[View the story "Vermont pipeline expansion reignites fracking debate" on Storify ]Vermont pipeline expansion reignites fracking debate Vermont Gas begins push to expand contested pipeline through Addison County. Storified by AJAMStream · Fri, Oct 04 2013 15:07:29
Addisonindependent
In September, a
public hearing on Phases I and II of the Addison County pipeline project drew 600 local residents from Middlebury, Cornwall and Shoreham. The vast majority of those in attendance expressed concerns or outright opposition to the pipeline expansion.
Last public hearing on proposed Addison County pipeline about to start. Majority are opposed. #vt http://twitter.com/DavidWPTZ/status/377565069737209856/photo/1David Charns
@350 please respond regarding addison county planners blessing proposal for pipeline h*ll . http://twitter.com/marygerdt/status/369940259699556352/photo/1Mary Gerdt
In 2012 Vermont became the
first state to ban the natural gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracking. The Vermont Gas pipeline delivers natural gas to Vermonters from Canadian sources, some of which use fracking. Many Vermonters see the
state's push for increased use of natural gas while banning fracking as a contradiction.
Leaders in Vermont - where fracking is banned - tout economic and environmental benefits of natural gas: http://bit.ly/1d2uCGISteve Everley
Vermont doesn't want fracking, but we want fracked gas. Hmmmm... http://fb.me/Tx6Sy2F7Vermont Commons
Others point to developments in the Canadian natural gas market, noting that the proportion of natural gas that comes from fracking is likely to increase over time.
Given the real possibility that the TransCanada Pipeline may eventually throw in the towel trying to bring western Canadian natural gas into the northeast US and Ontario, with its market share increasingly snared by shale gas from the Marcellus, it’s a pretty good assumption that someday, the gas going through that compressor is going to be from a fracked well, the kind that is banned in Vermont. It won’t be from a conventional Alberta or Saskatchewan well.blogs.platts.com
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) put fracking at the center of its
protest against Phase II of the pipeline project. VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns led a
press conference on Thursday outside Vermont Gas headquarters to release a report on Vermont's use of natural gas sourced from fracking.
Vermonters deserve to know the truth about the fracked gas that Vermont Gas wants import through a new pipeline. Since the gas dealer has intentionally downplayed the real threat posed by this controversial drilling method, today VPIRG gave Vermont Gas a reading assignment: a new report that measures the toll fracking has taken. Click here to read Fracking by the Numbers, the Environment America report we released today: http://bit.ly/FrackingbyNumbersVPIRG
"If we expand our reliance on natural gas for decades to come we're just locking in a fossil fuel technology that will cause environmental destruction somewhere else," said Paul Burns of VPIRG.wcax.com
“If fracking is too dirty and dangerous for us here in Vermont, then we must admit that it is not acceptable just because it’s taking place in Alberta, Pennsylvania or anyplace else,” Burns said.vtdigger.org
Don Gilbert, president and CEO of Vermont Gas, touted what he considered the benefits of the project in a company press release announcing the Phase II plans.
“Natural gas has played a key role in the economic opportunities and environmental improvements in Chittenden and Franklin counties, and it is expected to bring $200 million in energy savings to Addison County communities over the next 20 years, while reducing emissions by 300,000 tons,”addisonindependent.com
Phase II of the Addison County pipeline would
put in place the necessary infrastructure to bring natural gas to the
economically struggling southern Vermont city of Rutland. Rutland's mayor is an outspoken advocate for building the pipeline, arguing that southern Vermont's access to the energy sources used in
northern Vermont is an issue of "economic fairness."
As a matter of economic fairness, Vermont should embrace the opportunity to extend these benefits to more of our state. Those who can afford, financially, to pass up this opportunity — or finance the opposition — should not deny others opportunities to ensure a more economically secure quality of life.burlingtonfreepress.com
What do you think of Vermont's pipeline expansion? Leave a comment below.
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