Virginia

Another famous white, rich, aging, hippie woman has lined up against pipelines. At least this famous white, rich, aging hippie, Carole King, has talent–unlike Yoko Ono who is talentless, someone who still rides the coattails of her famous husband, God rest his soul. Carole King doesn’t need fame or to increase her personal fortune, unlike Ono. So why is she speaking out against the Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline and where it will run in Virginia? Because the pipeline will come close to land owned by Yogaville, an “ecumenical spiritual retreat” in Buckingham County, VA that King has $upported for decades. Most folks think of yoga as funky pretzel-like stretches people do at the gym or at a special class at your local community college. What they may not know is that yoga is as much a spiritual practice (i.e. religion) as it is an exercise routine. Apparently King is one of its practitioners. Makes her Feel Like A Natural Woman. Good for her. Whatever gets you through the day, right? King wrote directly to Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II to request he ax the pipeline plan and instead stick up solar panels and windmills. Here’s why King is wrong about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline affecting Yogaville…
Read More “Carole King: VA Pipeline Makes Me Feel Like an Unnatural Woman”

Here’s the tag line from Navigators Global, a Washington, DC lobbying firm: “From the trenches of political campaigns to the height of corporate crises, we’ve navigated the toughest terrain. Whatever your challenge is, we can guide you to victory.” Looks like they’ll need to consult to themselves since the company is facing its own corporate crisis. The founder and president of Navigators Global is Phil Anderson. Phil is one of the rich, gentry class anti-pipeliners behind a group called “All Pain No Gain” that’s trying to stop the Dominion $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project from going through Virginia (and through his land). We highlighted a McClatchy article yesterday that talks about the efforts of the All Pain No Gain group in raising big money to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (see VA Gentry Class Raising $1M to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipeline). We’ve since learned that when Phil’s involvement with that anti-drilling group became known, his firm immediately lost a $20,000 contract with NextEra Energy, another pipeline company with a project running through Virginia (see EQT & NextEra Tie the Knot on WV-VA Pipeline Joint Venture). Beginning of a trend? Anderson is a Republican In Name Only, and he’s joined by other RINOs in his opposition to pipelines–rich, white landowners (the gentry class) who don’t want pipelines in their back yards. Another Virginia RINO pouring money into the anti-pipeline effort is Tom Harvey, chairman of the non-profit Global Environment & Technology Foundation…
Read More “Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline”

Wealthy landowners in Virginia are halfway to raising $1 million in their effort to torpedo Dominion’s planned $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Just yesterday we told you that a majority of residents in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina support the project (see Poll: Majority of Voters in VA, WV, NC Favor Atlantic Coast Pipeline). The pipeline will flow natural gas from the Marcellus/Utica to points across the southeast. That is, unless NIMBY’s raise enough money to run advertising campaigns to convince officials and regulators that this pipeline should not get built. Never underestimate the power of a bribe, er, a, “advertising” money. The new favorite phrase of those who oppose pipelines (watch for it in sycophantic media stories) is that pipelines are a “scar” on Mother Earth. How wicked and despicable to want to scar your mother…
Read More “VA Gentry Class Raising $1M to Oppose Atlantic Coast Pipeline”

UPDATE 4/7/15: Rick Webb provided a response to this MDN article, which we’ve included below.

The $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline project is scheduled to pass from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina bringing cheap, abundant Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to the southeast (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). Many Democrats support the project, including Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. But not all Dems support it. As with all proposed pipeline projects in the northeast/mid-Atlantic area, there are fossil fuel haters (global warmists) who oppose it simply because it’s a fossil fuel. One of those organizations is The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, a group set up and run by a retired University of Virginia environmental scientist Rick Webb. Although Rick retired last year, he continues to participate in supporting several research projects at UVA, including the Shenandoah Watershed Study (SWAS) and the Virginia Trout Streams Sensitivity Study (VTSSS). Rick recently sent MDN (and other media outlets) an email from his official UVA email account to promote his anti-Atlantic Coast Pipeline group. We wonder if UVA supports Rick’s anti-pipeline activities and knows that he is using his UVA email account (with an implied connection that UVA supports what he’s doing) to denigrate Dominion?…
Read More “Researcher Uses Official UVA Email to Oppose Dominion Pipeline”

The publisher of Virginia Business, Bernie Niemeier, has a fascinating perspective on Dominion’s proposed $4.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that would run through the Old Dominion state. Niemeier supports the pipeline, not the least of which because it will provide a huge economic boost ($450 million in direct benefit to the economy) and a jobs creator (2,800 jobs to build it). Niemeier notes the rapid objections to the pipeline–the “not here, not now, not ever” crowd that has come out of the woodwork. He compares their knee-jerk objections to efforts to build out internet access in rural areas, another project that would cut through the same “wilderness” areas and cause environmental “damage”. We love his observation at the short-sighted obtuseness of those who want access to the internet, but not the power that allows them to access it…
Read More “Rural Virginians Want Internet, but Not Natgas Energy to Access It”