Manchin Objects to New Greenhouse Gas and Environmental Impact Policies on Natural Gas Pipelines
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC)
February policy statements on interstate natural gas projects drew strong objections from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and the two FERC commissioners on the five-person panel who voted against the statements.
Those statements, which add consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts, including on “environmental justice communities,” for FERC to approve natural gas infrastructure, were the subject of a March 3 hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources (ENR).
While FERC had previously determined project need on the basis of contracts to ship the gas from a prospective
pipeline, the first new policy statement adds factors to assess “need.” It also directs FERC to consider environmental impacts, landowner impacts, and impacts on “environmental justice communities,” among other factors.
The second statement presumes that a project emitting 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents has a significant impact on climate change, meaning that the project must undergo more extensive environmental review.
Manchin, who serves as ENR chair,
testified that “the recent action taken by Democratic commissioners … served to elevate environmental considerations above American energy reliability, security, and independence.”
“To deny or put up barriers to natural gas projects and the benefits they provide, while Putin is actively and effectively using energy as an economic and political weapon against our allies, is just beyond the pale,” Manchin said.
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