Mountain Valley Pipeline moving forward 

WASHINGTON — Communities across the South and Appalachia have once again gone unheard as the Mountain Valley Pipeline moves forward with the Biden administration’s support.  

“This is not how pipeline projects with little community support should move forward,” said Greg Buppert, SELC senior attorney and leader of its regional gas team. “At a time when the nation must reduce reliance on methane gas and drive innovation for cleaner alternatives, pushing projects like MVP through outside of the normal process is counterproductive.” 

The bill to raise the country’s debt ceiling that contains numerous implications for the environment passed the Senate late June 1. From its inception, it prompted outcry from environmental organizations and community-based organizations for its approval of all the remaining permits to complete the much-maligned Mountain Valley Pipeline, but the deal was done.  

“SELC has been fighting for communities on the ground and working with decision makers to ensure that projects like MVP are not completed, and we will continue to do so,” said Nat Mund, SELC’s Director of Federal Affairs. “Communities across the region cannot continue to move from one environmental crisis to another, while also remaining overburdened due to past environmental injustices and in areas impacted by MVP, reliance on – and the subsequent collapse of – the coal industry.” 

The deal includes provisions that would strip away bedrock environmental safeguards and inflict harm at a level that’s hard to predict. 

“We are walking a fine line right now,” said Alys Campaigne, SELC’s Climate Initiative Leader. “We’ve seen some very positive steps taken on climate and environmental justice recently, but we need foundational safeguards to remain in place for implementation and further progress.”