I camped in Dominion’s “right of way” for the ACP, among 300- and 400-year old trees in Bath County

Come join “No Pipeline Summer: Camp to Save the Limperts’ Land”

By Mike Tidwell

To fully understand the unbearable insanity of Dominion Energy’s plan to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, you’ve got to come here to Bath County, Virginia to see it. I arrived June 29th with half a dozen other activists to launch a colorful, determined and transparent camp of protest designed to last all summer long with hundreds of people like you. When I got here, I promptly set up my tent among 300- and 400-year old sugar maples, basswoods and hickory trees.
Bill and Lynn Limpert, staunch foes of Dominion’s $6 billion pipeline for fracked gas, own one of the most pristine stands of old-growth forests in all of Virginia. Some of the trees are as old as 500 years old. The jaw-dropping hardwood growth covers most of a 3000-foot-long Appalachian ridge that the Limperts appropriately call “Miracle Ridge.” For perspective, there are no old-growth forests like this anywhere in Shenandoah National Park, a crown jewel of the US National Park System. Let that sink in.  The Limperts’ 120 acres in Bath County, now in the direct pathway of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, is as pristine and wondrous as any forest in the state. Dominion wants to cut it all down and blow up all of Miracle Ridge — the whole ridge — for the pipeline.
I’ve been lucky in my life. I’ve seen the great Sequoias of California, the Baobabs of Africa, the towering tea trees of Western Australia. But there’s a special magic to the Limperts’ ancient forest. Backpack in tow, I first visited “Ona,” a 300-year-old sugar maple who would be one of the first trees Dominion cuts down. Ona, an old Lithuanian name, has a staggering 15-foot circumference. You stand at her base and look up and see a seemingly infinite expanse of massive, gentle branches cradling entire ecosystems of birds and epiphyte plants and harboring the soft sound of leaves stirring from gentle summer winds. In Ona’s presence, you look up, you look down. Your feet stop moving. You sigh. You want to cry…with a joy you cannot name. You feel the past and the future all at the same time. And you feel utterly present in the miracle reach of this tree almost too big NOT to be a dream.
Ona is just a 10-minute walk from the Limperts’ mountain home. I hope you’ll come see her and this land sometime this summer. The Limperts — Bill 71, Lynn 63 — are inviting concerned people like you and me from across Virginia and the region to come pitch a tent on their soft grass around their home at 3,200 feet of elevation, with a view of vast mountain ranges to the north. It’s a very comfortable place to visit. There’s a wide porch with tables for outdoor cooking. There’s a Jiffy John on the edge of the meadow. You bask in the view, make new friends, drink coffee. You can drive your car right to the home and camp comfortably no matter what your age and how many kids you have.
Or you can walk along a marked trail and camp right in the pipeline right of way, among the giant trees of Miracle Ridge. That’s what I did, with my new friend Jerrod who found the camp online and drove over from Richmond. As the last light of day left the sky, I sat in a camp chair on the ridge and watched all the trees come alive around me, in magical dark silhouettes. They seem even bigger at night, with a soft riot of June fireflies all around them under a full moon and a blanket of stars. How could an energy company — or any company at all — believe that it is right to destroy this ridge and these trees to transport violently drilled fracked gas that will further warm our planet?
Bill Limpert, the friendly, soft-spoken, guitar-playing steward of this land is inviting anyone who cares to come see the forest in person, to spend time as his guest and be part of the biggest environmental fight now going on in Virginia. As Bill says, “A picture is worth a thousand words, but a visit is worth a thousand pictures.”
Please come and join us any time between now and early September. Come for a day hike or come for several days of glorious, convenient, and meaningful camping. Get your picture taken with Ona and share it on social media. Come be part of the back porch letter-writing campaign. Help us invite Governor Northam and members of the State Water Control Board to personally see what their actions or inactions could allow to happen.

I’ll leave you with more words from Bill Limpert. A reporter asked him why he was forming this summer protest camp on his property. “Lynn and I want to save these glorious trees, of course,” he said. “We want to save the ridge and protect the water of our state. But more than anything, we want to use this camp and this pipeline to protest and stop the calamity of climate change. Lynn and I are not youngsters. We’re retired and getting up there in years. But it is our full intention to outlive the fossil fuel industry.”
Let that one sink in too. Don’t you want to be part of this peaceful, principled, spirited fight we’re putting up?
Come join “No Pipeline Summer: Camp to Save the Limperts’ Land.”
I’ll see you there.

CCAN activist Lee Williams, a lifelong environmental advocate, is a force to be reckoned with in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In 2016, Lee helped pull together the March on the Mansion, getting over 700 folks to the Governor’s Mansion in 100+ degree weather. In the fall of that year, she was arrested with a dozen other activists outside of that mansion, protesting then-Governor Terry McAuliffe’s support for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. This past spring, she worked to pull together a delegation of more than a dozen Virginia Delegates and Senators to hold a press conference in Richmond to denounce the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. In May, she organized one of the most energetic Dominion shareholder protests in recent memory, getting landowners, elected officials, faith leaders, and even the famed tree-sitter Red Terry herself to come and speak to the impassioned crowd.
With her no-quit and high-spirited attitude she has continued to work for the people and climate in Virginia well into our present moment. Although there is still much work to be done, this Richmond-based climate warrior is not going anywhere. In fact it is precisely because of people like her that Virginia is becoming more and more connected in the struggle for our future. Read on to meet Lee Williams!

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Your age: 53
Where you live: Richmond, Virginia
What are the impacts of climate change that hit closest to home for you?
I have family in Florida and Charleston, South Carolina and I am concerned every hurricane season for their safety. Half the year, the city of Charleston regularly faces tidal flooding, a situation that will worsen with continued sea level rise.
Why did you decide to get involved in taking action on climate?
I have been a lifelong activist and nonprofit volunteer who has focused primarily on environmental and social justice issues. Once you spend any time doing environmental work, it becomes irrefutably clear that the majority of our issues intersect with environmental justice issues. Poor populations often bear the brunt of climate impacts, living on the front lines of rising seas, catastrophic storms, and drought. Women, African Americans, and other people of color bare a disproportionate burden of climate change in the United States and across the world.
I was frustrated by the many climate deniers holding elected office and saw a need to shine light on this injustice and push for attention at the policy level to direct planning and resources where they are most needed. Investments in natural buffers, flood control measures, and climate-resilient housing are only half of the story and too reactive.
As a Nurse, I believe “an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure.” I am engaged in the struggle encouraging elected officials to ACT on climate change – not just REACT with mitigation measures. We must stop building fossil fuel infrastructure immediately, and invest in clean, renewable technology.
What has inspired you most working with CCAN and/or in your community?
It’s been proven that humans are not just motivated by monetary reward or even recognition, but also by finding purpose in their work. I’m the type of person that finds energy from passionate people. In the nonprofit sector I’ve meet lots of kind, purpose-driven people with attitude that are more than teammates, they’ve become family. The folks in our Virginia coalition of environmentalists are working for a better world for everyone. You can’t find a a better group of people to work towards mutual goals with than that!
What do you like to do when you’re not advocating in your community?
I need to be outside playing! Whether paddling on our beautiful James River or running the paths of the Buttermilk Trail, I need to be surrounded by Nature to counterbalance the challenging and sometimes soul-sucking work that I do.
Who would you high five?
My mom. She showed me from a young age how to share your voice for those that have no voice, love and care for all living things and to never knowingly do harm. She was never afraid to stand up for what she believed. She died 21 years ago. I hope she’d like to high five me too!

In an age of rising seas and harmful pipelines, one thing is clear: Virginia needs strong climate action now.
To do so, CCAN is proposing that Virginia join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. This would be a bold move on climate in Virginia. One way to get there would be to pass statewide legislation, such as the Alternative Energy and Coastal Protection Act. But no matter how we get there, it’s worth laying out all the questions you may have.
What is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative,  anyway?

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a market-based climate change plan that reduces harmful pollution from fossil-fuel power plants and makes polluters pay for their carbon emissions. There are currently nine East Coast states in the program that together set a “cap” on planet-warming fossil fuel emissions from power plants, which lowers each year. Then, they allow the power plants to “trade” pollution allowances however they see fit to keep total emissions under the cap from Maine to Maryland (thus the name “cap and trade.”)

It’s a flexible, market-based approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and has proven effective in helping states cut carbon.

The auction also generates millions of dollars of revenue, which goes back to the states to fund additional carbon reduction programs and other public benefit initiatives decided by each state.
Virginia is currently in the drafting process of regulations that would allow us to partially engage in the program, but we still have more work to do — more on that below.

What is a pollution “allowance”?

An allowance represents one ton of carbon dioxide that is burned in a power plant within a RGGI state.
RGGI controls and reduces pollution by setting a number of allowances that are available to buy based off of each state’s cap and lowering that number each year. Then, power companies can bid on the allowances based off of what they need to provide power to their customers.

The regulated power plants can buy allowances from any state, but because there are a limited amount of them, the companies also look to other methods that don’t involve fossil fuels like energy efficiency and renewable energy to provide their customers with energy at a lower cost. The bidding for these allowances takes place at regional auctions four times per year.

What exactly is covered under RGGI?

Specifically, any power plant in a RGGI state that burns fossil fuels (coal or natural gas) with a capacity of 25 megawatts (MW) or greater is required to meet the climate pollution standards set by RGGI. More generally, this applies to large utility-owned power plants that provide energy for large numbers of people. They are called “regulated sources.”

These “regulated sources” are required to have their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions monitored. They must also buy allowances for each ton of CO2 they plan to emit. Once RGGI sets a cap on the number of allowances available, polluters must figure out how to stay below the cap — either by paying more to pollute or by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

I’ve heard that Virginia is already joining RGGI. What does that mean?

In November 2017, the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board approved draft regulations to cap carbon emissions by linking with RGGI. “Linking” means that Virginia polluters will be able to trade within the RGGI market, but through a consignment auction — which means Virginia regulators themselves would give away allowances instead of selling them.

This means that Virginia regulators at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will have no say over where the revenue raised from these auctions will go. It also means that DEQ would give polluters their allotted allowances for free instead of buying them from the state. They would then be obligated to sell them back into the RGGI market and buy back what they need.

This process blocks Virginia (and its residents) from accessing the huge funding opportunities that other RGGI states currently enjoy. It also opens the possibility that polluters could actually make a profit off of the RGGI market if they buy back less pollution allowances than they sold.

Also, this “link” has an end date. It only permits Virginia’s participation in the program through the year 2030.

So why should Virginia formally join?

By formally joining RGGI, our elected Virginia officials would be able to access the millions of dollars in revenue to spend on programs that benefit the Virginia public — instead of lining the pockets of corporations.

As a formal member, state regulators at the Virginia DEQ would have the authority sell all of Virginia’s allowances to polluters — instead of giving them away for free — and invest the revenue (projected to be up to $200 million per year) in projects that would mitigate climate change and help the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable residents. This step would also place a long-term cap on carbon, guaranteeing that we’ll continue to lower carbon pollution past the year 2030.

How do we go about doing that?

Legislative action is required to formally join RGGI. We at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network have been advocating for this, most recently through a bill called the Virginia Alternative Energy and Coastal Protection Act (VCPA).

A bill like this would allow us to formally join the program and give DEQ full authority to make a carbon rule with much more long-term certainty.

Has RGGI effectively reduced carbon emissions?

Yes! RGGI has proven effective in helping states significantly reduce carbon emissions while bolstering their economies at the same time. In 2016, RGGI states emitted even less than the cap required — 8.4 percent less. Overall, emissions have fallen 40 percent since RGGI launched. The newest RGGI model rule will lead to an additional 30 percent reduction from current emissions by 2030 as well.

What will cutting carbon emissions mean for our health?

Virginia stands to gain huge benefits from RGGI that go far beyond climate impacts. By cleaning up our power plants, we would also cut down dangerous air pollutants like soot and smog alongside carbon. States that are currently in RGGI have already seen immense health benefits: air quality improvements have prevented at least 8,200 asthma attacks, 39,000 lost workdays, and 300 premature deaths. It is estimated that RGGI has provided these states $5.7 billion in public health benefits. Joining RGGI will not only provide long-term relief from climate change, but also immediate public health benefits to Virginia’s most vulnerable residents.

And what about our economy?

Joining RGGI would provide a huge economic boost to Virginia residents. The revenue Virginia would receive would be invested in energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that create jobs and help businesses. It would also help lower electric bills through investments in energy efficiency. Participation in RGGI has generated over $1.4 billion in economic activity for participating states in just the past three years. The program has also created over 44,000 jobs. Customers in those states have also saved money through energy efficiency improvements and by switching to cheaper renewable energy — $1.37 billion to be exact!

How could joining RGGI lead to more wind and solar power?

Formally joining RGGI would open up new funding to help solar and wind power companies. This crucial investment will help Virginia create jobs and catch up to neighboring states in the growing clean energy economy. Formally joining would also provide a permanent incentive for renewable energy sources, since they will not require a RGGI allowance and will thus gain a price advantage over dirty energy.

Currently, we are lagging far behind our neighbors in terms of renewable energy. Virginia only gets 0.5 percent of its energy from solar power — and we have yet to build a wind turbine bigger than the 10 kilowatt residential standard systems! Long-term investment in renewables and incentives like the RGGI market will help us increase those numbers astronomically.

Ok, let’s talk money. How much revenue would we be able to access?

It’s estimated that RGGI would bring up to $200 million in revenue to Virginia each year. This could lead to as much as $2 billion in new revenue by 2030 for projects that mitigate climate change and improve the livelihood of residents across the Commonwealth!

Wow! What could we do with all those proceeds?

With access to the revenue from RGGI, we couldd boost our economy, protect our most vulnerable communities, and lower energy bills for all Virginians.

In the bill that was discussed in this year’s General Assembly (the VCPA), proceeds would provide consistent funding for twenty-first century economic development in southwest Virginia — an area that is heavily reliant on the fossil fuel industry — leading to more capacity to aid families and train workers in the growing renewable energy job market.

It would also help protect Virginians from sea level rise by providing a reliable revenue stream for the Shoreline Resiliency Fund, a revolving fund created by the General Assembly in 2015 to help residents, businesses, and municipalities fund flooding resilience projects.

It would invest millions of dollars in energy efficiency — with a special focus on low-income communities — to help lower bills and use less energy in general.

Finally, it could provide millions of dollars to stabilize funding for agricultural “best management practices” (BMPs) that help farmers and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

But what about fracking? I’ve heard RGGI incentivizes fracked gas.

RGGI does NOT incentivize fracking. A significant switch to gas (beyond fuel switching already happening for non-RGGI reasons) is unlikely to be triggered by participation in this regional power plant cap-and-trade program.

This is because RGGI incentivizes zero-carbon sources of energy the most. With wind and solar energy more affordable, constructing new natural gas plants would be relatively more expensive than the status quo situation. As for the existing natural gas plants, these power plants are already operating at near maximum capacity and simply cannot absorb a significant increase in gas use, making a build out in renewables a better choice for the environment and for the polluters’ bottom lines.

Renewable energy is becoming more affordable and more of a priority in Virginia, as the amount of renewables in the public interest will increase tenfold to 5,000 MW this summer.

These three RGGI factors — a deterrent to the construction of new gas plants, a lack of capacity in Virginia of existing gas plants, and a clearer path to new renewable energy — mean that the state’s participation in the program would not promote an expansion of natural gas.

So, what is CCAN doing to stop fracked gas expansion?

CCAN has been working hard to end Virginia’s deadly addiction to fracked gas for years. Ever since the announcement of plans to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline, we have done everything we can to stop them. We continue to fight them to this day.

We also are planning to fight new fossil fuel projects in Virginia before they are even announced. We will do this through legislation and grassroots mobilization, under the banner of a “No New Fossil Fuels” pledge. Stay tuned.
In the end, our goal is to make sure that NO dangerous fracked-gas pipelines (current or future) will ever be operational, and our leaders will turn to renewable sources instead. Joining RGGI would make that all the more likely.

More information:

Virginia Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Youngkin is Dragging Virginia Backwards On Climate

The biggest regional land-clearing project since the federal highway program of the 1960s is now underway in Virginia and West Virginia. Fracked-gas companies Dominion Energy and EQT have been chain-sawing wide swaths of forests to make room for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines (MVP and ACP). In the process, the companies are destroying ecosystems, ruining human livelihoods, and shocking the public’s conscience.  And they’re just getting started.
Here’s the plot twist: Communities are fighting back…and winning!
Young people have bravely tied themselves to treetops to stop the MVP chainsaws in parts of Virginia and West Virginia. (You gotta, gotta, gotta watch this video). And a sympathetic local judge has made a surprise ruling in their favor, as you’ll see below. And just yesterday, a 61-year-old mother of three took to a tree on Virginia’s Poor Mountain to protest the pipeline for “as long as it takes.”
Then last week, in a stunning move, a key federal regulator told Dominion Energy to put away the ACP chainsaws completely until at least late summer. Why? The de-facto message from the feds: No corporation can ignore restrictions meant to protect vulnerable migratory birds just to satisfy nervous company executives and shareholders who see the rising protests and an ACP construction schedule that is falling further and further behind!
But it’s not all good news. Despite Governor Ralph Northam’s promise to hold these pipelines to the “highest environmental standards,” the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality late last week approved final and flawed environmental plans for construction of the 303-mile-long Mountain Valley Pipeline. About the same time, in one of the most heartbreaking moments yet, the MVP companies ripped down a wide stretch of forest trees on the property of George Jones. George is a wheelchair-bound Korean War veteran whose Giles County land has been in his family for ten generations. This Facebook post will make you cry.
Meanwhile, of the 600-mile path for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dominion has already clear-cut about 200 miles of land the width of a six-lane highway across parts of West Virginia and Virginia. And the company doesn’t even HAVE its final approval from Virginia regulators. Talk about arrogant!
But then, on March 28, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission refused Dominion’s behind-schedule plea to keep cutting trees during the critical migratory season for such birds as the red-tailed hawk and cerulean warbler. Defending the birds as well as endangered bat habitat, FERC said there can be no more tree cutting until late August at the soonest, giving protesters more time to make their public case against this reckless pipeline.
That’s why we are asking all Virginians to sign up to be part of a “watchful army” of citizen monitors tracking every single move the pipeline companies make on the ground.
What is the “watchful army”? The largest and best organized program we’ve ever heard of that is dedicated to supporting citizen efforts to monitor pipeline construction and operations on the ground and from the air. The brainchild of legendary Virginia activist Rick Webb, anyone concerned about harm from the ACP can sign up to be part of the Compliance Surveillance Initiative. Along the MVP route, groups have launched Mountain Valley Watch to monitor every step that EQT takes. The efforts will involve hundreds of volunteer observers across Virginia and West Virginia monitoring construction and reporting any violations. Citizen pilots are already flying planes above clear-cutting activities with high-resolution cameras. Activists on the ground are launching all manner of drones to get even closer with photos and video.
The result? Photographs of apparent construction, erosion, and tree-cutting violations have already been submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality for investigation. And notices of violations have already been issued against Dominion, with fines likely to follow. It’s always been unclear just how Dominion and EQT can remove the tops of entire mountain ranges for their pipelines (yes, that’s their plan) and stay within state and federal regulations for environmental protection.
With legions of people like you watching their every move, the answer may be this: they can’t.
Don’t forget to watch this video of the “tree sitters” on Peters Mountain in West Virginia, protesting the MVP tree cuts. When the pipeline companies tried to get Monroe County Circuit Court judge Robert Irons to remove the protestors, the judge said this: “There is no showing that there is a national shortage of gas, an emergency requiring immediate need of delivery of gas…or some other factor causing irreparable harm.”
In fact, the judge continued, the public’s interest is more closely aligned with the tree-sitters. The protestors “generally represent the interest of the public and the environment, such as the interest in protecting the waters underlying Peters Mountain, its flora and fauna, its view shed, the Appalachian Trail and similar interests that will or may be destroyed, if this request for a preliminary injunction is granted.”
Let those words sink in for a moment. It’s the beautiful sound of the TRUTH, spoken from someone whose sworn responsibility is to judge right from wrong. The protestors absolutely DO represent the public interest – against climate change, against greed, against harm to innocent farmers and landowners, against damage to drinking water.
Which is why MORE tree-sitting protests are being planned even as we speak, all along the MVP and ACP routes. Again, read this story and watch this interview with 61-year-old “Red” perched in a tree on Poor Mountain. Here’s the bottom line: You can’t build a pipeline if you can’t cut the trees. And even if you can cut the trees, what comes next is unprecedented in American history: trained citizen observers with clipboards, phones, planes, and even drones will watch every step the companies take. The question remains: Can any company actually construct radical pipelines – 42 inches thick – over steep mountain ridges and under delicate mountain streams while actually following the law? Or will dedicated citizens like you and me – committed to justice and environmental sanity – stop the companies in their tracks?
Now, the movement needs YOU. There are two things you can do:

• STEP ONE: Make an emergency donation today to support the brave landowners and young people still peacefully protesting the pipelines.
• STEP TWO: Sign up to be part of a “watchful army” of citizen monitors tracking every single move the pipeline companies make.

I, for one, am all in. I support the protesters. I’m joining the monitoring teams. Won’t you do the same? Isn’t this fight worth your time and money?
I know you’ll join us.
-Mike Tidwell

We need you to help save the Potomac River.
Governor Hogan is handing over our clean drinking water to the fossil fuel industry. How? A Canadian oil company called TransCanada wants to build a pipeline to carry fracked gas underneath the treasured Potomac, the drinking water source for millions of people. Rather than ensuring that our drinking water be protected, Hogan has basically been TransCanada’s biggest cheerleader.
Read more information about the history behind this fight, and how Hogan is handing the review process to Trump agency officials in this blog post.
Now, we’re running out of time to stop it. The Hogan Administration has until March 15 to issue its decision. So we need to put on the pressure.
That’s where you come in. We need you to speak up and spread the word to stop this pipeline. We need you to show EVERYONE — from Governor Hogan to your next-door neighbor — what the Potomac River means to you
We’re asking you to take part in the #MyPotomac social media campaign. It’s simple: post a picture that showcases what the Potomac River means to you. Let your friends and neighbors know why we need to STOP TransCanada’s Potomac Pipeline.
Add your voice to protect our water, our communities, and our climate.

How to participate? It’s easy!

Step 1. Take or find a picture of the Potomac River.

This can be a picture of you, your family, friends, home, or a photo of you by the Potomac River. If you can, include a sign or message about stopping the Potomac Pipeline. You can make a sign yourself or print out our No Potomac Pipeline signs — anything related to stopping this natural gas pipeline works. If you’re not planning any Potomac trips in the near future, you can find an old favorite!
Here are two optional signs you can print and use to hold: Click here for downloadable posters.
Or share a picture of ours! Click here for an album of downloadable pictures.

Step 2. Tell your story.

Tell your friends what the Potomac River means to you, and explain why you’re fighting to protect it. This can be as short or as long as you like.

Step 3. Tag Maryland Governor Larry Hogan in your post.

The goal of this campaign is to spread the word — and make those in power hear our voices. Right now, that’s Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Hogan has the power to stop this pipeline. To boost your voice, we encourage you to tag Hogan’s social media handle in your post to make sure he sees your message. On Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, use the @ symbol to tag him. Write a post that’s convincing and speaks from the heart, tell Gov. Hogan why YOU want to stop this pipeline. If you need some help, see the sample posts below to spark some ideas of your own.
Hogan’s Handles:

• Facebook: @Governor Larry Hogan
• Twitter: @LarryHogan
• Instagram: @change_maryland

Step 4. Tell your friends.

Tag your friends, encourage them to share your post or create a post of their own to spread the word and amplify our message that we do not want or need the Potomac Pipeline, we want to keep fossil fuels in the ground to protect our climate and our communities.
When you’re ready to post:

1. Upload your photo to every social media platform you use (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
2. In the caption, don’t forget to tag Governor Larry Hogan and please use the hashtag #MyPotomac. Also  consider including the optional hashtag #NoPotomacPipeline.

Examples:

Sample Facebook Posts:

• This is #MyPotomac. @Governor Larry Hogan, we need you to save it. That means rejecting fracked-gas pipelines that threaten the beauty and safety of our water. #NoPotomacPipeline
• Here’s why #MyPotomac matters to me: [ADD YOUR PERSONAL STORY.] @Governor Larry Hogan, please protect the Potomac and stop TransCanada’s dirty fracked-gas pipeline. #NoPotomacPipeline
• I’m fighting to save #MyPotomac. @Governor Larry Hogan, Maryland banned fracking. We cannot allow a pipeline carrying fracked gas to pass through our state. Will you keep your fracking promise and reject the Potomac Pipeline? #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline
• With climate change wreaking havoc on our country last year, it’s clear we need to do something. That means keeping fossil fuels in the ground. @Governor Larry Hogan, will you keep your word and reject the Potomac Pipeline?  #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline
• Hey @Governor Larry Hogan, don’t be fooled by TransCanada’s false promises of jobs and economic growth from the Potomac Pipeline. We know that this pipeline only benefits one, and that’s TransCanada. Our water is too important to put it in an Oil & Gas company’s hands. Do the right thing and reject the Potomac Pipeline #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline

Sample Twitter Posts:

• The health and safety of #MyPotomac River matters to me. @Governor Larry Hogan, please protect the Potomac and stop TransCanada’s dirty fracked-gas pipeline. #NoPotomacPipeline
• We know pipelines leak and spill. A pipeline has no place underneath the Potomac River. I want to protect #MyPotomac for me and for future generations. @LarryHogan, will you reject the PotomacPipeline? #NoPotomacPipeline
• .@LarryHogan you promised to ban fracking in MD. Why would you then let a fracked gas pipeline run underneath our Potomac River? Please stand up for our clean water. #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline
• Governor @LarryHogan, you banned fracking over potential risks to our land and water. Will you keep your fracking promise and reject the Potomac Pipeline? #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline
• Our water is too important to risk. @LarryHogan, the Potomac Pipeline would threaten the drinking water for millions across MD, DC, & WV. Do the right thing. #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline @CCAN
• The Potomac Pipeline is owned by @TransCanada, which also owns #KeystoneXL & has a long record of disastrous spills. @LarryHogan, you must be a leader and reject the Potomac Pipeline for our safety. #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline @CCAN @PotomacRiver

Sample Instagram Posts:

• This is #MyPotomac River. I love to kayak, fish, and swim. Governor @change_maryland, a pipeline spill from the Potomac Pipeline would change things forever. We know TransCanada’s pipelines leak and spill constantly. Will you deny the 401 certification for the pipeline and protect our water? #NoPotomacPipeline
• I’m fighting to save #MyPotomac from pipelines. This is important to me because I want the river to be enjoyed for me and future generations. Gov. @change_maryland, please protect the Potomac and stop TransCanada’s dirty fracked-gas pipeline. #NoPotomacPipeline
• Gov. @change_maryland, we took a stand to protect MD citizens & environment from fracking. Let’s not nullify this progress with a hazardous fracked gas pipeline under the Potomac! Reject the Potomac Pipeline! #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline
• Hey Governor @change_maryland, the review process for TransCanada’s Potomac Pipeline has been flawed from the start. We need a full environmental review to see the potential impacts this pipeline would have on our state. Do the right thing for our water. #MyPotomac #NoPotomacPipeline

Step 5: Stay updated!

Sign up today to get updates on the “No Potomac Pipeline” campaign, and we’ll contact you with important updates and action items you can take to support this campaign.

Social Media Best Practices & Tips:

• Use a period in front of a Twitter handle, if used at the beginning of the tweet.
• Please tag the Facebook page “No Potomac Pipeline” so we can easily find your post!
• Please include our #MyPotomac hashtag, and the optional #NoPotomacPipeline hashtag!
• In the actual photo, please also consider tagging the organizations of this campaign so we can easily find and share your post (type the @ symbol, then type out the name of the organization and select it from the options to complete the tag):
  • For Facebook:
    • @No Potomac Pipeline
    • @Chesapeake Climate Action Network
    • @Potomac Riverkeeper Network
    • @Eastern Panhandle Protectors
    • @Sierra Club Maryland Chapter
    • @Food & Water Watch-Maryland
    • @Waterkeepers Chesapeake
  • For Twitter:
    • @CCAN
    • @PotomacRiver
    • @SierraClubMD
    • @Foodandwater
    • @WaterKeepersCP
  • For Instagram:
    • @Chesapeakeclimate
    • @PotomacRiver
    • @Sierraclubmd
    • @Foodandwaterwatch
    • @Waterkeepersches

Other Ways to Get Involved:

Once you’ve posted to social media, here are a few more steps you can take to stand with us against the Potomac Pipeline.

• Submit electronic comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on their Potomac Pipeline environmental assessment (EA). Learn more from our friends at Potomac Riverkeeper here.
• Join us for the huge rally at Governor Hogan’s mansion in Annapolis on February 15. RSVP here.

The “No Potomac Pipeline” campaign began in early 2017 as a broad coalition of citizens, elected officials, and environmental advocates came together to stop TransCanada’s proposed pipeline under the Potomac River.The Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project, known as the “Potomac Pipeline,” could threaten the drinking water of millions of people in the region. Its construction would require a drilling method called Hydraulic Directional Drilling, which uses millions of gallons of bentonite slick water, typically laced with diesel fuel, to drill longitudinally under rivers and other structures.
The entire pipeline project would impact 19 streams and 10 wetlands in Maryland and 100 streams and wetlands in West Virginia. The risk in this region is  exacerbated by the sensitive karst limestone geology underneath the river, characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves, and openings that could allow for the migration of pollutants into underground aquifers.
Landowners in the pipeline’s path are concerned for their direct safety and impacts to their property values. If a severe accident like a pipeline explosion occurs, the blast radius could be up to a half a mile. But for some, the pipeline is routed to come within 500 feet of their homes.
Landowners like Patricia Kesecker, a West Virginia farmer, are concerned about the use of eminent domain to acquire private land for a private pipeline company. The Kesecker family has been sued over access to their property, while the family wholeheartedly rejects a pipeline crossing their land.
For other environmentalists, opposition to the pipeline is an imperative to act on climate change by moving away from fossil fuel energy and towards clean, renewable energy. This pipeline would deepen our dependence on fossil fuels at a time when scientists agree that we must transform our energy system to maintain the stability of our climate.
The fight against the Potomac Pipeline really kicked off in June 2017, when the coalition announced a series of camp outs along the C&O canal to draw attention to the pipeline’s risks. Inspired by Standing Rock protests, more than 100 activists from Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia camped out to voice their opposition to the pipeline over the course of the summer.
In August, the protest encampments reached their peak with “kayaktivism.” Over 100 residents came together to support protesters paddling in kayaks down the Potomac River, calling on Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to reject the pipeline.
On October 14th, 2017, over 300 Maryland and West Virginia residents came together and held hands across the James Rumsey bridge that sits over the Potomac River and connects the towns of Sharpsburg, Maryland and Shepherdstown, West Virginia. It was a powerful display of unity against TransCanada’s planned Potomac Pipeline, which is currently routed to run underneath the Potomac River.
In December, 200 landowners and advocates came together to testify at a Maryland Department of the Environment public hearing on the pipeline permit. If Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is serious about protecting Maryland’s clean water, he must direct his administration to deny the water permit necessary for its construction.
And on January 22nd, 2018, the coalition made another stand at the second MDE hearing on the pipeline in Hancock, MD — but this time, it was to boycott the hearing.
Hogan Administration officials have been neither fair or transparent in how they’re dealing with this pipeline. They have refused to carry out a full environmental review as permitted under the Clean Water Act. Instead, they intend to hand over most of the pipeline permitting process to Trump agency officials. This would ignore the sensitive nature of the region, as well the immense importance of the Potomac River as a key drinking water source for millions of people. That’s why a coalition of environmental organizations including CCAN, the Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, Potomac Riverkeeper, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, and others have come together to boycott this flawed regulatory process, and why hundreds of people from all walks of life have come together to oppose it.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life have come together to oppose the Potomac Pipeline. The Hogan Administration must carry out a full assessment of this pipeline’s impacts to our land and water — which we’re confident would show that it simply cannot be done safely.
But the clock is running out to stop it, we have until March 15 before a final decision is made. From now until then, we’ll be posting to social media to connect with decision makers and our neighbors to spread the word and STOP this pipeline to protect our water, our communities, and our climate.
Help keep the momentum going by adding your voice, and pictures, to our #MyPotomac campaign.