The Green Party of New York (GPNY) expressed its disagreement with the 'Long Island Six' State Senators who called last week for an end to the moratorium on the Williams gas pipeline construction to Long Island. GPNY officers said an immediate halt to fossil fuel infrastructure construction was an absolute necessity to combat the climate crisis. Green leaders instead called on the state to require use of renewable energy sources for new home construction and a program to aid retrofitting old houses. This has long been part of the Green Party's vision of the Green New Deal.

"Acting in support of the fossil fuel industry, six Long Island State Senators, including Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Todd Kaminsky, have unfortunately caved-in to the threats and extortion attempts of National Grid to push forward the ill-conceived Williams fracked gas pipeline. Building the pipeline would directly contradict the positive renewable energy goals set forth in recent climate legislation — legislation supported by these very same Senators. Locking-in an obsolete, large fossil fuel project that is likely to transport fracked gas for a generation or more will only make us more —not less— dependent on the fuels that create global warming and climate change," said Jim Brown, Nassau County Green Party Secretary.

"As a resident of Environmental Committee Chair, Senator Todd Kaminsky's district, I'm appalled at his timidity to the fossil fuel interests. This project will perpetuate the destruction of our atmosphere with methane gas for generations to come. Cities like Berkeley CA, and San Jose CA, have decided to oppose “natural” (methane emitting) gas in new construction. The actions of those Californian leaders are substantially benefiting both the development of renewable infrastructure, as well as reducing the size of aging gas pipeline infrastructure which poses safety risks. Instead, we call on Sen. Kaminsky and the Long Island Six to put forward legislation that would build out renewables such as geothermal heat pumps on Long Island and New York State to help rapidly transform our economy away from fossil fuels," said Nassau County Green Party Chair Joey Naham.

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