As a kid in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, one of the small pleasures was to venture outside during the magic hour. Those few moments when the sun dipped behind the Appalachians before disappearing entirely.
It was as though nature was standing on tip-toe waiting for change when daylight would give way to fireflies and darkness. This was the juncture when American redstarts, gray catbirds, robins and red-winged blackbirds provided the soundtrack for twilight.
If Donald Trump has his way, those moments will be lost to another generation. According to Forbes, Trump and Rex Tillerson own shares in the pipeline which is about to sever the Appalachian Mountains and spread natural gas along the Appalachian Trail.
Anyone curious about environmental protections the new administration will obliterate just has to take a peek at the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s legislative scheme, “Free to Prosper.” A plan which would have been rejected a few months ago as a looney wish list of a far-right fringe group, the report is a frightening show of the planned offensive on environmental regulations.
In what must have been written by a 300-lb guy who lives in his mother’s basement in De Moines, the report uses a drop in global death rates due to severe climate since the 1920s as the justification for the sustained burning of oil and coal. The report also claims that carbon-based fuels “boost life expectancy.”
One project which goes unnoticed will slice through Virginia and has none other than the highest of state officials backing it.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline has flown under the national radar while bigger names such as Standing Rock and Keystone Pipeline have hogged the news cycles.
A Pair of Pipelines Destroy Virginia
Virginia’s Governor, Terry McAuliffe, is a pipeline supporter. The 550-mile pipeline was proposed by Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and AGL Resources as well as Richmond-based Dominion one of McAuliffe’s biggest campaign donors.
The multi-billion ACP is part of the latest efforts to bring natural gas from the Marcellus Shale fields in Pennsylvania, Ohio and northern West Virginia to markets in the Upper South.
Originating at Clarksburg, West Virginia, the pipeline shoots southeast over the Appalachians. It will reach an altitude of 4,000 feet amidst rate mountain plants in the George Washington National Forest before scarring Nelson, Buckingham and Nottoway counties.
It isn’t the only pipeline McAuliffe favors. Another proposal is the Mountain Valley Pipeline that will originate in southern West Virginia and head south of Roanoke to Chatham County. Both pipelines are facing strong opposition.
Cutting Right Through the AT
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is meant to convey natural gas from northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia. The pipeline, called a “deadly model” by The Wilderness Society, will mean emptying a 125-foot wide section crossing almost 3.5 miles of forst currently shielded under the Forest Service’s “roadless rule.”
Once construction in the region begins, iconic viewpoints such as Angels Rest will look out on a scene reminiscent of a barren moonscape — an ugly path of destruction dissecting habitat and polluting waterways.
The pipeline is planned to cross Jefferson National Forest in West Virginia and Virginia before it passes through the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Corridor. It will bisect the AT near Virginia’s Peters Mountain Wilderness Area.
Residents, businesses and community groups will find themselves in the “blast zone.” A radius of almost 1200 feet around the pipeline where an explosion would have an impact on people in property. In Newport, Virginia that zone incorporates historic buildings as well as homes.
I am an American freelance writer and ghostwriter now living the expat life in Argentina. Never far from my coffee and Marlboros, I am always interested in discussing future work opportunities. Email me at jandrewnelson2@gmail.com and join the million-or-so who follow my life and work on Twitter @ Journey_America.
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