New England is Next: A Funder Briefing on Expanding Natural Gas Infrastructure and its Intersections with Health, Food, Justice & More

Event Type: 
In-Person Meeting
Geographic Focus: 
National
When: 
July 29, 2016 - 9:00am to 2:00pm
Location: 

Boston, Massachusetts

Save the Date

Co-Organized By: An Environmental Trust, Inc., Island Foundation, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Solidago Foundation, The Fine Fund, and The Heinz Endowments; Hosted by The Barr Foundation

 

New England has an urgent 2- to 4-year window for action before proposed new natural gas infrastructure would create a "lock-in" of ongoing fossil fuel dependence for the next 50 years. This is not just an energy crossroads—experiences in other regions indicate that expanding natural gas infrastructure has major implications for human health, water quality, clean air, food systems, land conservation, social justice, and more. The stakes couldn't be higher.

With most of the region's last coal-fired power plants retiring by 2017, wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources are poised for major growth. At the same time, a web of new natural gas infrastructure is being proposed: new pipelines, pipeline expansions, compressor stations, storage tanks, and more. These would unnecessarily increase New England's already precarious reliance on natural gas—already at 50%—and tie us even more tightly to the destructive extraction of fracked natural gas in the mid-Atlantic and other regions.

Even if you don’t consider yourself an energy funder, expanding natural gas infrastructure will impact your work—examples like a Pennsylvania organic farmer’s opposition to a proposed compressor station, research on ecological effects of forest fragmentation by pipelines, and emerging research on the health impacts of compressor station emissions show us that it's just a matter of time.  

Join us to hear from fellow funders and advocates about the scope and nature of the proposed natural gas build-out, the lessons learned from the mid-Atlantic, the many intersections with the topics above, and the rapid response already underway on the ground by activists and grassroots groups. We’ll have an open conversation to explore the shared concerns these intersections raise for funders coming from different entry points.

Please contact Sarah Kelley, skelley@islandfdn.org, with questions, and look for a registration link coming soon. 

Issue Area: 
Environment (Air, Water, Land)
Environmental & Social Justice
Fracking
Health

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