Opinion | The Rev. Dr. William Barber: 'We see the intersections of poverty, ecological devastation and systemic racism. We cannot address one without being conscious of the other.' - NBCNewsTHINK
If it is built, the 600-mile natural gas pipeline would cut through some of the best preserved forests in Virginia, through rural areas predominantly populated by people of color and low-income households, and end in a predominantly Lumbee Indian community in southern North Carolina. Dominion Energy and Duke Energy — the chief owners of both the project and the utilities that would buy the bulk of the gas for power plants — have not demonstrated that we need thisto meet our energy needs.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would have three compressor stations, poisoning the air in each of the surrounding communities. Compressor stations that use gas-fired turbines emit toxins and fine particle pollution that increase the risk and severity of respiratory illnesses for nearby residents. Unsurprisingly, no posh suburbs or gated communities will have to suffer from this pollution.
These compressor stations were slated for rural areas with above-average rates of poverty and, in North Carolina and Virginia, predominantly African American neighborhoods. Family farms are also in the crosshairs, including the black-owned Solomon Farm in Halifax County, North Carolina. Normandy Blackman, named in honor of her father's military service, has been forced to go to federal court to try to stop the pipeline from digging a permanent scar across a forested section of her family's land. Blackman's grandmother Artelia Scott Solomon established the farm, which has been in cultivation for over a century. But the pipeline puts that legacy at risk.
— the eighth Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit to be revoked by a federal court or a federal agency. Developers must now recalibrate their plans. But the battle against this insidious pipeline is not over, nor is the fight for environmental justice. The Supreme Court will hear another case challenging the pipeline this month.
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