So, which one is it? Almost

heaven or almost hell?

You ’ve seen the acres of green

plastic pipe piling up along the

west bank of the Monongahlea River,

you’ve seen the trains bringing

more every day, and maybe you

know that it will be used for the

Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

But did you know that this

pipeline hasn’t even been approved

yet? Can you smell a rubber stamp?

Did you know that it’s designed to

carry West Virginia gas to an export

terminal in Norfolk, Va.? And to an

out-of-state power plant? That none of

that gas will be for West Virginians’

use? That the pipeline will cut through

the Monongahela National Forest inside

a ditch 30 feet deep, will cross

streams more than 600 times through

our steep and scenic mountains.

It will require that trees be cut

on a right-of-way wider than a football

field, and this will have to be

maintained by massive doses of herbicides

forever. It will require new

access roads through farms and

wild forest that trample the rights

of wildlife and landowner alike.

But the worst effect of this

pipeline will be the immediate and

horrendous escalation of fracking

in our state.

We can expect the gas companies’

profits to go elsewhere, and

their waste products to stay right

here, their radioactive brines

spread on our roadways and

pumped into groundwater, “hot”

drill cuttings in our landfills, klieg

lights, trucks, noise and fumes in

every neighborhood.

It takes a lot of gas to fill a 38-

inch pipeline 650 miles long. Will

West Virginians stand for this?

Haven’t we learned anything as the

coal companies move on, leaving our

streams acidic and lifeless, our mountains

flat and our miners pensionless?

Our Native American brothers

in North Dakota showed us how to

fight for what we love. They stood

up against another pipeline and

are, for the moment, winning.

Climate change is real, and

methane is just another fossil fuel.

A real transition to renewable energy

is possible and necessary, and

other countries are doing just that.

This pipeline locks us into backwardness,

and maybe even annihilation.

It is not in the best interests

of West Virginia or the atmosphere.

Will we have the courage of

those Native Americans in the

Dakotas, or will we be rubber

stamped upon? Make your voice

heard, the choice is ours —almost

heaven or almost hell?

Carol Nix

Independence