Trump Accuses New York Governor Cuomo of Prodding US to ‘Buy Energy From Russia’

In May 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rejected a permit for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Gas Pipeline, which was seen by the government as an alternative to acquire much-needed oil supplies.

In his election campaign speech in New Hampshire in the north-eastern US region of New England on Friday, President Donald Trump accused the Democrats of making the US government purchase fuel from Russia, Sputnik reports. 

POTUS claimed that New England currently has “the highest energy costs” in the country because New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did not allow a pipeline to go across the tip of the state “so that oil and gas […] can come” to the region.

“And do you know where you buy energy from? Russia. Did you know that?” Trump said, referring to the many Russian ships with fuel that have allegedly been docked at New England ports due to the fact that Cuomo, a Democratic Party member, “won’t allow the pipeline”.

The remarks came after the New York governor’s administration in May rejected a permit for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipeline to supply fracked natural gas to Long Island and New York City.

The local Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said that “the construction of the pipeline in the ecologically sensitive, historically contaminated, and recovering area—particularly near Raritan Bay—would have an unacceptable negative impact on water quality”.