(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is being pressured by the Trump administration to lift the state’s restrictions on natural gas expansion to allow for construction of new pipelines into the region.
During a visit to upstate New York this week, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin blasted the Hochul administration for standing in the way of a regional pipeline project that could help lower energy costs for consumers across the New England region.
Zeldin said the Constitution Pipeline would “deliver affordable, durable natural gas from Pennsylvania, through New York, and on to millions of New Englanders who desperately need it and have been relying on foreign energy sources and higher prices.” He said Hochul
“Despite all the jobs, lower cost of living, increased revenue, and vibrant downtowns that would come with reversing the state’s ban, Albany politicians like Kathy Hochul and her friends just refuse to apply basic common sense and lead NY back to greatness,” Zeldin, a former New York congressman who ran unsuccessfully for governor, said in remarks in Binghamton.
Testifying before a House congressional committee earlier this week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted that New York has a wealth of underground natural gas resources that could be tapped or not for the state’s restriction on fracking and gas extraction.
“Right underneath the state of New York — wealth, jobs, the biggest source of decarbonization. If New York really wants to champion greenhouse gas emission reductions, natural gas is by far the biggest needle mover,” Wright said in remarks. “You have a resource right under your feet.”
New York Republicans have long been calling on Hochul to ease state regulations on natural gas pipelines and allow more to be constructed into the state to lower energy costs for consumers.
“Governor Hochul keeps chasing activist energy mandates while New Yorkers get stuck with higher utility bills,” GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney posted on social media Wednesday in response to Wright’s testimony. “Secretary Wright is right: stop the grandstanding and do the math. New York is sitting on abundant natural gas resources, yet Albany refuses to use them.”
Trump has signed executive orders and directed federal agencies to expand natural gas pipeline development by expediting permitting, while also taking actions to increase LNG exports. The move is aimed at bringing down costs for consumers and increasing the county’s energy independence.
The Trump administration recently announced a new natural gas pipeline expansion in New York City that it says will boost the region’s energy supply.
In April, the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project got underway after years of legal fights. The $1.8 billion project calls for building nearly 24 miles of new pipeline run from shale-rich Lancaster County, Pa., through New Jersey, most of which would run under New York Harbor.
In 2020, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo denied the Oklahoma-based Williams Companies a permit to bury the pipeline. The company revived the project earlier this year after President Trump touted the need for more natural gas in the Northeast region.
Hochul gave the project a green light after the Democrat reportedly struck a deal with Trump to save an offshore wind project under construction off the coast of Long Island. Hochul has denied making a deal. But she defended her support for the pipeline project, saying it is aimed at bringing down energy costs.
Industry groups have long argued that high energy costs in the Northeast are being driven in part by a lack of natural gas capacity. Under the Biden administration, several gas pipeline projects were blocked.
