#StandWithRed to protect Virginia’s land and water

A message from Fairfax Democrats Chair Dan Lagana:

“When they go low, we go high.”  Now, thanks to our very own Del. Mark Keam (D-35), Sen. Chap Petersen (D-S-34) and several other local leaders, this inspirational mantra has a new and very direct political meaning.  For by “go high,” Keam means that those of us who oppose development of two massive 42-inch fracked gas pipelines in some of the most beautiful and mostly untouched land in Virginia must take the fight all the way up high in Virginia government.

The opposition to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, so cynically referred to as “MVP” by Dominion Energy, is broad and deep across the Commonwealth.  The reason – and the reason why we here in Fairfax must lend our voices to the opposition — is quite simple.

“Water is life,” a Roanoke resident pointed out earlier this week, and that means life right here in Fairfax. As property values, tourism, tax revenues and the quality of drinking water may decline as a result of pipeline construction, the economic impact ripples may be felt all across the state. And the potential danger to the environment is, especially with respect to pipe breakage and leaks, more than simply theoretical.

Let’s reclaim the word MVP and bestow it upon the citizens – property owners who have suffered serious health effects simply by daring to protecting their land against corporate might by camping out in trees in the direct path of the pipeline.  By their silent protest they are sending a very loud message that should resonate with everyone who cares even a little bit about transparency in government and fairness to property owners and local residents.

It’s quite simple, really: The Commonwealth of Virginia should not be a willing party to the violent destruction of 303 miles of beautiful, historic, and fragile public and private land.

NOTE:  At a recent rally, a large number of local elected Democratic representatives, among them Sen. Chap Petersen; and Reps. Danica Roem, Alfonso Lopez, Marcus Simon, and Mark Levine, protested the pipeline development project.

Theresa “Red” Terry, and her daughter, Theresa Minor Terry, the courageous women who spent over 30 days camped out in a tree on their own property to protest the MVP, have returned to the ground and will be touring Virginia to raise awareness and stop the pipeline.  Their Northern Virginia stops will be in Annandale and Sterling this Wednesday.  Please come out, show your support and #StandWithRed.

Press Conference with Delegate Mark Keam, the Terrys, and other elected officials
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Northern Virginia Community College
Ernst Community Cultural Center
8333 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA 22003
Click here to read the press release