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The Constitution is a gas pipeline [1]

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Date: 2025-03-13

Trump wants to shove a natural gas pipeline down the throats of New Englanders. As usual, as the rest of us want to move away from fossil fuels, Mr. Drill, Baby, Drill also wants the natural gas produced as a result, to be used there.

Trump tried to get the Keystone XL pipeline project going again, but he didn't have any takers.

Even when he was in office the first time, Trump couldn't get these projects going. But now, with absolute power, he figures he can wave his magic wand and make the impossible, possible.

A pipeline of any type is fraught with obstacles. Financing, permitting, outraged landowners, environmental lawsuits, just plain bad publicity. Trump promises to fast-track the permitting and those environmental concerns are gone.

"When you add Air Conditioning, and other things, you would have a $5,000 savings per family."

I was thrown off by the $2,300 figure. $5,000 savings is insane. Obviously, you would have to have a bill of like $15,000 in order to save $5,000. It's just another one of those Donald Trump "made up the figures out of thin air" tricks.

He's talking about reviving the Constitution gas pipeline. It got it's name from the Piedmont Constitution Pipeline Company, as you were wondering, just like I did. Trump upholding the Constitution didn't make sense. Somebody needs to tell Trump that Connecticut is part of New England.

The pipeline was canceled in 2020 after an eight year battle to get it built.

When he was signing those executive orders on January 20th, he talked about it.

"We are going to get this done, and once we start construction, we're looking at anywhere from 9 to 12 months, if you can believe it. It will bring down the Energy prices in New York and in all of New England by 50, 60, 70%..."

The question has to be asked just like with the Keystone XL pipeline, if the people originally behind it were still interested. That is yet to be seen. Proposed in 2012, it was originally supposed to be in service by 2015.

If New Yorkers want more natural gas, they could get it just by allowing hydraulic fracturing. New York has vast stores, especially in the southern border with Pennsylvania. When there was a debate about the gas shale revolution, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned fracturing.

In 2015, Yoko Ono, now 92 years old, took out a full page ad in the New York Times opposing the Constitution pipeline. It was deleted on Google Docs, but I found the signup for it on the Wayback Machine:

She was called a nut by the proponents of the pipeline, that she just didn't understand the benefits that Trump is claiming it will have now.

I liked the "IMAGINE THERE IS NO FRACKING!" and the other imagines. I think John Lennon would have approved.

But Trump tries to co-opt environmentalism with "...in order to help the Environment, and save BIG money." Right.

"Otherwise , we'll have to use other authorities." There's an undisguised threat.

"...we won't let that happen any longer. We will use federal!"

Here comes the National Guard in order to make sure the pipeline gets done.

Gas is needed for gas fired power plants. Cheaper gas will reduce electricity costs. At the same time there are options for clean energy available to fill the gap.

If the pipeline moves forward with construction, there will be landowners in the path that will refuse the pipeline passage and then eminent domain comes into play. It won't be pretty. Trump wants to do what he is claiming is being done to white people in South Africa, stealing their land.

Which is best: Gas pipeline, fracking or investing in clean energy generation?

I'm on the other coast. I don't know what energy costs in New York and New England are. But, wherever you are, lower is always better. How you get there makes a difference.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/13/2309961/-The-Constitution-is-a-gas-pipeline?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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