DeSmog
With the US Supreme Court poised to decide this month whether it will review a ruling key to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s future, majority-owner of the project Dominion Energy has received support in its case from Republican state Attorneys General and the US Department of Justice. Both US Attorney General William Barr and the state Attorneys General have close financial ties to the utility – including through a GOP group that funneled millions to one key proponent.
Barr served on Dominion’s Board of Directors from 2009 until his confirmation as Attorney General in February of this year. In June, US Solicitor General Noel Francisco, who reports to Barr, asked the Supreme Court to revisit an appeals court decision that vacated essential permits for the $7.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). A joint venture between Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Southern Company, the 600-mile ACP would transport fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia, North Carolina, and potentially further south.