The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the federal agency that reviews and regulates new gas infrastructure projects. It is required by law to evaluate the climate impacts of all new pipelines.
The problem is, it’s not actually doing this — and that’s why we’re taking FERC to court.
Our goal is simple: force FERC to start protecting people and the planet — not the bank accounts of oil and gas executives. Challenging a federal agency that is working to benefit large oil and gas companies is never easy. But we know how to win — and we will not back down.
FERC permits the development of interstate fracked gas pipelines and compressor stations. Federal law requires the agency to consider “indirect effects” of the projects it reviews, and federal courts have ruled that climate impacts qualify as such “indirect effects.”
However, FERC has attempted to carve out a policy loophole and has been blatantly ignoring court orders requiring it to consider “indirect effects” and climate impacts. Instead, it only considers the emissions for the construction phase of a project, absurdly claiming that the broader climate impacts from these pipelines are unforeseeable and therefore don’t need to be considered — thus tipping the scale in favor of more and more gas development.
We definitely foresee the climate impacts of these dangerous pipelines, and climate scientists have tools to calculate those impacts. We know that pretending construction of new pipelines will have no impact on the climate is ignorant and reckless — that’s why we’re challenging FERC in federal court.
We’re less than 10 years away from emissions levels that will lock humanity into irreversible and catastrophic climate change. If we don’t make big changes now, the food, water and climate we all depend on will be at risk. We refuse to give in. If government agencies like FERC refuse to follow the law and help combat climate change, we’ll force them to however we can — on the ground, in the halls of Congress and in the courtroom. But we need your help to do so.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
