The BOSTON GLOBE editorial page is going all in for new natural gas pipelines.
In an editorial entitled “Why you’ll pay for Beacon Hill’s pipeline folly,” the Globe said it was a big mistake when Beacon Hill lawmakers – “egged on by Attorney General Maura Healey” – blocked efforts to have electric ratepayers finance new natural gas pipeline infrastructure. Instead of saving ratepayers money and protecting the environment, the newspaper said the decision is having the opposite effect.
“Blocking pipelines was pure symbolism. But the resulting emissions — and the resulting costs that Massachusetts legislators imposed on their constituents and the rest of New England — are all too real,” the newspaper said.
The editorial puts the Globe solidly in the camp of business groups, energy industry officials, and the Baker administration and at odds with most Democrats on Beacon Hill and environmental advocates. Interestingly, the pipeline debate is an issue the Globe news pages have largely ignored; indeed, the editorial includes a number of links to sources and related news articles (including one from CommonWealth), but none to the Globe itself. For a podcast featuring a debate between a proponent and an opponent of new pipelines, click here.