Update: Mark Ruffalo + Experts Explain Why Agency Already Rejected Pipelines as Gov Says She'll Defer to DEC

-Mark Ruffalo, Actor and Activist

-Mark Izeman, Senior Attorney for Environmental Health at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)

-Susan J. Kraham, Managing Attorney of Earthjustice's Northeast Regional Office

-Robert Hayes, Senior Director of Clean Water at Environmental Advocates New York

 Virtual press conference with water and legal experts dismantling Gov. Hochul’s excuses for the pipelines, exposing why NYS previously denied the pipelines and how there is no legitimate rationale for changing that position.

 Full Zoom details:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83802137547

Meeting ID: 838 0213 7547

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Background:

After meeting with President Trump this Spring, Governor Hochul reportedly agreed to fast-track two long-dead pipeline proposals: 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. The White House has since claimed Hochul "caved" on the pipelines in exchange for allowing a wind project in New York State to continue, while the Governor has hardly denied a deal and committed to working with Trump.

The NESE application is the same one that New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) repeatedly denied. It poses the exact same environmental threats to New York’s waterways. The NESE pipeline would stir up toxic contaminants in the New York Harbor that harm critical fisheries and other wildlife habitats.

As proposed last time around - before it was forced by the Court to abandon its effort - the Constitution pipeline would threaten more than 250 waterways throughout Upstate New York, endangering sensitive habitats and wildlife populations that depend on healthy ecosystems.,

These pipelines would also force regular New Yorkers to pay billions to expand fossil fuel infrastructure that is increasingly unreliable and expensive to maintain. The Williams NESE pipeline alone will cost more than $1.3 billion, forcing ratepayers to pay $200 million every year for more than a decade on construction. While energy companies promise it will eventually decrease costs, National Grid estimates its New York City and Long Island customers would see a 3.5% increase in costs to pay for construction — adding to repeated rate hikes already making energy unaffordable for most New Yorkers. In addition to direct construction costs, the pipelines would also jeopardize hundreds of millions in local economic activity, tourism, fishing and other small businesses that rely on healthy local ecosystems.

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