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Trump’s renewed push for controversial upstate pipeline spells bad news for bats
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Jun 15, 2026
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By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Jun 15, 2026
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President Donald Trump is renewing calls for New York to approve a 125-mile natural gas pipeline that would stretch from Pennsylvania to the Mohawk Valley and right through a habitat for severely endangered bats.
Gothamist spoke to several bat experts who said disturbances such as construction and excavating would negatively affect the nocturnal mammals, potentially degrading bat pups’ chances of survival. Female bats give birth to only one or two pups per year. Tree-clearing would cause further harm to bat species that hibernate in trees.
”With all of this movement, all of these vibrations, all of this construction, what is going to happen is a massive disruption of that peace, that quiet, that darkness that the bats need,” said Rodrigo Medellín, chair of the World Conservation Union Vertebrate Committee. “Disruption of the roost is absolutely a crucial threat that we need to stop in its tracks before we lose more species of bats.”
Ecologists focused on bats said the proposed pipeline would pass through Schoharie County, a particularly sensitive region, about 50 miles west of Albany. The bat population in the area has been reduced by nearly 90% over the last two decades as a result of white-nose syndrome, experts said. The region is ground zero for the fatal fungal disease that disrupts hibernation, leading to starvation and dehydration.
”Because of the declines due to white-nose syndrome, many of our bats that hibernate in the Northeast during the winter have congregated in a relatively small number of roosts,” said Elise Lauterbur, a biology professor at the University of Vermont. “That means you're potentially disturbing a very large proportion of the bat population in that area. So that is also especially problematic “
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on the tarmac of JFK Airport last week. Trump said Hochul had backed out of a deal over pipeline projects.
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
Williams Companies, which pitched the project, has said it could put the Constitution Pipeline in service by the second quarter of 2028. The proposed subterranean pipes have the capacity to serve 3 million households in the Northeast region.
The Constitution Pipeline was first proposed more than a decade ago. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the project on the grounds that it could pollute local waterways. Williams brought an unsuccessful lawsuit against the state and withdrew its application for the project in 2020.
But Williams has looked to revive the project in Trump’s second term. When he took office in January, Trump pushed for fossil fuel projects and killed wind power projects. He declared a national energy emergency and fast-tracked new fossil fuel infrastructure. Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin have said the Constitution Pipeline is a project that would help drive down utility bills in the Northeast.
Trump accused Gov. Kathy Hochul last week of breaking a deal over the pipeline. The president claimed he had allowed two offshore wind projects in New York proceed in exchange for permitting two new pipelines.
“She broke the deal. We made a deal, we were going to give her a couple of windmills someplace because she likes windmills,” Trump said. “We made the deal, so I guess we're withdrawing those windmills.”
Hochul approved a separate pipeline project that will serve New York City homes last year, following lobbying from the White House.
The White House previously told Politico thatHochul “caved” to Trump and agreed to allow two pipelines in New York in exchange for removing the stop-work order on the two offshore wind projects currently under construction.
The governor’s office said no such deal existed. She has said she told the president that New York was open to gas projects as long as they met state laws and regulations.
“This is completely false as the president looks for yet another way to feed his obsession with killing offshore wind,” Hochul spokesperson Ken Lovett said. “Gov. Hochul has repeatedly made clear there was never any deal with the White House on gas pipelines.”
Advocacy groups and many local residents are strongly opposed to the project because of its environmental impacts and because it violates the state climate law, which requires the state to retire fossil fuel power. According to Environmental Advocates NY, the project would potentially disturb more than 250 streams, creeks and other water courses, including 85 trout streams. The pipeline would also affect 85 acres of wetlands and nearly 500 acres of forest.
Protesters rallied against the Constitution pipeline in 2016.
Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
“The threats are clear,” said Katherine Nadeau, deputy executive director at Environmental Advocates NY. “New Yorkers deserve clean water and clean drinking water, and the courts have upheld the state's decision to protect our water. We need New York state to stand strong.”
The pipeline owner, Williams, is worth more than $100 billion and has the largest volume of natural gas pipelines in the country. The Oklahoma-based energy giant withdrew its application last fall after receiving notices of insufficient information from the DEC. Instead of resubmitting its application, Williams filed a petition in December with the federal government to circumvent New York’s authority. A coalition of environmental groups has sued the federal government over the effort.
“We’re encouraged by constructive conversations with the New England states and are optimistic about securing customer commitments in the near future,” Cherice Corley, a spokesperson for Williams, wrote via email.
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Rosemary Misdary
Rosemary is health & science reporter. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 646-544-9524.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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