Opposition to natural gas projects has moved from exploration and production to transportation, speakers said during a discussion on Capitol Hill of US gas infrastructure needs. “Pipeline opposition has become a stand-in for opposition to fossil fuels for some groups,” said Kim Watson, Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) eastern pipeline group president. “Attacking hydraulic fracturing hasn’t worked, so opponents have focused on attacking pipelines,” Watson told attendees at a June 24 forum sponsored by the US House Natural Gas Caucus. “They’re using the same scare stories and misinformation they tried upstream.” George Stark, external affairs director for Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s eastern US operations, said, “The resource is stranded. We have the supplies ready to be produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They won’t be affected by Gulf Coast hurricanes. All we lack is the capacity to get it to customers.” Cabot has fewer rigs drilling wells on its Appalachian leases in 2015 than it did in 2013 and 2014, Stark told OGJ following the event. That would change with approval of two pending pipeline projects with capacity to transport 500 MMcfd each, he said.