Howdy!

Two weeks to go until the September 8th No Sacrifice Zones: Appalachian Resistance Comes to DC! Last week I said I would share an update once the location with more details was set up. Members of the StopMVP Coalition and People Vs. Fossil Fuels Coalition are working together to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline and show massive opposition to the “permitting reform” deal.
RSVP to attend the 5 pm rally by the Capitol and indicate lobby interest here.
Reserve a free seat on the bus from Durham to DC on September 8.
Frontline communities are being used as bargaining chips in Senators Manchin and Schumer’s side deal aimed at fast-tracking permits for fossil fuel projects and threatening bedrock environmental laws. This is unacceptable!! If passed, this would gut bedrock environmental protections, threaten tribal authority, endanger public health, cut public input, fast-track fossil fuel projects, and push approval for Manchin’s pet project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline, that we have been working to stop. We can NOT allow  communities to be sacrificed again to more oil and gas drilling, pipelines, petrochemical buildout, and climate disasters in this climate emergency!
Send a letter to your Members of Congress calling on them to do all they can to block Senator Manchin’s dirty “permitting reform” proposal and stand with impacted and frontline communities!
You can also call your Members of Congress at 917-791-2257 and urge them to do all they can to block Senator Manchin’s dirty “permitting reform” proposal.
Sample script: Hi, my name is ____, and I’m from ____. As your constituent I’m calling to demand that you do all you can to block Senator Manchin’s “permitting reform” proposal.  Protecting our communities and climate is more important than giving another gift to the fossil fuel industry. Stand with the communities impacted by fossil fuels and the climate crisis and stop the dirty deal!
Check out this blog with resources on how you can support Appalachian resistance if you can’t go to DC. POWRH will continue to update this list in the run-up to the event.
Great video here that will inspire you to join others in DC, or support at home in solidarity if you can’t attend!
If you missed the EXCELLENT panel discussion last week on Environmental Justice Perspectives of the “API Permitting Reform Bill” with Crystal, Dallas, Grace, and Raul, the link to the recording is here.  Learn more about why this proposal must be stopped!

Over 650 groups signed onto this letter calling on Sen. Schumer and Rep. Pelosi to oppose the fossil fuel expansion deal proposed by Sen. Manchin to Democratic leadership in exchange for his support of the Inflation Reduction Act. Read this great article in Common Dreams Over 650 Progressive Groups Vow to Fight ‘Dirty’ Manchin Deal ‘With Everything We’ve Got’. From Joye Braun with Indigenous Environmental Network:

“This dirty side deal is nothing short of a wholesale giveaway to the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of frontline communities, tribal nations, and Mother Earth. The world is on fire and negotiating the amount of fuel for those flames is not acceptable. Congress needs to understand that there is no compromise when it comes to protecting the next seven generations of life and beyond.”

Great article Appalachian, Indigenous pipeline foes say climate deal ‘left us to burn’ featuring some of the great people working to STOP the MVP!

“They didn’t have all the players at the table,” said Cavalier-Keck, an enrolled citizen of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation in North Carolina. “I went through the stages of grief — anger, sadness, depression, hopelessness, and then I was like ‘We’ve got to stand up. We’ve got to do something.’”

“Cavalier-Keck, 44, is planning to rally in Washington on Sept. 8, recruiting other Indigenous, Black and Appalachian community members who are fearful of what this side deal could mean for their homes and the planet.”
Not surprising, but still VERY upsetting, FERC granted MVP their 4 year extension, despite the 31,000 comments opposed to the extension. UGH! Statement from POWHR and Appalachian Voices here. From Jessica Sims:
“Granting MVP more time to harm Appalachian communities and water resources is appalling, but FERC’s decision will only strengthen the growing national opposition against this unnecessary fracked-gas pipeline.”
More actions!
Take action to Protect the Arctic!  In solidarity with the Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic (SILA), submit a public comment to the Bureau of Land Management to stop the Master Willow Development Plan. Read why it is sooo important this must be STOPPED in this article Big Oil Wants to Refreeze Alaska Permafrost — So It Can Keep Drilling There.
October 3, Vote for Climate Action, Amen
5 pm, Wade Avenue, Raleigh
Join Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle for the 2nd Annual Climate Prayer Chain for the Earth. We will form a human prayer chain on the sidewalks of Wade Avenue between and beyond the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh and the United Church of Christ. More info and RSVP here.
Thanks for reading and taking action! Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen