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QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 24, 2019
Addabbo slams pipeline plan as Rockaway burden
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo announced he’s standing with his Rockaway constituents in opposition to the Williams pipeline
project. Courtesy of Liberty Natural Gas
2019
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BY BILL PARRY
Environmental issues
were the primary concern
of state Sen. Joseph
Addabbo when he decided
not to support the Williams
Pipeline project,
also known as the Northeast
Supply Enhancement
Pipeline (NESE).
The 24-mile expansion
of existing pipeline
would cross the Rockaway
Peninsula on its way to
another pipeline three
miles offshore.
“My first concern is for
the people who live in the
Rockaways and who have
valid concerns regarding
the project,” Addabbo said.
“This pipeline would provide
no clear, direct benefits
to my constituents,
and may actually impact
their quality of life. After
suffering from Superstorm
Sandy, with hundreds of
people still not back in their
homes more than six years
later, I cannot support an
initiative that may burden
them even further.”
Addabbo believes that
companies should retreat
from pumping climatechanging
gases into the
atmosphere and that construction
of the pipeline
also has the potential to disrupt
marine life, in addition
to the number of toxins that
would be exposed and possibly
released into the waters
where residents and visitors
swim. Also of concern
is the $926 million cost of
the project, money Addabbo
feels would be better spent
on renewable and clean
energy initiatives.
The senator also pointed
to New York’s Clean
Energy Standard, which
mandates the state receive
50 percent of its electricity
from renewable energy
by 2030 and a 40 percent
reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions by the same
time frame.
”While I understand
that natural gas is a bridge
energy source before we
fully integrate to cleaner
energy forms, it does not
mean we have to spend
close to a billion dollars
on advancing natural
gas projects. It seems to
me we are moving backwards
instead on moving
forward, environmentally.”
In 2010, Addabbo was
an opponent of fracking in
New York and the process
of hydraulic fracturing of
gas, which he believed to be
a dangerous contributor to
climate change.
“I know of the need for
different sources of energy,
but I do not believe fracking
gas is the answer,” Addabbo
said. “The Rockaways are
already leading the way in
renewable energy with an
offshore wind farm project,
as New York state aims to
power 1.2 million homes with
these wind farms by 2030.”
Williams, a Tulsa,
Okla., energy company
that operates the Transcontinental
Gas Pipe Line
Company, had hoped to
have the project finished
by 2020.
“In the end, after reviewing
the many aspects
of the NESE pipeline project,
I have determined that
the negative impacts, cost
and environmental direction
outweigh any benefits
the pipeline may bring,”
Addabbo said. “
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