Pipeline Update from Sen. Warren

Pipeline Update from Sen. Warren

 Dear Julie,

Thank you for contacting me about the proposed Kinder Morgan / Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company natural gas pipeline northeast expansion project through Massachusetts.

In recent months, representatives of Kinder Morgan, Inc. and its subsidiary, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., have approached Massachusetts landowners, towns and land trusts to ask permission to conduct surveys for a proposed pipeline that would carry natural gas from the New York border across our state to Dracut, MA.  I have heard from many Massachusetts homeowners and businesses that are deeply concerned about the impact of this proposal on their farms and properties.  Conservation commissions in towns along the intended route and citizen groups dedicated to protecting our state's environment have also raised concerns that this proposed natural gas pipeline would needlessly disrupt environmentally sensitive conservation land.   Because I share many of these concerns, I do not support the current proposal.

Kinder Morgan argues that the proposed pipeline could play a role in helping our region meet its energy needs. It is true that New England faces energy infrastructure challenges, and that we currently rely on natural gas for heating in the winter and for electrical generation year round.  Over the past few winters, which have been especially cold, we have experienced some of the highest natural gas prices in the nation. This is a serious problem, which we cannot ignore.  But the need to improve our short-term energy outlook and reduce unacceptably high energy prices does not mean that we should rush to support every energy infrastructure project, no matter the consequences. The decisions we make about energy proposals today will have an impact on future generations, and in each instance we must weigh the potential benefits against the potential consequences -- both in the short-term and long-term.  Before we sink more money in gas infrastructure, we have an obligation wherever possible to focus our investments on the clean technologies of the future -- not the dirty fuels of the past -- and to minimize the environmental impact of all our energy infrastructure projects. We can do better -- and we should.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with me, and I hope that you will reach out to me in the future about issues of importance to you, or if I can ever be of assistance.