Mayor Bill de Blasio today joined with advocates and elected officials to call on National Grid to halt the North Brooklyn Pipeline project.
“Climate change is an existential threat to our city and we must transition quickly to clean energy. Today, I am voicing my opposition to National Grid’s North Brooklyn Pipeline because we cannot justify the environmental impacts on the largely Black and Brown residents of Brooklyn associated with an unnecessary pipeline expansion. Racial and environmental justice go hand-in-hand, and National Grid has failed to clearly demonstrate that this pipeline is needed to keep New Yorkers warm and safe. I am calling on them to withdraw this project immediately," said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Our climate crisis demands an end to new fossil fuel infrastructure, here in New York City and around the globe,” said Daniel Zarrilli, NYC's Chief Climate Policy Advisor. “Even in this moment as federal climate leadership is poised to re-emerge, it is clear that cities like New York will need to continue raising their climate ambitions. Earlier this year, Mayor de Blasio signed a ground-breaking executive order opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure serving our city and we are following through on that pledge. That’s why we are divesting our pensions from fossil fuels, investing billions into job-creating climate solutions like solar, wind, and hydro, and fighting destructive projects like the Williams pipeline and the North Brooklyn pipeline that are undermining our future.”
“With the Mayor’s announcement against National Grid’s fracked gas pipeline, there is now unanimous opposition from local city, state, and federal elected officials and tens of thousands of New Yorkers in the affected areas from Brownsville to Greenpoint. So far National Grid has ignored the will of the people and continued construction, but New York City is united against their plans to lock us in to decades of raising our rates for more fossil fuels, pollution, and climate chaos for their private profit. We look forward to continuing our work with the Mayor’s office as we operationalize the Executive Order to end the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, like the LNG facility at the apex of the North Brooklyn Pipeline,” said Kim Fraczek, Director, Sane Energy Project, a co-founding member of No NBK Pipeline Coalition.
“We have to prioritize lower income communities of color that have been stripped of resources and exploited for profit for too long. We’re calling on our elected officials to fight this pipeline with sustainable love through environmental practices. Restorative justice includes environmental justice for the Black and Brown communities. Going forward, we must foster bold solutions that would prevent projects like the Metropolitan Reliability Infrastructure (North Brooklyn Pipeline) from ever being constructed in this neighborhood. We need more investments in sustainable development, green spaces, clean energy and processes that reflect social inclusion and equity for our community. Brownsville is not a sacrifice zone," said Gabriel Jamison, a founding member of the Brownsville Residents Green Committee.
“Mayor de Blasio’s opposition to the North Brooklyn fracked gas pipeline is welcome news and yet another clear signal that New Yorkers will never allow National Grid to double down on fossil fuels. It’s obvious that we must not build infrastructure that will lock us into decades of ruinous reliance on fossil fuels. We’re proud to stand united with Mayor de Blasio and New Yorkers from all five boroughs in opposition to the North Brooklyn Pipeline and all other new fossil fuel projects,” said Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director at Food & Water Watch, a member of the No NBK Pipeline Coalition.
“As a Brownsville resident and Sandy survivor, it’s good to see the City oppose this polluting project. It’s time to go off fracked gas. It makes no sense to build entirely new gas infrastructure, and then let National Grid stick all of us with the bill,” said Rachel Rivera, a member of New York Communities for Change.
“People power stopped the Williams fracked gas pipeline. People power secured an executive order from the mayor of the biggest city in USA banning new fossil fuel infrastructure. Now the mayor is seeing that forward, clearly opposing the unnecessary and risky North Brooklyn pipeline. It's time for National Grid to wake up and realize the future is in renewables, not yet more losing attempts at building new fracked gas infrastructure,” said Dominique Thomas, lead organizer, 350.org.
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