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Inciting A Riot Of The Spirit

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Holy River’s latest single, “Spirit Riot,” spotlights the two-years-and-counting struggle of the Yellow Finch Forest Blockade and their work to shut down the Mountain Valley Pipeline. It also rocks.

If you were to travel to the forests of Southwestern Virginia, you’d find a community of people living in the trees there, known as the Yellow Finch Forest Blockade. The blockade is a community of environmental activists fighting against the construction of the Mountain Valley pipeline. And you can see them in “Spirit Riot,” the new music video from duo Laney Sullivan and Jameson Price, who play under the name Holy River.

“It was written about us as human beings, like we are,” Sullivan said. “We’re animals, you know? We are made up of water and earth and all these things, inertia from the earth, which is our food. And so ‘Spirit Riot’ is about our consciousness, realizing that we are killing ourselves by the way that we’re living.”

Holy River are sure to be more familiar to fans of Richmond music under their previous name, Lobo Marino. The new name comes from a 2014 single off their album City Of Light. They changed their name at the beginning of 2020, the dawn of a new decade. “The name change for us marks a personal right of passage with our art and the 2020 portal feels like the perfect time to jump,” they explained on Facebook at the time. However, they also made it clear that they’d still be the same band, playing material from throughout their career — surely a welcome bit of news for longtime fans.

Holy River perform at Okechoobee Music Fest in 2018. Photo via Holy River/Facebook

Both Sullivan and Price have been very involved in the fight against two different natural gas pipelines that have been at various phases of construction through Virginia over the past six years. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was cancelled earlier this year, after years of resistance, with the companies involved (including Dominion Energy) citing ongoing legal challenges and mounting costs as primary reasons for the cancellation.

Right now, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is itself two years behind schedule and $2 billion over budget, even as activists continue with actions ranging from the blockade and other direct attempts to block the pipeline to raising a variety of legal challenges. Their goal is ultimately to see the MVP go the same way the ACP did.

“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was going through areas of Virginia that had a lot more wealth and active participation, in terms of fundraising,” Price said. “Even though the ACP was our gateway into activism, we are now trying to utilize that momentum and that joy of the project going to reallocate funds, reallocate passion, reallocate the same lawyers and the same systems that helped the ACP fail.”

One of the biggest benefits of the blockade, Sullivan explained, is that it creates a lot of extra time. Without that time, she said, illegal actions get pushed through by the companies in charge.

“A lot of times companies will push through projects knowing that they’re going to get citations or fined for not complying with regulatory bodies,” she said. “But those regulatory bodies aren’t fast enough to catch them during active construction. So they’d rather just push it through and then pay fines.”

Yellow Finch’s blockade is celebrating its two-year anniversary, and both Price and Sullivan have had a relationship with the blockade throughout that time.

“That’s mostly like a support role, where we could talk a lot about what they’re doing to share information,” Sullivan said. “[We also] fundraise materials, bring them food, and bring them warm clothes.”

Throughout the past two years, the duo, along with Christopher Risch and Mara Eve Robbins, have been collecting the footage that was ultimately assembled into the “Spirit Riot” video during visits to the Yellow Finch blockade. The footage mixes well with Holy River’s music, which centers around the drones that have long been their specialty but also carries a pulsing rock backbeat over which Sullivan and Price deliver powerful lyrics in a chanting style. “Your iron cranes, your concrete walls, your email suits, your permit cards, your busy eyes, your high rise thrones, your shadow lines, your god of lies — see it coming down.”

“Spirit Riot” comes from Holy River’s latest album, Courage, which was released last month and is available on Bandcamp as a name-your-price download.

Written by Greta Timmins and Marilyn Drew Necci. Top Photo via Holy River/Facebook

Hundreds Trek To Virginia’s Capitol To Support Environmental Bills

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Supporting alternative energy, lowering carbon emissions, and protecting Virginia’s vulnerable communities were important issues to the crowd that gathered at the Capitol building.

Hundreds of clean energy supporters trekked to the State Capitol last week demanding Virginia move away from reliance on carbon-based energy, invest in alternative energy supplies, and lower rates for customers.

At the rally, hosted Tuesday by the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Chesapeake Climate Action Network Action Fund, and other environmental organizations, participants pushed for Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an effort to cap and reduce carbon emissions from the power sector. 

Gov. Ralph Northam supported the initiative in his 2020 budget proposal by including $733 million in new funding for the environment and clean energy. 

“In Virginia, we are proving that a clean environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand — and having both is what makes our Commonwealth such a great place to live, work and play,” Northam said in a press release. 

Supporters of clean energy gather on the Capitol steps. Photo by Jeffrey Knight

Organizations lobbied for bills that seek to depart from a reliance on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. One focus was House Bill 1526 and its counterpart Senate Bill 851, known as the Virginia Clean Economy Act. 

These bills would develop mandatory standards, annual timelines and call for specific reductions of carbon emissions, with the goal to hit 0 percent by 2050. The bills also push for offshore wind operations and solar energy generation. 

“I’m 100% for environmental issues,” Sen. Lionell Spruill Sr., D-Chesapeake, and co-patron of SB 851, said to supporters of the bill during the rally. “If I have to stand alone for environmental issues, I will do it alone.”

After supporters met with legislators, they reconvened at the nearby St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where they heard speakers champion environmental justice and steps to combat climate change. 

Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Prince William, took to the podium during the rally to address coal ash, a by-product of burning coal in power plants that contains arsenic, mercury, and other metals.

“Most of our environmental impacts, not only of climate change but also with coal ash and pipelines, are in our most vulnerable communities,” Carroll Foy said to the audience. 

Harrison Wallace, Va. director of the Climate Action Network, address the crowd during the Clean Energy Rally. Photo by Jeffrey Knight.

Dominion is Virginia’s main energy supplier, with 2.6 million customers in Virginia and Eastern North Carolina, according to its website. The energy giant has been moving away from coal production, but environmental advocates worry that closure of Dominion’s coal ash ponds will affect nearby communities. They want Dominion to haul away the coal ash, instead of capping it in place.

Advocates also said that the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline that Dominion and other utility companies want to build as they tap into alternative energy sources will compromise communities and deviate from a zero carbon future.

“There will be 35 years of non-renewable energy if the pipeline continues,” said Corrina Beall, legislative and political director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter. 

The Environmental Justice Act (HB 704 and SB 406) patroned by Del. Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, respectively, would require state agencies to review proposed environmental policies with regard to the impact on low income communities, communities of color and vulnerable populations and calls for “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people.”

The Clean Energy Rally brought hundreds to advocate for zero carbon emissions as well as other environmental legislation. Photo by Jeffrey Knight.

Supporters at the rally also pushed for the Fair Energy Bills Act (HB 1132), patroned by Del. Jerrauld “Jay” Jones, D-Norfolk, and Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan. The bill calls for lower rates from energy suppliers like Dominion Energy, who reportedly overcharged Virginians $277 million more than they were allowed in 2018. 

SB 966 restored the SCC’s ability to conduct earnings reviews to determine whether Dominion Energy had collected more money than required. If so, the extra revenue could be reinvested in electric distribution grid transformation as well as solar and offshore wind projects, at no extra cost to the consumer. 

“What makes more financial sense is for the money to be reinvested, which allows the customer to get the benefit of the project without any additional rates,” said Rayhan Daudani, manager of media relations for Dominion Energy. 

He said that customers get a “great value” with rates 6.8 percent below the national average, along with increased investment in renewable energy and a transformed energy grid. Dominion said it plans to invest $750 million between offshore wind projects and smart meters that provide better grid service. 

“Our mission is to keep those prices low, build the nation’s largest offshore wind project, continue to provide solar energy across the state, and keep the lights on for our customers,” Daudani said.

Supporters of clean energy gather on the Capitol steps. Photo by Adrienne Eichner.

The offshore wind project is set to be the largest in the U.S., with enough energy to power up to 650,000 Virginia homes, according to a recent Dominion Energy press release. 

So far none of the bills supported by clean energy advocates have passed committee.

Written by Jeffrey Knight, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Adrienne Eichner.

Student Strikes Continue To Push For Climate Action

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Last Friday saw Central Virginia students missing school to demand action on climate change in ongoing Global Climate Strike actions in Richmond.

Dozens of Richmond area students skipped class Friday to demand government action on climate change. Part of the larger Youth Global Climate Strike, the actions included a march that briefly shut down one lane of Broad St. (east of Belvidere) and a rally at the state capitol.

The Richmond Climate Strike was organized by members of the local Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion (XR) chapters. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Democratic Socialists of America, and several other groups were also represented.

A group of about 70 departed from Monroe Park and headed through VCU campus, chanting and singing as surprised college students looked on. The group paused briefly in front of the Cabell Library before looping back toward Belvidere and on to Broad.

What began as a single police officer observing from a distance quickly grew to a sizeable police escort as the marchers took over busy streets. Police cars sped ahead of the procession, holding up traffic at intersections and following slowly behind. 

Protesters march through Monroe Park on their way to the state Capitol building. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

On the lawn of the state capitol, students and activists took turns addressing the crowd, giving impassioned speeches and leading the group in songs (including, at one point, the Mr. Rogers theme).

Kennedy Wright, a 9-year-old climate activist, expressed concern for the way Virginia’s marine species are already being affected by rising temperatures.

“We need to find a way to save the ecosystem and ourselves,” she said. “I hope the politicians can fix the problem with good laws and more money for research.”

Wright runs Cool Kids Science RVA with her sister Jordan, who spoke about the increased threat of forest fires in California as well as the commonwealth.

“Here in Virginia, there are 24 counties with burn bans because, so far, it’s the driest fall Virginia has seen in 20 years,” she told the crowd. “There’s nothing we can do about the lack of rain, but we can stop contributing to making our planet hotter.”

Protesters affiliated with Chesapeake Climate Action Network march through VCU campus. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

Several speakers stressed the importance of viewing environmental issues in a larger social justice context and elevating the voices of people of color within their movement.

Laura Haden, a local XR organizer, sought to illustrate the link between the fossil fuel industry and broader policies that negatively impact people, drawing a line between Dominion and a controversial $1.5 billion redevelopment plan backed by the company’s CEO, Tom Farrell.

“The goal to be carbon neutral by 2025 is a really big goal because we immediately think of carbon-heavy investments that would be a new coliseum in Navy Hill,” she said.” We think of the developments that are being built while occupied buildings are allowed to fall apart at the hand and profits of slum lords.”

Stephanie Younger, a 17-year-old organizer with Virginia Youth Climate Strike, explained that although people of color are disproportionately affected by climate and racial justice issues, their voices are often excluded from conversations, or dismissed as divisive and aggressive.

“And I speak from experience as a gun violence activist who has been labeled that way,” she said. “Not only does the media portray us in ways that discredit and marginalize our voices, but a lot of us are heavily criminalized for exercising our first amendment right.”

Escorted by Richmond Police, protesters filled the eastbound lanes of Broad St. on their march to the Capitol. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

“My call to action to all of you, especially the press, the schools, the police and political leaders is to give black and brown youth climate activists the same attention and energy you gave to our white climate activists.”

Several of the attendees had been involved in anti-pipeline actions in Southwestern Virginia. Mara Robinson, a longtime environmental activist who recently moved to Richmond from Floyd, spoke about working in a support role at the April 2018 “aerial blockade” on Bent Mountain involving 61-year-old landowner Red Terry.

“We have successfully stalled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline,” she announced to cheers from the crowd. “However, we’ve had people living in trees in southwest Virginia to protect us from the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”

Claudia Sachs, a junior at Glen Allen High School, performed a song she penned earlier this year after attending an earlier climate action.

“My goal is that it becomes the anthem of the climate movement,” she said after the event. “Because we need strength and power and motivation, and I think music is one of the best ways to do that.”

High school student Claudia Sachs performs an original song about the dangers of climate change at the Capitol. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

Lyrics like “the California forests will be ash before we know it/The ice from the arctic will flood your streets and markets” predict a bleak future, but the notion didn’t come as a shock to the listeners.

The atmosphere of the event was as much about sharing grief and anxiety about the damage climate change will cause over the coming decades as it was about building political power.

Some activists, like Selene Norman, don’t have to look to future fears. Her idea of what the so-called climate crisis looks like comes from firsthand experience riding out Hurricane Irma in West Palm Beach, Florida in 2017. When an evacuation was ordered, she explained, many people lacked the resources to leave their homes.

“Gas stations were out of gas, hotels were expensive, hotels were booked out,” the Reynolds Community College student recounted. “So we were basically just sitting there waiting to die. Luckily it only hit us at a category 3, which is still pretty catastrophic.”

Climate Strikers outside Dominion’s corporate offices. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

Actions like Friday’s strike help her deal with the anxiety of that experience.

“I applied to be an organizer — and now all those worries I had when I was in Florida — I’m able to manifest it to make a change.”

Sachs, echoing a common refrain, lamented the general public’s lack of concern about climate change despite the shrinking time frame left to meaningfully address it. Educating people, she explained, is the easy part. The problem is that many think they’ll be able to escape the rising seas and strengthened storms.

“As [Norman was] saying, if you can afford a hotel room in a disaster, or extra gas, or extra food, or you can just move, that completely is a privilege,” she said. “So I think that prevents people from seeing the urgency of it, but money is not going to save us from this climate crisis.”

After the rally, a group of students made their way to the Dominion offices at Eighth & Main to hold a die-in. As employees shuffled past and security guards watched from inside, more than a dozen tweens, teens, and young adults laid down on the sidewalk and remained still for five minutes. Afterward they slowly made their way to their feet chanting, “the oceans are rising, and so are we,” then dispersed.

The die-in at Dominion Energy’s corporate headquarters. (Photo by Sean C. Davis)

“We chose the capitol location because we wanted to put pressure on the politicians who will be coming in in a month or so,” Sachs explained. “And we decided to march to Dominion because Dominion is really the company that is harming people on the ground and damaging so many communities.”

Top Photo by Sean C. Davis

Al Gore Calls Atlantic Coast Pipeline ‘Reckless, Racist Ripoff’

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They sang songs of resilience, held hands and promised to continue fighting for environmental justice.

That was the scene Tuesday night in a middle school gymnasium where more than 700 people gathered to hear former Vice President Al Gore and a prominent civil rights leader, the Rev. William Barber II, draw connections between poverty, racism, and ecological devastation in denouncing plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Gore and Barber said the construction of a compressor station for the ACP in Union Hill would severely harm residents of that predominantly African-American community founded by former slaves after the Civil War in Buckingham County, about 70 miles west of Richmond.

Dominion Energy says the compressor station is a necessary component of the natural gas pipeline, which would run 600 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

“Historic Union Hill is the wrong place to build the compressor station,” said Mary Finley-Brook, a member of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice. In August, the advisory council wrote a 12-page letter to Gov. Ralph Northam, urging him to suspend the air quality permit for the compressor station. Industries that emit pollutants are required to get such permits to ensure that the emissions don’t harm humans or deteriorate clean air.

Audience members show solidarity for racial injustices they say the pipeline would cause. (CNS photo by Katja Timm)

The council said the “potential future impacts are likely to be felt most severely by our poor, minority and marginalized communities and community members.”

At Tuesday’s rally, singer Yara Allen led the crowd in songs of justice in the gym of Buckingham County Middle School. Barber, a Protestant minister from North Carolina and a member of the national board of the NAACP, then delivered a passionate speech, calling the construction of the pipeline a moral wrongdoing that disproportionately targets poor minority communities.

“When God said, ‘Let them have dominion over the land,’ he was not talking about the company,” said Barber, drawing laughter from the audience.

Barber said there is a reason why these types of projects are not located in affluent communities.

“It’s systematic,” he said. “They target poor white folk in Appalachia, poor Native American communities — poor, poor, poor.”

Barber said more African-American political leaders should have been at the event, and he condemned Northam for supporting the pipeline.

“If the pipeline is so good, request it to be in your backyard,” Barber said.

The Rev. Dr. William Barber II delivers passionate speech, drawing applause from former Vice President Al Gore. (CNS photo by Katja Timm)

Residents of Union Hill also spoke at the rally, saying the construction of the pipeline and compressor station would devastate land that is deeply valued and personal to them.

Richard Walker, CEO of Bridging the Gap in Virginia, an organization that helps people released from incarceration, said the compressor station would run through land that has been passed down through several generations of his family.

“Somebody is hurting my family, and I’m not going to allow it,” Walker said repeatedly, drawing applause from the audience. “I’m not going to allow Dominion to deny [my family] their inheritance.”

Residents said the properties in Union Hill are a fundamental economic resource.

“For most of us, our property is the most valuable thing we have in terms of dollars,” said Irene Leech of Mt. Rush Farm in Buckingham.

Leech, who raises cattle and teaches at Virginia Tech, said that landowners would have limited use of their property if the pipeline were built and that it would potentially tear through structures created by her grandfather.

The event drew to a close with a speech from Gore, who called the pipeline a “reckless, racist rip-off.”

Gore said he never saw a more vivid example of environmental racism.

“This pipeline should be canceled,” Gore said. “It is an environmental injustice, and it’s not too much to say environmental racism is located in this historically black community.”

Dominion and other companies involved in the ACP say that they are “good corporate citizens” and that they have “engaged extensively and meaningfully” over the past several years with resident of Buckingham County and Union Hill.


Banners for the event hanging in Buckingham County Middle School gym. (CNS photo by Katja Timm)

“Working together with the residents of Union Hill, we are committing to invest $5.1 million in a series of community revitalization and public safety initiatives, including the development of a new community center and outdoor recreation area,” the companies state on a website promoting the project.

The site says the benefits of the pipeline include “thousands of new jobs, lower energy costs, new industries and millions in new tax revenue for local governments — all while improving air quality and paving the way for more renewables.”

Many public officials support the ACP. Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, said the pipeline is “absolutely critical to the economic future of Hampton Roads and the environmental health of our entire region.”

Written by Maryum Elnasseh and Katja Timm, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Katja Timm.

Controversy and Condemnation Surround the Lead-Up to a Crucial Pipeline Vote

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In the coming weeks, Virginia’s environmental and political future is set to see a potential shift. The past weeks were marked by upsets, confrontations, and accusations of corruption surrounding the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines, and as a crucial vote approaches, the future is decidedly uncertain.

The path to this moment began on November 10th, when the Virginia Air Pollution Control (VAPC) Board delayed a vote to approve construction on an ACP compressor station in the historic, majority-black community of Union Hill in Buckingham County. The decision followed two days of public deliberation over the negative impact the pipeline infrastructure could have on the region, and represented one of the first major halts in the ACP’s progress. Previously, the pipeline has sailed through the approval process despite repeated objections and concerns from within and without the Northam Administration.

“We are thankful that the Air Pollution Control Board has decided to take additional time to consider environmental injustice, site suitability, and cumulative impacts of the entire pipeline by deferring their vote on the air permit,” Virginia Interfaith Power & Light said in a statement released following the delay announcement.

This nonprofit has been one of several groups opposing the construction of the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. They shared their concerns in a September meeting with Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, whose position on the ACP and MVP has conflicted with those of members of the administration, including Governor Ralph Northam, as far back as the 2017 gubernatorial election.

In the days following the decision, however, anticipation for the impending vote was replaced with a chorus of condemnation. This was a reaction to the dismissal of Rebecca Rubin and Samuel Bleicher from the VAPC Board by the Northam administration last Thursday. According to several environmental groups, their dismissals occurred after both raised concerns about the effect the compressor station would have on the Union Hill community.

Though both of their membership terms had expired in June, the nature of their membership (which allows them to stay on the board until resignation or removal), along with a lack of explanation from administration officials, only further incensed those opposed to the compressor station, who have since called for Bleicher and Rubin’s reinstatement. The administration later named Gail Bush of the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and Kajal B. Kapur of Kapur Energy Environment Economics, LLC as their replacements.

“We believe that Governor Northam owes the people of Union Hill, and all Virginians, an explanation of this timing, clearly interfering in the deliberation and process of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s permitting decision on the Buckingham compressor station,” Virginia Interfaith Power & Light said.

Denouncing the administration’s move as “a stunning assault on the regulatory process,” the Virginia Pipeline Resisters took to the streets outside the Governor’s Mansion in the Virginia State Capitol earlier this month to protest the decision, joined by members of the Union Hill community.

“The Governor’s decision has done harm to my family,” said Richard Walker, whose genealogy and landownership in Union Hill stretches over a hundred years, back to former Virginia slaves in the late 19th century.

“The governor, who I campaigned for, has flipped the script on what’s being done with this air permit decision,” Walker said. “Anything that opposes Dominion, he seems to be speaking out on… I thought he was a fair and a good person, but as far as I can tell, the decision he made yesterday is no more than a ‘Donald Trump’ move.”

Adding to the voices of disapproval was Representative Sam Rasoul, D-City of Roanoke. Rasoul’s criticism was an unplanned addition to a press conference that focused on a report from Food and Water Watch on the “outsized political power” Dominion Energy holds over both chambers in the Virginia General Assembly, and Virginia politics in general.

While the removal of Rubin and Bleicher from the VAPC Board hadn’t been fully confirmed by the administration at that point in the conference, Rasoul did champion the efforts of citizens in challenging the pipeline’s construction, calling the possibility of “the voices of the people” being ignored as a result of this decision “an injustice and an outrage.” Rasoul joins a number of General Assembly members who have praised those opposed to the pipelines and scrutinized Dominion’s operations in the state, including Mark Keam, D-Fairfax, and Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax.

“I know that this administration and whoever else is behind it – Dominion Power, etc. – you will hear from us,” Rasoul said.

Rasoul, along with Rep. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Dale City, has also introduced a House bill for consideration in the 2019 General Assembly session that would put a “moratorium” on approving energy facilities that use fossil fuels in the state, with an eye towards requiring 100% use of clean energy sources by retail electricity suppliers in the Commonwealth by 2036.

Considering the extent of Dominion’s presence in Virgina, and how easily previous pipeline permits have been approved by administration officials, the December 10 vote on the ACP compressor station will likely set the tone for future deliberations on many aspects of Virginia’s environment and politics, regardless of outcome.

Photos provided by Virginia Pipeline Resisters

“Pumpkins Not Pipelines”: Activists Stage Halloween Parade Outside the Governor’s Office

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Richmond residents from Broad Street to North 9th were witness to a parade of costumed protesters Wednesday, warning of “a place where the air is so polluted it causes headaches, nosebleeds and illness. A place where your water is the color of toxic mud.”

“On this Halloween day, you may think we are giving the details of a horror story,” said Stacy Lovelace of the Virginia Pipeline Resisters, speaking through a megaphone. “But sadly this is, and will be, the reality for those along the path of the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines.”

The activists marshaled outside the Governor’s Office at the Virginia State Capitol, as they have every week since early February, in protest of the Northam administration’s continued approval of the Mountain Valley (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipelines (ACP).

Following a brief demonstration and recognition of the lives lost from hate crimes at a Kroger in Kentucky and the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the group marched several blocks west to the Office of the Attorney General, chanting all the way. Their protest was joined by unexpected “guests”: life-sized props of Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew Strickler, hands stuffed with cash, with cardboard rods sticking out from their noses.

“They dressed as Pinocchio, which is fitting, because they’ve been telling lots of fibs lately,” Lovelace remarked. For her own costume, she wore posters with quotes from multiple studies about the pipelines’ potential to negatively impact the region.

Dominion Energy was recently permitted to begin its 300-mile construction of the ACP, which will stretch across the Commonwealth and includes a compression station. The placement of that station in Buckingham County’s historic and majority-black Union Hill community has made it a particular focus of criticism for those opposed to the projects. 

Activists in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina have taken a variety of measures to stem the pipeline’s progress across their states, from tree sit-ins to chaining themselves to equipment and more. Authorities have responded with arrests and the monitoring of activist groups by anti-terrorism agencies. 

These actions to stop construction have continued even as members of Northam’s own administration show their opposition to the pipelines. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice called for a halt to permit approval days before the APC was given the green light, while Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax has continued to lend an open ear to the concerns of the community, along with other public officials who have challenged the developments surrounding this issue. 

Speaking outside the the entrance to the Office of the Attorney General, Lovelace made an appeal to Attorney General Mark Herring, including a letter addressed to him personally, asking him to invoke the power granted to him by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act against the pipelines.

“While we are grateful to your resistance to Trump’s deregulation and other abhorrent policies,” Lovelace said, “we must ask: why are you ignoring these pipeline projects, supported by Trump, here in Virginia? We ask that you immediately take action against these projects, which are true terrors and real life monsters, and stand with the impacted Virginians.”

Along with their weekly protest, the Pipeline Resisters plan to stand with the Union Hill community during the public hearing on the ACP compressor station on November 8 and 9, alongside groups that include Water is Life and Friends of Buckingham. 

“We will be in solidarity with them and helping them with what happens that day,” said Jessica Sims, who leads the Pipeline Resisters with Lovelace.

Photos by George Copeland