KELCY WARREN URGING RE-ROUTE OF CONTESTED TRANS-PECOS PIPELINE
Celebrities Tommy Lee Jones, Owen Wilson, Peter Coyote, Patti Griffin, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and others endorse letter published in Saturday’s Dallas Morning News
Alpine, TX – Today the Dallas Morning News published a half-page open letter to resident Kelcy Warren of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) urging a re-route of the Trans-Pecos Pipeline that is scheduled to be constructed through the Big Bend region of Texas—one of the most pristine and undeveloped parts of the state.
The letter, issued by the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA), is signed by about a hundred luminaries from across Texas, including many well-known actors, musicians, and political figures such as Tommy Lee Jones, Owen Wilson, Peter Coyote, Patti Griffin, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, and Pete Gallego among many others.
“We are an extremely diverse group of people who care deeply about the Big Bend,” the letter states.
Although ETP has filed lawsuits in Federal District Court condemning the land of 45 non-compliant landowners along the route, the gas it will ship may not serve a single U.S. customer, according to the Big Bend Conservation Alliance’s website.
Its failure to serve the public good has led the group to question the logic as well as the constitutionality of the project. “How can it be that the state of Texas would allow a foreign country the right to condemn Texas land?” the letter asks.
The pipeline is slated to send natural gas from the Permian Basin in Texas to Mexico, some of which will be diverted to the deep-water port of Topolobampo where many suspect the gas will be liquefied and sold on the international market. Despite unanswered questions about the ultimate destination of the gas, however, the letter focuses primarily on the wisdom of its routing.
“The real point of this letter,” it states, “is why this pipeline is being routed through the most beautiful and ecologically intact part of our great state—especially when it could be re-routed along existing, largely non-contested easements?”
But rather than condemn Warren or his company, the Alliance and its supporters seek to appeal to his conscience. “Kelcy, everyone knows you are capable of great things,” the letter continues. “We ask that you stand with us to preserve this national treasure and the rights of the people who live here. We ask you to please reroute the Trans-Pecos Pipeline.”
The BBCA has also published the letter on its website, allowing others to add their names to the growing list of signatures: http://www.bigbendconservationalliance.org/openletter
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