The Resurgence: North American Forests and Climate Movement Convergence

10/21/2024

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled at least eight times that the pipeline didn’t follow the law. The court found that federal and state agencies had awarded the Mountain Valley Pipeline permits despite violations and those same agencies bent or rewrote their own rules to advance the project. The developers were not able to comply with rules protecting endangered species, public forests and fragile water crossings.

Then Sen. Joe Manchin stepped in.

In a deal with the Biden administration, Manchin promised his vote for a major climate change bill in exchange for the White House’s agreement to acquire the remaining permits the pipeline still needed. And through a provision in an emergency bill to keep the government from shutting down in June 2023, Manchin got what he asked for.

The provision said that Congress declared that the completion of the pipeline was required in the national interest, and, therefore:

Congress hereby ratifies and approves all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the construction and initial operation at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipeline

The last-minute addition to the bill guaranteed the remaining approvals needed to complete the pipeline as well as stripped the authority of all courts to consider any legal actions against the project. It also granted the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sole judiciary authority over whether the provision was constitutional.

Congress fast-tracked permits for the MVP and stripped authority from the courts. The pipeline’s opponents are still wrestling with the deal

10/21/2024

Despite the absence of serious regulation at the plant, workers say the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection did not visit the fracking waste treatment plant very often. When the department did, it did not appear to understand exactly what was happening there. “I remember in one instance they came and looked down at our discharge in the Monongahela River,” says one former Fairmont Brine worker. “There were rocks we were spilling onto, and some of the rocks were orange, and there was debris and sediment that looked kind of funky. They just ignored that.” (The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has not replied to questions about Fairmont Brine.)

Every day, nearly three billion gallons of “oil field brine” is brought to the surface at oil and gas fields across the country. Along with containing extraordinary levels of salts and toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and strontium, this liquid can be rich in the radioactive element radium. Properly disposing of it has long been a problem for the industry. Presently, most of this wastewater goes to injection wells, where it’s shot into the deep earth. But injection wells can leak and lead to earthquakes and they have become increasingly despised by adjacent communities. In response to these concerns, a shadowy network of facilities has sprouted across the nation to treat and process oil field brine; transforming it, operators claim, into road salts and water clean enough to be used for new fracking operations or discharged to local waterways.

Ex-employees at “West Virginia’s Chernobyl” speak out on lethal cancers, regulatory failure and contaminated drinking water.

10/18/2024

Support Opportunity. These pipelines have crossed one too many lines. If you are in the Chicago area do take a stand with our Friends from across Turtle Island.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/9uQmStEsjr7FpxZp/?mibextid=qi2Omg

Stepping up to the table...

10/09/2024

10/08/2024

The West Virginia State Senate is about to vote on HB 208, the Radiation Control Act, during a Special Legislative Session.

This bill would give the Department of Health the power to regulate radiation, including its storage and disposal, and could open the door for out-of-state radioactive waste to be dumped in West Virginia.

Exposure to radiation can cause cancer and other health impacts through water pollution, which is why EPA maintains standards for radioactivity in drinking water. So far, the bill passed the House of Delegates on September 28, and the Senate may vote on it as soon as Sunday, October 6, 2024. We need your help to stop it!

HB 208 is vague, poorly understood, and not suitable for the fast-tracked process of a Special Session. There’s too much at stake to rush this through without proper debate and public input.

Contact your Senators and urge them to vote NO on HB 208. This bill should go through the normal legislative process, where it can be properly scrutinized.

Don’t delay! Your State Senators need to hear from you!

Thank you for taking swift action.

-WV Rivers Coalition
Add your comments here:
https://wvrivers.org/2024/10/stop-hb-208/

10/04/2024

FILED UNDER: We've tried to tell ya - so here's more ... Remember the end use is NOT the total emissions of GHGs, not to mention the multitude of toxins released from cradle to grave into air, water, and lands. But it's always easier to get people to believe the fairy tales and outright lies from the oil/gas industries because everyone - even me, would LOVE all these boondoggles if there was a shred of truth - if the false solutions weren't false AND will do the opposite, faster and eliminate the resources we all need to live - let alone thrive in the resource colonies they are creating now...

“To think we should be shipping around this gas as a climate solution is just plain wrong. It’s greenwashing from oil and gas companies that have severely underestimated the emissions from this type of energy.”

Drilling, moving, cooling, and shipping gas from one country to another uses so much energy that the actual final burning of gas in people’s homes and businesses only accounts for about a third of the total emissions from this process, the research finds.

The large resulting emissions mean there is “no need for LNG as an interim energy source”, the paper says, adding that “ending the use of LNG should be a global priority”.

The peer-reviewed research, published on Thursday in the Energy Science & Engineering journal, challenges the rationale for a huge surge in LNG facilities along the US Gulf coast, in order to send gas in huge tankers to overseas markets. The US is the world’s leading LNG exporter, followed by Australia and Qatar.

Research challenges idea that sending liquefied natural gas around the world is cleaner alternative to burning coal

09/30/2024

AppVoices have put together this comprehensive page of contacts, mutual aid, and much more .... PLEASE SHARE Widely!!!

https://appvoices.org/helene-relief/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFnr0RleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHbJUCLcBFnB4WSYJUidUVVap7gb2mu1D7pElb7KNTtDoiml8HhAieHD1Hw_aem_GAHtJe0PY5ZbalSyN6uXbA

In a period of three days, Southern and Central Appalachia experienced unprecedented rainfall from a combination of a historic rain event and Tropical

09/17/2024

We hope the revised EIS and revised Alternative 2 will be strictly defined and inclusive enough to include even small areas of old growth so that these legacy trees and their essential carbon storage may be protected to the full extent as contemplated by EO 14072. It is critical to protect all older/mature/old-growth trees and areas in our National Forest System and in the Mon Forest.

Contact the US Forest Service to Support Older and Old Growth Trees and Forests