Above photo: By Eleanor Goldfield of Art Killing Apathy.
What could be better for breakfast than sweet potato pie?
Employees of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got a free piece of sweet potato pie on their way to work this morning when a group of activists tried to make a point about a pipeline’s potential impact on the North Carolina sweet potato crop.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a project of Dominion Transmission and Duke Energy, is currently under review by FERC. The activists say the ACP, which would traverse 550 miles from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina, would, among other things, harm agricultural producers, such as sweet potato farmers in eastern North Carolina.
“The pipeline would cut my farm in half,” says Marvin Winstead, a North Carolina farmer and impacted landowner from Nash County. “I’d lose soil fertility and wouldn’t even be allowed to drive heavy trucks over the pipeline, which I have to do in order to harvest. The company threatens to take my land in court. Why should farmers be forced to sacrifice our land and livelihoods for this pipeline? Why should ratepayers be forced to pay for something they didn’t ask for and don’t want?”
Protest organizers from Beyond Extreme Energy, Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Virginia and North Carolina landowners brought half a ton of sweet potatoes to the First St. headquarters of the FERC Commission. They not only served up pie, they handed out bags of sweet potatoes as well.
FERC is currently hamstrung because the Commission lacks a quorum to make its decisions official.
Sweet Potatoes, Not Pipelines
By Eleanor Goldfield of Art Killing Apathy
Despite camera troubles, today’s action presented a bold image of the continued pressure put on FERC and their rubber stamping policies. Although the primary focus of this event was to highlight the destruction of land used to grow sweet potatoes in North Carolina, participants from Texas to Pennsylvania to Washington state took to the mic to share FERC horror stories of their own. And while the solemn reality of exploding pipelines and shattered livelihoods echoed up through the FERC offices, this was not a 2-hour funereal event. As Saul Alinsky noted in his Rules for Radicals, “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.” Be it the creative foundation of the event itself – passing out sweet potatoes and sweet potato pie to passersby – or indeed the sweet potato toss, “Sweet Potatoes Not Pipelines” was an inspiring blend of emotions that sought to both engage and educate. Various tactics were also employed – including picketing outside the front door, blocking the street and driveway and of course utilizing that sweet tangible reminder of the effects of dirty energy on our country.
Just as maple syrup in the Pancakes Not Pipelines action represented what FERC had already destroyed through their policy decisions, these sweet potatoes represent what will inevitably be lost if this regulatory agency continues to shirk its duty in protecting people and planet. As noted on the BXE site:
“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.”
BXE goes on to make the connection between climate change and racism, something that the upcoming People’s Climate March participants are also boldly highlighting.
“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!”
As people gather this weekend for a big climate march in DC, these frontline communities are necessarily getting the message out to media and activist allies: We Will Resist.
To learn more about Beyond Extreme Energy, visit https://beyondextremeenergy.org
Note to any concerned parties: The leftover sweet potatoes were then donated to a local food bank.
