March, 19 2019, 12:00am EDT
Rigorous Report Proves Lack of Need for Williams Fracked Gas Pipeline
Day before 1000+ #GreenNewDeal4NY Forum, analysis shows manufactured false demand around the dangerous proposed “Northeast Supply Enhancement” (NESE) project
WASHINGTON
A technical report released today shows the proposed Williams fracked gas "Northeast Supply Enhancement" pipeline (NESE) is not only dangerous, but also completely unnecessary. The report, "False Demand: The case against the Williams fracked gas pipeline," shows how Williams Company and its main customer National Grid have manufactured false demand that the pipeline is needed to convert boilers from oil to gas, while most oil boiler conversions are already complete and mainstream alternatives to new gas hookups abound.
Williams is proposing a 23-mile-long pipeline beginning in New Jersey into New York Harbor, passing a mile and a half from Staten Island off Rockaway Beach, the very communities most devastated and still recovering from Superstorm Sandy. The company argues that oil-to-gas boiler conversions are driving increased gas demand.
"The public deserves better scrutiny of this pipeline project. The arguments from Williams and the utility don't make sense, and the numbers don't add up. New York's energy future depends on our government making the right decision. This report is a first step," said Suzanne Mattei, consultant with Lookout Hill Public Policy Associates, former Regional Director of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and author of the report.
The "False Demand" report shines a spotlight on the questionable motivation behind National Grid's announcement that, beginning May 15, it would impose a moratorium on providing gas to large development projects if the pipeline isn't approved, similar to Con-Ed's moratorium in Westchester County.
Using government and company data, the report explains, among other things, that:
All No. 6 oil boilers converted to another fuel years ago
NYCHA housing stopped using No. 6 and 4 oils at least a decade ago
Very few No. 4 boilers remain in National Grid's service area and many can convert to a non-gas alternative
Williams has already added large amounts of gas capacity to the area in the past three years.
Gas demand is flat, largely because of increases in energy efficiency and the use of renewables. A new pipeline is not needed.
New Yorkers have been ramping up the call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to use his power to protect communities and reject the pipeline immediately. Over 60 elected officials have signed a letter urging Gov. Cuomo to reject the Williams pipeline, along with over 16,000 petition signatures, more than 250 New York groups, and over 10,000 comments submitted to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) in opposition of the pipeline. NYDEC is expected to rule on key permits for the pipeline in the coming weeks.
"This report utterly rejects Williams' playbook of disinformation and holding our communities' energy needs hostage," said Cata Romo, Fossil Free NY organizer with 350.org. "Stopping the Williams pipeline is Governor Cuomo's first major test on his commitment to a Green New Deal for New York. We need fast and just transition to 100% renewable energy, not toxic and outdated pipelines."
Williams Company has a disturbing safety record, with six people killed and over 100 injured because of accidents in the last 10 years.
Today's report comes before tomorrow's massive #GreenNewDeal4NY Accountability Forum where New Yorkers will question key elected officials on what they're doing to deliver climate action, including stopping the Williams fracked gas pipeline. Organizers will escalate the call on Governor Cuomo to reject the toxic pipeline in the lead-up to the April 18 march over the Brooklyn Bridge ahead of Earth Day.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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The United Nations' special envoy to Syria said Tuesday that the Israeli military's rapid move to seize Syrian territory following the Assad government's collapse is a grave violation of a decades-old agreement that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims is now dead.
"What we are seeing is a violation of the disengagement agreement from 1974, so we will obviously, with our colleagues in New York, follow this extremely closely in the hours and days ahead," Geir Pedersen said at a media briefing in Geneva.
Hours earlier, Pedersen told Zeteo's Mehdi Hasan that "this needs to stop," referring to Israel's further encroachment on the occupied and illegally annexed Golan Heights.
"This is a very serious issue," Pedersen said, rejecting Netanyahu's assertion that the 1974 agreement is null. "Let's not start playing with an extremely important part of the peace structure that has been in place."
"The message to Israel is that this needs to stop, What we are seeing in the Golan is a violation of the 1974 agreement. This is a very serious issue."
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The Washington Postreported late Monday that "within hours of rebels taking control of Syria's capital, Israel moved to seize military posts in that country’s south, sending its troops across the border for the first time since the official end of the Yom Kippur War in 1974."
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The United States, Israel's main ally and arms supplier, also defended the Israeli military's actions, with a State Department spokesman telling reporters Monday that "every country, I think, would be worried about a possible vacuum that could be filled by terrorist organizations on its border, especially in volatile times, as we obviously are in right now in Syria."
Watch StateSpox justify Israel’s invasion of Syria based on hypotheticals.@shauntandon: Israel has gone across the Golan Heights, the UN said it’s a violation, does the US agree
Miller: Every country would be worried about a possible vacuum that could be filled by terrorist… pic.twitter.com/AA7lNhfSt1
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Flanked by educators, librarians, and other advocates, Murphy signed
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"The Freedom to Read Act cements New Jersey's role on the forefront of preventing book bans and protecting the intellectual freedom of our educators and students," said Murphy. "Across the nation, we have seen attempts to suppress and censor the stories and experiences of others. I'm proud to amplify the voices of our past and present, as there is no better way for our children to prepare for the future than to read freely."
According to a statement from Murphy's office:
Under the law, boards of education and governing boards of public libraries are barred from excluding books because of the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors. Further, boards of education and governing boards of public libraries are prevented from censoring library material based on a disagreement with a viewpoint, idea, or concept, or solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups.
The legislation "also provides protections for library staff members against civil and criminal lawsuits related to complying with this law."
New Jersey Association of School Librarians President Karen Grant said that "the Freedom to Read Act recognizes the professionalism, honor, work ethics, and performance of school and public library staff" and "promotes libraries as trusted sources of information and recognizes the many roles that libraries play in students' lives."
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In response,
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Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) similarly stressed that "birthright citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution as a cornerstone of American ideals. It reflects our belief that America is the land of opportunity. Sadly, this is just another in the long line of Trump's assault on the U.S. Constitution."
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, said in a statement: "'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.' It is important to remember who we are, where many of us came from, and why many of our families traveled here to be greeted by the Mother of Exiles, the Statue of Liberty."
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Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) highlighted the difficulties of passing constitutional amendments while discussing Trump in a Monday appearance on CNN. The incoming chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was born in the Dominican Republic and is the first formerly undocumented immigrant elected to Congress.
As Mother Jones reporter Isabela Dias detailed Monday:
Critics of ending birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants argue it would not only constitute bad policy, but also a betrayal of American values and, as one scholar put it to me, a "prelude" to mass deportation.
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