The good of the public
should trump profits
Editor, Times-Dispatch:
The concession that Union Hill is a predominantly African American community is confirmation of what Virginia’s environmental justice advocates have known for years: Communities of color are disproportionately targeted when it comes to fossil fuel infrastructure projects, in this case the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s dirty compressor station, scheduled to be built in the midst of a community descended from former slaves.
The admission of racial bias by Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board sets Dominion Energy’s project back further after numerous legal delays. The company has shown time and time again they don’t care about Virginia’s communities. We see this in their unfair rate hikes, their efforts to squash renewable energy projects and their near total monopolization of the state’s utilities market. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is yet another project the company is trying to build for the sake of profit and not the public good, and it will most adversely affect poor communities and communities of color, who will have to bear the brunt of the toxic air pollution coming from dirty new compressor stations. The reality is this: We cannot have racial justice or equity as long as the fossil fuel industry maintains a stranglehold on Virginia’s politics. The only hope for a better future is to end the build-out of fossil fuel infrastructure and facilitate a rapid and equitable transition to clean, renewable energy, and we must have Gov. Ralph Northam’s leadership in order to do that. After the race-related scandals of the past year, Northam and state officials have sought to address some of the long-term racial inequities that have been prevalent in Virginia. This is a clear moment when Northam can act to do the right thing and demand that agencies revoke the state permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and accompanying compressor stations.
Jorge Aguilar.
Washington, D.C.
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(25) comments
I take Mr. Aguilar with a grain of salt since he is from D.C. where everyone has an agenda of some sort and a drum to beat for it.
Take Mr. Eavey with a grain of salt since he, too, has an agenda.
VA doesnt need the gas. The ACP is all about export. FERC made no determination reagarding need beyond Don claiming customers were “lining up” to by AC gas. That was dishonest as the backers Will sell the gas to themselves instead of other suppliers. FERC basically is a rubber stamp. As for Gov Northam, he has consistently demonstrated he is completely in Dom’s pocket, and just one example is his replacing potential no votes concerning the compressor station at the eleventh hour.
Total BS. As a n expert on energy needs you are certain that the gas is i not needed. Without certification of need from FERC, no eminent domain for an interstate pipeline, therefore, no pipeline. All of you disciples of "NO" ignore that inconvenient detail.
Hostetler, you seem to forget that there was strong dissent among FERC members in this whole process. Commissioner Cheryl A. LaFleur, for example, specifically states that there is no documented evidence that the natural gas to be brought in by the ACP is needed at all. Read her dissent, it is very detailed and makes a lot of sense. So you may want to be careful of slinging around the term "Total BS," you may get splashed yourself.
https://www.ferc.gov/media/statements-speeches/lafleur/2018/08-10-18-lafleur-ACP.asp#.Xb9HAXdFyMI
Norbert, As a side note knowing you have family in Germany and are an avid proponent of renewable energy, you might find this article interesting ~
https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-germany-consumers-embrace-a-shift-to-home-batteries
David McCray, thanks a lot, good article.
Wish that were true. All FERC needs to hear is that the pipeline builder has customers for the gas. It does not do an analysis of whether the gas is needed to meet the needs of the population. Their model figures the market will do that, which would make sense if free market forces were in effect. But Dom is weakly regulated monopoly. The customers who say they need more gas are basically Dominion Energy.
And we are to believe your unsubstantiated statements? I'm sure you would not lie. Summarize your statements with proof and document them in a letter to the editor and share them with us.
Mr. Aquilar's "leave it in the ground" missive overlooks one thing - a wise suspect once said about that exemplar of renewables / zero emissions standards Germany:
"Without imported gas and oil the German industrial machine and german society will grind to a screeching halt and their standard of living will drop like a rock."
IF we ignore infrastructure the costs of transporting / importing energy will "necessarily skyrocket" - who do you think can least afford to devote a larger chunk of their strained budget to lights / heat and air conditioning?
“ who do you think can least afford to devote a larger chunk of their strained budget to lights / heat and air conditioning?”
Wait. I thought the economy was booming and happy days were here again? Methinks Tommie has hoist himself on his own petard. But, as Rump has shown us, complex thought is not the conservative strong suit.
Meanwhile, let Germany be Germany. The strongest economy in Europe LOVES renewables and can’t wait to get off carbon.
“Germans are almost all in favor of expanding the use of renewable energy , according to a study conducted for the country’s Renewable Energies Agency (AEE).“
Butt. Pipelines and transmission lines are proposed to meet future needs, because, DUH, it takes time to build them. FERC has already determined that the gas will be needed to meet future short falls.. This bozo is determined to stop the pipeline. Invoking environmental justice, et al as a means to that end. As to the Germans, wanting something and making it so are too different. Despite adding lots of renewables, they have not reduced their carbon AND they are building gas pipelines. Until they have adequate energy storage, , they will need natural gas backup, as will we.. No, Norbert, residential batteries will not do the job. None of you give a rip that areas of Virginia, especially Tidewater, will suffer if ACP is not built. Experts a lot smarter than you and yours have made this determination.
Hostetler, you served up a portion of word salad that mixes several different topics. We’ll have to see if those pipelines will be allowed to proceed. I hope not. As far as battery storage in Germany is concerned, they are 1) a great start and bode well for the future, and 2) it puts Germany far ahead of us. Folks like Dominion touts are more concerned with profits than the welfare of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
You still sound like the buggy whip salesman who rants and raves about those filthy jalopies called automobiles. “They’ll never catch on, save your horse and buggy, don’t trust what this Ford fellow tries to tell you.”
Eaton, you are indeed a dumb-bunny. I wrote that, and it is quite true. The big difference is that Germany has no natural gas resources, nor oil, only poor quality coal. So to produce anything they have to import gas and, oil. What is so hard to understand about this?
We produce oil, we produce natural gas. So our condition is diametrically opposite that of countries like Germany. You keep bringing this up as if it were some intellectual coup, even as it simply demonstrates your inability to understand the written word. No wonder you got drummed out of Earl's Barber College.
"I wrote that, and it is quite true."
For Germany - and the US... thanks for playing Poindexter.
Mr. Aguilar, there is a reason that Dominion spent (I suspect) many hundreds of thousands of dollars on the current heartstring-tugging TV ad about the little girl with the Dominion cap and patriotic dad. You're swimming upstream.
The pertinent question should be: "Do we need this pipeline to satisfy the needs of Virginians?" If so, build it. If not, the answer must be: "Don't." If not, then the pipeline is only to bring natural gas to points of exports, and to produce profits for Dominion and others. We don't need more enterprises that exemplify private profit and public risk. So far, nobody from Dominion has been willing to address that question, and that should make all of us suspicious. Dominion has not shown in the past that the common weal ranks high (or at all) in their list of priorities.
Norbert, I'll admit I don't know if we need the pipelines to meet Virginia's foreseeable future needs, or not.
What I do know, is that Dominion hasn't made the case for it, in my humble opinion.
In the meantime, hundreds of of communities and property owners have been forced to accept intrusions on their lands, likely noise pollution, destruction of forests, and even condemnation of their property under eminent domain. And we Virginians will pay the bill. All of it. With a fat guaranteed profit margin for DE and Appalachian Power. No shareholder risks in this venture, at all. And will Virginia share in the export profits? Not bloody likely. Oh, and another thing that has always bugged the heck out of me is that DE has paid millions in advertising fees, including some very questionable and unobjective claims to promote their agenda and billing captive ratepayers for the sales pitch. The whole process has been- and continues to be - a very expensive and opaque experience for all Virginians. That's why we need a new, independent State Corporation Commission to reassert control over a monopolistic private industry, blessed with the protection of the state government against any and all consequences.
George, if indeed Dominion were to expect a shortage of natural gas for its Virginia area they would have that story planted and blaring in every newspaper between here and New York. The fact that they have been asked many times why we, the people of Virginia, have to put up with pipelines, and have never produce any answer, much less a satisfactory or convincing one, speaks volumes. Many of us suspect that the gas pipelines are aimed at some yet to be built export facility. Once the pipelines are built Dominion most likely will say: "Ooooh, lookie, surprise, surprise. Now that we have a surplus, we might as well export it." Thieves and greed heads, all.
"...why we, the people of Virginia, have to put up with pipelines, and have never produce any answer,...." Allow me, Norbert: "So we can make more money."
Jorge Aguilar ….. everyone has their own unique way of stirring the pot of hate regarding race …… But, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s dirty compressor station, is one of the more pitiful ….. but sadly, to your credit, “racism” works better than anything else today when folks want what they want, at the expense of others.
How about your neighborhood as a possible location … or do they not have a Union Hall in DC? Period.
Racist Peter wants to MAGA by running roughshod over the lives of minorities like they could in the good old days. Like when they ran the downtown expressway right through the heart of African American neighborhoods. Back in his day those folk knew their place. Now he’s forced, at least in public, to treat them like human beings and he’s never gotten over it. Annnd touchè!
I have been around long enough to see WHITE SUPREMACY up close... Nothing at all surprises me any more... Like the RMA, black people's property is not as important as white people's people's because, after all, white people are more important than black people... Right ~~~ Bob
~~~Bob …. as a white carpetbagger, you know how to use racism as well as Flaky Drakie ….. Don't tell all the "Uncle Toms" in America that their property is not as important as your property is .,.,.. They can recognize a carpetbagger before I can. Hallelujah, Checkmate, and period. ~~~Tracy
It will be interesting to see the arguments that will emanate from this letter. While I get some of the points, I also recognize that we're not going to all renewable fuels anytime soon. Should we phase them in as part of our energy matrix? Of course. Can we sustain a rapidly growing population AND maintain a high standard of living by using ONLY renewable energy? Maybe in the future - but not right now.
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