While I don’t often find myself in agreement with Jesse Jackson, I applaud his support for a pipeline to bring affordable natural gas to the predominantly minority and low-income farming community of Pembroke Township, Illinois.
As a black conservative who opposes Jackson on issues from racial preferences to economic policy to protecting our ballots from needless risks under the guise of voting rights, I think he’s courageous for breaking with the liberal establishment and staunch environmentalists to help this struggling community benefit from affordable energy.
Rising above the political fringe, Jackson said about hooking up the rural community south of Chicago to natural gas: “This is our work… fighting poverty and connecting people.”
President Trump has prioritized both increasing the supply of domestic energy and building pipelines and other infrastructure to deliver it. Doing so creates jobs and ensures access to the most affordable energy available.
This is especially important for low-income households where high energy bills raise the prospect of “energy poverty” — having to forgo even the most basic necessities such as food and clothing.
With around 70 percent of black households consisting of a single parent, the affordable energy issue is especially important.
But this pro-energy/pro-people agenda has been met with disdain from environmentalists and their allies. They seem to think no price is too high when it comes to fighting climate change.
They are happy to block projects involving fossil fuels like natural gas, oil and coal — even if it is to the detriment of black Americans who have supported them politically.
Pembroke Township is far from alone. There are many minority and low-income households across America that would benefit from affordable fossil fuel energy. Yet the necessary infrastructure to provide them with reliable, abundant and cheap fuel is often blocked by activists — sometimes under the pretenses of “protecting” them!
In some cases — like the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) that would run from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina — critics seem to prioritize scenic trails for affluent hikers over jobs and upward mobility for struggling black families.
In Buckingham County, Virginia, where an ACP pumping station was proposed, environmentalists have recruited local black community leaders to their cause. But once the ACP is killed and those same black leaders are looking for help for the community, it’s likely their environmentalist “friends” will be long gone.
That’s why Jackson’s voice in Pembroke Township is so important.
Even though he doesn’t oppose the alternative energy agenda, he thinks it must be balanced against the needs of people — especially when natural gas is the most affordable option. “When we move to another form of energy, that’s fine by me, I support that,” he said, “but in the meantime, you cannot put the black farmers on hold until that day comes.”
Even Al Sharpton — whom I agree with less than Jackson — supports natural gas, saying that “people in communities of color should not pay the brunt of suffering through cold winters.”
Apparently some would rather dictate to black people than listen to them.
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, got to the root of the problem. He said liberals pay too much attention to environmental activists while taking the black community for granted.
“People are debating these issues in some instances without consultation with the leaders of the African-American communities and neighborhoods affected by these issues,” he said.
Not in our name. Not when the stakes are our economic survival.
