Pipeline Backers Face More Obstacles Despite Court Win

WASHINGTON  –The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision today with respect to management of the Appalachian Trail for a crossing of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, but the fracked gas pipeline still faces many obstacles due to its threats to the environment, environmental justice, and the planet, and NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) will be there fight it every step of the way.

The following is a statement from Gillian Giannetti, an attorney in the Sustainable FERC Project in the Climate and Clean Energy program at NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council):

“This decision doesn’t greenlight or advance the dangerous Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The fact remains the  developers cannot move ahead without securing eight crucial federal and state permits required for construction—concerning air pollution, endangered species, rights of way and clean water.

“That’s why we’ll continue fighting through all legal and federal and state avenues to ensure this proposed fracked gas pipeline—which threatens the air, drinking water, environmental justice communities and our climate—is never built.

“Finally, in her noteworthy dissent, Justice Sotomayor clearly gets what should be obvious, that the Appalachian Trail is land in the National Park system. And under federal law, a pipeline plainly cannot cross land in the National Park system.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at NRDC.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​