Beyond Extreme Energy

No new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Renewable energy NOW.

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Gov. Cuomo, Deny the 401

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Governor Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Seggos can stop this!

A Call To Action from People, Not Pipelines

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We have recently learned that trees are falling not only in Pennsylvania, BUT IN NEW YORK STATE TOO. 

How can this be? NYS DEC hasn’t granted Constitution Pipeline a 401 Water Quality Certificate, FERC hasn’t issued a Notice to Proceed, and NYS Attorney General Schneiderman wrote forcefully that the felling of trees would constitute the start of construction. But miles of trees along the proposed pipeline route have already been cut in New York. Are landowners trying to salvage the valuable timber they anticipate losing, even though this pipeline may never be approved?  Did “Constitution” pressure landowners to cut their trees? Did Constitution contractors do the cutting? Whatever the reason, those trees — both in Pennsylvania and in New York State — have been cut for no good reason.

As you may have already heard, Constitution Pipeline announced on Thursday that it will delay its projected “in-service” date from late 2016 to late 2017. But OUR GOAL REMAINS THE SAME — FOR CUOMO TO DENY THE 401. Here’s the timeline: Cuomo has until the end of April to deny the 401. If he doesn’t, the project will move forward. That means we have JUST 6 WEEKS TO STOP THIS PIPELINE and all the dirty infrastructure that would follow in its wake.

Look at the damage that’s already been done. Not only in Pennsylvania, where Constitution Pipeline cut down a family’s maple sugar bush and thousands of other trees, but now in New York State, too. 

 

We are grateful to Governor Cuomo and the DEC Commissioner Seggos for not granting a 401 Water Quality Certificate so far.

Now they need to DENY THE 401 once and for all!

  1. CALL GOVERNOR CUOMO:877-235-6537 or 518-474-8390

     Message: 

– DENY the 401 Water Quality Certificate for Constitution Pipeline once and for all!

 

  1. CALL DEC COMMISSIONER SEGGOS: 518-402-8545

     Message: 

– DENY the 401 Water Quality Certificate for Constitution Pipeline once and for all!

  1. FOLLOW UP WITH AN EMAIL TO DEC COMMISSIONER SEGGOS

(cut and paste the message below, or write your own):

TO: basil.seggos@dec.ny.gov

CC: eric.schneiderman@ag.ny.gov

Dear Commissioner Seggos,

New York State deserves a future free of dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.

I call on you to DENY THE 401 for Constitution Pipeline and lead us to a truly renewable energy economy.

The time is now!

Sincerely,

Name:

Address:

  1. AND EMAIL THE SAME MESSAGE TO GOVERNOR CUOMO  on his contact page: www.governor.ny.gov/contact

Dear Governor Cuomo,

New York State deserves a future free of dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.

I call on you to DENY THE 401 for Constitution Pipeline and lead us to a truly renewable energy economy.

The time is now!

Sincerely,

Name:

Address:

Thirty Five Students Refuse to Leave DEQ HQ Without Answers on Coal Ash

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BREAKING: Thirty Five Students Refuse to Leave DEQ HQ Without Answers on Coal Ash

Students demand answers from David Paylor on illegal dumping of coal ash wastewater before further dumping is allowed in Virginia waterways.

(Virginia Student Environmental Coalition Press Release)

Richmond, VA — Monday, March, 7: 35 activists from the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition (VSEC) refuse to leave the DEQ lobby until Director of the DEQ, David Paylor, complies with their demands regarding Dominion Resources’ dumping of coal ash wastewater into the James River and Quantico Creek. This action is taking place in light of information that Dominion illegally dumped 33.7 million gallons of untreated wastewater into Quantico Creek over the past summer. The demands are as follows:

  1. That the DEQ repeals the permits issued to Dominion to begin dumping coal ash wastewater from their Bremo and Possum Point power plants.

  2. That the current permits are re-issued only after an investigation into the 2015 dumping of untreated wastewater into Quantico Creek.

  3. That the permits for coal ash wastewater release are rewritten to comply with the best available technology standards, in accordance with the Clean Water Act, and that a mechanism for independent third party monitoring is implemented.

Students from The University of Virginia, The University of Mary Washington, The College of William & Mary, Virginia Tech, and Virginia Commonwealth University entered the headquarters, located at 629 E Main St, Richmond VA, at 10:00 am and presented their intentions and demands, requesting to speak with Paylor immediately. A rally is also taking place outside of the building.

“David Paylor can’t keep his story straight regarding the wastewater dumping that took place last summer. If this is because he is covering for Dominion’s illegal activities, then how can we trust him to make future decisions regarding our environmental safety? If this is not the case, then why is he failing to address the issue now?” – Sarah Kinzer, Sophomore, University of Mary Washington.

“If David Paylor cannot adequately meet the health and safety needs of Virginia residents, then he is not fulfilling his role as DEQ Director, and we are prepared to demand his resignation.”- Kendall King, VSEC Coalition Chair.

“These incidents of environmental injustice are not isolated. In Flint, Michigan, we’ve recently seen what devastating effects that water containing concentrations of heavy metals can have on communities. This national pattern of water safety violations is indicative of widespread systemic issues.”- Jong Chin, Senior, James Madison University.

“The coal ash wastewater dumping is only one example of Dominion’s tendency to value profit over the safety of Virginians. This corporation continually endangers our health and safety by burning fossil fuels and building fracked gas pipelines. This is why, as students, we fight for fossil fuel divestment while simultaneously working to prevent Dominion from further endangering our safety. We need to cut all ties with fossil fuel companies.”- Aaron Tabb, Junior, Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Virginia Student Environmental Coalition (VSEC) is a statewide organization dedicated to unifying Virginia students and creating a network for education, advocacy, and action.

Background: On June 18th, 2015, the Southern Environmental Law Center contacted Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor to report that a coal ash pond at Dominion’s Possum Point Power Plant may have been illegally drained. One day later, on June 19th, Director Paylor responded that, “our best information is that no water was discharged to state waters.” On Monday, February 8th 2016, InsideNova released a story in which Dominion spokesman Dan Genest confirmed that 33.7 million gallons of untreated wastewater had been dumped into Quantico Creek last May. One day later, Department of Environmental Quality officials presenting at the Prince William County Board of Supervisors meeting stated that they were aware of Dominion’s untreated discharge in May of 2015.

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Contact: Drew Shannon, (561) 512-8843, VSEcoalition@gmail.com; Ian Nakayama , (703) 795-9652
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Sign on VSEC’s letter to David Paylor demanding that the Coal Ash dumping permits are revoked.

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A Hollow Victory for Williams Partners

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Armed federal marshals oversee clearing of Holleran family maple trees for the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline. Photo By Tom Jefferson. More of Tom’s photos here.

 

By Ted Glick (reprinted from Future Hope)

 

The Constitution Pipeline Company, aka Williams Partners, came in force onto the Holleran family land in New Milford, Pa., yesterday. Federal marshals armed with assault rifles accompanied workers armed with chain saws across the open field up to where the woods began. Talk about overkill. Talk about exposing the ugly truth of how things really work in the gas industry.

Supporters of the Hollerans had painted “freedom flags” in red, white and blue onto about 14 trees right at the edge of the field. As the workers did their dirty work, they seemed to avoid cutting any of them at first. Finally, after an hour or so of cutting other trees farther in, they came back and cut most of the freedom trees.

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Activists painted U.S. flags on some of the doomed maple trees at the Holleran farm in northeastern Pennsylvania. Photo by Angela Vogel. 

These should-be-unconstitutional acts of the Constitution Pipeline Co. were sanctioned by a federal judge who said in court on Feb. 19 that if people had problems with their land being taken by eminent domain for private profit, their recourse was to petition Congress. Hah!

The Holleran family and the scores of supporters rallying behind them had a much better understanding of how our very flawed democracy is supposed to work. In the best traditions of this country — Shays’ Rebellion, abolitionists, suffragists, labor organizers, civil rights and gay rights movements — they took grassroots-based direct action to hold off the Williams gang, doing so for 31 days, garnering widespread media coverage in the Scranton/Binghamton area and far beyond. Without question, their stand inspired many other landowners who are facing the same abuse of eminent domain for corporate gain.

It should be noted that it took Williams Partners 11 days to get it together to come to the Holleran family land after claiming in federal court Feb. 19 that they were facing an emergency situation and the judge had to act quickly.

Indications are that part of the reason for their slowness, maybe the main part, was the support of the chainsaw workers imported from around the country — Louisiana, Oregon, Washington — for the stand being taken by the Hollerans. Two weeks ago, I went with local people to a bar where conversations had been going on for a couple of weeks with the workers after work. I talked to one of them from Oregon. He told me that if the same thing the Hollerans were experiencing happened to him and his family, those eminent domain-ing them would be met with shotguns.

I asked him where the crew of workers stood on what the Hollerans were doing. He said, “its about 50-50.” So I was elated to hear, about four days ago, that the workers were now united 100 percent against going on to the Holleran land. We knew that didn’t necessarily mean that they would put down their chainsaws and remain in their trucks and cars if they were told to walk across that Holleran field. We knew the threat of being fired for doing so was no small thing. But we were still gratified and hoping for the best.

As it turned out, yesterday the company brought other chainsaw workers, at least in part. And despite the presence of dozens of us with our cameras and signs and our call-outs when the chainsaws were silent, standing 150 feet away from the land taken by eminent domain where Williams wants to build its pipeline, about half of the trees were cut down. It’s expected they will return today to try to finish up.

There was a lot of media presence yesterday. TV news crews from Scranton and Binghamton. A Time Warner cameraman. NPR from Philadelphia. Megan Holleran doing radio interviews via cell phone. And more.

So the fracked gas industry won one yesterday, and the Hollerans and the people lost. But the fight to prevent the Constitution pipeline from being built and to prevent the construction of new fracking or other fossil fuel infrastructure was strengthened by this battle. Many more people in the area now know the truth about the kind of company Williams is. They know that there is a small army of people willing to support those landowners willing to fight for their land and their rights. And that army is growing, all over the country.

Round 1 victory in North Carolina

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By Steve Norris
Did you ever think protest was ineffective? In Asheville, even the threat of a small protest by a few people has derailed an important event that mammoth Duke Energy was planning in the coming week. We still have much work to do to stop Duke’s implementation of Obama’s Clean Power plan. But in Round One, we who have just begun to create the fledgling NC Power Forward declare victory.
Here’s the scoop.
Duke Energy is the largest utility in the United States with assets of over $100 billion. It is the largest single emitter of greenhouse gases. It emits 1.84 percent of all GHG’s in the US. It is the 12th largest emitter of toxic water pollution. Although it is good at providing reliable electricity, it is a dangerous monster juggernaut corporation.

In North Carolina, it has rigged our political system. Our governor, Pat McCrory worked for Duke for 28 years. Ed Finley, who leads the NC Utilities Commission, did legal work for Duke before being appointed to the commission. Duke is a “regulated” monopoly, which means it is guaranteed a profit on all its operations, including construction of new facilities. It also means that in NC third parties can sell electricity to no one other than Duke. Some in Asheville would like the city to become its own municipal utility and sell power. (Boulder, Colorado, has done this). But in NC, that is illegal. This past January North Carolina, under pressure from ALEC and the Koch Brothers, among others, put an end to tax credits on home solar installations, which some in the power industry fear will challenge the utilities’ monopolies..

Even though it refuses to and probably cannot provide documentation proving need, Duke has recently proposed what it calls an Energy Modernization Plan, which centers on building a 752 MW gas fired power plant in Asheville. It has also proposed building a total of about 11,000 MW of new gas fired power in the rest of the state. Of course, whether this power is needed or not is of no concern to Duke. It is guaranteed a 10 percent profit on construction. And of course, Duke is not concerned that the price of gas, now very low, may increase 10 times in the next 10 years. It is guaranteed a 10 percent profit on operations. The higher the price of gas goes, the more money Duke makes. (And of course, the more the people of NC will be impoverished).

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RECENT PROTESTS

Many people think it is futile to take on a monster corporation. But this being Asheville,  and with the train wreck that is climate change coming at us so unremittingly, challenge it we must. A couple of weeks ago, about 200 people showed up in Asheville for a Public Utilities Commission hearing about Duke’s proposal for a new 752 MW gas-fired power plant. Only one person spoke in favor of Duke’s proposal.  About 60 others spoke against it. Some of us staged a protest for two hours at the hearing, standing prominently with t-shirts that read “NO GAS.”

Then last Saturday, Feb. 20,  25 of us , including an Asheville City councilor, rallied at Asheville City Hall at 9 a.m. From there, we started a 10-mile walk that ended six hours later at Lake Julian in Skyland, the site of Duke’s existing coal-fired power plant and the proposed site of its new 752 MW facility. After that, on Monday, nine of us from different parts of the state descended on a NC Public Utilities Commission meeting in Raleigh where Duke’s proposals were being considered. A 16-year-old led off our protest by interrupting the commissioners’ staff in mid-sentence, taking over the meeting. Anna Farlessyost forcefully argued that her generation’s future will likely be endangered if the Utilities Commission permits Duke’s new facility. After police forced her out of that meeting, the rest of  us repeatedly disrupted the hearing over the next three hours. Here’s a short video of Anna’s interruption and the police response:
ROUND ONE VICTORY

And then, an even more interesting thing happened. Word leaked out on Tuesday that Duke’s NC President David Fountain was hosting a public meeting with Asheville’s leaders and officials to talk about and celebrate Duke’s plans and role in the local community.   Thinking this might be a very good time to act again, some of us from NC Power Forward registered with Duke to get tickets. But within a day we were informed that  “This is an invitation-only meeting and we can’t accommodate any additional guests at this time.” (We scouted the room where the event was to take place and there  was space for at least 500 people).  So immediately we began to organize what would likely have been a small picket and protest outside the event.

And then, almost immediately, VICTORY! Even before we had been able to schedule a meeting to discuss plan our protest, Duke canceled its celebration. For some reason, Duke assumed someone might disrupt the party and scuttled the event.

A $100 billion corporation, which to some extent runs the state of North Carolina, which  gets away with being the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the country, cancels a meeting because a few people talk about protesting a speech by its president? This shows that we have more power than we know, and that Duke, in spite of all its enormous wealth and control over state officials, is terrified that we may bring this company down.

So let’s do it. If we can stop Duke’s party, we can stop its “Energy Modernization Plan.”

ResistAIM Defenders form Human Chains to Halt Hudson River Drilling for AIM Pipeline

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ResistAIM Defenders form Human Chains to Halt Hudson River Drilling for AIM Pipeline
Drilling at the Verplanck site is on-ongoing for Spectra’s new AIM Pipeline
ResistAIM Press Release (Contact: Courtney Williams, 609-468-7080, resistAIM@gmail.com) 

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Buchanan, NY 02-29-16 – Today at 6 AM, 26 people took action to stop the AIM pipeline from being built in Westchester and Rockland by blocking access for over an hour to Spectra Energy’s staging area for horizontal drilling under the Hudson River. Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project would involve drilling underneath the Hudson River in Verplanck, immediately south of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. The new high-pressure, 42-inch diameter pipeline would run within 10 5 feet of critical infrastructure for Indian Point , and would expose local communities to toxic emissions from compressor stations along the pipeline path.
 
The group of activists and residents chose the site because it highlights the danger of the proposed pipeline, running underneath the Hudson River and adjacent to the troubled Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. In May of 2015 , Spectra Energy had a pipeline rupture underneath the Arkansas River and w as unaware of it until the Coast Guard informed them. “If Spectra cannot adequately maintain and monitor their existing pipelines, why should we believe that they can do so for this new pipeline?” asked Erik Lindberg, a Peekskill resident who works with ResistAIM.
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State Troopers assessing the situation at the construction site where residents hard locked to each other in order to stop the Spectra pipeline construction near Indian Point nuclear power plant
 
Governor Cuomo agrees. Today his administration announced that it will be conducting an independent safety assessment of the AIM Pipeline and its proximity to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. The governor told the New York Times, “The safety of New Yorkers is the first responsibility of state government when making any decision.” Further, the administration is asking FERC to suspend their approval of Spectra’s AIM Pipeline pending the results of the analysis, a move that could halt construction of the controversial project.
 
Courtney Williams, a spokesperson for ResistAIM said, “We strongly support the Governor’s decision to conduct this independent assessment given the ongoing public safety concerns of siting this massive pipeline adjacent to Indian Point and the repeated incidents of fires and contaminated water leaks that are happening there. We share the Governor’s concerns and hope his administration will instruct the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to reevaluate the water quality certificate in light of these ongoing problems.”
 
Susan Van Dolsen, cofounder of Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion (SAPE) was similarly muted in her response to the news, “We’re relieved and grateful that Governor Cuomo recognized that construction of the Spectra AIM pipeline at Indian Point must be halted. However, construction must be halted immediately. By directing his administration to conduct an independent risk assessment, he is fulfilling his primary obligation to protect the health and safety of his constituents and the 20 million people in the entire region. The risk assessment will prove that the siting of this pipeline in this location is unacceptable. However, until construction is actually halted and Spectra is stopped, we cannot claim victory.” 
 

The pipeline is being built against the wishes of the local communities from Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam , which have all passed resolutions opposing it. In some areas Spectra Energy has used eminent domain to seize property for construction against the will of landowners and homeowners. This has outraged residents and environmental and public safety advocates who point to Spectra’s abysmal safety record as proof that the company cannot be trusted to construct a pipeline safely.

 

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Tina Bongar, of Peekskill, was one of those arrested. When asked why she was taking action she said, “I’ve written to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand many times. I’ve written to Hillary Clinton. I have done everything. I am also working at the local level, and that’s where I’m really concerned about the oversight. Spectra’s going to be blasting near our neighbors ’ homes , and they’re not doing the proper environmental assessment that they would for any other project.”

 

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Today’s action is just the latest of several organized locally by a coalition called Resist AIM, which was formed to stop the project from moving forward. The “Montrose 9” were arrested back in November of 2015 for blocking access to Spectra’s construction yard in Montrose. Their trial in Cortlandt is drawing national attention as they use the “Necessity Defense” to justify their actions to protect their health and safety and halt global climate change.
 
Nancy Vann, a Peekskill resident and President of Safe Energy Rights Group (SEnRG), participated in the action in Verplanck.  Speaking about her motivation Vann said, “This is something we really must do. As Bill McKibben said at Yale Law School on Saturday, ‘ we’re not in an argument anymore we’re in a fight. And even though the science is against them , the folks with the money have been winning. ’ The window of opportunity to stop this pipeline and a possible nuclear catastrophe is rapidly closing – just like the window to avoid the worst of climate change. I never want to look back and wonder if I might have fought a little harder.” 
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ResistAIM is not alone in their opposition to the AIM Pipeline. Similar groups have formed all along the route of the AIM Pipeline using direct actions to halt Spectra’s work in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
 
This groundswell of direct action resistance to the Spectra pipeline follows years of residents and local governments from New York to Massachusetts trying to stop the project through standard regulatory channels. This regulatory failure demonstrates that the agencies involved – the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) – are unwilling to consider the full impacts of this project. Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Congressman Elliot Engel wrote to FERC and the NRC saying, “…As elected representatives of residents in the Hudson Valley, we believe FERC and NRC’s primary responsibility should be to protect the health and safety of the 20 million people who live within the 50 mile radius of [ I ndian Point ] .  Despite the widespread calls for an independent risk assessment, FERC and NRC have disputed the need and instead relied on Spectra and Entergy’s calculations…we call on FERC and NRC to require Spectra and Entergy to fund an independent transient risk assessment for the AIM Project as soon as possible.”
 
As Spectra fast – tracks construction of the pipeline, municipalities and organizations from Boston to New York are preparing to take FERC to Federal Court to challenge the pipeline approval. Despite these numerous outstanding legal challenges, Federal law allows Spectra to proceed with construction, leaving impacted communities no recourse for having their concerns addressed while faced with imminent harm from pipeline construction and operations.
 
In addition to its obvious safety and security risks, the AIM pipeline would increase our dependence on climate-changing fossil fuels at a time when the nations of the world are increasingly recognizing the need to move to renewable energy.
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The 11 people posing after being released by police for attempting to stop the Spectra pipeline construction near Indian Point nuclear power plant this morning
 
 
Cuomo Administration letter to FERC: tinyurl.com/Cuomo-FERC-AIM-Letter
 
This is only the beginning. For more information, please visit www.resistaim.wordpress.com
 
#ResistAim #StopSpectra #WeSayNo    

Activists at the Gate: Anti-Gas Groups Take Protest to FERC Leaders’ Homes

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Activists at the Gate: Anti-Gas Groups Take Protest to FERC Leaders’ Homes

by Sean Sullivan, senior reporter for SNL.com
Friday, February 26, 2016
Originally published on SNL.com.

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Valentine Message from Jenny in PA

 

 

Some groups fighting the use of natural gas in the U.S. and FERC’s role in permitting gas transportation infrastructure are moving beyond protests held at the commission to protests lodged at the commissioners’ homes.

The FERC Valentine Project encourages participants to send mock Valentine’s Day cards during February to commissioners’ homes with messages on the health and environmental impacts of decisions to grant permits for gas pipelines and LNG terminals. A campaign website includes the commissioners’ home addresses. A sample card reads, “Dear FERC: pipelines, LNG and fracking are no ‘love story’ for front-line communities.”

Lee Stewart, an organizer for Beyond Extreme Energy, said more than 50 people reported sending letters to FERC commissioners through the mail and “hundreds of messages have been sent via social media.” He added that messages have been hand-delivered to all four commissioners’ homes.

“When we delivered messages to the FERC commissioners in person on February 17th, none of the commissioners were home,” Stewart said in a Feb. 22 email. “Someone did come to the door at [Commissioner Cheryl] LaFleur’s apartment in Washington, D.C., as well as [Commissioner] Colette Honorable’s home in Arkansas.

“In both cases,” he continued, “once the person discovered we were there to deliver the Valentine messages, they said they were instructed not to accept it. We left all the messages, including oversized Valentine’s cards, flowers and balloons, on their doorsteps.”

This reach into commissioners’ private lives is a new step, at least in the past few years of protests. FERC would not comment on the campaign. But the agency has taken steps to increase security in response to protests at commission headquarters in Washington.

FERC Chairman Norman Bay has encouraged protesters to follow the commission’s procedures for public comment and cracked down on disruptions of FERC meetings. LaFleur said during her chairmanship that she respects the views of those who are against gas infrastructure, but the chairman has an obligation to make sure FERC staff can work “safely and without harassment.” Federal laws prohibit intimidation of government officials performing public duties.

FERC, as the federal permitting agency for interstate gas transportation infrastructure, has seen more protests in the past few years. Industry observers have said the agency, with public comment opportunities in reviews under the Natural Gas Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, is an easy place for opponents to attack the entire oil and gas industry.

The groups behind the Valentine Project and other environmental and landowner organizations have expressed frustration with a FERC review process that gives them a voice but in their view no power to stop pipelines and LNG terminals.

Some groups, such as the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, make arguments in FERC filings and appeal FERC decisions in federal court. Other groups put together protests that hit FERC out in the world. Beyond Extreme Energy has interrupted FERC monthly meetings and marched and fasted outside the building.

“We plan to hold FERC commissioners accountable until FERC stops issuing fossil fuel infrastructure projects and dedicates itself to rapidly transitioning America to a locally sourced, decentralized and democratic energy system,” Stewart said.

Congressman Engel Criticizes #FERC’s Decision Not to Rehear #Spectra Algonquin #Fracking Pipeline #StopSpectra

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CONGRESSMAN ENGEL CRITICIZES FERC’S DECISION NOT TO REHEAR ALGONQUIN PIPELINE

02/08/16 – originally posted: https://engel.house.gov/latest-news1/congressman-engel-criticizes-fercs-decision-not-to-rehear-algonquin-pipeline/

Congressman Engel Criticizes FERC’s Decision Not to Rehear Algonquin Pipeline

Westchester, NY– Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) decision not to grant a rehearing of its order approving the construction of the Algonquin Natural Gas Pipeline next to the Indian Point nuclear facility:

“I am profoundly disappointed by FERC’s decision not to grant a rehearing of its order approving the Algonquin Pipeline; no federal agency should take a cavalier attitude toward public safety. This project, which would stick a highly-pressurized, 42-inch in diameter natural gas pipeline dangerously close to the troubled Indian Point nuclear plant, raises far more questions and safety concerns than FERC seems to recognize. Residents, experts, and elected officials from all levels of government have called for an independent transient risk assessment to adequately evaluate the risks associated with this project – those calls have gone unanswered.  I believe that the public has a right to have their collective voices heard when it comes to critical environmental and safety issues.

“FERC denied this rehearing based in part on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s assessment that the pipeline poses ‘no additional risk’ to Indian Point – an aged nuclear power plant built on two seismic fault lines with a well-documented history of leaks and unplanned shutdowns. Their order cites the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which, in a mere 452 words, concluded that the likelihood of future acts of terrorism is unpredictable, and thus “the continuing need to construct facilities to support future natural gas pipeline infrastructure is not diminished from the threat of any such future acts.” If the argument then is that this project should go ahead because terrorists won’t be inclined to attack a highly combustible, dangerous piece of energy infrastructure, that just happens to be located close to New York City, then you will have to pardon my obvious skepticism, especially considering the recent news reports of a dam in Rye allegedly being hacked by Iranians.

“Indian Point is a mere 24 miles away from the largest metropolitan city in the nation. That fact alone should warrant extreme caution on the part of government regulators when it comes to the construction of this pipeline. I find FERC’s ruling to be completely unacceptable and not in the best interest of the general public.”

Anti-fracking groups deliver valentine message to FERC commissioners

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Kelsey Erickson from Carlisle, MA, sent this valentine to one of the commissioners.

Feb. 17, 2016 — In a carefully coordinated, rolling cross-country action, Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) and SWRL (Stop the West Roxbury Lateral pipeline) delivered humorous but sharply pointed Valentine’s cards to the homes – and DC residences –  of the four commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), reminding them that “pipelines, LNG and fracking are no ‘Love Story’ for frontline communities.” The valentine was hand-delivered today to the homes of Cheryl LaFleur in Wellesley, MA; and Colette Honorable in Little Rock, AR. It will soon be delivered to Chairman Norman Bay in Albuquerque, NM; and Tony Clark in Bismarck, ND.

“The valentine speaks for itself,” said BXE member Don Weightman. “FERC has hardly ever met a fracked gas pipeline project it didn’t approve. And, as the impacts of the climate crisis occur ever more frequently with ever more devastation, the commissioners are resisting calls from the Environmental Protection Agency to take climate change into account when determining which projects to green-light, even though methane is 86 times worse for the climate than CO2.”

“Fracked ‘natural’ gas, which is mostly methane, is not a bridge to a clean energy future, as politicians and fossil fuel CEOs like to claim,” said BXE member Jimmy Betts. “Leaks – huge ones like at Porter Ranch near Los Angeles, and smaller ones all over the country – are devastating to local communities’ health and well-being, not to mention the very real threat of deadly explosions. We need clean energy now!”

As the City of Boston prepares to challenge FERC’s final approval of the West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline in federal court, SWRL delivered the valentine to former FERC Chair and current Commissioner Cheryl LeFleur at her home in Wellesley Wednesday evening, decrying that project as unsafe and unnecessary.

Members of BXE also delivered the valentines (and flowers) to the commissioners at their D.C. area residences, and many others sent in their own creations to ask them to love the people and the planet and approve #NoNewPermits.

 

The FERC Valentine Project

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Click here to spread the love on social media by joining our Thunderclap, and see below for how to send your Valentine message to the FERC commissioners at their homes via snail mail. We’re doing this for the whole month of February, so keep the messages flowing!12714383_10103687579378170_701642571_n

CLICK HERE to get to the Sample Facebook Post.

CLICK HERE to get to the Sample Tweet.

CLICK HERE to download the Valentine.

If you’d like to send additional Valentines to where the commissioners live when they’re staying in Washington, DC, I’m sure they’d appreciate it. Their Washington, DC addresses are below.

Cheryl LaFleur
1255 25th St NW Apt. 221
Washington, DC 20037
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Colette D Honorable
6549 Washington Blvd
Arlington, VA 22205
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Tony Clark
42476 Legacy Park Dr
Ashburn, VA 20148
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Norman Bay
1631 1/2 19th St NW Apt C
Washington, DC 20009
****

Grab your paste, markers, fancy doily hearts and construction paper, and pour your hearts out.

Here’s what to do in 6 steps.

1.) Create your Valentine Messages for the FERC commissioners. The more personalized, the better. You can make your own, or you can click the download above to get one that’s already made.  

2.) Take pictures of your Valentine Messages. They can be pictures of the messages alone, or  selfies of you holding the messages–whichever you prefer.

3.) Send your messages to the home addresses of the four FERC commissioners. Each commissioner has two addresses–one outside DC, and one inside DC. Send your messages to as many of the addresses as you’d like. The more, the better. These addresses can be found at the bottom of the above instructions flyer and in the text above. 

4.) If you use Twitter, tweet your pictures at the FERC commissioners. Information on how to do this is found in the instructions flyer above.

5.) If you use Facebook, share your pictures there as well. Again, more information can be found in the instructions flyer above.

6.) Let us know you sent your messages by e-mailing your pictures to actions@BeyondExtremeEnergy.org. Please include your name and where you’re from. Please send only those things which you’re comfortable having shared online.

Much gratitude for the folks who worked together to make this project happen.

 

 

Charges dropped for #ExxonLies sit-in

by
exxon fighters new
Trespassing charges have been dropped against BXE’s Greg Yost, left, and Steve Norris, right, for their sit-in that temporarily closed an Exxon gas station in Asheville, NC,  in November 2015. Shina Maphet, center, had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time served. They were drawing attention to news that Exxon knew about climate change for decades but created doubt about the science to protect the company’s business model. Article and video about the protest here. Articles about #ExxonKnew here, here and here.