Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding to me. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Tonko amendment…”

“I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding to me. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the Tonko amendment and strongly urge its adoption. Section 1101 of this misguided energy bill includes a critical provision that I would like to highlight. This language would allow big energy companies to use aerial and remote surveying to circumvent key FERC environmental reviews. This troubling provision flies in the face of the rights of local governments and even private landowners to make decisions about the use of their own property. This provision allows Big Energy to bypass more comprehensive and appropriate on-the-ground surveys to assess the environmental impacts of energy infrastructure. Mr. Chairman, there is one such project that New Jerseyans know all too well--the PennEast pipeline. PennEast is the proposed 108-mile natural gas pipeline that would run from Pennsylvania, across the Delaware River, and terminate in Hopewell Township in my district. If built, this pipeline would threaten some of the most environmentally sensitive areas in the Delaware River Basin, farmland, watersheds, and uninterrupted natural areas. Virtually every local government along the PennEast route has officially lodged their opposition or disapproval. Concerned citizens have packed scoping meetings to make their voices heard to stop this pipeline. These are diverse communities across two States represented by Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.…”