To the editor:

I’m sure many readers have heard about the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline taking private property through your area. ACP has a high-powered public relations campaign aimed at convincing the public and the politicians that the pipeline will benefit us. It won’t.

ACP claims our region has urgent energy needs. We don’t. Both North Carolina and Virginia have reduced energy consumption during the last decade. I am convinced ACP will ship gas from this pipeline overseas from their branch line to Norfolk, as they are planning to do from a facility in Maryland.

ACP claims natural gas is a clean-burning energy source. It isn’t. It sends more carbon dioxide into our already-polluted atmosphere. In fact, gas leaks along the route could make natural gas as polluting as coal from ground to combustion.

ACP claims the pipelines safely transport natural gas. They don’t. During the past five years, there has been on average one gas pipeline incident per week in our country resulting in death, hospitalization or severe property damage.

This pipeline is bigger than the XL pipeline, and only 6 inches smaller than the trans-Alaska pipeline. A gas pipeline of this size has never been built through steep slopes and karst terrain before.

The impact radius, or blast zone, is 1,100 feet on each side of the pipe. The evacuation zone is 7/10 mile on each side of the pipe. Search Appomattox or West Virginia gas pipeline explosion to see what hell on earth looks like during a gas pipeline explosion. This is not a safe pipeline.

ACP claims renewables require back-up power. They don’t. New solar plants can continue to provide power 10 hours after the sun goes down. Any combination of solar, wind, geothermal, and retrofit hydroelectric renewable sources can provide constant power for any eventuality.

Once renewable energy systems are in place, the energy they produce is clean, free and inexhaustible.

ACP claims abundant natural gas leads to savings. That’s not true. Studies indicate that rate-payers will pay for the pipeline, and their electricity bills are likely to increase because of it. Compare that to free, inexhaustible and clean renewable energy.

ACP claims natural gas can secure our energy future. It won’t. Burning natural gas will continue to increase carbon dioxide and methane levels in our atmosphere, which are already higher than at any time in the past 800,000 years, and contribute to the damages from increased storm intensity and all of the other negative impacts from climate change.

Renewable energy will secure our energy future.
Please don’t believe the lies this multibillion-dollar company tells. They are only in it to make millions more at our expense. You can stop their land grab and their abuse of power by advising the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that you oppose this pipeline. You can do this via “eComment” on FERC’s website, www.ferc.gov. Refer to Docket Number CP 15-554.

If you can do this you may very well help out a neighbor who faces the prospect of a dangerous pipeline put through their property against their wishes, and stop a greedy multibillion-dollar company who is more than willing to do that to them.

William F. Limpert


Warm Springs