Energy Tomorrow Blog
U.S. Infrastructure Needs Updated Section 401 in Clean Water Act
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Mark Green
Posted May 28, 2020
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo talks about building new railroad tunnels under the Hudson River, new subways and airports – as he did Wednesday after a White House meeting with President Trump – he hits the right infrastructure notes – urgency on critical public needs, forming partnerships, getting bureaucracies to move quicker and so on.
Unfortunately, the governor’s bullishness on infrastructure doesn’t extend to natural gas pipelines. Just the opposite. Cuomo and his administration seem to have blocked pipeline projects at every turn – underscoring the need for revisions to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). I’ll explain.
Constitution Pipeline Stalls Out, New Yorkers Miss Out
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Mark Green
Posted March 5, 2020
Politics continues to dictate energy policy in New York – with the state’s consumers paying the price.
Look at the recently announced shelving of the Constitution natural gas pipeline by the Williams Company and its partners. The 124-mile line would have piped natural gas from the nearby Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania into New York. The builders gave up after nearly eight years of trying to get through regulatory red tape and general opposition to new natural gas infrastructure by Albany.
It’s a missed opportunity for New Yorkers.
Energy Malpractice
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Mark Green
Posted July 24, 2019
An important test of energy leadership is whether elected officials will act to enhance and protect strategic energy interests – a point we made in a post last week about smart, forward-looking policies that foster safe and responsible offshore energy.
A leadership corollary: First, do no harm.
We say that because, in a nation that’s the No. 1 producer of natural gas and oil in the world, leaders shouldn’t be making energy decisions that hurt those they’re supposed to serve. Unfortunately, in New York, there has been quite a bit of pain inflicted on New Yorkers by the Cuomo administration’s energy agenda.
New York's Wakeup Call on Natural Gas Infrastructure
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Mark Green
Posted January 23, 2019
Con Edison’s moratorium on new natural gas service to homes and businesses in the southern part of affluent Westchester County, just north of New York City, is a wakeup call to the entire state on the folly of stalling or blocking needed pipeline infrastructure.
POLITICO has the story. Basically, the natural gas utility says there’s insufficient pipeline capacity to meet the area’s growing need for natural gas, which is underscored during peak heating periods. You know, like right now.New York Needs a Different Energy State of Mind
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Sabrina Fang
Posted January 23, 2018
The U.S. has and can continue to produce energy responsibly, and we need our political leaders to put our national security and economy, and the needs of consumers first. Gov. Cuomo’s refusal to tap New York’s energy potential has put the state’s economy on a reckless path and ignores the needs of New York families. New Yorkers deserve the chance to join in the American energy renaissance and reap more of its benefits.
National Industry – State Economic Impacts
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Mark Green
Posted August 2, 2017
Energizing New York
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Mark Green
Posted September 12, 2016
NY Pipeline Decision: Politics Over the Public’s Interests
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Mark Green
Posted April 25, 2016
During a speech last week to labor union officials, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo talked big about the need for big infrastructure in this country. Gov. Cuomo mentioned the building of the Erie Canal in the 1800s, the interstate highway system that was launched in the 1950s and the construction of big bridges. The North America’s Building Trades Unions audience cheered and clapped warmly when Cuomo called for the vision and leadership needed for America to once again build big infrastructure:
“We built this nation into the greatest nation on the globe with our hands and sweat. That was the American way. We were tough, we were gutsy, we were daring, and there was no challenge that we wouldn’t take on, and we built this country and we regained that spirit of energy and positivity and ambition. … We can do these big projects. We did do these big projects … The George Washington Bridge, the Verrazano Bridge, hundreds of miles of subway system under New York, an 80-mile aqueduct built in the 1800s just to get water to New York City. We never said no …”
The next day, Cuomo’s administration said no – to the proposed $683 million Constitution natural gas pipeline. No to infrastructure – privately financed at that. No to the construction jobs wanted by the folks who cheered the governor the day before. No to consumers in New York state, who’d benefit from abundant, clean-burning natural gas, piped into a number of the state’s southern counties from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale.
And some wonder why so many Americans are cynical about politicians.
Energizing New York
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Reid Porter
Posted September 3, 2015
As we can see with New York, the energy impacts of the states individually combine to form energy's national economic and jobs picture: 9.8 million jobs supported and $1.2 trillion in value added.
Denying Fracking Science in New York
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Mark Green
Posted June 11, 2015
Nowhere in the United States is there more to learn from EPA’s recent water/fracking study than in the state of New York.
Six months ago Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned hydraulic fracturing as too hazardous. Though the Cuomo administration conducted no original research of its own, the governor said no to fracking, no to jobs and economic growth – especially in the state’s struggling Southern Tier. He all but extinguished the hopes of many upstaters for a home-grown economic miracle – like the one occurring next door in Pennsylvania, thanks to fracking – one that would help save family farms, let children and grandchildren live and prosper where they were raised and help ensure economic security for thousands.
Yet, EPA’s five-year, multi-million-dollar study says the governor’s concerns are basically baseless, that safe hydraulic fracturing doesn’t threaten the nation’s drinking water.