Trump administration officials took a victory lap Tuesday in Brooklyn to celebrate a natural gas pipeline that would serve customers in New York City and Long Island. But Gov. Kathy Hochul, whose environmental agency greenlit a key permit for the pipeline after three previous rejections, was a no-show at the event.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline, developed by the Oklahoma-based Williams Companies, would run from Pennsylvania to just off the coast of the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, with about 17 miles buried in New York waters. The pipeline, which could be in service by the end of 2027, would connect to a larger network that begins in Texas.
“Building NESE Pipeline, delivering natural gas right here to Floyd Bennett Field, is a pure, momentous, gigantic win for New York and for America,” said the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and former candidate for governor Lee Zeldin. “The capacity of being able to deliver natural gas to up to 2.3 million more families is something for all of us to be able to celebrate.”
Zeldin was joined by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of the Department of Energy Chris Wright. (Also in attendance was Hochul’s current Republican challenger in the gubernatorial election, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.)
Though Hochul was invited to the event, she spent Tuesday in Troy, touring a new housing project, and at Syracuse University for the unveiling of former President Joe Biden’s official portrait. A spokesperson for Hochul declined to comment, instead referring to a statement she released when the state Department of Environmental Conservation granted the pipeline’s permit.
The pipeline received a water quality permit from New York in November, after the state had denied the permit for the same project three times before — in 2018, 2019 and 2020 — all when Andrew Cuomo was governor.
Though the project appeared dead in the water, it was revived as part of a deal Hochul reportedly struck with the Trump administration in order to save the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind project, which the federal government had sought to shut down mid-construction. (Hochul had denied there was a deal, only that she was open to new projects.)
President Donald Trump has consistently backed more oil and gas projects and worked to impede renewable energy development, including offshore wind. New York had been counting on developing offshore wind projects to meet its energy needs without carbon emissions, but has been stymied by Trump’s policies and broader economic forces.
Hochul has embraced relying on fossil fuels for longer than what the state’s climate law has called for, given the federal government’s hostility to renewables and the necessity of meeting demand for energy. (She’s also attempting to change the state’s climate law itself as Albany negotiates the budget.)
“We are facing war against clean energy from Washington Republicans,” she said in a statement released when her Department of Environmental Conservation granted the pipeline’s permit. She said DEC “reviewed impartially” the project application.
On Tuesday, the Washington Republicans who appeared at the “ceremonial groundbreaking” event seemed to be in alignment with Hochul about why the pipeline — which was also opposed by several environmental groups and elected officials — was important.
Zeldin, a former elected official from Long Island who in 2022 unsuccessfully challenged Hochul for governor, said the pipeline was “extra personal” for him, as he “saw firsthand the need for increased natural gas supplies to downstate New York.”
He spoke of New Yorkers that left the state because of affordability concerns — a point Hochul has raised in the context of the climate law — and pointed to the pipeline as evidence that “maybe we can turn the tide.”
Burgum and Wright extolled the economic and potential cost-savings benefits of the pipeline (although National Grid customers will be on the hook for the pipeline’s costs).
Wright thanked “the many local politicians here in New York State and New York City who fought to better energize the citizens of New York, of Long Island and of broader New York State.”
“We’re gonna add to this. NESE is an awesome, absolutely awesome, step forward,” Wright added. “The energy subtraction, fear-mongering policies of the Biden administration are over.”
Alex Schlott, spokesperson for the Williams Companies, wrote in an email, “We’re grateful for Gov. Hochul’s ongoing support for the NESE project, and we’re excited to be back to building in New York.”
Outside the event, about a dozen protestors associated with the Stop the Williams NESE Pipeline Coalition held signs and chanted, “No dirty pipelines! Renewable jobs!”
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