Final agenda for March 9 Forum on Natural Gas Pipelines – registration is free!

The Cabell Brand Center has announced the final agenda for the March 9 Forum on Natural Gas Pipelines. This session at Virginia Western Community College and FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition helped organize and fund this event, which gives local citizens a chance to hear multiple perspectives on natural gas pipelines in one setting, with an opportunity to ask questions.

Registration is handled through the Cabell Brand Center: http://www.cabellbrandcenter.org/#!CBC-will-Convene-Expert-Natural-Gas-Pipeline-Forum-on-March-9th/c19rc/09A62F4F-8E76-41C1-A85D-544C922885D3

Please direct any questions about logistics to Angela Conroy the CBC’s Executive Director  aconroy10@gmail.com

The Cabell Brand Center Forum on Natural Gas Pipelines

Whitman Theater, Business Science Building

Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke, Virginia

Monday, March 9, 2015, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Moderator:  Dr. M. Rupert Cutler, Board Member, Cabell Brand Center

Agenda

8:30 a.m.        Registration, coffee

9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. – Opening remarks, Dr. Tamim Younos, President, Cabell Brand Center

9:05-9:15 a.m. – Welcome, Dr. Robert H. Sandel, President, Virginia Western Community College

Overview of Mountain Valley Pipeline Project

9:15 – 9:45 – Importance of the proposed pipelines for local economic development, John D’Orazio, President and CEO, Roanoke Gas Company

9:45 – 10:15 a.m. – Proposed route of the Mountain Valley pipeline, Joseph Dawley, Corporate Director of Government Affairs, EQT Corporation

10:15-10:45 – Environmentalists’ concerns, Joe Lovett, Executive Director, Appalachian Mountain Advocates

10:30-10:45 – Coffee break

Panel of Government Representatives

10:45 – 11:05 a.m. – The role of local government – Charlotte Moore, Member, Roanoke County Board of Supervisors

11:05 – 11:25 a.m. – The role of state government – John S. Edwards. Member, Senate of Virginia (21^st District)

11:25 – 11:45 a.m. – The role of the federal government, Gwen Mason, Regional Director, the Office of U.S. Senator Tim Kaine

11:45 a.m. – 12 noon – Panel interaction

12 noon – 12:30 p.m. – Box Lunches (in cafeteria adjoining auditorium)

Potential Project Impacts

12:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Insurance-related risks and macroeconomic issues associated with pipelines, Freeda Cathcart, FLMI

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. – Impacts on the Appalachian Trail, Laura Belleville, Director of Conservation, Appalachian Trail Conservancy

1:30 – 2:00 p.m. – Landscape impacts of natural gas and other forms of energy, David Perry, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Land Conservancy

2:00 – 2:30 p.m. – Fracked natural gas: bridge fuel or bridge to nowhere?, Diana Christopulos, President, Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition

2:30 – 3:00 p.m. – Assessing critical habitats and future energy development in the Central Appalachians, Marek Smith, Director, Allegheny Highlands Program, The Nature Conservancy

3:00 p.m. – Adjourn