In our new report, we lay out how Massachusetts can move away from dirty gas for home heating and towards a clean future. We also offer a framework for other New England states to start kicking gas to the curb.
“Renewable natural gas” is not a large-scale climate solution. It’s a shameless attempt by the fossil fuel industry to convince New Englanders to pay for more polluting pipelines.
Two years after gas explosions rocked the Merrimack Valley, Lawrence is still fighting to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of its residents. And in fighting for Lawrence’s recovery, we can protect communities across the Commonwealth, too.
After a three-year battle, Liberty Utilities has dropped plans for a controversial gas pipeline and liquified natural gas storage facility. This unnecessary, dirty project would have cost an eye-watering $400 million dollars – saddling New Hampshire families and businesses with the costs for decades to come.
“While today’s guilty plea hopefully brings some element of closure in this disaster, the risks that fracked gas poses to our communities and our climate can only be addressed by breaking our addiction to fossil fuels,” said Greg Cunningham, Vice President & Director of CLF’s Clean Energy Climate Change program. “As the Commonwealth considers transferring the utility privileges held by Columbia Gas to a new owner, it must ensure that gas utilities are truly committed to safety and combatting the climate crisis. The funds from this settlement must be directed towards the historically marginalized communities that have been hit hardest by this disaster.”
Getting serious about climate change means getting serious about our gas use. It means all of us working together to build a clean energy future that doesn’t require the expensive and polluting buildout of more fracked gas. We don’t need it. And we can’t afford it.
Every winter the gas industry tries to scare us, claiming there isn’t enough gas during cold snaps to heat and power our homes. Their solution? More fracked gas and new, expensive gas pipelines. But we don’t have to buy into their propaganda. We have all the power we need without expensive new pipelines.
In 2015, energy giant Invenergy announced its plan to pave over a pristine forest in Burrillville, Rhode Island, to build a 1,000-megawatt fracked gas and diesel oil power plant. For the next four years, CLF and the town of Burrillville fought to keep the polluting behemoth from being built.
Winter snow and ice bring out Big Gas’s fearmongers. Why is the region’s electric grid operator among them?
Ever winter, as the cold rolls in and New Englanders turn up their heat, the gas industry starts calling for more pipelines. But if we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use—including the use of fracked gas—by 2050 at the very latest.
