Dear friends,
The fight for climate justice is going on right here, right now.
The Williams Company continues to seek approval to build its Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) to pipe fracked gas from PA to NY across the Raritan Bay. Regulators in NJ and NY have repeatedly rejected the plan and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval expires next month. Williams Transco has asked for a two-year extension.
“New York has made it crystal clear that the polluting Williams NESE fracked gas pipeline is not welcome here. The project was denied by state regulators three times already, due to the environmental hazards of fracked gas pipelines. Elected officials at every level of government and thousands of New Yorkers have united against the pipeline. FERC must follow our lead and reject Williams’ extension request,” said Laura Shindell, New York Organizer for Food & Water Watch.
Please sign this letter to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to tell them to Stop the Williams Pipeline in the NY/NJ Harbor.
Call on mayoral candidate Eric Adams to come out strongly against the Williams Pipeline.
The ability to regulate commercial activity in our state is no small matter. For an example of what happens when a state fails to do so, look to Florida. The state is facing an imminent catastrophe, as wastewater from phosphate mining threatens to escape a failing storage reservoir and flood surrounding counties. The wastewater contains phosphorous and nitrogen; hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic wastewater could flow through a pile of radioactive industrial waste (from fertilizer manufacturing) before ending up in Tampa Bay.
Environmental protection groups warned that more pollutants in Tampa Bay would heighten the risk to wildlife from toxic red tide algae blooms.
“Phosphate companies have had over 50 years to figure out a way to dispose of the radioactive gypsum wastes,” the activist group Mana-Sota 88 said. “At the present time there are no federal, state or local regulations requiring the industry to make final disposition of phosphogypsum wastes in an environmentally acceptable manner.”
Regulatory power may not be the sexiest of political issues, but it is a critical form of democratic power and a necessary tool.
Please sign this letter to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to tell them to Stop the Williams Pipeline in the NY/NJ Harbor.
The rise in cases of COVID-19, even as the nation increases the pace of vaccination, suggests that we are not out of the woods. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, warned that the US is on a dangerous path:
"We are the only country in the world right now experiencing this increasing number of cases due to this variant and at the same time, opening up, not closing down," he told Chris Wallace. "The two basically are going to collide, and we are going to see substantially increased number of cases."
He said he realized his message was not what people wanted to hear right now.
He’s right that it is not what we want to hear.
Double-mask on the subway, wash your hands, avoid indoor dining, and don’t go to Staten Island, which has the highest rates of positivity in the city.
Have a good day!
with love,
L