http://www.dailywire.com/news/46868/new-york-blocking-natural-gas-pipelines-comes-back-james-barrett
By James Barrett
The Daily Wire
May 7, 2019
Who could have seen this coming? New York Democrats' repeated blocking of natural gas pipelines in the state have resulted in some unfortunate news for residents of Long Island: no fuel for new customers unless lawmakers reverse their years-long stance against the low-cost energy source.
The New York Post's Craig Stevens reported Sunday on the latest setback for New York residents resulting from the "political hurdles and bureaucracy" that have delayed pipeline construction in the state.
"National Grid, which provides natural gas for nearly 600,000 Long Island residents, announced it won't be able to provide fuel for new customers if the proposed Williams Co. Transco pipeline expansion isn't approved by May 15," Stevens reports. And that's not the first time residents have gotten such news. "Earlier this year, energy company Con Ed imposed a similar moratorium on new natural gas service in parts of Westchester County due to limited capacity on existing pipelines."
Stevens notes that this "completely avoidable" cost-increasing, energy source-suppressing trend has been going on for years, including in the infamous case of the Constitution Pipeline, which was going to bring much-needed gas from Pennsylvania into the state but which has been held up by New York officials despite federal regulators approving the construction back in 2014.
And the costs of these anti-affordable energy policies have been extremely high for the state. Citing a study by the Global Energy Institute, Stevens says that since 2010, the state's anti-fracking, anti-pipeline stance has cost the state 200,000 full-time jobs, $22 billion in GDP and $5 billion in tax revenue.
"New York state is the fifth-largest natural gas consumer for electric power generation. More than one-third of its electric-generating capacity relies on natural gas or fuel oil. More than 60 percent of electric-generating capacity installed in 2018 was fueled by natural gas," Stevens writes. "The safest, most efficient and most environmentally conscious method of transporting natural gas is by pipeline. Despite this, environmental activists continue to move the goal posts." ...
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