(MintPress) – Promising more than 100,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day, construction on the Williams’ Transco Rockaway Lateral Pipeline could begin this year amid growing public opposition to the project in New York communities. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, a devastating storm that caused $74 billion in damage and killed at least nine in the U.S., citizens increasingly realize that a project promising increased reliance on fossil fuels and destruction of protected wetlands will only increase the chance of a similar devastating storm like Sandy in the future.
Williams, a multinational oil and gas company, has tried to paint a pretty picture, posting online that “natural gas is universally recognized as the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel available. Williams’ Transco pipeline provides reliable, economic natural gas transportation services to the eastern and southeastern United States and is committed to meeting the region’s ever-growing energy needs.”
Community groups, in Queens, Brooklyn and other areas have begun to organize in opposition to the Williams/Transco Rockaway Lateral Pipeline Project, forming a grassroots coalition to challenge the process.
The proposed pipeline would pass through Gateway National Recreation Area, national parkland which includes Jacob Riis Park and Jamaica Bay. The Coalition Against the Rockaway Pipeline reports that the proposed project would “cause significant disruption and harm to the wildlife and ecosystems in Jamaica Bay and Gateway National Recreation Area.”
Large sections of Jamaica Bay provide wetlands protecting inland communities from storm surge. This is a particularly important issue for communities in the greater tri-state area still picking up the pieces after Sandy hit in October.
The project would also “set a precedent that allows a private, for-profit corporation to lease national parklands for destructive industrial purposes.”
Like so many environmental battles, President Obama remains a key leader capable of shutting down projects that could cause catastrophic damage to the environment. The former Illinois senator once promised to “slow the rise of the oceans” and “heal the planet.”
However, he has taken anything but a decisive stance vis-a-vis the Keystone XL pipeline and now appears willing to greenlight oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, a protected natural environment.
The $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline has created the most controversy among activists and community members. Stretching from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, Keystone would transport natural gas, a project that environmental activist and founder of 350.org Bill McKibben warns could end the game in the uphill battle to stop global warming.