Supreme Court showdown set over pipeline crossing of Appalachian Trail

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Supreme Court showdown set over pipeline crossing of Appalachian Trail
BY MICHAEL MARTZ Richmond Times-Dispatch 27 min ago

The stage is set for a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the Atlantic Coast Pipeline's proposed crossing of the Appalachian Trail.

The court agreed on Friday to hear an appeal of a decision by a Richmond-based federal appeals court last year. That court revoked the permit the U.S. Forest Service issued to allow a partnership led by Dominion Energy to build the proposed natural gas pipeline beneath the Appalachian Trail between Augusta and Nelson counties in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December that the forest service did not have authority to allow the $7.5 billion pipeline to cross beneath the trail at a critical choke-point for the 600-mile project to link shale gas wells in West Virginia with energy markets in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina.

Dominion hailed the court's decision to hear the appeal as "a clear path forward to resolve this important issue," while environmental groups promised to continue their fight against construction of "a dangerous, costly, and unnecessary project." ... The company said it expects the Supreme Court to hear arguments on the case early next year and rule by June.
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[cutroot]

1. None of these pipelines would even be necessary if we were farther along with renewable energy.

Big oil wants to move all of that product as quickly as they can.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. It's a natural gas pipeline. NT

[cutroot]

3. Edited. It all comes out of the same hole in the ground.