After more than six years of environmental violations, vacated permits, and strong resistance from communities across the Commonwealth, it was announced today that Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline project has been cancelled. Thanks to the commitment and persistence of clean energy and environmental advocates over several years, we can turn our attention away from gas and move forward with clean energy options that don’t disproportionately burden our rural communities, are more affordable, and keep our air and water clean.

“Today’s announcement that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will no longer be constructed shows that Virginia is at the end of the fossil fuel era and well on its way to powering our homes and businesses with 100% clean energy,” said VCN executive director Mary Rafferty. “This win comes after years of advocacy and organizing and shows that the movement for bold climate action and environmental justice is stronger than ever.  Thanks to policy wins such as the Virginia Clean Economy Act and the Environmental Justice Act – projects that contribute to climate change and take advantage of low income communities and communities of color are simply no longer viable. We continue to have a lot of work to do in our continued efforts to fight climate change and restore environmental injustice – but today’s win is a huge step in the right direction.”

The Virginia conservation community released the following statements. Keep checking back for more statements.

Last updated: July 6, 2020, 10 a.m.

“This is a victory for all the communities that were in the path of this risky and unnecessary project. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was wrong from the start. After years of opposition, legal defeats and threats to the environment, SELC is relieved to see Duke and Dominion make the right decision to walk away from it.

“This is a great day for the people of Union Hill, for public lands, for landowners in the path, and for all North Carolinians and Virginians who deserve a clean energy future and are no longer on the hook to pay for this $8 billion.

“Over the last six years, SELC is honored to represent a dedicated and tireless group of conservation organizations opposed to the pipeline: Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, Cowpasture River Preservation Association, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of Buckingham, Friends of Nelson, Jackson River Preservation Association, Highlanders for Responsible Development, Piedmont Environmental Council, Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc., Shenandoah Riverkeeper, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, Sierra Club, Sound Rivers, Inc., Virginia Wilderness Committee, and Winyah Rivers Foundation. Today’s outcome would not be possible without their energy and commitment.”

-Greg Buppert, Senior Attorney

“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was never needed and never viable. Its effective defeat today is a huge victory for Virginia’s environment, for environmental justice, and a testament to the power of grassroots action, the hundreds of driven, determined, frontline advocates who never stopped fighting this misguided project. With this pipeline out of the way, Virginia’s clean energy future is that much closer.”

-Mike Town, Executive Director

“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was never needed, and the facts have never been more clear: fracked gas has no role in our energy future. From Robeson County, N.C., to Harrison County W.Va., in statehouses and courthouses, communities have stood shoulder to shoulder to protect their land, their water and their communities. Today’s announcement marks a historic victory for environmental justice. 

“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was a climate catastrophe and economic boondoggle from the start. The smart investment today is in the people of Central and Southern Appalachia. Not in the resources that might be extracted and exported, but in projects that generate local wealth, healthy communities and clean, sustainable energy. We are hopeful that this momentous victory is merely a tipping point as our society pivots towards a clean energy economy that works for all people.”

-Tom Cormons, Executive Director

“Just one day after July 4th, America is stunningly closer to true energy independence with the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The fossil fuel era is rapidly drawing to a close in Virginia and nationwide thanks to the ferocious six-year opposition to this destructive pipeline. That opposition was waged by environmentalists, farmers, justice groups and common citizens across the region. This pipeline was a boondoggle from the moment it was announced by Dominion CEO Tom Farrell and then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe in September 2014. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is proud to have been one of the first statewide environment groups to take up this cause, to organize our supporters, to protest with everything from letters to the editor to civil disobedience.

“We want to thank all our partners in this long struggle. They include, but are not limited to, Friends of Buckingham, Friends of Nelson, Wild Virginia, Rick Webb, David Sligh, the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, Lewis Freeman, Bill and Lynn Limpert, Appalachian Voices, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Southern Environmental Law Center, Pastor Paul Wilson, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Virginia Conservation Network, and so many more. Special thanks to current and past CCAN staff and board members who put everything they had – for years! – into stopping this pipeline. We never gave up!”

-Mike Tidwell, Executive Director

“Today marks a huge win for Virginia. For years, communities across the Commonwealth have fervently opposed the unnecessary and dangerous Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the most acute manifestation of Dominion Energy’s commitment to putting its financial interests above the health and economic well-being of Virginians. We owe a debt of gratitude to the many Virginians, from community activists to environmental lawyers, who successfully fought this project. We also thank Virginia’s General Assembly, which unanimously passed a law this year that created serious obstacles for Dominion Energy to pass the ballooning cost of the pipeline onto Virginians.

“As Virginia faces an unprecedented climate crisis and economic uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that our utilities put public service above maximizing profit. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was never in the best interests of Virginians. That it was allowed to fester as long as it did is evidence of a fundamentally broken utility system that will only be remediated through structural reform. While we welcome the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s demise, this only marks the end to one symptom of the structural problem of Virginia’s monopoly utilities–the problem itself remains. We must all remain vigilant and continue working towards the creation of a sensical utility system that prioritizes the public interest and prevents projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from ever seeing the light of day.”

-Brennan Gilmore, Executive Director

“The Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA), a coalition of over 50 organizations in Virginia and West Virginia that was formed in 2014 to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), is elated with the announcement by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy that the project has been cancelled. ABRA has contended for six years that the ACP was not needed to meet the future energy needs of their customers.  Furthermore, the ACP has been wrongheaded from the start, presenting threats to the environment and the safety and prosperity of the communities through which it would have been built that did not justify the project.  We are glad to see that Dominion and Duke have come to their senses and arrived at the same conclusion.” 

-Lewis Freeman, Executive Director

“Thanks to many years of hard work by a broad and diverse coalition of advocates and organizations, we can finally celebrate the end of a misconceived and destructive project. CBF was one of many who fought the battle to reveal its numerous flaws.

“This is a landmark victory for both the environment and the many individuals and communities who faced threats from the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The project would have crossed steep mountainous terrain, fragmented valuable forests, polluted streams and rivers, and threatened vulnerable communities along a 600-mile path.

“The pipeline’s cancellation not only reflects mounting legal problems, but is also a sign of the changing economics around fossil fuel development. Assessing ratepayers for the massive cost of this pipe dream never made sense. We hope this signals a deepened commitment to renewable energy in the face of climate change.”

-Peggy Sanner, Virginia Executive Director