Community and Conservation Groups Blast FERC Findings on Fracked-Gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Over 100 concerned Virginians weathered the cold and rallied in Waynesboro on November 1st to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Community and Conservation Groups Blast FERC Findings on Fracked-Gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dozens of local groups and public advocacy organizations today condemned federal regulators for ignoring evidence that the proposed 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline is not needed and puts lives, communities, drinking water supplies, private property, publicly owned natural resources and the climate at unacceptable risk.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has released its draft environmental review of the $5 billion pipeline spearheaded by Dominion Resources. For two years, the proposal has sparked fierce opposition from hundreds of landowners in the three states — including farmers, business leaders, Native American tribes and rural African-American communities — who reject the company’s plan to take their land without their consent. Their fight has drawn comparisons to the ongoing citizen-led resistance at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline, and to the fight in Nebraska to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline.
The Atlantic Coast project would pump fracked gas across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, harming communities, water resources, private property, historic sites, and iconic public treasures including the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail. The groups say FERC failed to honestly assess these impacts and disregarded evidence that the project would lock consumer into decades more reliance on dirty fossil fuels.
An independent study shows there is enough existing gas supply in Virginia and the Carolinas to meet consumer demand through 2030 — negating the need for the massive pipeline and the harm it would trigger. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is one of six major pipelines proposed for the same region of West Virginia and Virginia, where experts warn the gas industry is overbuilding pipeline infrastructure. However, FERC ignored this evidence in its draft Environmental Impact Statement while also failing to assess the cumulative effects of the pipelines. The groups also fault the agency for dismissing clean energy alternatives.
In response to requests from numerous elected officials and organizations, FERC has extended the usual 45-day period for public comments; the deadline is April 6, 2017.
While legal and environmental experts are continuing to review the document, they have initially identified major gaps in FERC’s analysis, including:

  • The core issue of whether the massive project is needed to meet electricity demand, and whether alternatives including energy efficiency, solar and wind would be more environmentally responsible sources;
  • A complete analysis of the cumulative, life-cycle climate pollution that would result from the pipeline;
  • A full accounting of the negative economic consequences to communities, including decreased property values, loss of tourism revenue and other factors;
  • Any accounting of other environmental and human health damage from the increased gas fracking in West Virginia that would supply the pipeline; and
  • Thorough, site-specific analysis of damage to water quality and natural resources throughout the pipeline route.

Citizens along the route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline — along with landowners in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 301-mile fracked-gas project proposed in the same region — vow they will continue to build resistance to stop them.

Statements from community, environmental and legal experts:

Nancy Sorrells, Augusta County Alliance, 540-292-4170, info@augustacountyalliance.org “Every foot of this route has a victim: a family that would be displaced, a farmer who would impacted, schoolchildren whose safety is compromised, and residents whose drinking water is a risk. And for what? Not for energy independence or to turn on the lights, but rather for the profit of a private corporation.”
Chad Oba, Friends of Buckingham, Cofounder and Chair, 434-969-3229, chado108@me.com “Buckingham County is being targeted for a massive, noisy, polluting compressor station — the project’s only one in Virginia — in an area of former slave plantations that is densely populated by mostly African-American Freedmen. FERC’s review omits virtually all of the cultural resource reports we submitted, effectively erasing us from the record even as we bear the greatest burden. The leaders of Standing Rock have pledged strong kinship with us as another example of environmental racism.”
Ericka Faircloth, a Lumbee Indian member of the grassroots group EcoRobeson. (For interview requests, contact Hope Taylor with Clean Water for NC at hope@cwfnc.org ) “Folks who live in Robeson County, one of the poorest and most diverse counties in North Carolina, are especially vulnerable to the empty promise of jobs. Residents of low wealth will be most severely impacted by higher utility rates to pay for the pipeline, and by lowered value for their land. Potential drinking water contamination, loss of forests and disruption of  cultural sites are among the risks many that poor communities are expected to ‘deal with’ to make way for a project that’s only about  profit.”
Joe Lovett, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Executive Director, 304-520-2324, jlovett@appalmad.org   “We’re appalled FERC has once more refused to conduct a combined review of the massive slate of pipelines proposed to move fracked gas out of our region. FERC has the extraordinary power to grant ACP the right to take private property for private profit. Yet FERC decided that it didn’t have to do the hard work necessary to determine whether the ACP is necessary. Such a lack of diligence is truly remarkable.”
April Pierson-Keating, Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance (W.Va.), 304-642-9436, apkeating@hotmail.com: “This pipeline would add insult to injury in West Virginia, where we are already dealing with water and health impacts due to fracking. It would lock us into decades more fossil fuel pollution when we should be moving to renewable energy. This pipeline would continue the harm done by extractive industry to the most vulnerable of us — low-income people, the elderly, the disenfranchised.”
Peter Anderson, Virginia Campaign Coordinator, Appalachian Voices, 434-293-6373, peter@appvoices.org  “This pipeline would carry highly pressurized gas across miles of steep mountain terrain that is prone to rock slides and contains many headwater streams. Routing this pipeline across the Appalachian Trail and vulnerable water resources poses an unacceptable risk, especially given that it’s not needed to meet our energy needs.”
Anne Havemann, General Counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org: “The Atlantic Coast pipeline will trigger a massive new wave of greenhouse gas pollution and climate damage. Yet, FERC’s review once again fails to add up the full impact, ignoring cumulative climate pollution from fracking wells and the ultimate burning of the gas.”
Greg Buppert, Senior Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center, 434-977-4090, gbuppert@selcva.org “Dominion’s Atlantic Coast pipeline will not only irreparably alter our natural terrain but it is also unnecessary. The current route carves through the mountains in an area the U.S. Forest Service calls, ‘the wildland core of the central Appalachians’, for a pipeline that will lock generations of Virginians into dependence on natural gas. We already have the gas needed to bridge us from dirty to clean energy-existing infrastructure can meet our demands for natural gas for at least the next fifteen years. This is a Dominion self-enrichment project, not a public necessity.”
Kirk Bowers, Pipelines Campaign Manager, Virginia Chapter, Sierra Club, 434-296-8673, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org “The DEIS is deficient in many respects and needs to be re-issued. It imposes absurd pre-conditions for serious consideration and fails to affirmatively seek out alternatives that would meet the presumed need while greatly mitigating harms to the public and environment, land-takings and even costs. Likewise, the Commission needs to stop approving all projects that have contract support and take seriously its duties to consider all factors affecting the public convenience and necessity, including protecting environmental interests and private property rights not to have land seized for privately owned pipelines just because another private party contracts for service.The ACP is not needed to keep the lights on, homes and businesses heated, or industries in production.”  

Over 100 concerned Virginians weathered the cold and rallied in Waynesboro on November 1st to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Over 100 concerned Virginians weathered the cold and rallied in Waynesboro on November 1st to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Thousands Demand An Accurate Review Of Mountain Valley Pipeline

Thousands of citizens, local and conservation groups demand FERC do an accurate review of the Mountain Valley Pipeline

Groups call on FERC to issue completely revised Draft EIS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the past three months, more than 17,000 people in the affected region — along with tens of thousands of others across the country — have sent comments or signed petitions to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission demanding the agency do a thorough, accurate and unbiased review of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, and ultimately reject the project. Local groups and environmental organizations submitted hundreds of detailed comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) outlining numerous reasons finding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement substantially lacking information for meaningful review.
The proposed pipeline passes through important habitat in the Jefferson National Forest and would have devastating impacts on the New River Valley and surrounding areas. There are many substantial deficiencies in the DEIS that must be corrected through the issuance of a completely revised DEIS, including the failure to fully evaluate the need for the MVP and the failure to fully evaluate the impacts to water resources, wetlands, cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and climate change implications. Correcting these deficiencies will require significant new analysis and the incorporation of high quality and accurate information regarding MVP impacts.
Legal and environmental experts have filed review comments of the nearly 2,600-page document that identified major gaps in FERC’s analysis, including:

  • Failure to identify, consider, and analyze all reasonable alternatives. The DEIS fails to consider alternative routes and options, including a “no action” alternative, as required by the National Environmental Protection Act. The Council on Environmental Quality  refers to the alternatives analysis section as the “heart of the EIS”.
  • Failure to consider climate change impacts. FERC does not analyze the significance of the total annual greenhouse gas emissions in any meaningful way.
  • Failure to address the need for the MVP. Despite the clear requirement to discuss the need for the MVP project in the DEIS, FERC says that it will not address project need until after the environmental analysis is over.
  • Failure to provide adequate environmental information. The DEIS lacks sufficient information about the MVP and its potential environmental impacts on a wide variety of resources, including water resources, wetlands, cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and climate change implications.

In addition to significant flaws, there is a significant amount of information regarding other environmental impacts that is missing from the DEIS that will not be provided by the applicants in a manner that facilitates meaningful public disclosure and participation.
David Sligh, Conservation Director, Wild Virginia, 434-964-7455.
“FERC must revise the draft EIS to correct gross deficiencies in information and flawed analyses.  Wild Virginia calls on the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to insist on a new and adequate DEIS from FERC, or to fulfill their legal duties and prepare their own.”
Ben Luckett, Senior Attorney, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304.645.0125, bluckett@appalmad.org.
“We’re shocked the FERC has continued to disregard its federal duties and fast track this project — especially given major gaps in the agency’s understanding of the pipeline’s impacts, as well as any need for it in the first place. FERC has the extraordinary power to allow MVP to take private property for its shareholders’ own private gain. Just because the job of evaluating the impacts of such a massive project is difficult doesn’t mean that FERC may cut corners and ignore its important duty to the public. FERC should not proceed forward, sacrificing family land and other private property, without fully analyzing this destructive and unnecessary pipeline.”  
Lara Mack, Virginia Field Organizer, Appalachian Voices, 540-246-9720. lara@appovices.org.
“FERC woefully underestimated the impacts the Mountain Valley Pipeline will have on the Appalachian mountains, wildlife habitat, water resources, and communities. If FERC did it’s job correctly, with the public interest in mind, it would see this project for what it is —  a dangerous boondoggle.”
Andrew Downs, Regional Director, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 540.904.4354, adowns@appalachiantrail.org.
“Through a deficient level of planning and environmental impact assessment, the MVP project represents a threat not only to the purpose and values of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail but, by undermining the United States Forest Services’ protection of the AT, it represents a fundamental and existential threat to the entire National Trails System”
Anne Havemann, General Counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org.
“FERC’s draft environmental review utterly ignores the pipeline’s full impacts on the climate. The limited–and opaque–review fails to fully account for methane pollution from increased fracking that the pipeline would trigger, from leakage along the route, and from the ultimate burning of the gas. The pipeline would fail the White House’s climate test. FERC must revise its review to include the pipeline’s full lifecycle of climate pollution, and consider clean energy alternatives.”
Ellen Darden, POWHR Co-Chair,  Montgomery County, Va. 540-230-1091
greennrv.ellen@gmail.com.
“The people of Appalachia stand united in an unprecedented interstate coalition: Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR), to make clear to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the United States Forest Service, the US Army Corp of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management that Mountain Valley Pipeline has failed to establish a need for this destructive project.

FERC’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement summarily ignores the detailed, credentialed hydrogeologic, economic, historical preservation and cultural attachment research submitted by the POWHR coalition and hundreds of landowners opposed to MVP. Rather than interfering and obstructing public opposition to MVP, FERC must review the entire body of scientific research submitted and reject this project.”

Kirk A Bowers, PE, Pipelines Campaign Coordinator, VA Chapter, Sierra Club, 434.296.8673, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org.
“The Draft EIS is blatantly biased. It makes sweeping unsubstantiated claims of the need for the pipeline while dismissing any and all potential adverse effects. The applicant provides cursory responses to data requests in a perfunctory manner without analyses or serious consideration of the adverse effects of the proposed pipeline. The applicant has failed to make reasonable efforts to avoid and minimize adverse effects on communities, landowners and ecosystems impacted by the proposed pipeline. In light of the incompetent and unprofessional manner in which the application has been handled by MVP LLC, it is incumbent on FERC to reject the application.”
tellferc_nomvp-01-01

Baltimore County Council Votes To Endorse a State-Wide Fracking Ban

Baltimore County Council Votes To Endorse a State-Wide Fracking Ban 
County Council approves resolution to support a state-wide ban in Maryland and to ban fracking within Baltimore County if the moratorium is allowed to expire
Towson MD. – Baltimore County voted 6 to 1 to approve a measure supporting a state-wide ban on hydraulic-fracturing.
More than a dozen localities in Maryland have now approved or introduced measures to either ban fracking locally or to endorse a permanent, statewide ban. The list includes the western Maryland towns of Friendsville and Mountain Lake Park, the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Frederick, and the cities of Baltimore, Rockville, and Greenbelt.

Baltimore County Council Chair Vicki Almond stated, “Given the ever growing scientific evidence that fracking is harmful to land, water and people, we must continue to ban this practice in Baltimore County and throughout the State of Maryland.”

Polling shows that, by a 2-to-1 margin, voters across Maryland support statewide legislation to ban fracking. Unless the General Assembly passes a permanent, statewide ban next year, Governor Larry Hogan’s administration could allow fracking to begin after October 2017, when the state’s moratorium will expire.

“A groundswell of support is building across Maryland to ban fracking,” said Brooke Harper, Maryland Field Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “In 2017, it’s time for the General Assembly to follow the lead of western Maryland citizens and cities like Frostburg and pass a permanent, statewide ban.”
CONTACT:
Brooke Harper, 301-992-6875, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org
Denise Robbins, 240-396-2022, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org
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Frostburg Approves Fracking Ban Measures, Becoming the Largest Western Md. City to Protect Water from Toxic Drilling

Frostburg Approves Fracking Ban Measures, Becoming the Largest Western Md. City to Protect Water from Toxic Drilling
City Council approves measures to ban fracking on city-owned land near critical water supplies and to ban the sale of water for fracking
Frostburg, Md. — The city of Frostburg tonight became the largest municipality in western Maryland to take local action to ban fracking. The Frostburg City Council voted unanimously to approve two measures designed to protect local water supplies from the toxic drilling practice. The Garrett County towns of Friendsville and Mountain Lake Park have also banned fracking.
The first Frostburg measure bans fracking on city-owned land in neighboring Garrett County that supplies the drinking water of thousands of Allegany County citizens. The second measure bans bulk sales of water by the city for the purposes of fracking. Both measures will go into effect after 15 days.
The vote followed months of organizing by the citizens’ group Frack-Free Frostburg, which gathered over 700 petitions and turned out hundreds of residents to rallies and hearings.
“Frostburg residents have sought out this citizens’ campaign, and the movement built over time,” said Kathy Powell, a Frostburg business co-owner and founding member of Frack-Free Frostburg. “We thank city officials for listening to their constituents and taking action to protect the city and our water supply from the harms of fracking.”
Frostburg joins a growing statewide movement of counties, cities, and citizens working to ban fracking across Maryland as the 2017 General Assembly session nears.
More than a dozen localities in Maryland have now approved or introduced measures to either ban fracking locally or to endorse a permanent, statewide ban. The list includes the western Maryland towns of Friendsville and Mountain Lake Park, the counties of Prince George’s, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, and Frederick, and the cities of Baltimore, Rockville, and Greenbelt.
“With a local ban saying ‘NO’ to fracking, we aren’t just saying ‘YES’ to a better quality of life — we are making sure it happens,” said Kit Pepper, a supporter of the Frostburg campaign. “We hope this provides a further push to state leaders to protect all of Maryland’s communities from fracking’s water pollution, compromised air quality, and poisoned, toxic well sites.”
Polling shows that, by a 2-to-1 margin, voters across Maryland support statewide legislation to ban fracking. Unless the General Assembly passes a permanent, statewide ban next year, Governor Larry Hogan’s administration could allow fracking to begin after October 2017, when the state’s moratorium will expire.
“A groundswell of support is building across Maryland to ban fracking,” said Brooke Harper, Maryland Field Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and whose family roots are in Frostburg. “In 2017, it’s time for the General Assembly to follow the lead of western Maryland citizens and cities like Frostburg and pass a permanent, statewide ban.”
CONTACT:
Kathy Powell, 301-707-9900, powellkf@comcast.net
Brooke Harper, 301-992-6875, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org

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Virginians Launch ‘Pipeline Pledge of Resistance’ to Stop MVP and ACP Projects

Signers commit to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience, if necessary, to stop fracked-gas pipelines that threaten land, water and climate safety

Pledge takes inspiration from movements to stop the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines

Virginia citizens and allies launched a “Pipeline Pledge of Resistance” today, asking people dedicated to preserving clean soil and water and a safe climate to commit to joining acts of peaceful civil disobedience in order to stop proposed fracked-gas projects.
The call to action and pledge — available at http://nonewpipelines.org — is signed by the 23 citizens who blocked the gate to Governor Terry McAuliffe’s mansion in early October. The citizens, including an Army veteran, pastors, and coastal residents on the front lines of sea-level rise, were peacefully arrested calling on the Governor to help stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline using his administration’s regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act.
The pledge is inspired by pledges of resistance that have helped to galvanize movements to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline and, most recently, the Dakota Access Pipeline.
“If hundreds of us stand up, and pledge to resist these pipelines, including — if necessary — pledging to participate in peaceful, dignified civil disobedience, we can convince our federal, state, regional and local leaders that going forward is no longer politically feasible for them,” the letter states. “And that is our goal.”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has a long track record of rubber-stamping gas industry projects, is currently reviewing the proposed 301-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline and the proposed 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Separately, the McAuliffe administration has authority to review and deny essential permits for the projects under section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
As the call to action affirms: “We want to be ready to act at every remaining point in the decision-making process, from FERC’s final review of each pipeline to the McAuliffe administration’s review of each pipeline’s air and water permits.”
The proposed pipelines are part of an unprecedented proposed expansion of fracked-gas infrastructure across the Appalachian region of West Virginia, Virginia and beyond, with up to 19 total pipeline projects under consideration. Together, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline threaten to bisect hundreds of miles of forests and farmland, jeopardize drinking water, and lock the region into decades of more reliance on fossil fuels.
The latest climate math shows that investments in new fossil fuels must stop now in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, including the permanent flooding of low-lying neighborhoods and military bases in coastal Virginia. Meanwhile, recent studies indicate that proposed pipelines in Virginia are part of a risky, regional overbuild by the gas industry, and are not necessary to meet the future energy needs of consumers.

Initiating signers of the “Pipeline Pledge of Resistance” include:

Russell Chisholm, a US Army veteran who served in Desert Storm and a landowner in Newport, Virginia, in Giles County whose land is just a few miles from the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline: “My wife and I fought for our nation’s security only to return home to be denied the basic security of our property rights and our right to clean water. When called to serve I did not shrug my shoulders and claim, ‘not my job.’ Yet that’s essentially what federal regulators and state leaders like Governor McAuliffe are doing now. I’m ready to put my body on the line again, standing with my neighbors to protect our clean water, mountain landscapes, and climate.”
Quan Baker, a resident of Norfolk, Virginia, where neighborhoods are increasingly flooded by rising sea levels driven by global warming: “The coast I call home is at risk of drowning because of fossil fuel pollution. Taking the climate crisis seriously, especially in a coastal state like Virginia, means keeping fossil fuels in the ground and shifting our communities rapidly to renewable energy. If it takes getting arrested to ensure that our leaders make the right choice and reject these pipelines, then I’m ready.”
Pastor Paul Wilson, who ministers to the Union Hill and Union Grove Baptist churches in Buckingham County in the impact zone of Dominion’s proposed compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline: “My church community is in the ground-zero zone of Dominion’s dangerous compressor station. This project would only propel fracked gas through our community, leaving us with toxic emissions, pounding noise, and explosion danger. We refuse to be sacrificial lambs for the sake of private profits. Getting arrested is a small sacrifice to stop the destruction of our peaceful, rural community.”
Izzy Pezzulo, a junior at the University of Richmond and member of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition: “My generation will pay a steep price for more multi-billion-dollar investments in climate-wrecking fracked gas. At this point, the only responsible and rational choice is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. If our leaders continue to ignore the clear science, then it’s up to us to draw a clear line, standing with communities being directly affected now.”
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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Baltimore City Council Passes Resolution Urging Statewide Ban on Fracking

Baltimore, MD — Today the Baltimore City council unanimously approved a resolution urging state lawmakers to pass a ban on hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, in Maryland. The resolution comes on the same day that the Hogan administration formally published draft regulations to allow fracking to begin in the state as soon as October 2017.
There is currently a moratorium on fracking in Maryland, but the temporary ban ends next year. Several state lawmakers have vowed to introduce legislation to permanently ban fracking in the upcoming General Assembly session.
“It’s encouraging to see real leadership from the Baltimore city council on this issue,” said Rianna Eckel, Maryland Organizer at Food & Water Watch. “The resolution sends a strong message to Baltimore’s representatives in Annapolis that we expect them to protect our health and communities and ban fracking in Maryland.”
Baltimore joins a growing chorus of municipalities and counties across Maryland taking action to ban fracking. Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties have banned fracking, as have the western Maryland towns of Friendsville and Mountain Lake Park. Councilmembers in Anne Arundel and Frederick Counties have called for a statewide ban, and more cities across Maryland are poised to take similar action.
“Baltimore is part of a resounding wave of action across Maryland to ban fracking,” said Brooke Harper, Maryland Field Director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “The last thing Baltimore needs is another source of toxic air pollution contributing to more asthma and respiratory diseases. With this vote, the City Council is sending a strong message to legislators in Annapolis that it’s time to protect our health by banning fracking once and for all.”
The Baltimore City vote helped kick off a full week of anti-fracking demonstrations led by the Don’t Frack Maryland coalition. Additionally, this past weekend, 40 faith leaders, including 15 Baltimore-area congregations, dedicated their religious services to climate change through the 2nd annual “Climate in the Pulpits” program. From Frostburg to Baltimore to Lusby, faith leaders lifted up a ban on fracking as part of caring for creation.

“As a Baltimore City resident with a home in Western Maryland, I know the natural splendors and resources that are at risk if we frack in this state. Without a statewide ban on fracking, the rivers, waterfalls and mountains that we all hold so dearly will be destroyed,” said Citizen Shale Board Member Steve Mogge. “The city council is right to stand with our neighbors in western Maryland and call for a ban on fracking across the state.”

Contact: Brooke Harper, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Don’t Frack Maryland coalition unites more than 100 business, public interest, community, faith, food and climate groups committed to passing a permanent, statewide ban on fracking in Maryland. For more information on the statewide campaign, go to http://www.dontfrackmd.org.

Poll: Md. Voters Support a Ban on Fracking By 2-to-1 Margin

Poll: Md. Voters Support a Ban on Fracking By 2-to-1 Margin, Including in At-Risk Garrett County

Results show high voter intensity for a ban, widespread concern about water pollution and harm to health

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — With the clock winding down on Maryland’s two-year moratorium on fracking, a statewide poll of Maryland voters released today shows broad public support for permanently banning the risky drilling practice. In Garrett County, a prime target area for the oil and gas industry, voters oppose fracking by an even stronger margin.
The poll, conducted by the nonpartisan firm OpinionWorks, found that Maryland voters support a ban on fracking by a 2-to-1 margin, with a 56% majority supporting the ban and only 28% opposed. This poll follows on the heels of a recent Washington Post poll finding that a similarly strong majority of Marylanders opposes fracking.
The OpinionWorks poll provides additional insights for state legislators who will weigh legislation to ban fracking in the 2017 Maryland General Assembly. Key additional findings include:

  • In Garrett County, the margin of support for a fracking ban is more than 2-to-1, with 57% in support of a ban and only 27% opposed. (This result is based on statistically significant “oversampling” of voters in Garrett County, a likely ground zero for fracking in Maryland.)
  • By a 3-to-1 margin, voters say they are more likely to vote for a legislator who supports a fracking ban, with 40% more likely and only 13% less likely.
  • Voter intensity is significantly higher on the pro-ban side: 25% of voters are much more likely to support a pro-ban legislator, compared to only 7% who are much less likely.

“This new poll makes it clear that Maryland voters strongly support a ban on fracking,” said Senator Bobby Zirkin, D-Baltimore County, a longtime supporter of banning the practice, “strengthening the case that it is time for the Maryland General Assembly to act.”
Delegate Kumar Barve, D-Montgomery County, and chair of the House Environment and Transportation Committee added, “In 2015, my committee passed a two-year moratorium on fracking so that we could understand the science and all of the policy implications of hydraulic fracturing. This year we will take decisive action based on science and in the interest of all of the people of Maryland.”
The poll also found that Marylanders have a wide variety of concerns about the significant risks of fracking. Contamination of water was the top concern cited — with one-third of voters worried about the risks — while harm to human and animal health was the second-biggest concern. Only 6% of voters statewide did not express concern about the risks of fracking.
“Western Marylanders recognize, as the poll shows, that most of our friends and neighbors don’t want fracking,” said Paul Roberts, president of Citizen Shale and a small business owner in Garrett County. “That is a message difficult to convey in Annapolis when our own representatives fail to speak up for us. So, now is the time for Maryland to move ahead, with legislative leaders committed to securing a healthy and sustainable future for our community and families.”
More than 100 organizations have endorsed the Don’t Frack Maryland campaign and are working to pass a ban on fracking in the upcoming General Assembly session. Unless state legislators take action, Governor Larry Hogan’s administration could allow industrial drilling operations to begin in Maryland soon after October 2017, when the state’s moratorium will expire.
“The movement to ban fracking in Maryland is only growing, and these poll numbers reflect that,” said James McGarry, Maryland policy director at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “By banning fracking, Maryland legislators will not only be following the science, they’ll be following the wishes of voters statewide.”
In 2016, the town of Friendsville in Garrett County and Prince George’s County both passed local ordinances banning fracking, joining the town of Mountain Lake Park and Montgomery County. Members of the Anne Arundel County Council also recently wrote a letter urging their state legislative delegation to pass a fracking ban. Last week, nearly 200 citizens rallied in Frostburg and won a commitment from their City Council to advance a municipal ban on fracking.
“Governor Hogan has sought to keep a low profile on this issue, but the draft regulations released by his administration clearly indicate his intentions to frack our state,” said Mitch Jones, senior policy advocate at Food & Water Watch. “We know most Marylanders oppose fracking, so we’re urging state legislators to stand with the people, and stand up for a ban on fracking now.”
“It has been clear for several years that there is no safe way to regulate fracking,” said Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Sierra Club. “Health and environmental hazards are pervasive in every state that permits fracking. The only foolproof way to protect Marylanders from fracking is to keep it out of Maryland.”
ABOUT THE POLL: The OpinionWorks poll was commissioned by groups within the Don’t Frack Maryland coalition. For the statewide poll results, OpinionWorks surveyed 802 randomly selected registered voters across Maryland from August 18-30, 2016. The statewide poll has a potential sampling error of no more than + 3.5% at a 95% confidence level. In addition to the statewide sample, 1,250 additional interviews were distributed across five selected legislative districts and Garrett County. The additional oversample interviews were conducted from September 1-28, 2016.
VIEW THE POLLING MEMO AT:
http://www.dontfrackmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Maryland-Fracking-Ban-Poll-Memo-102516.pdf
VIEW THE NEWS RELEASE ONLINE AT: http://www.dontfrackmd.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ReleaseforOpinionWorksFrackingPoll10.26.16-2.pdf
CONTACT:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Don’t Frack Maryland coalition unites more than 100 business, public interest, community, faith, food and climate groups committed to passing a permanent, statewide ban on fracking in Maryland. For more information on the statewide campaign, go to http://www.dontfrackmd.org.

Poll: Va. Voters Want McAuliffe to Break With Dominion on Greenhouse Gases; Support State Legislation to Fund Coastal Protection Measures

For Immediate Release
October 20, 2016

Poll: Va. Voters Want McAuliffe to Break With Dominion on Greenhouse Gases; Support State Legislation to Fund Coastal Protection Measures

As the Governor announces updates to his pro-fossil fuel energy plan today, polling results show voters want big clean-energy commitments
RICHMOND, Va. — Governor Terry McAuliffe announced updates to his pro-fossil fuel energy plan today, drawing criticism from climate advocates. The plan continues to promote major new investments in fossil fuels that threaten to outstrip steps forward on solar power and efficiency. Concurrently, poll results released today show voters want the governor to take more transformative steps to promote clean energy and combat flooding from climate change.
Today’s polling results show that, by a nearly 2-1 margin, Virginians want the Governor to defy Dominion Power’s plans to significantly increase future greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Gov. McAuliffe has yet to confirm if he will hold Dominion accountable to total, net reductions in climate pollution from power plants under federal and state clean power rules.
By a strong margin, voters also want the Governor to finally support the proposed Virginia Coastal Protection Act. This bipartisan state bill would cap climate emissions statewide while funding strong flood-protection measures for coastal military bases and communities in Hampton Roads and across the state.
“The Governor continues to cut ribbons for small solar projects at schools while simultaneously supporting Dominion Power in massively increasing global warming pollution,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “This poll today show voters want solutions to the scale of the problem. They want the Governor to break with Dominion and actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions under federal rules. And, with Hurricane Matthew still affecting coastal Virginia, voters want McAuliffe to support legislation that would finally and sustainably fund protections against sea-level rise and flooding.”
In the poll results, 55 percent of voters say the Governor should require Dominion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while only 29 percent think the Governor is right to support Dominion’s planned pollution increase. Meanwhile, nearly half of Virginians think the Governor should support the Virginia Coastal Protection Act while just 33 percent oppose and 18 percent have no opinion.
The Governor’s strong prior support for fossil fuels over clean energy is cataloged in his own revised energy plan released today. The Governor touts that 400 Megawatts of solar are projected to be built in Virginia under his four-year term. That is the pollution-reduction equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road. But the Governor’s support of two massive pipelines for fracked gas would effectively trigger greenhouse gas pollution increases equal to nearly doubling the total pollution emitted by the state’s existing power plants. Apart from the plan, the Governor has previously supported offshore drilling for oil, which could have increased climate pollution equal to adding 24 million cars to Virginia’s roads.
Today’s polling data come as growing numbers of Virginians have expressed their disapproval with the Governor on a wide range of dirty energy issues. Polling results released in September showed that voters – by a nearly 2-1 margin – oppose the Governor’s support for massive fracked-gas pipelines in the state. They also showed that 71 percent of voters oppose his support for Dominion’s plan to bury millions of tons of coal ash next to major Virginia rivers. In early October, scores of activists picketed outside the Governor’s Richmond office over three days and 23 citizens were peacefully arrested outside his house protesting the pipelines, coal ash, and climate inaction.
The Cromer Group poll, commissioned by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, surveyed 732 randomly-selected Virginia registered voters in an automated phone survey on September 7, 2016. The survey carries a margin of error of + 4.0 percent at 95 percent level of confidence.
The poll results are available online at: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CPP_VCPA_VA-Poll-Results.pdf
Contact:
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the biggest and oldest grassroots organization dedicated to fighting climate change in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC. CCAN is building a powerful movement to shift our region away from climate-harming fossil fuels and to clean energy solutions: www.chesapeakeclimate.org.

BREAKING: 23 citizens arrested at Va. Governor’s mansion to stop pipelines, protect water

For Immediate Release
October 5, 2016
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 717-439-0346 (cell), kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838 (cell), mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
23 Committed Citizens Block Gate to Va. Governor’s Mansion with Message to McAuliffe: ‘Yes, you can protect us from pipelines, coal ash and climate change’
–Act of civil disobedience is first-ever over climate change at the Virginia Governor’s mansion, inspired by the movements to stop the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines
–‘Protectors’ arrested include grandmothers, landowners, a pastor, an Army veteran, a student, and coastal residents facing flood danger
RICHMOND, Va. — Twenty-three committed citizens were peacefully arrested this afternoon after blocking the gate to the Virginia Governor’s mansion, engaging in civil disobedience to send the message to Governor Terry McAuliffe that his legacy — and the welfare of Virginians — depends on rejecting reckless pipeline and coal ash permits, and championing 100% renewable energy solutions.
The action was the first-ever act of civil disobedience over climate change and fossil fuel pollution at the Virginia Governor’s mansion. The citizens who were arrested are facing misdemeanor trespassing charges and received a court summons.
Participants ranged in age from 20 to 83 and include citizens of Giles County, Nelson County, Norfolk, Richmond, Shenandoah County, Buckingham County, and Leesburg. The group included grandmothers, an Army veteran, a nurse, faith activists, a student, and people living on the front lines of sea-level rise. Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks and Pastor Paul Wilson, who ministers to two churches in Buckingham County in the impact zone of Dominion’s proposed pipeline compressor station, also took part.
Today’s action comes as Virginia faces unprecedented pollution threats driven by corporations like Dominion Resources. The latest math shows that any new investments in fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure — including pipelines for fracked gas — could lock in runaway climate change, including the permanent flooding of Virginia’s coastline. Meanwhile, utility company plans to bury toxic coal ash waste next to major rivers could lock in the contamination of waterways and drinking water sources for decades to come.
In response to Governor McAuliffe’s recent remarks that he’s powerless over these issues, citizens are saying clearly and loudly, “Yes, you can act, and the time is now,” using the administration’s documented regulatory authority under the law and powerful political microphone.
“My wife and I draw our drinking water from a spring that could be disrupted or drained completely by the sort of trenching and blasting required by the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” said Russell Chisholm, a landowner in Newport, Virginia, in Giles County and a US Army veteran who served in Desert Storm. “Governor McAuliffe and his administration have the power to protect our clean water. It’s not a question of means but of the political will to do the right thing.”
“I’m getting arrested today because the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, under Governor McAuliffe, has failed to protect public health when it comes to the proper disposal of millions of tons of toxic coal ash in the state,” said Dean Naujoks, the Potomac Riverkeeper. “There are drinking wells, next to coal ash sites in Virginia right now, that are confirmed to be contaminated and yet the state still won’t tell citizens whether the wells are safe to drink or not. In the meantime, the Governor has the full power, on his own, to order DEQ to follow the much stronger and safer coal ash standards of North and South Carolina and Georgia. He should do that today.”
“The temperatures are rising, and the coastal city in which I live and raise my children increasingly floods even on sunny days,” said Kim Williams, a mother of two living in Norfolk. “Building new gas pipelines will only speed up and intensify the flooding. We need Governor McAuliffe to show courageous leadership, not buy into business as usual with fossil fuels.”
These “protectors” are taking action in solidarity with people across Virginia who face direct harm from fracked-gas pipelines that would bisect their land, from toxins polluting their drinking water, and from rising tides increasingly flooding their streets and homes.
“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s route comes within five miles of my home, and I’m ‘lucky,’” said Deborah Kushner of Nelson County. “I know people whose land is in the direct path of this pipeline. We must stop our dependence on fossil fuels that are heating our atmosphere, destroying mountains, raising sea levels and clogging and polluting waterways. If it takes marching, picketing and getting arrested, so be it. We are fighting for our survival.”
The action in front of Governor McAuliffe’s house echoes the demands of dozens of citizens who joined three days of picketing outside the Governor’s offices this week. Six hundred people marched through 99-degree heat to the Governor’s mansion in July, and more than 60 landowner, social justice, faith, student, riverkeeper, and climate groups sent an open letter to the Governor in June, outlining how he can champion energy and climate justice. Polling released in September indicates that Virginia voters oppose Governor McAuliffe’s current support for fracked-gas pipelines and for Dominion’s “cap in place” coal ash plans by significant, bipartisan margins.

As documented in fact sheets released this week, Governor McAuliffe’s administration can do the following using its direct regulatory authority and political leadership:

  • Stop fracked-gas pipelines using state permit authority under section 401 of the Clean Water Act.
  • Permanently protect waterways and drinking water from toxic coal ash, starting by rejecting Dominion’s “pollute in place” plans.
  • Champion state-based adaptation solutions and 100% renewable energy to keep Virginia’s coastal communities above water.

RESOURCES:
Profiles – View profiles of the “protectors” who were arrested at the Governor’s mansion: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/blog/citizens-reveal-why-they-are-risking-arrest-outside-of-gov-mcauliffes-mansion/
Photos – High-res photos of today’s act of civil disobedience will be available for use at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chesapeakeclimate/albums/72157673529402632

Fact sheet – The McAuliffe administration’s permit authority over fracked-gas pipelines: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/McAuliffe-Gas-Pipeline-Authority-Fact-Sheet-Oct-2016.pdf
Fact sheet – Three ways Gov. McAuliffe can act now to protect Virginians from pipelines, coal ash and rising sea levels: http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/McAuliffe-Yes-You-Can-Fact-Sheet-Oct-2016.pdf

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Virginians Launch Three-Day Picket Line Outside of Gov. McAuliffe’s Richmond Offices

Citizens Launch Three-Day Picket Line Outside of Gov. McAuliffe’s Richmond Offices, Chanting ‘Yes, You Can Stop the Pipelines!’

Military veterans, students, faith activists and landowners join growing confrontation over fossil fuels

RICHMOND, Va.—Fifty Virginians opposed to proposed fracked-gas pipelines launched a three-day picket line outside of Governor Terry McAuliffe’s Richmond offices this morning, calling on the Governor to take action to protect the state’s precious clean water resources from harm.
Over three days of picketing, citizens will highlight three ways Governor McAuliffe’s administration must stop denying—and start using—its executive authority and political leadership to protect Virginians from three urgent fossil fuel threats: pipelines, toxic coal ash, and rising sea levels driven by global warming.
The first day of picketing kicked off this morning with a press conference on the Capitol Grounds featuring Virginians from Giles County to Buckingham County who are being directly affected by the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
“We need Governor McAuliffe on the side of the citizens to keep our water clean,” said Don Jones, who stood next to his 86-year-old father George Jones, a Korean War veteran whose 10th-generation Virginia family farm would be bisected by the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Giles County. “We need water to survive, the gas we don’t, and Governor McAuliffe has the power to help us.”
In recent interviews, Governor McAuliffe has repeatedly called the pipelines a “federal issue” and inaccurately dismissed the state’s direct authority to approve or deny the 401 Water Quality Certificate each project needs under the Clean Water Act.
Legal experts today released a fact sheet outlining the case for state intervention. Picketers carried a blown up replica of a letter from New York State to prove the point. It shows the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo in April denied a 401 water quality permit for a proposed 124-mile fracked-gas pipeline in New York.
“For many months, Governor McAuliffe has denied that he has authority to protect Virginians from the damages these pipelines would cause if built,” said David Sligh, Regulatory Systems Investigator with the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition. “The law clearly contradicts his assertions, a fact that may explain why the Governor’s office and top environmental officials refuse to respond to the detailed information we’ve sent them or answer the specific questions we’ve asked regarding this issue.”
“How many communities must be destroyed before Governor McAuliffe and our political leaders decide enough is enough?,” asked Pastor Paul Wilson, minister to the Union Hill and Union Grove Missionary Baptist Churches, who will join the picket line on Wednesday. His churches are within a half-mile of Dominion’s proposed 53,000-horsepower compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. “The 200 people I serve stand to lose their health, property values, and quality of life, while Dominion stands to profit. It’s not too late for Governor McAuliffe to get on the right side of history and to tell Dominion ‘no,’” added Wilson.
People are converging on Richmond this week from every region of the state—from southwest Virginia to Nelson County to Northern Virginia to Norfolk. Each day citizens will parade past the Governor’s mansion with signs like, “Yes, You Can, Protect Our Water” and chants like “Fracked-gas pipelines flood our coastlines,” before forming a picket line on the sidewalk in front of the Governor’s offices in the Patrick Henry Building.
Tomorrow, Dan Marrow, a father from Dumfries, plans to bring a bottle of contaminated water from his family’s drinking well, and ask the Governor to sample it. The “Dominion Water” will list on the bottle the concentrations of toxins found in his family’s well, which is a short distance from a coal ash waste pond operated by Dominion Virginia Power.
On Tuesday—“Day 2” of the picket—citizens will tell Governor McAuliffe, “Yes, you can protect our water from coal ash,” by requiring Dominion to move the toxic waste away from rivers to modern, lined landfills, just as the Carolinas and Georgia are requiring utilities to do. Dominion is currently seeking sign off to bury its coal ash in place—a “pollute in place” plan that could contaminate rivers and drinking water sources for decades to come.
On Wednesday—“Day 3” of the picket—coastal Hampton Roads residents will come to Richmond to demand that Governor McAuliffe champion 100% clean energy and state-based adaptation solutions to protect their homes from growing flooding.
“Governor McAuliffe has shown a stunning lack of political courage when it comes to climate change—and my generation will pay the price,” said Izzy Pezzulo, a junior at the University of Richmond and member of the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition. “We’re at the point where half-measures are unacceptable. Climate leadership means keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and that means saying ‘no’ to pipelines.”
An alarming new report shows that investments in new fossil fuels, including new fracking wells and pipelines, must stop now in order to avoid catastrophic climate impacts — like the permanent flooding of Virginia’s coastal communities and military bases.
Polling released in September indicates that Virginia voters largely back the demands of the picket. Seventy-one percent of those polled believe Governor McAuliffe should follow the approach of other southern states on coal ash disposal. Additionally, only 28% of Virginia voters said they support Governor McAuliffe’s efforts to build fracked-gas pipelines, with 55% opposed.

RESOURCES:
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