A Pipeline Summit – Energize, Equip and Empower will be held Saturday, April 23, 2016 at the Weyer’s Cave Community Center, Weyer’s Cave, VA from 10 am to 3 pm. Joining ABRA as a co-sponsor is POWHR (Protect Our Water Heritage Rights), a coalition of organizations in 11 counties in Virginia and West Virginia that are opposing the Mountain Valley Pipeline. We welcome their participation.

The Summit is designed to energize, equip and empower participants with improved information, messages and skills to carry on their efforts in 2016 and beyond to defeat the pipelines proposed across the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region. There is a $10 charge for lunch and beverages (a wide choice of sandwiches and salads will be available), payable at the meeting.

The Summit will feature morning panel presentations on:

• Pipeline Economics – The Need and the Impacts
• Environmental Challenges – New Tools That Are Available
• Lessons Learned in the Battlefield (a discussion of experiences in combating proposed pipelines, featuring Jane Kleeb, who led the fight against the Keystone Pipeline)

The afternoon will feature five breakout discussion groups:

1. Pipeline Economics – what else we need to know and strategies to improve our messages on need and impacts
2. Growing the Grass Roots – techniques to increase citizen involvement
3. Political Climate Change – improving legislator’s receptivity to our messages
4. Geographic Information Systems – enhancing our understanding of pipeline impacts
5. Programmatic EIS – why we need it and how we must sell it

An agenda of the Summit is here. The meeting is open to persons associated with ABRA and POWHR member groups. But, space is limited, so register now at this link.