There it is in black and white, in the text of the debt ceiling agreement between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy: a whole section [p. 95] on pushing the Mountain Valley pipeline to completion, overriding the well-reasoned decisions of government regulatory agencies and courts, not to mention the dogged, passionate opposition of residents along the 302-mile route of this fracked gas pipeline. If completed, it would bring up to two billion cubic feet per day of fracked gas from northern West Virginia through that state and Virginia, making a mockery of Biden's claim to be the Climate President.
Natalie Cox, a spokesperson for the Mountain Valley project, said Monday that developers are “grateful for the full support of the White House, as well as the strong leadership of Democratic and Republican legislators for recognizing the Mountain Valley Pipeline as a critical energy infrastructure project.” She's got that right.
I’m devoting the rest of my post to my friend and MVP fighter from VA, Deborah Kushner, who sent out this post after the debt ceiling deal was released. See the action items at the end so you can help turn back this travesty:
“Some of you have had the good fortune to have visited Southwest VA and WV [I have! MT], to meet and stand with the amazing scrappy and stoic people who live there. Some of you have witnessed the cruel devastation wrought on that stunning landscape by the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which for 9 years has laid waste to the region. Land has been seized through eminent domain, ancient aquifers have been fouled, sole water sources for communities have dried up or been polluted, public roads have been buried under 9” of mud because of inadequate ‘erosion control devices,’ construction has caused landslides that have threatened more than one home, pipe sections have floated downstream after heavy rains. Many sections of pipe still sit above ground, exposed to the elements for years, consistently corroding, years past the pipe manufacturer’s recommended time limit for exposure to UV rays. Unique perched aquifers have been damaged. Endangered species’ habitat has been compromised. The list of harms goes on and on…
"For years, this unneeded, unwanted, dangerous project has been stalled with court challenges and revoked permits, but now it’s being fast-tracked – leaping over judicial lawsuits, environmental reviews, and permitting processes in a desperate attempt to complete the project so that it can yearly add the equivalent of 19 million passenger cars and lock us into decades more fossil fuel consumption. And so greedy petro barons like WV Sen. Joe Manchin can profit from this archaic industry that is killing the planet and all life.
"On June 8 at 2pm, your friends and neighbors will gather at the White House to demand an alteration to our government’s crash course towards planetary annihilation.
The fight for a livable present and future is here and now. Stands are being taken across the globe to sever the oil and gas/ government/ financial industry connections. This particular fight is at our doorstep. These are our neighbors who we must protect. This is our planet that we are fighting for. [I'll be there. Contact me for more info if you can join me. MT]
"These wrongs won’t be corrected overnight, and the powers that be are well dug in. They won’t give up easily, so we must be unrelenting in our demands. Numbers count. This is the work we’re here for. See you there. We’ll be in excellent company in this most worthy of fights.
The important thing is to continue to show up and speak out. Don’t agonize, organize! It will take all of us – see you out there!”
Other Actions to Take (Thanks to POWHR, Appalachian Voices, and others):
- Make a call to House members before Wednesday - MAY 31 - to tell them to reject the Dirty Debt Ceiling Deal – we need a clean debt ceiling bill!
- VA Sen. Tim Kaine is proposing an amendment that will strip out MVP approval from the bill. Send an email to your senators to ask them to demand a clean debt ceiling bill!
- Post on Social Media – hold elected officials accountable
Plan to be in SWVA should MVP construction start
- Train to be a Legal Observer by signing up here: appalachianjustice@nlg.org. Virtual training will be held over 2 days, June 1 & June 4 at 6:30 pm. Please email if you want to sign up and welcome others. In-person training will take place in Montgomery County and Bent Mountain /Floyd in July and August. Actual dates /times for in-person training is still tbd.
- Volunteer with Mountain Valley Watch to monitor construction for violations here (can be done virtually or in person): Sign up to learn more here!
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