More than 100 New Yorkers marched through Peekskill on Saturday to call on Governor Hochul to reject Trump’s pipeline agenda and block new fracked gas projects across the state. Starting at Charles Point Park — near the Algonquin Pipeline’s Hudson River crossing and the shuttered Indian Point nuclear facility — marchers rallied on the riverfront, urging Governor Hochul to stand up to Trump and stop costly, polluting fossil fuel projects.
Two major fracked gas pipeline projects previously denied by New York regulators have reemerged: the Williams NESE pipeline, now awaiting a permitting decision from Governor Hochul after a rushed public input process, and the Constitution pipeline, which Trump has reportedly pressured Hochul to reconsider. Advocates warn that approving NESE could open the door to Constitution and other fossil fuel buildouts like the Algonquin expansion in the Hudson Valley — raising utility bills, threatening clean water, and undermining New York’s landmark climate law.
“We need to put our full attention and our investments on developing renewable energy sources, not placing our faith in more ‘drill, baby, drill’ strategies,” said Congressman George Latimer (CD-16). “We face climate disaster if we fail to address the future now.”
“Today’s march sent a clear message to Governor Hochul: New Yorkers will not accept a return to Trump’s fossil fuel agenda,” said Laura Shindell, New York State Director at Food & Water Watch. “Reviving the NESE and Constitution pipelines — and greenlighting expansions like Algonquin — would threaten our water, hike our bills, and undermine the state’s climate commitments. New Yorkers deserve clean air, safe water, and a livable climate — not more dangerous pipelines. The governor must draw the line now and reject these projects once and for all.”
This pipeline push reflects a broader pattern from the Hochul administration. Earlier this year, her administration approved the Iroquois pipeline expansion through the Hudson Valley — a dangerous project that climate and community advocates fought hard to stop. She has also consistently delayed implementation of New York’s landmark climate law, the CLCPA, to the point where she is now being sued by environmental advocates.
“For the sake of our planet and our pocketbooks, New York should be leading the way on renewable energy instead of following President Trump’s orders,” said State Assemblymember Dana Levenberg. “Expanding gas infrastructure will do nothing for us but increase our utility bills and the amount of pollution we breathe. Especially now, as the Trump administration takes actions purposely aimed at increasing New Yorkers’ costs and harming our health, I urge Governor Hochul to stand up for us and reject these pipeline applications.”
“Governor Hochul must stand up to Donald Trump and make clear New York will not approve further expansion of pipelines in the state,” said Courtney Williams, co-founder of Safe Energy Rights Group (SEnRG). “They jeopardize our health, our safety, and our environment. They don’t align with the goals in the CLCPA and further burden my environmental justice community of Peekskill. My neighborhood already has the expanded pipeline system with its Metering and Regulating Station, a Sun Chemicals plant, and the county’s trash incinerator (that runs on fracked gas!), not to mention nearby Indian Point and 40+ years of irradiated spent fuel. Our environmental burden is higher than 98% of census tracts in the state. This expansion will add to that burden.”
Saturday’s march was cosponsored by more than a dozen community and environmental organizations, including Mothers Out Front, NYCD16/15 Indivisible, Climate Families Westchester, NY Communities for Change, Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions, WESPAC, Climate Reality Project Westchester, Sierra Club Lower Hudson Valley, Beyond Plastics, Indivisible New Rochelle, Indivisible Larchmont/Mamaroneck, Safe Energy Rights Group, Peekskill Progressives, Resist Spectra, Green Ossining, and Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition.
“As someone on a fixed income, I immediately worry about how I will be able to afford living in New York when I hear Governor Hochul is caving to Trump and approving fracked gas pipelines like Williams’ NESE project that would raise my utility bills and add millions of tons of pollution,” said Maria Beri, member of New York Communities for Change. “Hochul must not do Trump’s bidding by greenlighting these super-polluting pipelines which make oil and gas billionaires richer off the backs of people like me who are often forced to decide whether to pay the next utility bill or put food on the table.”
“As extreme weather events like drought, floods, and wildfires batter New York, it is foolhardy and immoral to continue burning the fossil fuels that are heating and killing our planet,” said Iris Hiskey Arno of NYCD16/15 Indivisible. “With the federal government awash in climate science deniers, led by a man who says ‘green energy is the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,’ Governor Hochul needs to lead by taking every possible step to mitigate the effects of the climate emergency we’re experiencing. We call on her to deny permits for fracked gas pipelines. We don’t need them; we don’t want them. We want renewable energy now. The governor needs to step up to the plate.”
“We came out to march with our kids because we’re scared and heartbroken about the state of the planet they are inheriting,” said Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh, co-founder of Climate Families Westchester. “Our leaders want us to believe that the expansion of the Algonquin Pipeline will help Westchester reach its climate goals. This is manipulative rhetoric. Any further investment in pipelines is divestment from clean, renewable energy. And the only hope we have of protecting the future of our children is by expanding our clean renewable energy as fast as possible.”
“As a mom, I’m outraged at the proposal to build out more fracked gas infrastructure that is heating up our planet and putting our children’s future in jeopardy,” said Sarah Maine, member of Mothers Out Front Southern Westchester. “And as a ratepayer, I don’t want to pay higher bills to fund long-term investments in more pollution. Our governor should lead the way on responsibly transitioning to renewable energy and more energy efficiency, not double down on fossil fuels. I urge Governor Hochul to reject these unnecessary pipelines.”
