Gas industry touts energy independence, but builds infrastructure for export

Despite the gas industry's patriotic declarations of energy independence in their relentless ad inundation in radio, print, and TV media, it appears they have a different plan when it comes to natural gas.  The gas companies are pressing forward with aggressive development for a massive infrastructure that will allow these companies to export natural gas overseas - enabling these billion-dollar corporations to tap into lucrative international markets and drive up corporate profit even further.

The scale of the planned infrastructure projects is enormous.  In New York alone, there are currently seven major pipelines (Blue Stone, Constitution, Mark Connector, Millennium Phase I, Rockaway, and Spectra), a gas storage facility at Seneca Lake, multiple compressor stations including ones in Hancock and Minisink and a Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) processing facility, the Port Ambrose project, to be placed in the ocean off of the coasts of New York and New Jersey, which are in various stages of the approval process.

If the gas industry’s plan succeeds, the big winners will be the stockholders of the natural gas companies and the big losers will be the rest of us.

WE NEED YOU TO ACT NOW!

1. Stop the Ambrose Project! A LNG processing facility in the waters off New York and New Jersey, with its threat to water and air quality is totally unacceptable. Governor Cuomo has the power to veto the application permit.PLEASE CALL THE GOVERNOR at 518-474-8390 or 212-681-4580 and ask him to protect the environment and people of New York State by vetoing the “Port Ambrose” LNG processing facility.
2. Register your disapproval of the Port Ambrose project by submitting your comments here, or 
to: U.S. Department of Transportation Docket Management Facility
West Building Ground Floor,  Room W12-140 1200 New Jersey AvenueSE
 Washington, DC 20590Refer to docket number USCG-2013-0363, and tell the DOT that the Ambrose Project is a major threat to our oceans, air, and water quality, and health, and will exacerbate climate change.Comments are due by August 22, 2013, so submit yours' today!
3. Tell Your U.S. Representative to vote ‘NO’ on the “HR 1900 National Gas Pipelines Permitting Report Act”
The “HR 1900 National Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act” would fast track approval for all interstate gas pipelines by requiring that the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) process applications within only one year, and is slated to come before the full House for a vote soon. This new time limitation would more than halve the time that FERC would have to study the impact of each infrastructure project and, if passed by the full Congress, would result in severely limiting public comment and almost guarantee the approval of infrastructure projects prior to conducting critical due diligence. WE MUST STOP THIS BILL! Please write to your Representative and tell them to vote “NO” on HR 1900.

We’re well acquainted with the dire environmental and health consequences of drilling and fracking for gas in local communities, but proposals like the LNG facility in the waters off New York and New Jersey and the proposed pipelines and compressor stations would bring these hazards to every community through which the gas would be transported, causing contamination and leaked methane – the main component of natural gas - which is a potent greenhouse gas.

Today, Catskill Mountainkeeper is joining Earthjustice, Riverkeeper, Clean Act Council, Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and the Sierra Club to file extensive comments to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny the application for the Constitution Pipeline. Building a massive natural gas infrastructure is the wrong choice for New York and our country.  It must be stopped. Catskill Mountainkeeper is fighting hard to raise awareness of the dangers of continuing along this treacherous path and is advocating for renewable, sustainable energy choices.