Tag: Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Supremes Revive Permit for Pipeline Under Appalachian Trail

The Associated Press

The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for a critical permit for a proposed natural gas pipeline that would cross under the Appalachian Trail, siding with energy companies and the Trump administration.

The justices ruled 7-2 to reverse a lower court ruling that had thrown out the permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It would bring natural gas from West Virginia to growing markets in Virginia and North Carolina. Its supporters say the pipeline would bring economic development, thousands of jobs and reduced energy costs for consumers.

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Al Gore Says Ralph Northam Can Atone for Blackface Scandal By Opposing Gas Pipeline

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by Michael Bastasch   Former Vice President Al Gore said Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam can fulfill his “racial reconciliation” pledge by opposing the Atlantic Coast pipeline, which he called a “racist rip-off.” “This is an ideal opportunity for him to say, ‘I’ve seen the light,’” Gore said at an anti-pipeline town hall in a historically black part of Buckingham County, Virginia, as part of an “Environmental Justice Tour,” the AP reported. Gore appeared on stage with his daughter Karenna Gore, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, environmental activists and residents of Union Hill, a historically black neighborhood, who oppose the Atlantic Coast pipeline. Gore and climate activists see Northam’s recent blackface controversy as a way to turn him against the Atlantic Coast pipeline. Northam’s political future was thrown into doubt early in 2019 after his medical school yearbook photos surfaced, showing a picture of an individual in blackface and another in a KKK hood. Northam apologized for being in the photo, but, one day later, claimed he wasn’t in the photo amid calls for his resignation. He did, however, admit to wearing shoe polish for a dance contest in 1984. The embattled Democratic governor refused to resign, and wanted to…

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Lawmakers Blast North Carolina Governor’s Office For Blocking Pipeline Investigation

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper is under fire for blocking attempts by independent investigators to question employees regarding a multi-million dollar fund tied to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. According to a report by the Associated Press published in the Miami Herald: “Cooper’s administration told panel leaders last week it won’t let career environmental regulators contacted by the firm this month speak with the investigators.” The workers have no legal protections from inappropriate questions that are extensions of an “extraordinarily open-ended political fishing expedition,” wrote Kristi Jones, Cooper’s chief of staff. The committee’s co-chairmen fired off a letter to Cooper, blasting the governor for blocking the investigation. “For nearly a year, you complained that this oversight investigation was too political,” wrote Senator Harry Brown (R-D6) and Representative Dean Arp (R-D69). “To remove any appearance of political motivations, we hired independent investigators to get to the truth,” the co-chairs wrote. “Senator Floyd McKissick even participated in the interview and he agreed that Eagle Intel Services LLC was the best options.” “But now you are complaining that the oversight investigation is too independent,” Senator Brown and Representative Arp wrote. The letter also blasted Cooper for ‘impugning’ the character of the investigators. “We…

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NC Governor Cooper Allegedly Delayed Signing Pipeline Fund Doc to Leverage a Solar Deal With the State

A.P. Dillon

Did North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) delay signing a controversial fund document tied to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to force Duke Energy to cut a deal with the state’s solar industry? A report by WBTV’s investigative reporter Nick Ochsner says that’s what it looks like. Buried in the 19,000+ pages of documents dumped by @NC_Governor's office days before Christmas about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline or records that show Cooper held off signing the pipeline MOU until Duke Energy reached a deal to buy more solar power #ncpol https://t.co/wQ5lD4uH4Z — Nick Ochsner (@NickOchsnerWBTV) January 14, 2019 This latest bombshell adds to the mounting questions from North Carolina lawmakers previously reported by Battleground State News. Ochsner’s report points to text messages found in a massive public records dump by Cooper’s office: “The decision by Cooper and senior staff to use the pipeline permit as leverage to force Duke into cutting a deal with the state’s solar industry is documented in text messages, emails and memos included in a 19,216-page document dump released by the administration days before Christmas.” The WBTV report highlights that at the same time Cooper was working on the pipeline funding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that included Duke…

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Questions About North Carolina Governor’s Pipeline Fund Persist

A.P. Dillon

Questions persist about the $58.7 million dollar fund tied to the Atlantic Coast pipeline permit process and the North Carolina Governor’s office. Over a year has passed since the fund’s existence was made public. Questions from lawmakers and the media have gone largely unanswered by North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. The latest question being asked about this fund comes from Dan Way, a staff writer at Carolina Journal: If Gov. Roy Cooper felt so strongly he had legal authority to create the unusual $57.8 million Atlantic Coast Pipeline mitigation fund, then why didn’t he sue to prevent the General Assembly from commandeering the money? “That’s a good question. I don’t know,” said Pat Ryan, spokesman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham. “Maybe [the governor and his staff] didn’t think they had a strong enough case.” What is this multi-million dollar fund all about? In 2017, officials involved with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project and the Cooper administrations engineered an agreement that include monies to be directly controlled by Cooper. The payment information in the amount of $57.8 million was couched in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and expressly states the funds would be deposited into the bank of Cooper’s…

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