Opponents of a proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline are planning protests in eastern North Carolina throughout the weekend.
Renewable energy advocates said they will march along the proposed route of the pipeline in Nash, Cumberland and Robeson Counties. Protesters include members of religious organizations, clean energy groups and Native American tribes.
Duke Energy and Dominion Power have announced plans to build the natural gas pipeline along the I-95 corridor from West Virginia to North Carolina through about 600 miles of new pipelines.
Reverend Mac Legerton, of the Center for Community Action in Robeson County, said the companies should invest more money in renewable energy rather than natural gas.
“It will make our water, our air and our land - particularly our agricultural land - more vulnerable to accidents, as well as leakage,” Legerton said. “We would be on the front lines of the major two industries that contribute to the warming of our state, our nation and the entire planet.”
Duke and Dominion have touted economic benefits, saying the pipeline will create thousands of jobs and lower the cost of energy.