TRUMP WASTES $42 MILLION OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR PIPELINE WITH NO PURPOSE

NEW YORK (10/19/2026) (readMedia)-- This morning, the Trump administration announced it's awarding $42 million in "national security funding" to build the Constitution Pipeline, which was already rejected by New York because of the threats it poses to our water quality.

"Trump is trying to waste $42 million of taxpayers' money to pay for a pipeline with no purpose and which would actually raise our energy bills while it poisons our water. Trump is trying to trample our state's rights by jamming this pipeline through against our will. New Yorkers rejected this pipeline for a reason. Governor Hochul must continue standing strong and fight Trump's bullying attempts to trample states' rights with a windfall to the Williams Company on the backs of New Yorkers," said Julia Walsh, Director of Frack Action.

There is no stated need for the Constitution Pipeline, but Trump and the Williams Company have been trying to circumvent New York's authority and build the pipeline since early 2025. There's no utility attached to the pipeline, and the pipeline network that it would connect into is already at capacity. Recently, the Williams Company built a fracked gas pipeline in Ohio without a utility attached - instead of serving the public, it powers a new AI data center. Pipelines across the country that directly serve AI data centers are raising everyday peoples' energy bills.

BACKGROUND

The Williams Company, with President Trump's support, is trying to revive the long-denied Constitution Pipeline project. The 30 inch fracked gas mega pipeline's planned route in 2016 was approximately 124 miles from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania through New York's Southern Tier, through the Western Catskills, and into the Capital Region. The Constitution Pipeline was denied in 2016 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation given the threats it posed to water quality including from dredging, erosion, sedimentation, and changes in turbidity, among other risks. These dangers could impair drinking water and sensitive streams, including high quality trout habitats.

New York State's 2016 decision to deny the Constitution Pipeline was upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, a decision which the U.S. Supreme Court considered and let stand. Now the Williams Company and the Trump Administration are trying to circumvent New York State's authority and force the pipeline through by asking FERC to revive a decade old application, despite the fact that the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated it. Governor Hochul and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have argued that the state must have water quality review authority over the pipeline under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act.

The Constitution Pipeline also poses significant costs to local residents, with industry insiders and analysts increasingly concerned about how the pipeline would raise ratepayer costs. Bloomberg News further reports that no utility has agreed to purchase the gas. The pipeline is not needed to increase gas capacity. With the Williams Company focused on providing power to AI data centers, New Yorkers are concerned that's what they're planning for with the Constitution Pipeline.

There is major opposition to the Constitution Pipeline and fracking. There was a massive movement against fracking that resulted in New York banning the practice in 2015. Leading up to 2016, thousands of New Yorkers protested the Constitution Pipeline and led a major movement to stop it. Now, residents along the proposed route are again holding many information sessions and are seeing broad and deep opposition to the pipeline. In September of 2025, 40 state lawmakers sent a letter against the Constitution and NESE pipelines. As the state legislators noted, pipelines like the Constitution are very expensive, and ratepayers ultimately end up paying higher rates, along with threats to local economic engines including agriculture, small businesses, tourism, fishing, and recreation.