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.
Just as families in Newport County prepared for a brutal winter night in late January, National Grid cut gas service to more than 7,000 customers, leaving homes and businesses in the cold. They called it a precaution and couldn’t say how it would last. Ultimately, the outage lasted a full week.
“As we said in June, this is a huge victory for Rhode Island and for the health of our communities,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “In the face of climate emergency, opening a fossil fuel plant that will spew carbon pollution for decades is simply reckless. After years of lies and misinformation, Invenergy’s efforts to pave over a forest to build this dirty plant have been dealt a substantial loss. This is proof that communities can stand up to big gas and win.”
“Customers should absolutely not be straddled with higher bills because of the mistakes of utilities,” said Amy Moses, Vice President and Director of CLF Rhode Island. “But the report’s suggestion of reducing demand for gas simply doesn’t go far enough. We need to get off dirty fracked gas and focus on clean renewables, not expand infrastructure that only harms our air and destroys our climate.”
Late last month, Invenergy – the Chicago-based energy company that’s been trying to build a fossil fuel power plant in the forests of Burrillville, Rhode Island since 2015 – was denied a key permit it needs to start construction. This was a victory for CLF, for the people of Burrillville, and for everyone in New England.
Today, Invenergy was denied a permit to pave over a pristine forest in Burrillville to build a fracked gas and diesel oil power plant that would emit carbon pollution for decades. This is a victory for CLF, for the people of Burrillville, and for a world facing a climate emergency.
“This is a huge victory for Rhode Island and for the health of our communities,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “In the face of climate emergency, opening a fossil fuel plant that will spew carbon pollution for decades is simply reckless. After years of lies and misinformation, Invenergy’s efforts to pave over a forest to build this dirty plant have been dealt a substantial loss. Today’s decision is proof that communities can stand up to big gas and win.”
Here in New England, we rely too much on fracked gas to heat and power our homes and businesses. If we want to avoid a climate catastrophe, we need to end fossil fuel use by 2050.
After a month-long hiatus, the Invenergy Final Hearing has resumed. At stake is whether Rhode Island’s Energy Facility Siting Board will grant Invenergy a permit to pave over a forest in Burrillville to build a new fracked gas and diesel oil power plant.
The ISO’s Forward Capacity Auction 13, conducted on Monday, February 4, 2019, showed once again – strongly and unequivocally – that the proposed Invenergy fracked gas and diesel oil power plant is not needed.
