At Offshore Drilling Event, Groups Call on Governor Cuomo to Protect New York by Stopping Planned Gas Pipeline for New York Harbor

For Immediate Release

NEW YORK, NY -- Appearing with former Vice President Al Gore, Governor Cuomo announced his opposition to a Trump administration plan to encourage offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. But environmental and community groups delivered an inconvenient truth of their own: If the governor truly wants to protect New York’s waters from fossil fuel development, he must take action to stop a planned 23-mile fracked gas pipeline that would run under the New York Harbor.

The groups have been campaigning against the Williams NESE pipeline, which would carry gas between New Jersey and the Rockaways. The project poses serious risks to the health of the harbor, and it poses climate risks associated with burning more fossil fuels.

“Cuomo’s climate record is heavy on rhetoric, but very light on action,” said Food & Water Watch organizer Laura Shindell. “If he’s truly serious about making New York a leader in the fight against climate chaos, he must stop dirty energy projects that are proposed across the state. The real inconvenient truth for New Yorkers is that progress on clean energy has stalled on Cuomo’s watch. We need real action, and that means stopping fossil fuel projects and shifting to 100% clean energy.”

“We’ve been working together with Cuomo’s administration on the exciting offshore wind farm coming to New York, so we expect that Governor Cuomo will see the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline proposal as an absolute non-starter,” said Kim Fraczek, the Director of SANE Energy Project. “This pipeline goes against New York’s climate leadership commitments and is counter to being stewards of our planet. The Williams Company and other fossil fuel corporations have caused pollution, energy inequity, and climate catastrophe. It’s time we commit with courage and expediency to a renewable energy economy."

Sara Gronim of 350Brooklyn said her group “urges Governor Cuomo to block this fracked gas pipeline proposed for New York’s Lower Harbor by Williams. We have real solutions to the climate crisis, and they don’t include more climate-busting fossil fuel infrastructure. As Bill McKibben has said, ‘Winning slowly is the same as losing.’ The proposed Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline is a boondoggle that aims to lock us into an energy economy that promises only accelerating extreme weather events, rising seas, and social misery. To show real climate leadership Governor Cuomo must decisively and rapidly move New York State off fossil fuels and make a just transition to renewable energy.”

“Surfrider Foundation NYC is urging Governor Cuomo to oppose the Williams Transco's proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline,” saidSurfrider’s Noelle Picone. “This pipeline will further lock New York City into fossil fuel infrastructure. We should be investing in clean, sustainable energy, such as wind, instead of dirty fossil fuels. If built, the pipeline will negatively impact air and water quality, pose a huge threat to marine life, and disrupt fishing, boating, and other recreational activities. The estimated cost of this pipeline is nearly a billion dollars, a cost that National Grid customers will have to pick up. There is not sufficient evidence to show a need for this pipeline expansion to justify the threat to our ocean, waves and beaches.”

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