Cuomo’s Pipeline Veto Backfires – Now He Is Shipping Natural Gas on Gas-Guzzling Trucks

October 21, 2019

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has a sordid history of letting his environmental ideology harm his constituents, but this time he has really outdone himself.

In May, Cuomo vetoed a pipeline that would have brought natural gas from New Jersey to Long Island, a desperately needed infrastructure upgrade. The extra natural gas is a necessity in the winter when demand rises dramatically.

National Grid, which provides natural gas on Long Island, has been left picking up the pieces of Cuomo’s ill-advised pipeline veto. The only solution? National Grid stopped new natural gas hookups so they could handle the increase in demand for the winter.

The Wall Street Journal has excoriated Cuomo for this blunder, pointing out that average New York residents are paying the price:

This essentially stranded tens of thousands of folks waiting for gas hookups, including more than a thousand who had deactivated their service after moving or renovating. Apparently Mr. Cuomo didn’t understand that the result of his pipeline blockade was to force residents to use more expensive and less-efficient electric appliances for space and water heating.

After folks on Long Island protested—one homeless shelter estimated that electrification would cost an additional $200,000—Mr. Cuomo last week ordered National Grid to reconnect over a thousand customers. He also directed state regulators to investigate National Grid’s decision to disrupt natural gas service and threatened to yank its monopoly.

National Grid now says it plans to truck in compressed natural gas to meet peak demand. Exactly how will this reduce CO2 emissions? The utility won’t be able to guarantee uninterrupted service for the tens of thousands of customers who want to switch to natural gas from heating oil, which emits 38% more CO2. About a quarter of New York households rely on heating oil.

Yes, you read that right. Cuomo’s pipeline veto means that natural gas will now be shipped on trucks to New York.

Sometimes, the incompetence speaks for itself.