Beshear Be Damned: Fight Against Pipeline Not Over

Every week, another county fiscal court along the pipeline route passes a resolution opposing it. Franklin County - the first to do so - is going further, researching ways to actually stop the company from building, like passing a moratorium on pipelines crossing county road. Scott, Anderson, Woodford, Marion and Washington Counties have passed similar resolutions, and Shelby County will consider one on Tuesday.

Let Beshear sulk in his office; pipeline opponents will go around the cowardly worm.

Joe Sonka at LEO Weekly:

Despite the reluctance of Beshear — as well as majority leadership in both the House and Senate — a growing bipartisan coalition of pipeline skeptics is forming behind these two proposals, seeking to tackle this issue before the pipeline companies move further toward solidifying their plans.

Shortly after the rally, Bluegrass Pipeline representatives held an “open house” meeting at the Frankfort downtown library — one of several across Kentucky that week — to inform the public about their project and combat “misinformation” spread by their critics.

A long line of people waited to enter a small crowded room where a dozen Bluegrass Pipeline employees waited at five separate stations to take their questions. Despite the free brownies and magnet flashlights bearing their logo, the mood of the locals was contentious, with two protesters holding up a sign touting Williams’ history of pipeline accidents next to the company’s “Safety” kiosk.

Mark Clements and his wife Mary, of Versailles, were struggling to get straight answers from Bluegrass Pipeline employee Jim Curry. “Why is this pipeline so important that you think you can come in here and take people’s land claiming eminent domain?” asked Clements.

Curry responded that they are doing their best to work with landowners, claiming some have requested the company reroute the pipeline onto their property, before stopping mid-sentence and turning to LEO Weekly. “This guy’s writing down everything I say over here.”

The Clements, as well as several other attendees LEO spoke to, expressed frustration not just at the lack of specific answers to their questions, but what they described as a “divide and conquer” format to the meeting, preventing a full airing of questions and answers in front of a large and unhappy audience.

“I don’t want to sound close-minded,” said Clements, who fears a pipeline accident could devastate the vulnerable underground aquifers in the region. “I realize there are certain things that get done in the world that are necessary for society. But I don’t want to be railroaded by big business.”

While the locals were skeptical, Bluegrass Pipeline has some big allies on their side. The company has hired one of Frankfort’s biggest lobbying firms, McCarthy Strategic Solutions, as well as the public relations firm RunSwitch, co-founded by Republican political insider Scott Jennings. And as The State Journal reported two weeks ago, the company is represented by the law firm of the governor’s son, Andy Beshear, who attended a Public Service Commission hearing with Boardwalk’s representatives in April.

But the pipeline still has some bipartisan skeptics among the state legislature, including Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon, who represents the area where the proposed pipeline crosses Nelson County near the Marion County line. Higdon tells LEO that he and his constituents want Beshear to add the eminent domain and regulatory issues to the special session, and if the governor fails to do so, he’ll work for such an effort in next year’s General Assembly.

“I don’t think eminent domain is a partisan issue,” says Higdon. “I was here in 2006 when we worked on eminent domain, and the legislative intent was for it to only be used for public use.”

Read the whole thing. Then find out more, and how to get involved, at http://stopbluegrasspipeline.us.