“Residents in its path know the true story” reports Paula Mann.

GREENVILLE, W.Va. – Recently, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin met with the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) to discuss recent changes to regulations on pipeline construction, as the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported. During the hearing and in the article, he spouted false claims that the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is 95 percent complete, suggesting its completion is inevitable.

I live on the pipeline’s path and I can tell you with certainty that this is not true. Due to legal, financial, and political pressure, the project is only 55 percent complete, according to FERC.

Joe Manchin says we must ramp up natural gas production for the sake of our country’s energy reliability and security. This is completely false. Only a rapid transition to clean energy will secure our energy independence. The climate crisis presents a massive threat to our country’s security – as the Department of Defense has asserted.

Joe Manchin claims the completion of the MVP is for the good of our country. This is impossible because the MVP has negatively impacted rural communities like mine. People have lost vital water sources, both springs and wells, and their roads, fences and topsoil are being washed away from increased flooding along the pipeline route.

Some of the poorest and oldest residents in the state live along the route. That’s no coincidence. MVP targeted our rural communities because they thought we were easy targets. I can assure you, we are not. We have fought this pipeline tirelessly for seven years, and recent court decisions signal that we are winning.

Joe Manchin stated that there were no pipelines to get the Marcellus Shale gas out of north central WV. This statement is also false. The WB Xpress and Mountaineer Xpress are two newly constructed pipelines to move gas out to the East and the West. The Mountain Valley Pipeline isn’t needed.

Join me in encouraging our leaders to stop spreading lies about the pipeline and its impact on our communities. Instead, we need Sen. Manchin to lift up West Virginia communities by leading the transition to renewable energy to provide energy security, and center the health of our communities and people in that transition.

Coastal GasLink is one of three multibillion-dollar pipelines facing opposition by some Indigenous and environmental groups in Canada. The construction of the 670km pipeline through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory – land never signed away to the Canadian government – has sparked nationwide protests in recent years. The pipeline has also exacerbated complex divisions within the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, some of whom favor the economic opportunities promised by the project.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/10/canadian-pipeline-groups-spend-big-to-pose-as-indigenous-champions