Photo courtesy of Duane Nichols
2020 was a horrible year for many reasons, but one of the few bright spots was how terrible it was for fracked gas pipelines. When you consider the fact that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) was canceled, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is years behind schedule and not even close to being done, and the MVP Southgate extension was denied a necessary permit to build in North Carolina, there have been some memorable moments in a year we’d rather forget.
When Duke and Dominion announced in July that they were abandoning plans for the fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline , it sent shockwaves through the energy and environmental worlds. Countless stories were written about how the once-inevitable project couldn’t overcome rushed permitting, sophisticated legal challenges, and relentless community organizing. It was a true David vs. Goliath story that led Bloomberg News to declare pipelines “almost impossible to build.” In any year, the cancellation of a 600-mile massive fracked gas pipeline would be a cause for celebration. In 2020, it felt like summiting Mount Everest and swimming the English Channel on the same day.
Barely a month later, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rejected Mountain Valley Pipeline’s (MVP) attempt to extend into their state. The so-called MVP Southgate extension would threaten vital waterways, including the Haw River. In a statement announcing the decision, DEQ Secretary Michael Regan (now President-Elect Biden’s pick to lead the EPA) said, "This has always been an unnecessary project," and noted that North Carolina doesn’t need to use fracked gas, because the state is ready to “invest in clean, renewable energy sources and the economic benefits of energy innovation." Seeing leaders across the country realize fracked gas projects are dangerous and unnecessary has been a silver lining in an otherwise cloudy year.
As for the mainline of the MVP, 2020 was the year its prospects went from bad to worse. Now three years behind schedule, having doubled its original budget from $3 to $6 billion (making it the most expensive fracked gas pipeline in history), and being nowhere close to finished with multiple permits still outstanding, it’s gone from a risky bet to a losing hand. Industry watchers are openly questioning whether it will ever get built, noting that the same issues that brought down the ACP also plague the MVP. The polluting corporations behind the 304-mile project expected to have it in service by late 2018, but instead of popping corks, they’ve got a three-year hangover.
2020 was the year the ACP was canceled, the MVP extension was rejected, and the MVP mainline was stuck in the mud. We have changed the conversation on fracked gas pipelines and exposed them for the unnecessary, dirty, dangerous, and financially risky quagmires that they are. So when you toast to 2021 and all the promise that a new year brings, don’t just hope that there’s less of the bad behind. Remember that there can be more of the good ahead.