First of all, good to see Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax do what Gov. Ralph Northam has NOT done, which is to sit down with pipeline opponents – for 1 1/2 hours, in this case, with “four of his top staff members” – to listen, take notes, etc. Now, the key will be whether he follows up with concrete action. Specifically, pipeline opponents want LG Fairfax to express his opposition against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines, and hopefully also to urge Gov. Northam to use his authority under the Clean Water Act to immediately revoke the Section 401 certifications previously issued for these projects. We’ll see what happens, and I’d note that in July 2017, Fairfax said about these proposed pipelines:
“We’ve come out consistently and said that we don’t believe that the case has been made for the pipelines, so I’ve come out against the pipelines for that reason. There are obvious cons, and you mentioned some of the damage that the pipelines could do both environmentally to areas in Southwest Virginia in particular, the Atlantic Coast pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline. Also property rights; there are a number of families who would be negatively impacted with conservation easements…so that they won’t develop their land and in exchange would have it protected, so those will be violated. And I don’t know that the case has been made economically for why these pipelines are necessary and why they will benefit Virginia at a level that will compensate for the cons. So I have come out against those pipelines…I’m also someone who believes that we need to move toward a clean energy future; I’m against offshore drilling in Virginia. Increased wind and solar, grow those portfolios, because I think that really is not only the wave of the future with regards to protecting our environment, but also our economy. There’s been a large growth in green energy and clean energy jobs. That’s where Virginia needs to be moving.”
Second, check out the press conference yesterday by faith and community leaders, explaining why this is an environmental justice issue, an economic issue, and a moral issue. As VA-06 Democratic candidate Jennifer Lewis put it:
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
