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Why This Matters: This is yet another blow to the natural gas and pipeline industries. With the entire MVP system in jeopardy, the fracked gas that would have moved through this pipeline will now have to be delivered some other way or go somewhere else. The state also is working to wean itself from fossil fuels — under the leadership of Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, they have a goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. Without that policy in place, or if the Governor were a Republican, perhaps this pipeline would have been approved. Elections do matter.
Why Take the Risk
The MVP pipeline is awaiting a biological opinion from the Fish and Wildlife Service required by the Endangered Species Act, and the project also needs a right-of-way permit from the Forest Service, according to E&E News. The NC DEQ relied heavily on the fact that in its application, the pipeline company said it would begin construction on the MVP Southgate project immediately once all necessary permits are in place, irrespective of the completeness of the MVP Mainline project. The Agency decided that “[a]pproving construction activities and thereby allowing the most adverse environmental impacts – without certainty of the project’s utility upon completion – is inconsistent with principles of minimization” and thus denied the permit. MVP had a history of violations that probably also was a factor. The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) noted that MVP has paid over $2 million in penalties as a result of more than 300 water quality violations alleged by both Virginia and West Virginia.
Sends a Signal on EJ
Luis Martinez, Director of Southeast Energy at NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council) said in a statement,
“The state has made clear that dangerous gas pipelines that threaten rivers, streams, wetlands, and other priceless water resources have no place in North Carolina. Denying this key permit is a decisive victory for water quality, the environment and the health and safety of North Carolinians. This decision demonstrates that North Carolina can and must quit its harmful addiction to dirty fossil fuels. MVP Southgate has always been a bad deal for North Carolinians – it should be shelved for good.”
And Crystal Cavalier, a citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, an indigenous activist told NC Policy Watch that the MVP Southgate pipeline would have run through indigenous family lands and possibly even Indian burial mounds near waterways along the route of the MVP. She told NC Policy Watch, “I’m so excited that North Carolina is taking a stand for indigenous people. Because once you dig up this land, you can’t renew it.”
Wind power has overtaken coal as a proportion of Texas’s power for the first time and promises to continue growing. In 2020, wind power made up almost a quarter of Texas’s total power, compared to just 18% from coal.
Why This Matters: Texas is the nation’s largest producer of both wind energy and fossil fuel energy.
The sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was supposed to bring in upwards of $1 billion, but in the end, the first of the auctions mandated by Congress at the urging of President Trump brought in only $14M.
Why This Matters: Banks won’t underwrite Arctic drilling, so it is unclear those ANWR leases will be drilled ever.
When 2020 began, even with oil prices relatively strong, many industry analysts were predicting it was the beginning of the end for oil and gas. And then the pandemic hit and the Saudis and Russians decided to take advantage of the downturn. With supplies still high and demand declining, the industry may never be the same again.
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