Rallies like this one in 2019 organized by Clean Ocean Action and other grassroots coalitions helped lead to the denial of permits by both New Jersey and New York officials for a proposed natural gas pipeline under Raritan Bay.
By Elizabeth Wulfhorst
More than 100 people logged on to a Zoom meeting held by local environmental organizations Monday, May 18 to celebrate the denial of permits by Gov. Phil Murphy for the Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project.
After a rousing rendition of “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang, Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action (COA) based in Long Branch, said, “Congratulations! We beat NESE!” and apologized for getting a little emotional. “This is truly a remarkable, remarkable victory,” she said, thanking all the volunteers who worked to reach this outcome through petitions, letters, rallies and calls to elected officials. She also recognized the COA staff “who all worked very, very hard over the last year and a half…to bring this victory.”
“Our air, bay and ocean are safe for now!!” Zipf said in an email to The Two River Times. On the Zoom celebration, Matt Smith from Food & Water Watch also thanked all the volunteers and elected officials who helped achieve this outcome.
“This win is about us, right? This win does not happen without thousands of us taking action here in New Jersey, without so many dedicated volunteers… without a strategic coalition that really fought over a historic four-year campaign with a singular goal of getting Gov. Murphy to reject these permits,” he said.
“When we come together and stay together with that singular focus to hold our elected official accountable,” goals can be accomplished, Smith said.
According to Smith, this was the first time New Jersey stopped a project already approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas.
Peter Blair, the policy attorney for COA, thanked everyone for making sure NESE “remained a proposal and never a reality.”
And Jeff Tittel, the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, who called Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Murphy the “Batman and Robin of the environment,” said getting people involved, putting pressure on elected officials and educating the public were the keys to success.
“This is a great victory and a great model of working together at both the local level and with elected officials,” he said.
The article originally appeared in the May 21 – 27, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
