Stop Pipelines & Fracked Gas

Photo By Sierra Shamer / Fractracker
Two decades ago, so-called natural gas exploded on the American energy market, pushed by the industry as a supposedly clean “bridge” fuel to transition the economy from dirty coal to renewable sources of electricity generation like solar and wind.
But this gas is far from clean. From the time that it is extracted using a destructive drilling method called fracking, its transport through pipelines, train cars and trucks, to the power plants where it is burned, the dire environmental and human costs of this fossil fuel are now abundantly clear. In particular, this polluting infrastructure is often sited in communities of color, lower-income areas and other environmental justice communities.
Studies show that investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency are on par with, or sometimes more affordable than, building new gas infrastructure. Many states are enacting policies to tap into the rising solar and wind sector. Yet the fossil fuel industry is rushing to build methane gas pipelines and power plants to squeeze as much profit as possible out of the waning fuel, putting most of the financial risk on customers.
Appalachian Voices is tackling the spread of fracked gas head-on by legally challenging fossil fuel proposals and pushing back against the antiquated policies and rubber-stamping agencies that govern the development of gas infrastructure. We are also partnering with communities in the fight against new fossil fuel infrastructure, providing resources and training to bolster local opposition. And we are pressuring decision-makers to force them to consider the harm to communities threatened by polluting energy development.
And the tide is starting to turn. In July 2020, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy canceled the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The massive fossil fuel project was riddled with problems, starting with the fundamental fact it was not needed to meet energy demand. Standing beside the many communities and organizations that made this historic victory possible, we’re taking this momentum and applying it toward the fight against other destructive, climate-harming projects that threaten community safety, our clean air and water, and that would raise electricity costs for residents.

The North Carolina House of Representatives will soon vote on SB 472, a bill that would reduce the Department of Environmental Quality’s review projects like methane gas pipelines to just FIVE DAYS. This is not enough time to allow for public input or ensure state waterways and communities are protected!

Latest News
Mountain Valley Pipeline faces new legal challenge to water permit
Richmond, VA — A new legal action filed today challenges Virginia’s State Water Control Board approval of a key water quality permit for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. The petition for review of the project was filed with the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
State Corporation Commission rejects Chickahominy Pipeline’s plan for 83-mile unregulated gas pipeline
Today the Virginia State Corporation Commission rejected plans from Chickahominy Pipeline, LLC, to construct an unregulated gas pipeline 83 miles from Louisa County to a proposed gas-fired power plant in Charles City County, instead determining that the company is a public utility subject to Commission regulation. The Southern Environmental Law Center represented Concerned Citizens of Charles City County, Hanover Citizens Against A Pipeline, Appalachian Voices, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation in the case.
Wins and losses come as the fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline continues
On Dec. 3 — after more than eight hours of public, industry and agency comments spread over two days — six of the seven members of the state Air Pollution Control Board voted to deny the air permit for the Lambert Compressor Station.
Virginia Water Board Approves Key Permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline But Fight Will Continue
CONTACT: Denali Nalamalapu, (302) 307-6966, denali@powhr.org Dan Radmacher,…
Air Board denies key permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline, dealing critical blow to beleaguered fracked gas project
Contact Jessica Sims, jessica@appvoices.org Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org Chatham,…
Chatham residents and others to speak against Lambert Compressor Station at air board hearing
On Friday, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board will rule on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s hotly contested plan to place a polluting compressor station in a majority Black district already burdened with air pollution from two other compressors.