Pipeline Thru Virginia
UPDATE- July 23, 2016- March on the Mansion
WHEN: Saturday, July 23rd from 12 noon – 3:00 p.m.
Rally at noon. March to the Governor’s mansion at 1 p.m.
WHERE: Richmond, VA. Meet at historic Brown’s Island Park along the James River for the rally. Brown’s Island is accessible via pedestrian entrances at Tredegar Street & South 5th and South 7th Streets respectively, and by Richmond’s Canal Walk. (Google Map)
WHO: Virginians from the mountains to the sea who want healthy communities and a safe climate!
^ ^ ^
Are you fed up with Governor Terry McAuliffe’s support for fracked-gas pipelines through our mountains, oil drilling in our oceans, and coal ash dumping in our rivers?
Are you ready to be part of a big and bold movement to demand a clean energy future in Virginia?
Then, join the historic “March on the Mansion” Saturday, July 23rd in Richmond.
Friends of Nelson is joining groups from across Virginia to take our message straight to Governor McAuliffe’s house. The Governor isn’t yet hearing the clear voices of citizens like you who say “No Atlantic Coast Pipeline!” and “No Mountain Valley Pipeline!” He isn’t hearing coastal citizens fed up with flooding and ready to move beyond fossil fuels. He isn’t hearing citizens statewide who want clean water and a safe climate.
So we have to take our voices to his house.
Sign up for the July 23rd “March on the Mansion” at www.marchonthemansion.org.
We’re marching to defend our land, clean water, property rights, and climate -- and we need you there! This is going to be one of the biggest environmental and social justice rallies in Virginia’s history.
We’ll come together as students, landowners, faith and justice leaders, climate activists, moms and grandparents. We’ll have music, great speakers, special trainings, and a wonderful, colorful march to the Governor’s mansion. We’ll tell the Governor that we want a transition to clean energy now, so that whole regions of Virginia are not sacrificed to polluting companies who spoil our communities, rivers, beaches, and farms.
Like in the fight to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, people are coming together from across many areas and across communities to say “no” to dirty power and “yes” to something much better: solar energy and offshore wind and energy democracy.
Sign up for the July 23rd “March on the Mansion” at www.marchonthemansion.org. Find a bus in your region headed to Richmond! Buses will be leaving from Lovingston, Staunton and Charlottesville and other locales. Stay tuned for more information on specific locations for bus pickups next week.
See you July 23rd
Thought For The Day- Some companies are planning to use carbon dioxide (instead of water) for fracking operations to extract natural gas. Some have already started. Fracking releases carbon dioxide into the environment. Ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide. Do we really need to be exposed to more ticks and the diseases they carry?
The Loss- Still Remembered
I saw them. They were still broken hearted and very angry. Their land and homes were taken from them through a twisted "eminent domain" action. Fifty years later when the displaced land owners talked about what happened they cried. Almost 3,000 people were devastated by these actions in the late 1920's and early 1930's. It still haunts them today.
True, a grand park was eventually established to protect that same wilderness, but those who lost all they had and all they ever wanted were still understandably bitter. Their children and grandchildren remember. They've heard the stories over the years and still they feel a deep sadness when they look to the mountains that once were their homes. Shenandoah National Park. The local residents gave all.
Fast forward to 2015- Now these same mountains, valleys, wilderness areas and nearby residents are under attack again by those who will profit from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. And this time there is no wilderness protection as an end result- in fact there is nothing "good" about it.
Instead the air we breathe, the grounds we farm, and our water sheds will be in danger of contamination. The irreversible damage will be felt thousands of miles away if the PIPELINE PEOPLE have their way. Our future generations will surely suffer. They too will cry.
Successful were the Kayaktivists in blocking Shell Oil from drilling in the Alaskan wilderness. The Keystone Pipeline is now "stalled" because citizens and government officials stood up against the project.
Now it is time to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project from destroying Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina too. Many people are coming together to try to make a difference. They could use your help.
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
Sign The Petition- December 2015- Click HERE
Arlo Bloom, an eight grader in Nelson County created a documentary for his school project that provides an easy to follow "Step Backward" look at the pipeline. See his efforts to educate here. (Note- voices are low volume, however, be ready to turn down the volume when the music starts if you are sensitive to sounds.)
This pipeline project also brings with it a personal insult in the highest degree for citizens whose land is once again threatened by eminent domain. Alone this battle is too big for one person to fight and the opponents are too powerful. But, together we can stop this shameful repeat of history and make a solid contribution to our future.
See more about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and consider supporting the efforts to put a stop sign on that pipeline.
Sign The Petition- December 2015- Click HERE
(Be sure to see the slide show about 1/2 way down the page. You'll smile.)
(Be sure to play the "We Don't Want Your Pipeline" song by the Williams.
Friends of Shenandoah Mountain
Additional Resources here and here.
Additional Information
Water Problems- 3 Minute Video
See another 3 minute video here.
Please say 'Fooey to Fracking'. We have enough problems already! We need to improve our health, not stand idly by and allow it to become worse!
P.S. What does this have to do with Lyme disease? Basically nothing. Before becoming ill my passion was improving and protecting the wilderness. I worked in it, lived in it, wrote about it, photographed it and spent every moment I could exploring it. It's time for me to go back home to try to make a lasting difference. I hope you don't mind.
Lucy Barnes