Editor,

When former vice president Al Gore came to Buckingham County Middle School in February, he showed one slide that has stuck with me: Emissions from the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines would be nearly double the current emissions from all of Virginia’s existing power plants and fossil fuel infrastructure.

In a time when the global community is working to lower the world’s emissions, our state and federal governments have permitted projects that will more nearly double the emissions we are producing as a state.

As a citizen of Buckingham County, I am concerned about our county’s contribution to these emissions. The proposed compressor station is permitted to be built on Route 56. We know that all of the emissions that it will be putting into our air are legal. We call on our friends and neighbors to take another look not only at this legalized harm that we will have to live with as a result of the building of the compressor station but also the contribution to the climate emergency that is becoming more apparent with each passing day.

We turn toward our local government with concerns for our health, the health of our children, our grandchildren, our water, our air and our planet in general. We encourage other citizens, regardless of party affiliation, to speak the truth about our contribution to this climate emergency and stop the building of the compressor station and the ACP pipeline.

Mindy Zlotnick

Buckingham