Nonviolent Direct Action Scores Major Win for XRDC’s End Methane, Electrify DC Campaign

NVDA’s role in putting Washington Gas’ $12 billion-dollar fossil fuel pipeline in the hospital

Last month, Extinction Rebellion DC scored a major victory for the End Methane, Electrify DC campaign: the DC Public Service Commission dismissed corporate utility provider Washington Gas’ application for the third phase of their $12 billion fossil fuel pipeline replacement project dubbed Project Pipes. The commission also partially approved a petition to investigate Washington Gas’ leak reduction practices. This victory is a major milestone in the fight to shut down a fossil fuel project that would lock DC into decades of planet-warming emissions while poisoning the city’s residents, especially the communities that are most marginalized and underserved.

The fight to stop Project Pipes is not over, but last month’s victory marks a major shift in the PSC’s approach to the regulation of utilities in DC and their alignment with DC’s climate goals.

While this was the work of many hands from groups across DC, XRDC played a crucial role through our core strategy of nonviolent direct action (NVDA). To understand our role and the impact NVDA had, we’re taking a trip through time with the help of the many rebels who made this work possible.

“When we act together, when we disrupt the systems of violence that are killing us, we are harnessing our power to direct our community to the regenerative, thriving, fossil-fuel-free future we deserve.”

— -Extinction Rebellion DC

Two years ago, we launched the End Methane, Electrify DC campaign at the Wilson Building, unfurling a large banner over the entrance that read, “NO NEW FOSSIL FUELS.” It was the beginning of our sustained campaign to get fossil fuel filth out of the city and demand the DC Council tell the truth to DC residents about the harms of Washington Gas’ methane product.

By launching this campaign, XRDC filled a strategic gap in the fight to stop Project Pipes: we brought NVDA into the picture. NVDA is part of Extinction Rebellion’s DNA, and it is a tactic that has been used throughout history to create much-needed systemic change. When we started this campaign, the DC Council hadn’t said a word about Project Pipes, the PSC was an obscure entity, and Washington Gas was seen as a necessary evil at best and as a “local”, “family-friendly” utility at worst. Methane gas was also viewed by many as “green”. Two years down the road and many direct actions later, these perspectives have shifted.

After our launch at the Wilson Building, we delivered our demands to the DC Council in hazmat suits, disrupted multiple Council meetings and political candidate forums, and wheatpasted campaign posters across the city raising the alarm about methane gas. We made our presence undeniably known, and thus the issue was too. Councilmembers could no longer claim ignorance or innocence.

“Prior to our Stop Project Pipes campaign, the DC Public Service Commission (PSC) was another bureaucratic, industry-captured regulatory body that operated in obscurity. The PSC had no plans for moving DC in the direction of electrification, even though it is now law that by 2045 DC becomes carbon neutral.

As a result of the Stop Project Pipes campaign, XRDC and its partner organizations forced the PSC to confront the absurdity of allowing Washington Gas to lay all new gas infrastructure over the next 40 years. For the first time, the PSC was made accountable to the public. We also broke a barrier between the PSC and the DC Council. Here we forced the DC council to take an active role in stopping the PSC from moving forward with this project, which given their respective mandates and politics of staying in their respective 'lanes', was also a first. All of this is a large reversal of business as usual and demonstrates what can be achieved when direct action is used to shine a spotlight on money-making climate injustices.” – Phil J, XRDC rebel

The DC Council wasn’t the only culprit in this issue. Washington Gas is the clear villain, and NVDA is a powerful tactic to taint the “local”, “family-friendly” image that Washington Gas attempts to create. We used a yacht to shut down Washington Gas’ headquarters, passed out mock flyers at the greenwashed Washington Gas-sponsored Recycle Day, and hacked bus stops with ads telling the truth about Washington Gas’ legacy. These actions exposed Washington Gas for the multinational, greedy, profit-driven corporation it is and the extensive greenwashing it invests in to cover up its dirty deeds.

And, of course, we have the Public Service Commission, or what we refer to as the Department of Climate Chaos. There are few opportunities for the public to engage with the PSC despite the massive impact it has on our lives and the District’s ability to meet its climate goals. The beauty of NVDA is that it isn’t constrained by what is considered acceptable methods of public engagement. Rather, NVDA breaks norms out of a recognition that the norms, defined by business-as-usual, are at the heart of the catastrophe we are facing. NVDA opens up a whole other level of creativity to shape the future we deserve. So, rebels got creative. We threw a paint party outside the PSC office and showed up unrelentingly in coalition at PSC open meetings.

“The NVDA actions in this campaign created pressure and visibility on the different targets: WGL, PSC and the DC Council. They sent a very strong message that people are willing to take risks to see the change they know is needed, and that they won’t be easily persuaded, tired off, or bought. NVDA is not about negotiating, it yells of passion, vision, and demonstrates that people have discovered their collective power. Our NVDA actions certainly made the PSC very uncomfortable to suddenly become a target, to feel that a group out there in the public was watching them closely. It really is only then, when people feel watched, that they start really thinking about their responsibility to the public. If no one cares, if no one is watching, they can do whatever they want. And it helps that those that are watching can make a lot of noise.” – Stefanie, XRDC rebel

By one year in the campaign, it was clear NVDA was helping move the needle on this issue. DC residents began to know about Washington Gas’ deadly project and even got connected to the campaign because of the posters pasted over town, and the press was taking notice.

Year two was about escalating pressure in the face of a PSC decision that was supposed to come at the end of that year. Rebels chained themselves to the doors of the Wilson Building, an action that led to two arrests and coverage of the campaign in the Washington Post. As wildfire smoke filled DC skies, rebels turned up the heat on Washington Gas, challenging them to debates and honoring its 175 years of polluting the DMV. That fall, in the face of the DC Council’s failure to protect its citizens, rebels shut down a Washington Gas Project Pipes construction site.

“The action on Florida Avenue, where we shut down a Project Pipes worksite, felt particularly empowering. It’s really common for Americans, myself included, to feel powerless to stop a corporation from doing destructive and immoral things. I’ve never felt as empowered and hopeful about climate change as I did that day, when I was supporting those brave rebels who faced arrest in order to stop Project Pipes.” – Forrest Cinelli, XRDC rebel

“The shutdown of the WGL construction site in my view had a very direct effect. The construction team and the police were baffled and took a lot of time to decide what to do. A WGL crew came to see, trying to be very discreet. It took several hours for our reds to get arrested. That gave us a powerful visible presence in the neighborhood during that time and the support of the people walking by during that whole day was so encouraging. People learned about PROJECTpipes, people witnessed the level of organization that was put in this effort, and were inspired by it. That is how collective power grows.” – Stefanie, XRDC rebel

This sustained, escalated pressure began to turn the tide. Early this year, in a surprise turn of events, 11 DC Councilmembers signed a letter to the PSC urging them to stop Project Pipes because the project is in direct opposition to DC’s climate goals and is costing residents an absurd amount of money. And weeks ago, the PSC dismissed Washington Gas’ application for phase three of Project Pipes, signaling a major breakthrough.

“The decision to deny Project Pipes 3 just makes sense! Washington Gas’s plan was unnecessary, unwanted, and incompatible with DC’s climate goals. As a Montgomery Co resident, I am hopeful that this victory will spread throughout the area. Washington Gas has similar plans for MD that are similarly counterproductive when we need to be responding to the climate emergency! It seems like residents are not aware of what the utility companies are doing, and they are doing some shady things! Campaigns like this help bring awareness so people can raise their own voices on the issue.” – Nora, XRDC rebel from Silver Spring, MD

“This [PSC] decision [to deny phase three of Project Pipes] means to me that NVDA works. It has made me feel incredibly powerful. It makes me want to continue and double the efforts. And I think it is really a huge win for the city. The DC government now knows that it cannot just put some nice climate goals on paper and forget about it. They have a community – which can only grow – that is holding them accountable, and that is paying attention. They know that if they don’t act responsibly now, that we won’t let them get away with it.” – Stefanie, XRDC rebel

Two years into the campaign, it was clear there was a notable presence missing from the conversation: Mayor Muriel Bowser. Her FY2025 budget cut millions from key climate action programs, and her actions never live up to her rhetoric on the climate crisis. As the person who appoints commissioners to the PSC, it was crucial to demand she speak on the issue that is endangering her residents by blowing up buildings and making them sick. So rebels invited her in, and we will continue to do so until she speaks up.

Throughout the campaign, XRDC’s NVDA strategy raised awareness in a way that only an NVDA-inclusive movement could. While other groups worked the political system, XRDC disrupted business as usual in politics and everyday life to push a faster timeline and bring the issue to audiences that would have otherwise been kept in the dark. We pushed the issue into press awareness, brought it into the streets, and ultimately kept up pressure that helped motivate our leaders to take action.

“We would not be where we are today, celebrating this milestone in the fight against toxic methane infrastructure, had we not added NVDA into the equation. Our creative and disruptive tactics have been critical in getting this issue on the map in DC, meaning the PSC could no longer quietly rubber-stamp Washington Gas’s requests unnoticed. We also showed the PSC, Council, and others how serious this community is about the fight for a livable future - no short of putting our bodies on the line to physically stop Project Pipes from being built.” – Claire H., XRDC rebel

At a deeper level, XRDC’s focus on NVDA is a recognition that the system isn’t going to save us. Our leaders have failed to take action at the speed and scale necessary, and they are bought out by corporations like Washington Gas to push for corporate profits over the needs of their own constituents. NVDA can certainly help pressure our leaders to step up, and NVDA is also about putting power back in the hands of the people. When we act together, when we disrupt the systems of violence that are killing us, we are harnessing our power to direct our community to the regenerative, thriving, fossil-fuel-free future we deserve. And along the way, we are building a community rooted in liberatory values, embodying a way of being that is life-giving rather than life-taking, that unlearns the harmful cultural conditioning from oppressive systems and relearns embodied, grounded, loving ways of relating and being together.

"When I think about all you have accomplished I am in total awe. You took on some very large companies and stubborn politicians and opened their eyes. You all have worked so very hard. I am glad you are finally seeing some reward for your amazing efforts. I know it isn't over but things are definitely headed in a better direction. You all are incredible people. I am so proud of you!" – Community Member, reflecting on XRDC’s campaign thus far

We have come a long way in these last two and a half years, and we still have a long way to go. Washington Gas CEOs, and the politicians they pay for, will do everything in their power to keep DC hooked on methane gas forever. It is up to us to keep up the pressure on the PSC, the Mayor, and the DC Council to ensure we move closer and closer to the all-electric, livable future we need and deserve.

That’s why this fall, we will be organizing a People’s Assembly, a chance for people from across DC to come together and determine for ourselves what we want a methane-free future to look like. We have told the truth and taken action, and now it is time to restore direct democracy in DC. We welcome you to join us in this fight for our lives.

In love and rage,

Extinction Rebellion DC