Eugene Benson, Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (617) 489-3930
Boston, MA -- Seventy-four city and town conservation commissions across Massachusetts today urged Governor Charlie Baker to drop his support for wasteful and costly fracked-gas pipelines in Massachusetts.
Ina joint letter, the conservation commissions say new pipelines impede the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals in the Global Warming Solutions Act and Baker’s Integrated Climate Change Strategy.
Citing the large and geographically diverse number of signatories who are deeply concerned about the future costs of climate change from rising sea levels, extreme storms, heat waves and more, Eugene Benson, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Assocation of Conservation Commissions, called upon the governor to invest more rapidly in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“We need Governor Baker to fight to preserve and protect our habitats, not destroy them for fossil fuel profits and pipelines we don’t need, especially now when the environment is under attack by the Trump Administration,” Benson said.
A recent study by Synapse Energy Economics projects a major drop in natural gas use in New England under renewable energy policies already in place, and predicts the proposed Access Northeast pipeline will actually cost $6.6 billion, instead of its advertised $3.2 billion. Governor Baker and big utilities supported a proposal that would have charged consumers for the construction and operation of the pipeline, but this proposal was rejected last year by the state Supreme Judicial Court.
With utilities still pushing for Access Northeast, Emily Norton, Director of Sierra Club Massachusetts, praised the letter by the conservation commissions. “Over 100,000 Massachusetts residents are employed in the clean energy industry, in fact it’s our fastest growing sector. To invest in gas pipelines now is the wrong direction for jobs, for the environment, and for ratepayers.”
The letter states in part, “Communities along our beautiful coastlines are making plans to defend themselves against sea level rise. Inland communities must protect against costly river flooding that washes out roads and buildings and ruins peoples’ lives. New fossil fuel pipelines are part of the problem, not part of the solution.“
The letter to the Governor and the list of local Conservation Commissions that signed it, are attached. The Synapse Report can be found at http://www.synapse-energy.com/sites/default/files/New-Englands-Shrinking-Need-for-Natural-Gas-16-109.pdf
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Every city and town in Massachusetts has a conservation commission, comprised of three to seven volunteers appointed by the city or town. Conservation commissions administer the state Wetlands Protection Act in their community, manage conservation lands, and are responsible for protecting local land and water resources.
MACC, a non-profit established in 1961, protects Massachusetts natural resources through environmental education, advocacy, and support of conservation commissions.
The Sierra Club, founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, is the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization -- with more than 2.7 million members and supporters nationwide, and 75,000 in Massachusetts.
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