UNION HILL, Va. — Former Vice President Al Gore has urged residents of a historic African-American community in Virginia to continue their fight against a plan to build a natural gas pipeline compressor station in their community.
Gore and civil rights activist Rev. William Barber II met Tuesday with residents of Union Hill, which was founded by emancipated slaves after the Civil War.
Their visit is part of an environmental justice tour.
Gore told residents the proposal to build the station in the African-American community is a "vivid example of environmental racism."
The meeting comes weeks after a racial scandal rocked state government when both Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring acknowledged wearing blackface in the 1980s.
Gore said Northam should fulfill his promise for racial reconciliation by opposing the pipeline project.