In case you missed it: Calls intensify from West Coast leaders for federal agency to reject fracked gas pipeline project
WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Oregon?s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), today urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject a proposal from TC Energy for a major expansion of methane gas infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest, as FERC is scheduled to take up the proposal at a Thursday meeting.
?We write to express our opposition to TC Energy?s proposed Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress Project, and to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject TC Energy?s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. TC Energy?s project would increase rates for consumers, cause over $8.8 billion in climate damages and undermine our states? efforts to combat the climate crisis just so that a Canadian company can increase the shipment of Canadian fracked methane gas. Elected officials from across Washington, Oregon, and California have been clear: this project is incompatible with our climate laws,? the Senators wrote in a letter to FERC?s four commissioners.
The GTN Xpress Project faces opposition not only from Senators, but also from Governor Tina Kotek (D-OR), Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA), and the Attorneys General of all three West Coast states.
?We are in the midst of a climate crisis, and the only way to defeat climate change is to end our use of fossil fuels. That?s it,? said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. ?Every new fossil fuel project leaves another generation chained to the damage of climate chaos. We must focus intensely on building up our clean energy infrastructure and ensure our children and grand-children have access to the clean energy options and opportunities they deserve and need.?
Inslee sent a letter to FERC in March 2023 voicing Washington state?s strong opposition to the project.
|