As the end of the year approaches, it’s clear that the tide has turned against the proposed Atlantic Coast (ACP) and Mountain Valley (MVP) fracked gas pipelines.

I’m writing you today to for two reason: 1) To give you an update on where these two fracked gas pipelines stand and 2) To invite you join our team of Southerners fighting gas.

These pipelines used to be spoken of as “a done deal,” but both the ACP and MVP are indefinitely stalled thanks to years of work by residents, communities, and groups like the Sierra Club and our partners fighting to stop these unnecessary pipelines. As I take a look at where we’ve been this last year and look to the road ahead, I am overwhelmingly hopeful that all that hard work by so many dedicated people is paying off and neither of these pipelines will ever operate.

Some of the great successes you helped create this year are:
This summer the MVP and ACP started losing vital permits that would have allowed them to cross National Forest Lands, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and harm endangered species.

Volunteers with Mountain Valley Watch and the Pipeline Construction Surveillance Initiative reported hundreds of violations to state regulatory agencies. West Virginia issued 19 notices of violations for MVP and in December, Virginia’s Attorney General sued MVP for the repeated violations.

Also in December, ACP’s developers announced a halting of all construction on the entire pipeline route after again losing its permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to harm endangered species along its route.

As the roadblocks standing in the way of these pipelines increase, one thing is certain–as long as the ACP and MVP are still a possibility, the Sierra Club and people throughout the region will continue to stand in solidarity with communities along the routes to oppose these dirty, dangerous, unnecessary fracked gas pipelines. Will you join our team committing to keep the fight up in 2019 against ACP and MVP?

For our future,

Joan Walker, Sierra Club

Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St., Suite 1300, Oakland, CA 94612