-tar sands groups, who said that the way the pipeline was being permitted allowed it to skip key environmental reviews.
More pipeline projects are going through the approval process, and are dealing with local landowners and environmental groups that don’t want an oil pipeline running through their state. In Iowa, citizens groups, environmental organizations, and a local tribe are fighting to stop a pipeline proposed by Dakota Access LLC. That project would ship up to 570,000 barrels of oil each day from North Dakota’s Bakken region to Patoka, Illinois.
“Our main concern is Iowa’s aquifers might be significantly damaged,” Judith Bender, chairwoman of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, wrote in a letter last month to the Iowa Utilities Board. “And it will only take one mistake and life in Iowa will change for the next thousands of years. We think that should be protected, because it is the water that gives Iowa the best way of life.”
At the beginning of last year, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple told oil and gas industry leaders that he expects his state’s oil and gas pipeline capacity to double over the next two years, from about 783,000 barrels per day in 2014 to about 1.4 million barrels per day by 2016. One of the proposed pipelines that could help the state achieve this goal is the Sandpiper, which if approved would carry Bakken oil from North Dakota to Superior, Wisconsin. That project has also faced opposition, however, with environmental groups in the pipeline’s path worried about the line’s impact on local waterways.
Spills are a major concern for many fighting against these pipelines — and for the nation as a whole — as more and more pipelines are approved and constructed. Between 2004 and 2012, pipelines in the U.S. spilled three times as much crude oil as oil trains, even though oil trains had more total incidents. These spills are particularly worrisome if they occur over a waterway: earlier this year, a pipeline leaked up to 40,000 gallons of oil into Montana’s Yellowstone River, contaminating the drinking water for a nearby town.
This surge in pipeline construction is worrisome for those concerned about spills and weaning the U.S. off fossil fuels, but it doesn’t mean the Keystone XL fight isn’t still important. Greg Stringham, vice president of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in 2014 that whether or not the pipeline was granted approval played a major role in economic forecasts for the Canadian tar sands industry. One of Canada’s alternatives to Keystone — the Energy East pipeline, which would ship tar sands oil from Alberta to Canada’s east coast — is facing significant opposition in Canada. And a 2013 analysis by Reuters found that it would be too costly to attempt to ship the Canadian oil by rail to the Gulf Coast of the U.S.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/03/16/3634089/oil-pipelines-keep-getting-built/