On the Friday before the extended July 4 weekend, the developers seeking to build the Byhalia Connection oil pipeline through predominantly Black neighborhoods called it quits.
The companies blamed the coronavirus pandemic in an SEC filing, but the pipeline, described as a “reckless, racist rip-off” by former Vice President Al Gore had been fiercely opposed by a broad coalition. “The stars aligned for this fight,” Ward Archer, founder of Protect Our Aquifer, told the Commercial Appeal. “Sometimes the good guys win and this is one of those times.”
The pipeline’s cancellation comes almost exactly a year after the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast gas pipeline, and just days before news broke that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is recommending the Army Corps of Engineers not approve key water permits to the already behind-schedule and over-budget Mountain Valley gas pipeline.
For a deeper dive:
Byhalia Connection: Memphis Commercial Appeal, Memphis Flyer, WMC-5, Fox13, Seeking Alpha, Daily Memphian, Tri-State Defender, Earther; MVP: Politico Pro, E&E
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, sign up for daily Hot News, and visit their news site, Nexus Media News.
Get NationofChange in your inbox
Independent reporting every weekday. No paywall, no advertisers, no corporate owner. Free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
Subscribe freeYour gift is being matched, up to $2,000.
A member of the NationofChange board is matching every contribution to our summer drive, dollar for dollar, until the $2,000 is used up or the drive ends on August 31. We take no advertising money and answer to no corporate owner. The article you just read was paid for by readers, and right now what they give counts twice.
COMMENTS