The Constitution Pipeline is back from the dead John and FERC is only giving us until Jan 30 to stop it!
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The Constitution pipeline was supposed to be dead. From 2012-2016, we fought hard to stop this pipeline from Pennsylvania, through New York, and connecting to New England pipeline networks that serve Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. A combination of our advocacy at the federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), state water quality permit rejections in New York, and economic factors finally led to the pipeline giving up and withdrawing it’s applications in 2020.
But in 2025, the pipeline’s owners asked FERC to reissue its previous Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPG). They claim this is part of Trump’s national “energy emergency” and his “National Energy Dominance Council.” We know it’s nothing more than the latest attempt to build a huge and polluting pipeline at taxpayer and ratepayer expense. FERC, always a rubber stamp agency, accepted the filing in December of 2025, and has opened up a comment period until January 29th.
Click here to sign and send a quick comment with us and our friends at Beyond Extreme Energy.
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There are a lot of reasons to opposed the Constitution Pipeline. For starters, there's no reason to rubber stamp the same permit from 2013 when it’s now 2026. A lot has changed since Obama was president, you know? And re-issuing the permit with no new review means that anyone who’s moved in or out of the pipeline's path of destruction in the last 10 years could be disenfranchised.
Second it's unnecessary: New England gas capacity has grown more than 50% since 2014, but natural gas prices are higher than ever. For another thing, the New York Attorney General’s office, among others, have argued that FERC is violating a Court Order from the Second Circuit, US District Court of Appeals, by re-opening the old CPG, and not making Constitution start over. But Trump's FERC shows no signs of slowing down or stopping. They claim to have "broad discretion" in how they manage pipeline permits, and this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve ignored a court order.
And of course all that is to say nothing of the climate and environmental impacts. Burning the 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas a day that Constitution would supply, would cause roughly 13 million metric tons of global warming pollution annually just from combustion. Combined with methane leaks and venting as part of the drilling process, this is simply an unacceptable amount of climate pollution.
But unless we say something by 5pm on January 29th, we may not get another opportunity to comment or protest. Click here and we’ll help you craft a quick sample comment to FERC opposing the constitution Pipeline.
We'll deliver all the letters to FERC and their Office of Public Participation before the deadline – and also direct you to instructions on how to file your own comment or file as an intervenor. You can also submit a quick comment directly through the FERC website here – this is an easy way to ask them to extend the comment period – and get tools and talking points from our friends No Fracked Gas in Mass.
Thanks,
Drew & the 198 methods to Unfrack FERC crew
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198 methods is an experiment in melding online and direct action styles of organizing, with an emphasis on developing new projects and partners. You can learn more about us at our website, www.198methods.org
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