CONTACTS: Katy Eiseman, (413) 320-0747
Anne Marie Garti, (718) 601-9618
CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT — Over 200 organizations, citizens groups, farms, and businesses wrote to nine Northeastern governors today, urging them to stand firm and united against the Trump administration’s goal of reviving gas pipelines that were proposed in the region years ago and then abandoned by the project proponents.
The letter thanks the governors for their role in moving the region “towards a cleaner energy system that is protective of our environment, and of our rights to self-determination as states, communities, and landowners.”
The organizations that drafted the letter are Stop the Pipeline (STP), which spearheaded the legal and political grassroots effort in New York that defeated the Constitution Pipeline, and the Pipe Line Awareness Network for the Northeast (PLAN), which coordinated legal, regulatory, and grassroots pushback against Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct project in multiple states (chiefly Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
Trump declared a “national energy emergency” on Inauguration Day, and followed up with another executive order on Valentine’s Day establishing a “national energy dominance council.” He has subsequently pressured NY Governor Hochul to allow the Constitution Pipeline to be built. This strong-arming is reverberating throughout the region as proponents of gas pipelines put pressure on other governors, such as Massachusetts’ Governor Healey, who has been a strong opponent of expensive and destructive pipeline proposals in her state.
“These pipelines did not move forward when they were proposed because they were being funded by gas drillers and pipeline companies who had no respect for state laws that guarantee protections of our natural resources, particularly our pristine and irreplaceable water quality,” said Anne Marie Garti, a founder of STP and co-counsel of the group (with the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic).
After years of resisting these energy conglomerates, people of the region are familiar with their playbook. As the letter states, “Today, more people than ever are awake, engaged, and resolved to stand up against the tyranny of greed. We have real solutions, and we are implementing them.”
Kathryn Eiseman, PLAN’s president, explains: “Over-reliance on natural gas makes consumers captive to the fluctuations of commodities markets. Diversifying our energy resources – particularly by expanding non-commodity based resources such as wind, solar, energy efficiency and other demand-side solutions – is what ultimately can free us from price spikes.”
The letter’s core message to the governors: “The 233 undersigned organizations ask you, as the leaders of our States, to stand united with each other and with us, to protect our hard-fought victories against the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and to focus on fulfilling our climate goals. … Our stance against the buildout of gas infrastructure, after all we have achieved, is non-negotiable.”