VICTORY! The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is cancelled!

On July 5, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy Energy abandoned their plans to build the $8 billion, fracked-gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline. After six long years, this historic victory for environmental justice would not have happened without the determination of thousands standing together, including you.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have cut 600 miles through pristine waters, prime farm lands and across the steep and rocky slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, leaving destruction in its path. The pipeline would have disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous and low-income communities along its route from the proposed gas-fired compressor station in Union Hill, a historic, predominantly Black community in Buckingham County, Va., to the Lumbee community in Robeson County, N.C., the largest community of Native Americans east of the Mississippi River.

Ruby Laury, Friends of Buckingham Council:
“I am so thankful first of all to the Lord for being with us in these trials we were going through with ACP and Dominion. I was so elated when I first heard the news from one of my fellow activists. I am also thankful for everyone who stood by and supported the Union Hill community. We could not have done it without all of you. Thank you so very much.” (See more Union Hill quotes here.)

The massive fossil fuel project was riddled with problems, starting with the fundamental fact it was not needed to meet energy demand. Prior to its cancellation, the project was still lacking eight required permits, which had either been vacated by courts or suspended by government agencies. And it would have foisted higher bills on electric customers and locked our region into decades of unnecessary fossil fuel use — an unsustainable and dangerous proposition for our health and our climate.

Thank you for fighting to stop this destructive pipeline. From Robeson County, N.C., to Harrison County W.Va., in statehouses and courthouses, communities have stood shoulder to shoulder to protect their land, their water and their communities. Every public comment, every phone call to a legislator or regulator, and every conversation with your neighbors contributed to this momentous win!

We’re not done yet

We still must defeat the equally destructive Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and its proposed Southgate extension. Construction of the MVP, which stretches 300 miles through West Virginia and Virginia, has been halted for now. The project lacks lack several key permits and has been fined for hundreds of violations. The Southgate project (still early in the permitting process) would extend the MVP into North Carolina. Like the ACP, these dirty gas projects are not needed. Pipeline opponents are vowing to double-down on the fight to stop these dangerous boondoggles — and thanks to the persistence and dedication of everyone in this movement, that goal is well within reach.

The smart investment today is in the people of Central and Southern Appalachia, not in the resources that might be extracted and exported, but in projects that generate local wealth, healthy communities and clean, sustainable energy. We are hopeful that the momentous ACP victory — and hopefully an MVP victory — are mere tipping points as our society pivots towards a clean energy economy that works for all people.

We hope you will continue to stand with us in striving for a clean energy future.

About Tom Cormons

Appalachian Voices' Executive Director, Tom holds a degree in law from UCLA and has a life-long appreciation for Appalachia's mountains and culture. An avid hiker and whitewater rafter, his latest pleasure is in sharing with his kids a deep respect and appreciation of nature.