To: Governor Charlie Baker

Stop the Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. Northeast Energy Direct Project

I am opposed to this pipeline because:
• We do not need it! You have a done a good job in advancing the use of renewable energy sources in our state. There is more than enough gas-pipeline capacity to meet our domestic electricity needs here in Massachusetts, especially given our energy efficiency programs, a fact backed up by reports commissioned by NESCOE. The Low Demand Scenario outlined in the Black & Veatch study has NOT been investigated as an option, an omission I urge you to remedy. Do not mar your track record.
• The proposed pipeline is speculation about hopes for profits from export markets by companies that have no regard for our communities or our conservation lands.
• The pipeline will be transporting fracked gas. I am opposed to fracking, an industry causing untold suffering and irreversible damage to people, property, and the environment.
• The toxic chemicals in fracked gas are released to the environment in the drilling fields, along the transmission lines, compressor stations and via old, leaky distribution systems in population centers. Health and well-being of our people and farms are irreversibly damaged.
• I am opposed to the building of any new fossil fuel infrastructure. Climate change is real.
• This pipeline will not keep the price of natural gas down. Quite the contrary. Serving foreign markets will only drive the price up here in the US.
• This pipeline would cut through pristine lands, including at least 15 miles of conservation trust lands. I am opposed to any project that undermines the great legacy of conservation that the majority of Massachusetts residents hold dear and of which we are so proud

Why is this important?

We do not need it! You have a done a good job in advancing the use of renewable energy sources in our state. There is more than enough gas-pipeline capacity to meet our domestic electricity needs here in Massachusetts, especially given our energy efficiency programs, a fact backed up by reports commissioned by NESCOE. The Low Demand Scenario outlined in the Black & Veatch study has NOT been investigated as an option, an omission I urge you to remedy. Do not mar your track record.