Cold weather does not require more pipelines

After the cold snap we experienced last week, you may be hearing the argument that this is why we need more fracked gas and pipelines. This argument is not at all true. There is absolutely no need to build new fossil fuel infrastructure for a peak in energy use a few days a year. The Conservation Law Foundation explains it well in their piece, Cold Snap Shows We Still Don’t Need New Gas Pipelines.

"New Englanders just weathered the worst cold snap that we’ve faced in 100 years, complete with a new phenomenon known as a “bombcyclone.” Now don’t be mistaken, a “bombcyclone” does not involve Armageddon, the sky falling, or even blackouts due to energy shortages. But you’d have thought so based on the news over the past two weeks. The reality is that while the cold drove up wholesale electricity prices – particularly during the few hours each day when power demand is at a peak (mostly mornings and evenings when we’re all at home) – our energy system weathered the frigid temps remarkably well, and clean energy excelled.

That didn’t prevent supporters of big gas pipeline projects, including our electricity grid operator and the gas industry, from once again trying to instill fear in us. Their increasingly tired argument: That without expensive new gas infrastructure projects, we are doomed to high electricity prices, unreliable power, and oil emissions polluting our air.

But we’ve been here before. We didn’t buy into their arguments then, and we’re not buying them now. New Englanders simply won’t foot the bill for billions of dollars’ worth of new pipelines that our climate and wallets cannot afford – and that aren’t actually needed to keep the lights on and our homes warm. And lessons we’ve learned over the past year, including through this recent cold spell, only hardened that resolve." (Source: Conservation Law Foundation)

Click here to read the full article.