Above image: Jimmy Betts
On the day before the March for Climate, Jobs and Justice, Beyond Extreme Energy is taking close to half a ton of sweet potatoes to the headquarters of FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 1st St NW in DC. We will be speaking out about our passionate opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and all new proposed fossil fuel infrastructure. FERC is a rubber-stamp agency for the gas industry!
We will be distributing these sweet potatoes in small bags free to FERC employees and passers-by, with a leaflet explaining why we are taking action at FERC.
Sweet potatoes are grown in eastern North Carolina, site of Duke Energy and Dominion Resources’ proposed ACP, which would run 550 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. Land would be taken by eminent domain, including land where sweet potatoes are being grown, degrading soil fertility, threatening growers’ livelihoods, water and way of life and the chance for a stable climate for all of us.
This area has the highest concentration of people of color in the state: African American, indigenous, and Latino, and lower-than-average income for N.C., so it’s no surprise that the pipeline was diverted from two earlier routes that were whiter and wealthier.
This area is also home to a growing number of solar and wind energy projects. This renewable future is better for farmers and all energy consumers – that is, all of us. It’s time to leave the gas and all fossil fuels in the ground!
NO ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE! NO NEW PERMITS FOR FOSSIL FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE!