The Daily Herald
by Editorial Staff
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is now in a position to approve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other projects. For months, the commission was without a voting quorum. That problem was alleviated last month.
And we say the time is now to get construction started on the ACP.
Our opinion echoes the primaries on the project: Dominion Energy, Duke Energy and Southern Company Gas. The primaries sent a letter to the commission last week asking for approval this month so construction can start with tree clearing in November.
The 600-mile pipeline will bring jobs to the Roanoke Valley. As has been reported, more than 17,000 construction and support jobs will open along the length of the pipeline, with 2,200 permanent jobs in place once the ACP is operational.
Now, we understand the pipeline has a great deal of opposition. One of the largest of these groups is NCWarn out of Durham. The group not only opposes the pipeline running through North Carolina, a portion of which is in Northampton and Halifax counties, but also the fracking in Pennsylvania and West Virginia for natural gas that will travel through the pipeline.
Some of NCWarn’s concerns include financial risks as fracking is expensive and high costs will be passed down to the consumer; abuse of property rights as the primaries gobble up land for the pipeline; false promises of economic development as the pipeline cannot support all the jobs and businesses promised; and its hazards to health and safety.
The health and safety concerns run the gamut. Pipeline leaks leading to blowouts; simple seeping of natural gas into the air; the need for widespread fracking that will further contaminate water and air; and climate disasters as the pipeline encourages the use of fossil fuels and vents methane gas, which NCWarn says is nearly 100 times more powerful than standard emissions at trapping heat in the atmosphere. That means increased heat waves, more crop damage, stronger storms and rising sea levels, the group promotes on its website ncwarn.org.
What NCWarn, and others in opposition, fail to mention is that for every negative opinion cited, proponents cite positive ones. Also not mentioned is more than 210 pipelines operating along 305,000 miles in the U.S., and nearly all of them offer jobs, economic development and the chance for our nation to be energy independent.
What we believe is the depressed economy of eastern North Carolina needs a shot in the arm and a cure to the steady levels of unemployment and departing businesses we see every day. The pipeline offers the medicine the area needs to develop that cure. Even if it is temporary, as NCWarn warns, it is the economic boost that is needed, and it’s needed now.
Read the entire story in The Daily Herald.