Editor’s Note: The posts below, published with permission of Appalachians Against the Pipeline, give a glimpse of the ongoing protests by groups in Appalachia to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which Congress recently gave the go ahead to via the recent debt ceiling deal. People are determined to keep building the resistance to the pipeline, saying after fighting for five years, they’ve learned that “the people will not let this pipeline be built,” and “the only thing we can rely on is us.” Meanwhile, MVP is on the offensive, heading to the Supreme Court, asking the Court to find that Congress didn’t violate the U.S. Constitution by passing a law prohibiting judicial review of federal approvals of the pipeline, which is being challenged in Court. Reach Appalachians Against the Pipeline at https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines
July 14. An occupation continues outside Wells Fargo in DC as Third Actors and a few younger allies continue to call out this bank that is the third largest funder of fossil fuels (316 billion since the 2015 Paris Climate Accord) and is the #1 funder of the MVP.
July 12. This morning than 20 pipeline fighters walked on to an MVP construction site this morning and disrupted work with signs saying “Another Day Another Stay, No MVP” and “Doom 2 The Pipeline.” (Third Act Virginia)
The Flatwoods Branch stream crossing is one of five sites where MVP says they are continuing to work after yesterday’s court-ordered stay on construction, claiming they are finishing placing, welding, and covering the pipe while the stream is dammed and diverted.
As this protest shows, whatever the courts do, whatever congress does, the people will not let this pipeline be built! Yesterday’s news from the 4th circuit court is exciting, but if we’ve learned anything from the last 5+ years of fighting the pipeline through stops and starts and political/legal machinations, it’s that the only thing we can rely on is us.
We have to be ready for whatever comes next.
To join the fight and keep building the resistance to the MVP, fill out this form bit.ly/aapintakeform.
#NoMVP #DoomToThePipeline #NoPipelinesOnStolenLand
July 11. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered MVP to stop construction in the national forest, following a legal challenge by environmental groups. This is good news! As always, though, we don’t expect this pipeline to be defeated by a panel of judges. Resistance on the ground is needed now more than ever!
#StopMVP#NoMVP#DoomToThePipeline
July 5. This morning, people in Montgomery County, Virginia entered a work site and disrupted construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. People carried banners onto the easement reading “Join the Resistance”, “No Pipelines on Stolen Land”, and “Down with the Capitol, Doom to the Pipeline”. More than 2 dozen people walked onto the active site and stopped work
One local who participated in the work stoppage was quoted as saying “Today we are taking a stand against a corporation (equatrans midstream) that has been given a free pass by corrupt representatives of the government, through must pass legislation known as the fiscal responsibility act to destroy, pollute and plunder the wealth of the region, the land and the people. A project with over 500 environmental violations , who could not through the normal legal process get this project completed!!”
This work stoppage occurred on the first day of the renewed construction of the pipeline. Work on the pipeline had been tied up due to permitting issues, but has been fast tracked through the courts as part of the recent debt ceiling deal. Originally slated to be completed in 2018, the project has been delayed by five years and is 3.5 billion dollars over budget due to spirited opposition by local pipeline fighters.
Another local who participated in the work stoppage said “The government has decided once again to sacrifice the people and climate of Appalachia to fuel extractive industry. The people of this region have a long history of resistance to industrial destruction, and we don’t intend to back down now.”
The morning after July 4th, pipeline fighters carried signs referencing solidarity with indigenous groups and saying “No Pipelines on Stolen Land”… Stolen land refers not to the eminent domain to build the pipeline, but to the history of colonization and land theft from people indigenous to so called North America. The Mountain Valley Pipeline and the climate destruction it has caused is a continuation of this legacy of colonization and destruction.
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#jointheresistance #nomvp #nopipelinesonstolenland
