Editor’s note: This story is republished from The Appalachian Chronicle at https://appalachianchronicle.com/2023/06/04/up-next-for-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-civil-disobedience/
GAP MILLS, W.Va. — Even though the U.S. Congress and President Joe Biden have tyrannically bypassed the people, the courts and the Constitution to finish the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) through passage of the so-called “Fiscal Responsibility Act,” the opposition, I don’t believe, is finished.
Next up is civil disobedience. I have no idea what form it will take, nor do I have insider information. What I do have is an understanding of history; when the politically powerful inflict unjust edicts upon the citizenry, civil disobedience is inevitable. And appropriate. The MVP will plow through West Virginia and Virginia with a literal vengeance. Every person available must be willing to move forward and put their foot down — directly in its path.
“Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action
are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to
the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.“
Martin Luther King Jr., ‘Letter from Birmingham City Jail’
Now, those deciding to engage the Powers-that-Be directly will be marginalized. They will be disenfranchised and, amazingly, made to feel guilty for standing up for justice. That nonsense must simply be ignored. Learn from Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail.”
He wrote, “Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that never be cured as long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must likewise be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured” (Washington, ed., A Testament of Hope, p. 295, 1986).
So, the fight continues. The tension will be real. But remember, it was not MVP opponents that created the pus-flowing ugliness that is the MVP. It was the fossil fuel industry and their bought-and-paid-for inside-the-beltway mercenaries. Put your foot down now! If not, we’ll all be in constant retreat from the tyrants that value profit over the planet.
© Michael M. Barrick, 2023.
Michael M. Barrick is owner of The Appalachian Chronicle, which offers experienced, independent reporting & analysis on the vital topics facing Appalachia.
