Just last month, Kinder Morgan Inc., an energy company, finally suspended their proposed New England pipeline. The Northeast Energy Direct project (NED), a proposed 188 mile pipeline that would have run through most of Massachusetts and parts of southern New Hampshire, has been officially ‘suspended’. The company claimed that the suspension of the project was due to lack of customer interest, the reality they faced was political opposition and a strong resistance from the people whom the project would have impacted.

Unbeknownst to most americans, there is an entire network of pipelines across the country transporting natural gas just below our feet. These pipelines transport natural gas from the sources to the consumer with various compressor stations along the way. Natural gas has become an increasingly popular energy source, and one marketed as a clean energy by companies like Kinder Morgan and politicians like Hillary Clinton, despite the danger it poses for the environment and human health. With the assumed increase in natural gas usage over the next decade, pipeline projects are being proposed left and right.

The issue of the NED pipeline quickly became personal, as people realized how the land would be impacted, specifically personal property and the visual environment. The pipeline would have run through rivers, wildlife reservations and other conservations lands, as well as smalls towns and farmlands. Lawns across the state of Massachusetts advertised their feelings about the pipeline; a slogan arose ‘Stop the Pipeline — Protect our Common Wealth.’ Organizations like No Fracked Gas in Mass worked fervently to get this proposal dismissed. Though, at the moment, the plan seems dead, the use of the word ‘suspended’ in Kinder Morgan’s statement to drop the pipeline plans suggests that the project may be revisited at some point in the future. The fight is not over as a Kinder Morgan pipeline extension is still on the table for Connecticut.

Kinder Morgan canceling their plans is a huge accomplishment for environmental groups and grassroots organizations, as well as the local people, but it may not be too long before another proposal takes it’s place. Spectra, another energy giant, is ready to push their proposal for their pipeline, Access Northeast, which already has financial backing. The issue remains that due to the increasing reliance on natural gas in the northeast, there will need to be another pipeline unless an alternative source of energy is sought. It is time to move away from dangerous energy that harms people and the environment. A serious clean energy reform would mean that there would be no necessity for such pipelines to be built. Until then, it’s up to the people to say ‘NO’ loud and clear to Kinder Morgan, Spectra, and any other company that wants to destroy land, and claim property to transport their dangerous resource.

Visit No Fracked Gas in Mass for more information.