The Trump administration is directing up to $42 million to revive the Constitution pipeline, a 125-mile natural gas project stretching from Pennsylvania to upstate New York that New York state rejected in 2016. The Department of Energy announced the funding under the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law allowing federal support for private-sector production deemed vital to national security.
Williams Cos., the pipeline operator, withdrew its state permit applications last year after the Department of Environmental Conservation found three of them incomplete. The company is now asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate its 2014 construction approval and waive the requirement for a New York permit.
New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has not approved the project and her administration says there is currently no proposal before the state. Her spokesperson said the governor is open to gas projects when they meet state regulations. President Trump claimed in June that Hochul agreed to allow pipelines to proceed in exchange for federal support for offshore wind, a claim her office denied.
The pipeline's revival reflects tensions in Hochul's "all-of-the-above" energy policy, which combines natural gas and nuclear power with renewable energy investment. Hochul has delayed the state's original deadline to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by a decade, though she increased the eventual reduction target to 60 percent.
Environmental groups say pipeline approvals risk undermining the state's environmental progress. Gas pipeline construction can damage wetlands and streams, while operating pipelines leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Republican challenger Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has campaigned on repealing New York's 2014 fracking ban to lower utility bills. Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin has also called for lifting the ban. A Quinnipiac University poll shows Hochul leading Blakeman by 14 percentage points ahead of November's election.