It is the afternoon of July 24th and I’m starting to wrap up my day at work, looking forward to attending a minor league baseball game that night. My son had just completed a week of sports broadcasting camp and was going to record himself broadcasting that evening’s game. The entire family would be there to support him. It’s the heart of summer, it’s baseball and we get to watch our 13 year old son do what he loves.

And then the call came from my wife.

If you follow this blog (and damn you if you don’t) you know what came next. Word got out that our property was now in the clear path of a natural gas pipeline. The pipeline itself was not a shock, we had been fighting it for months, but the new route was a punch to the gut. I’ll never forget zooming in on my home via Google Earth and seeing the image of a long red rectangle spanning my entire property. It felt like the yard had already been condemned.

We did our best to enjoy the festivities at the ballpark that night but something felt very wrong as we stood for the national anthem. As the song played, I felt betrayed. This f’n situation was so damn un-American. I was 50% pissed and 50% distraught. Baseball and hot dogs and apple pie, what a sham.

The next two weeks were a whirlwind. What is eminent domain? Do we need a lawyer? Who can we turn to for advice? How much do we let the kids know? We were frozen with indecision and shut off from the world.

I’ll always look back on July 24th as a major turning point in our lives. Yes the fear of our world being turned upside down was the dominant emotion, but there was also an odd feeling of guilt. Guilt not having worked harder on the fight to that point. Guilt not being more sympathetic to others who faced similar circumstances in the past. Guilt in floating through life a bit naive and blind to some underhanded shit going on. We’ll never be the same again and when all is said and done, I think that is a good thing.

Fast forward to the current week. The panic waned a bit and we became very task oriented. Refuse the request to survey our property and work with others to do the same. Keep an eye out for surveyors not following the rules. As of right now, only roughly 30% of affected landowners in NJ have granted access. That is a big deal. It makes it very difficult for Penn East to submit an application for a permit with so little info.

Get as educated as possible. Numerous comments have been submitted to FERC outlining environmental concerns from the crossing of numerous streams to the effect on endangered species to the crossing of a fault that was recently part of a local earthquake to the danger of increasing the already high level of arsenic in our well water. Heavy stuff. And these weren’t from the “radical environmentalists” (whatever the hell that means). We are talking experts who have studied these impacts for decades.

Check this article out – NJ saying “no” to the pipeline. We’re talking about harsh words from one of Time magazine’s most influential people in the world.

Color me convinced.

Now let me take a break for a minute and admit that this is an odd forum to discuss an issue like this. Admittedly, it is completely personal and off topic, but I’m doing it for me. And I won’t apologize for it. I truly hope we can some day look back on this period of my blog and say, that was kind of odd for a gardening blog but now look at where we are. He is back to posting endless photos of his ornamental grasses like they are his children.

That is the dream. Until then, I’ll be all over the place with my writing.

“For the public good”. That is what ultimately justifies the use of eminent domain. I won’t get into all of the specifics on this now, but just know that it is a crock of shit. No one in the pipeline’s path or even in NJ or PA will benefit. There is no shortage of natural gas in this area and there is no concern with high gas prices. Consider the following two facts (taken directly from the blog “The Cost of the Pipeline”, a blog written by my new hero. This guy is incredible with his research and knowledge. A “regular” dude who took it upon himself to get educated and fight back):

PennEast will be carrying 365 cubic feet per year into the state – which is again a 55% over-capacity. On natural gas demand projections – PennEast is flat out wrong. Government studies show that natural gas use is expected to decline out to 2040.

The April 2015 numbers show New Jersey with the lowest natural gas prices in the entire country. So let’s repeat the question, but with the updated data: why does NJ need a 55% supply increase when we have the lowest residential natural gas prices in the entire United States.

I rest my case.

Back to our task oriented week.

My wife and I attended a local township’s monthly meeting and became even more educated. We came away with a to-do list. We made great personal connections. It was inspiring and all Erin Brockovichy.

That meeting inspired me to approach my own township’s Board of Health to get them to adopt a resolution formally opposing the pipeline. And you know what – mission frickin accomplished.

Comments to FERC are a nightly occurrence as we identify more and more hypocrisy from the bad guys.

So we are in an interesting state of mind right now. Inspired and invigorated from the fight and actual evidence that progress is being made, or should I say progress isn’t being made on the other side. We’ve moved away from personal worry for the time being and are united in wholly defeating this unnecessary project. The odds still seem stacked against us based on past history, but that doesn’t matter. We won’t stop.

Greed doesn’t always win. Why not us?

As an aside, and you can etch the following in stone. If this pipeline is defeated we will throw a giant bash locally with the entire party hosted on the path of the failed pipeline.

And I will walk the entire pipeline path from NJ to PA dressed like a minion.

Pinky swear.