CNY Lawmakers Urge Governor Hochul To Reject Costly, Trump-Backed Pipelines Across New York State

SYRACUSE, NY (10/21/2025) (readMedia)-- Today, Senator Rachel May and Assemblymember Anna Kelles held a press conference with advocates in Syracuse to demand Governor Hochul reject two dirty, fracked gas pipelines that the Trump administration is pushing. The Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) and Constitution pipelines would be a disaster for New Yorkers, forcing New Yorkers to pay over $3 billion to expand gas infrastructure while threatening our water and posing serious health risks to surrounding communities.

The Senator and Assemblymember were among 50 state legislators who signed a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to reject the pipelines over the potential threat to the state's water, economy and energy affordability.

Watch a recording of the event here.

View images from the event here.

"The proposed pipelines have the potential to cause an environmental disaster and directly contradict New York's climate goals. At a time when the Trump administration is gutting the EPA and slashing renewable energy projects, it is more important than ever for New York to push forward on its transition away from fossil fuels. Approving the pipelines would be a dangerous step in the wrong direction, and I urge Governor Hochul to reject the project," said Senator Rachel May.

"These pipelines are an economic burden disguised as progress. Forcing New Yorkers to pay billions for expanding fossil fuel infrastructure is not economic growth, it's economic negligence. The last time these projects were reviewed and rejected by the state, regulators found that construction would disturb hundreds of miles of land and waterways, release significant toxic contaminants into waterways and threaten drinking water, fisheries, and agricultural productivity across our state. That assessment hasn't changed, only the urgency of the fossil fuel industry to cash in before we complete our transition to clean energy. Every dollar spent locking us deeper into dependence on fracked gas is a dollar taken from the renewable projects already creating jobs, strengthening our grid, and keeping energy affordable. Abandoning those gains to subsidize corporate polluters would be economically and environmentally irresponsible," said Assemblymember Anna Kelles

Despite widespread opposition from national, state and local lawmakers, state regulators are fast-tracking two long-dead pipeline proposals that have repeatedly been denied: the Williams NESE pipeline, which would run through the New York Harbor and into Far Rockaway; and the Constitution pipeline, which would run across 125 miles of the Southern Tier and into the Albany area.

Unlike previous considerations of these pipelines, the State is rushing the process and minimizing 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. A final decision on the NESE pipeline is expected in the coming weeks.

The pipeline proposals are now drawing fierce opposition from the vast majority of New Yorkers across political parties - including many of the Governor's own allies - who oppose Trump's pipelines and the rushed process to approve them. Last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and nine other members of the New York City Congressional delegation signed a letter to the Governor raising affordability and climate concerns.

State lawmakers are also sounding the alarm: earlier this month, 50 State Senators and Assemblymembers sent a letter to the Governor urging her to reject the pipelines while more than 130 local elected officials across New York sent their own letter highlighting how the pipelines would hurt their constituents and demanding the same. Other prominent lawmakers, including Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Pete Harckham, Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Deborah Glick, and Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger are also urging the Governor to stand up to Trump and reject these pipelines.

"While the federal administration is determined to empower greedy oil and gas companies by propping up new and massive fracked gas pipelines in New York, it's essential that our governor responds with clear eyes and rejects these expensive and harmful projects," said Ethan Gormley, Climate Justice Organizer, Citizen Action of New York. "Governor Hochul must stand up to the climate change-denier in the Oval Office by rejecting these pipelines, protecting New Yorkers from higher utility bills and more dangerous fracked gas infrastructure."

"Mother earth is burning, but Trump and the robber barons who make enormous profits off fossil fuels are pushing yet more fossil fuel infrastructure projects, which are clearly a step in the wrong direction. New York State has a choice, and it should follow the science, keep working to meet its climate goals and not approve these pipelines. They will only result in decades of burning more fossil fuels-at the expense of our children and grandchildren. There should be no new pipelines in New York," said Joe Heath, General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation.

I've lived in CNY for over 50 years and seen our climate change. Climate should change in geologic time, thousands of years, not decades. We need to reduce our fossil fuel consumption not increase it," said, Peter Wirth, Vice President at Climate Change Awareness and Action.

"As a New Yorker I take pride in being able to say our state is fracking free. Allowing this pipeline is not only an incredible danger to our health and ecosystems but also incompatible with New York's long term climate goals," said John Roberts, Student at SUNY-ESF, member at NYPIRG.

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.

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.