Hands Across Our Land is a grassroots gathering scheduled for August 18

NELSON COUNTY, Va. – A grassroots uprising among people from across Appalachia opposed to the development of further natural gas infrastructure and the related extractive process of fracking will culminate on Tuesday, Aug. 18th at communities in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and beyond in an event being called “Hands Across Our Land.”

Sharon Ponton, co-chair of Free Nelson, a grassroots group in Virginia fighting the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), says her organization is one of many planning events for that day. “The purpose of Hands Across Our Land is to show solidarity and unity among the hundreds of grassroots groups fighting new fossil fuel infrastructure, whether it’s a pipeline, a well pad, an export terminal or a compressor station,” said Ponton.

In addition to opposing the proposed ACP, Free Nelson and other groups – especially in Virginia and West Virginia – are also opposing the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Ponton explained, “By participating together on this one day, we believe we can gain national media attention to the plight of thousands upon thousands of landowners and communities across the country fighting these same battles. We want others to be part of the first nationwide grassroots action against new fossil fuel infrastructures.”

The action, which is being promoted by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Beyond Extreme Energy, is intended to be a collection of local actions. “We need to all stand together, in our own communities, literally holding hands with our neighbors but also symbolically holding hands with those in other communities and states. We are asking that local groups gather at a fracking site, pipeline site or some local monument that symbolizes a community’s value and hold signs saying that they stand with their neighbors in other communities and states. Perhaps they can stand at a county line and join hands with their neighbors in that way.”

In Nelson County, Va., where Ponton lives, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Virginia’s Skyline Drive join to form one of the most scenic drives in all of the United States. “We are standing up for our heritage and culture in rural America,” said Ponton. “We are uniting to stop the industrialization of our communities from companies that put profit before people. Our streams our being polluted, our homes and land are being taken through the misuse of eminent domain, and the health and lives of our families and communities are at risk.”

She continued, “The fossil fuel industry will destroy thousands of acres of forested land, pollute water and the air, harm our local economies, degrade our national treasures such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail and historical Native American areas. All of this destruction would occur in the name of profit.”

Ponton calls upon local groups to plan an event, promote it through social media, send any plans or comments to her for distribution to national media and use the hashtag phrase #HandsAcrossOurLand.”

To learn more, contact Ponton at freenelson3@gmail.com.

Related Articles:
A Dirty Dozen Reasons to Oppose Fracking
Fracking Poses Threats to Public Health
Health and Well-Being of Residents Being Subordinated to Fracking Industry
Pipeline Lawsuits Threaten Sacredness of Appalachia
FERC Challenged to be Truly Independent
Natural Gas Industry Moves from the Absurd to the Profane

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