WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:
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WHAT → happen → ?
There are 15 days until the midterm elections, with early voting starting today in Texas.
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voting → be → Texas
President Donald Trump has a full week ahead.
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Trump → have → week
He will be traveling to some key Senate races, including Kansas, Iowa, North Carolina, and Florida.
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He → travel → Kansas
President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to revive the Constitution Pipeline in New York, and now his administration is officially funding the project.
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administration → vow → project
Keep reading to see how much the Department of Energy is investing in the long-sought-after pipeline, using national defense authorities to do so.
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Department → keep → authorities
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you → send → you
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CONTROVERSIAL CONSTITUTION PIPELINE ‘CRITICAL’ FOR NATIONAL SECURITY:
The Trump administration is using national defense authorities to invest more than $40 million on building the Constitution Pipeline, a controversial natural gas pipeline project President Donald Trump vowed to revive after it was blocked by New York state for years.
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it → sign → years
The Department of Energy announced this morning that it is using Defense Production Act funding to advance the project, providing up to $42 million.
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it → announce → million
The administration has used this Cold War-era law several times over the last few weeks to accelerate the development of fossil fuel projects, including pipelines and refineries, as well as transmission infrastructure in Alaska.
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administration → use → Alaska
Trump signed multiple executive orders in April, allowing agencies to use DPA funding, declaring the development, manufacturing, and deployment of large-scale energy infrastructure as critical to national defense.
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agencies → sign → defense
A quick reminder: The Constitution Pipeline is a 125-mile natural gas pipeline project that would deliver natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York and New England.
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that → deliver → York
The project first received federal approval in 2014, but was later blocked by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration as officials denied developer Williams Companies water quality permits required under the Clean Water Act.
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officials → receive → Act
The project was ultimately abandoned and canceled in 2020.
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project → abandon → 2020
In the early months of the second Trump administration, though, Williams moved quickly to revive its permits to construct the pipeline.
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Williams → move → pipeline
In May of last year, Williams confirmed it was in conversations with state officials and local regulators regarding the project.
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it → confirm → project
The timing of Williams’ renewed interest in the Constitution Pipeline coincided with an apparent agreement made between Trump and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul over the administration’s pause on an offshore wind farm.
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timing → renew → farm
At the time, many speculated that the administration pressured Hochul to allow pipeline projects to move forward in exchange for Trump allowing the wind farm to continue construction.
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farm → speculate → construction
Who will buy the gas?
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Who → buy → gas
While the project has federal backing, it remains unclear if developers have secured customers who would actually buy the gas pumped through the pipeline.
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who → have → pipeline
In July, Bloomberg reported that not a single utility had announced a purchase agreement regarding the project, which has been in the works for more than 10 years.
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which → report → years
Consolidated Edison, which provides electricity to all of New York City and much of downstate New York, told the outlet at the time that it had no plans to purchase gas from the project.
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it → provide → project
The company declined to comment when we reached out to them today.
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we → decline → them
Other major utilities in New England, including Eversource, National Grid, and Avangrid, did not respond to our request for comment.
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utilities → include → comment
Unitil, which services parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, told Daily on Energy that it has not entered any purchase agreements related to the Constitution Pipeline, and said the project “does not currently serve locations that align with our system needs.”
Williams did not answer Daily on Energy’s inquiry regarding whether the company has signed purchase agreements with prospective customers.
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company → service → customers
Instead, spokesperson Cherice Corley told Callie that the Northeast region “continues to face significant natural gas supply constraints that drive up costs for families and businesses and increase reliance on higher-emission fuels.”
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that → tell → fuels
“The Constitution pipeline is designed to help address those challenges by delivering reliable, affordable energy to the region while supporting economic growth and emissions reductions,” Corley continued.
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Corley → design → growth
“Williams remains committed to working through the regulatory process to advance this important infrastructure project.”
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Williams → remain → project
The Trump administration plans to offer the first-ever offshore lease sale to allow for deep-sea mining of critical minerals.
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administration → plan → minerals
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it would offer two areas totaling nearly 32 million acres off the coast of American Samoa for deep sea mining.
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it → say → mining
It would allow companies to recover polymetallic nodules, which are potato-size rocks on the sea floor that contain minerals like cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, and nickel.
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that → allow → cobalt
The lease auction is set to take place on Nov. 19.
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auction → set → Nov.
Plans to offer offshore leases in the region are already facing legal challenges brought by Faʻasao Amerika Samoa and Conservation Council for Hawaii, which is being represented by Earthjustice.
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which → offer → Earthjustice
The groups filed a lawsuit over the summer in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii.
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groups → file → Hawaii
GEOTHERMAL LEASE SALE OVERLAPPING WITH SOLAR PROJECTS: Early this week, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management is holding a lease sale for 83 parcels of land spanning more than 265,000 acres for geothermal development – several of which were going to be developed for solar.
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several → overlap → solar
Federal documents reviewed by Reuters reveal that multiple parcels set to be offered in tomorrow’s auction overlap with roughly 6,000 acres of where NextEra Energy planned to build its Sawtooth Energy Center in Nye County, Nevada.
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Energy → review → County
This overlapping section makes up roughly 60% of the area where the 1,000 megawatt solar farm would be built.
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farm → overlap → area
Reuters reported that in maps published in August by BLM showed six proposed geothermal parcels overlapping with four solar projects in Nevada.
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parcels → report → Nevada
NextEra Energy asked BLM to remove, defer, or reconfigure three of the proposed parcels.
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Energy → ask → parcels
The agency reportedly denied the request and told the company that federal lands are managed for multiple uses.
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lands → deny → uses
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
