The largest business organization in western Massachusetts has endorsed controversial pipeline projects to bring more natural gas to the region.
Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce President Jeff Ciuffreda said the cost and availability of energy is now the top concern of the organization’s membership.
"When we looked at the renewables, and we are very supportive of that and will be, it just won't produce, in our estimation, the energy we need to grow in a relatively short period of time," Ciuffreda said.
The chamber called for development of the Kinder Morgan pipeline project in Massachusetts and the expansion of an existing natural gas pipeline by Spectra Energy in Connecticut.
Environmentalists and landowners fiercely oppose both projects.
