Boston Globe Editors Nail It – US Pipelines Keep Russian LNG Out
To the Editors of the Boston Globe:
We couldn’t agree more with your February 13 editorial “Our Russian ‘pipeline’ and its ugly toll” decrying the importation of liquified natural gas from Russia into the Everett LNG Import Terminal. Imports like this are bad for America’s energy security, bad for the American consumer and bad for the global environment.
The Massachusetts government has a history of denying permits for pipeline projects to supply regionally-sourced natural gas produced and transported under rigorous environmental protections. This has resulted in the substitution of far costlier natural gas from a terminal in the Russian Arctic that is an unmitigated environmental disaster, supplemented with less clean-burning fuels available locally.
Kudos to the Globe’s editors for recognizing that clean, affordable and abundant locally-produced and pipeline-delivered natural gas is a plus for consumers, the economy and the environment. Migration to natural gas-fired power generation has resulted in America leading the world in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Project construction creates thousands of well-paying local jobs and pumps money into communities and local government coffers along their route. Modern construction techniques coupled with rigorous adherence to the highest standards of environmental care ensures that these projects result in minimal environmental impacts during construction.
Denying critically-needed fossil fuel infrastructure works against the laudable goals of protecting the environment and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Importing Russian LNG to keep the lights on in Massachusetts is an unfortunate example of the perhaps unintended but nevertheless inevitable result of unwise anti-pipeline bias: exporting the burden of required infrastructure to far less environmentally responsible actors worldwide while saddling local citizens and businesses with costlier and less environmentally-friendly energy.
Toby Mack, President
Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance
Washington, DC
