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Mark Carney wins new term as Canada's Prime Minister on anti-Trump platform; Without key funding, Alabama faces new barriers to college access; MS could face steep postal privatization costs under Trump-Musk plan; New Hampshire's rail trails ensure accessibility for all.

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Major shifts in environmental protections, immigration enforcement, civil rights as Trump administration reshapes government priorities. Rural residents and advocates for LGBTQ youth say they're worried about losing services.

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Migration to rural America increased for the fourth year, technological gaps handicap rural hospitals and erode patient care, and doctors are needed to keep the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians healthy and align with spiritual principles.

CT groups urge Gov. Lamont to reject fracked gas pipeline

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Wednesday, September 25, 2024   

Connecticut environmental groups want Gov. Ned Lamont to reject a fracked gas pipeline expansion. Their concerns revolve around Enbridge's Project Maple - a proposed fracked gas pipeline extension from New Jersey to Rhode Island, running across Connecticut. Enbridge says new capacity is needed to keep up with demand. But a major concern is leaking gas, which can lead to a range of health issues, from respiratory diseases to cancer.

Martha Klein, lead volunteer with Beyond Gas Campaign, Sierra Club Connecticut chapter, said expanding the pipeline would also have sharp economic impacts on ratepayers.

"Fracked gas infrastructure expansion has already driven ratepayer prices much higher over the last decade, and with more fracked gas expansion, it will push it higher still," she explained.

Gas utilities in the state were granted rate increases earlier this year, which strained many Connecticut residents' budgets. Groups have rallied against the project, and presented Lamont with a letter from environmental groups and elected officials to direct the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Conservation to deny state air and water permits for the proposal.

Project Maple could also set back Connecticut's clean energy goals, which has prompted negative feedback from residents. The Energy Information Administration says natural gas is Connecticut's largest energy source with nuclear power running second, but Klein said this isn't the end of the state's climate-friendly future.

"Basically, we could make buildings more efficient, especially the least efficient buildings, which tend to be where poor people live and rent in cities. The number one thing is not build any more fracked gas infrastructure, any new infrastructure. We need to ramp up solar - which our state has had actual limitations on," she continued.

She said New England states could also benefit from ramping up offshore wind production - although Lamont just pulled Connecticut out of a multistate offshore wind development deal, citing potential project costs. But a Sierra Club Connecticut report finds it would save the region's ratepayers about $630 million annually.

Disclosure: Sierra Club contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, Environmental Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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