Advocates Condemn Gov. Hochul For Siding With Trump and Caving on Pipeline Shakedown

ALBANY, NY (11/07/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, Governor Hochul's Department of Environmental Conservation approved permitting for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline - violating their commitment to protect New Yorkers and caving to heavy pressure from the Governor. The decision comes after the same state agency repeatedly denied this pipeline in 2019 and 2020, before caving this time around and bending the knee to the far right. Governor Hochul is now forcing regulators to reject the science and put her political interests over the people of New York - who overwhelmingly rejected Trump this week.

In response, advocates across New York issued the following statements condemning the ruling and urging the Governor to rescind the decision:

Julia Walsh, Director of Frack Action, said: "Governor Hochul's decision to do Trump's bidding is a shameful betrayal of the millions of New Yorkers she promised to protect. Regulators already rejected the NESE pipeline three times - the only thing that's changed is our Governor would rather strike a dirty deal with a wannabe dictator than stand up for the people she's supposed to represent. Regardless of how the Governor tries to spin this, her decision to hide behind her state agencies will force New Yorkers to pay billions more on our energy bills and expose us to serious health risks we cannot afford. We urge Governor Hochul to rescind this anti-science decision and we intend to keep fighting this obvious political ruling."

Roger Downs, Conservation Director Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, said: "By approving the 401 Water Quality Certificate, Governor Hochul is turning her back on the same agency scientists that determined the NESE pipeline would cause unacceptable degradation of water quality and marine life to NY waters just a few years ago. It is truly a sad day when New York leaders cave to the Trump administration and agree to build pipelines that New Yorkers do not need and cannot afford. This decision is an affront to clean water, energy affordability and a stable climate."

Katherine Nadeau, Deputy Director at Environmental Advocates NY, said: "Today's decision by the DEC is a devastating failure to protect New Yorkers from a dangerous and wrongheaded proposal. By approving the NESE fracked gas pipeline, the DEC is discarding its own previous findings - required by state law and bolstered by science - that this project poses serious risks for our water, our marine life, and our health and safety. Just two weeks after a court ruled the Governor violated the law by not implementing the Climate Act, today she has once again ignored the law in approving this costly pipeline project. In the same month that Time Magazine named the Governor one of the world's 100 most influential climate leaders, and state representatives are gathering in Brazil to advance international climate action, the Governor's actions are speaking louder than her words. Today's decision seems to be more responsive to demands from President Trump than the concerns of New Yorkers."

The Governor's decision comes just days after President Trump demanded on Truth Social that she approve the pipelines, and several months after the White House bragged that Hochul "caved" to Trump on the pipelines in exchange for allowing the Empire Wind project to continue.

Governor Hochul's willingness to side with Trump and fast-track these once-dead pipelines for approval has drawn fierce opposition from the vast majority of New Yorkers - including many of her own allies. Last month, Democratic Members of Congress including Hakeem Jeffries, Dan Goldman, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to reject the pipelines over affordability and climate concerns. Hundreds of state and local lawmakers have similarly called on the Governor to reject the pipelines, citing the harm they would cause to constituents, while U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse condemned the pipeline shakedown as "extortion."

Background

Neither the NESE or Constitution applications have been amended since they were repeatedly denied by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which means they both still pose the exact same environmental threats to New York. The Constitution pipeline would threaten more than 250 waterways throughout Upstate New York, endangering sensitive habitats and wildlife populations that depend on healthy ecosystems, while the Williams NESE pipeline would stir up toxic contaminants in the New York Harbor that harm critical fisheries and other wildlife habitats.

Unlike previous considerations of these pipelines, the State rushed the process and minimized any opportunity for public input. Last month, the Public Service Commission (PSC) brought the Governor's vision one step closer to reality after it uncharacteristically endorsed the NESE pipeline based on faulty data and despite overwhelming opposition from national and state lawmakers. The PSC's decision to endorse the pipeline without public hearings or advance notice prompted sharp criticism from good government organizations who slammed the Governor for rushing the public process.

In addition to serious threats to ecosystems across the State, these pipelines would force regular New Yorkers to pay billions to expand fossil fuel infrastructure that is increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain. National Grid's own estimates state that the NESE pipeline alone will cost New Yorkers at least $2.2 billion and force ratepayers to pay more than $200 million every year for the next 15 years - though a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) suggests the real cost to New Yorkers is closer to $3.2 billion.