Indigenous grandmas, Mark Ruffalo launch 108-mile Women’s Water Walk against proposed Constitution Pipeline
Environmentalists and Indigenous leaders, including Mark Ruffalo, launched a 108-mile "Women's Water Walk" to protest the proposed revival of the Constitution Pipeline, which they claim would harm water quality to power AI data centers and increase utility bills. New York State is opposing the federal government's attempt to circumvent its permitting process, arguing the state retains authority over water quality reviews. Proponents, however, argue the pipeline would save New Yorkers billions on energy costs.
Environmentalists and Indigenous leaders, including actor Mark Ruffalo, have launched a 108-mile "Women's Water Walk" to protest the proposed revival of the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline. The walk, starting in Bainbridge and ending in Schoharie, New York, with a water delivery planned for Governor Kathy Hochul in Albany, highlights concerns that the pipeline, intended to carry fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania through several New York counties, would damage water quality to power artificial intelligence data centers and ultimately raise utility bills for residents.
The New York State government, under Governor Hochul, is actively opposing the project, stating that no proposal is currently before the state and that the developer, Williams Company, is attempting to use the federal government to bypass New York's permitting process. The state previously denied a required water quality certification in 2016, a decision upheld by a federal appeals court. However, the Williams Company, which critics claim tailors its business to the AI sector, and the Trump administration in 2025 started pushing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to revive it, prompting New York State to sue FERC.
Proponents, including Republican Assemblymember Matt Simpson and former New York State elected official Lee Zeldin (now EPA Administrator), cite a Daymark Energy Advisors report suggesting the pipeline could save New York consumers billions on energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. The FERC's public comment period for the project's Environmental Assessment is closing soon, intensifying the dispute between state and federal authorities and environmental advocates.