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At a pipeline summit on 23 April sponsored by the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, Virginians and residents of North Carolina discussed how to stop all pipeline construction in their areas, primarily focusing on the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline projects, which residents believe will potentially damage Virginia鈥檚 economy.

University of Virginia professor Spencer Phillips, stated: 鈥淪etting aside the whole question of whether this gas is needed, whether these pipelines are needed, but if they are built, what are these effects going to be?鈥�

An additional focus at the summit was on climate change and the environmental hazards that the pipeline projects could pose. 鈥淲e are calling for a climate test. Oil Change International and 15 other organisations in Canada and the US launched a website a few months ago. You鈥檝e got to have a climate test. Otherwise you don鈥檛 know if it is helping or hindering your goal,鈥� explained Lorne Stockman, the Research Director at Oil Change International.

Similarly, Thomas Hadwin, a representative of Friends of the Central Shenandoah, noted that the federal law declares that existing operations must be considered first before any new construction can take place. He commented: 鈥淭he Department of Energy says to use existing pipelines first if you鈥檙e trying to serve a new demand in a new area. All of the demand and all of the customers that are being projected for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline can be served by using existing pipelines. We believe we can keep our land intact, our rivers and groundwater uncontaminated, our communities, historical and recreational resources just as they are, and still have the energy we need in this area.鈥�

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