The plan is for the Greenbrier Pipeline to go through three states. In West Virginia it is proposed to run through Nicholas, Fayette, Raleigh, Summers and Mercer Counties. An estimate of nearly 500 landowners would be directly impacted. The pipe would travel under the Gauley, the New and the Bluestone Rivers as well as innumerable creeks. It would go under several large freeways.

In Virginia, where the opposition was earlier and more organized, Bland, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, Floyd, Patrick and Henry Counties are the best candidates to date for being directly impacted. Besides the Jefferson National Forest, the pipeline is slated to go under important Virginia waterways, several main highway arteries and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Blue Ridge Coalition was rapidly formed in Spring of this year. They get most of their support from Patrick County. A little later Floyd County organized as the Floyd Chapter of the Blue Ridge Coalition. In several of these potentially impacted counties, the respective boards of supervisors have gone on record as opposing it. As of this summer 2100 signatures had been collected in opposition to the pipeline, and nearly 200 have turned out for meetings. In Floyd County alone, over 50 landowners have attended meetings to register their concerns

With something that started out as mostly a NIMBY (not in my back yard) thing, a certain degree of solidarity has developed. In Floyd County the core members are committed to the opposition regardless of whether or not their property is taken. (There is some evidence that the company is trying to sow the seeds of division which we all know they can do so well.) The main group has raised a considerable amount of money and has retained a Washington, DC law firm to counter the company’s quickness to sue with what they see as non-compliance with some "taking" laws.

It is not currently known whether or not there has been any organized opposition in NC even though the pipeline is scheduled to go through Rockingham, Caswell, Person and Granville Counties.

Seemingly successful preliminary resistance can be contagious. In Raleigh County, WV, Carolyn Mullins, drawing hope from the vigor of the Virginia groups, tirelessly worked to alert potentially impacted landowners by literally knocking on doors in those areas that appeared to be "under the gun." The West Virginia group calls itself the "Grounds Keepers," and draws most of its strength from Raleigh County. Their primary tactics so far are to write letters to newspapers and people of power, and to work for newspaper coverage.

Perhaps there will be a call to action that will develop in North Carolina as well.

Just because a public utility says there will be a need doesn’t necessarily make it so. The public utility is always happy to do what it can to create a need where none existed before, all in the name of profits. In the US studies have shown that we waste well over 50% of our energy – conservation should apply before new development which will impact the citizenry is allowed.

"Twenty-five years ago Amory Lovins shocked the world by asserting there was a "soft path" solution to the energy crisis. Efficient use of energy, he declared, was a better investment than a frantic search for more oil, more gas, or squeezing oil from shale. Worse, many of the power plants that were going to be built would prove unnecessary.

"Global Granola, the policy wonks responded. Lovins was quickly dismissed as a pie-in-the-sky physicist by the energy and utility establishment in spite of his compelling brilliance and stark lucidity.

"Today it is clear that he was right and the energy establishment was wrong. The graph of world energy demand since the mid-seventies has followed his predicted curve for the entire period. Energy demand is far below what was predicted by policy makers and producers.

Then, and now, Mr. Lovins follows a three-word precept: ‘Best Buys First.’ Today Lovins and his Rocky Mountain Institute have an encyclopedic collection of case histories that demonstrate his thesis--- efficiency is always the best investment. It’s no longer an idea; it’s a mountain of data.

[Asking Mr. Lovins a question. ]

"‘Is it possible that our response to the recent price spikes in energy--- and the electric shortages in California--- will set us up for a replay of the energy bust of the eighties?’

"‘If he (George W. Bush) could get political and market approval, it could be a replay of what happened 20 years ago,’ Mr. Lovins answered.

"‘A lot of folks will lose their shirts. ¼The overshoot will be worse this time because there is a new technology, distributed production--- the movement of the power plant to your basement [micropower].’

"He explained that developing new energy sources was a relatively slow process while redesigning for efficiency was a fast process. As a result, massive investments in new energy supplies would be put in place just in time to collide with diminishing demand and softening prices."

The Bush- Cheney energy policy is a stupid aberration which will collapse in a flash after a few years of dinosaurs struggling in the fight with the modern sustainable or less polluting technologies.

For the US to not lag far behind in the race for cheaper and less polluting energy sources, it will be necessary for energy utilities to undergo a revolution in their means of generation. Even now, such countries as China, once considered backwards compared to the US, are leapfrogging over us in controlling emissions and in reducing the use of fossil fuels. Regardless of the mindlessness of certain politicians, large corporations are not about to allow themselves to fall behind in world markets. When this pipeline is due to come on line in 2005, there might well be a whole new basis for generating energy which would make the use of the pipeline obsolete. Delays because of legal tie-ups would add a year or two to the completion of the pipeline. As powerful as Dominion is, they are not foolish enough to commit a half billion dollars or more to a short range obsolescence.

Also in the new age of terrorism:

"Simple and cost-effective ways to increase the reliability, resilience, and stability of the [energy producing] system, such as using small-scale, distributed generation technologies and end-use efficiency, are well know within the industry, but have not been pursued ...The utilities are used to doing business the old way, delivering electricity created by central power plants – a system that is easily controlled and monopolized, but vulnerable to large scale disruption" -- Thomas Feiler in "RMI Solutions" – Fall/Winter 2000.

Micropower, meaning small energy producing plants which could be even as small as providing energy to serve a single residence is said to be the wave of the future.

"...projections of micropower’s share of new US generation in 2010 range from 5 to 40 percent: one study predicts renewably fueled fuel cells will be a $10-billion global market by then." — Dunn & Flavin in State of the World 2000, WorldWatch.

– Know what procedures are in place to insure that the pipes are inspected with regularity and that the tests provided are measure accurately to insure safety.

– Know how often pipes are inspected.

– The results of all tests to be public knowledge and such to be audited by an independent organization. Landowner would get at least one annual report of such.

– Rules for determining compensation for seized lands should be established and made public.

-- Easements in most cases amount to a total taking and the compensation should reflect that.

– The names of those whose land will be taken would be made public (if they wished) to allow for landowners to organize prior to any land taking. In such organizations landowners might bargain collectively for compensation.

– The purpose of the line should be CLEARLY in the public interest, not as defined by a company willing to make profits. The "public" in these case would include those whose property is being taken. If this purpose was not clearly established, then all subsequent profit would go into an escrow account until such time as it was proven that the public interest was served. If then it was not, then the money in escrow would be divided among the landowners on a pro rata basis.