by Ken Hemphill
Work on the ME2 had barely restarted after Sunoco’s tax-deductible slap from DEP when spokesman Jeff Shields uttered this remarkable statement: “It is important to note that safety and risk reduction are built into the strict federal regulations that pipeline operators have to follow...” Like a cigarette CEO saying his carcinogenic product complies with strict federal health regulations, Shields invoked regulatory rules which polluters have so eviscerated that cancer rates, pollution, and accidental deaths have “acceptable” levels. Yet they still try to circumvent even these weak rules. Polluters have thoroughly rigged the game through lobbying and lavish donations, but it's “regulatory capture” which allows them to own the playing field. This entails placing lobbyists, former executives, and lawyers from corporations and trade groups in the highest echelons of regulatory agencies at all levels. When agency leadership hasn’t come from industry, they usually wind up working for the very polluters they oversaw.
Agencies are stuffed with Big Carbon’s acolytes. Pennsylvania PUC Vice Chairman Andrew Place formerly worked for the Center for Sustainable Shale Development. Before this, he worked for the fracking outfit EQT Corporation right after leaving DEP. Former PUC member Rob Powelson now works at the FERC (the agency charged with permitting interstate pipelines) and also worked for the fossil fuel advocate, “the Energy Action Team.” At PUC, he voted to give Sunoco public utility status and eminent domain power. Current FERC commissioner Kevin McIntyre was an attorney involved in the approval of pipelines. FERC commissioner, Neil Chatterjee, hails from the office of a wholly-owned Koch brothers subsidiary, Mitch McConnell. His enthusiasm for the Keystone XL and opposition to the Clean Power Plan is well known; commissioner Cheryl LaFleur was an executive at National Grid USA, a utility.
The revolving door opens out, too. Former DEP Deputy Secretary Barb Sexton went to work for Chesapeak Energy. Another former DEP official, John Hines, now works for Shell Oil. Former DEP head Mike Krancer now works in the “Energy, Petrochemical and Natural Resources Practice” at the law firm Blank Rome. His tenure at DEP was controversial to say the least, once bizarrely claiming that there was no scientific consensus on global warming. Krancer worked for Exelon shortly before Ed Rendell, the man who brought fracking to Pennsylvania, appointed him to DEP. Another former DEP official Vince Brisini went to work for Olympus Power and also represents ARIPPA which includes facilities that burn bituminous coal.
The national agency responsible for policing pipelines, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) was led until recently by Cynthia Quartermann, former lawyer for a pipeline corporation. Howard “Skip” Elliott, the current head of PHMSA, was at CSX Transportation, a shipper of coal and oil. The Holy Grail for Big Carbon has always been to own the EPA, now they do under Scott Pruitt, former OK Attorney General, who sued the agency 14 times. Pruit vehemently opposes the modest Clean Power Plan which would reduce CO2 emissions just 32% by 2030. He has taken a wrecking ball to 50 years of environmental laws intended to protect us from polluters.
What’s the effect of this regulatory capture? Since 1977, FERC has rejected one pipeline in 20,000 applications. PUC has never denied a “Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity” needed to build a pipeline. The PUC allows polluters to flout zoning laws and your property rights. DEP so rarely levies onerous fines on frackers that it has essentially become a protection racket. The PUC overruled its own Administrative Law Judges to greenlight ME2. PHMSA relies on the industry it regulates to “self report” spills. PHMSA’s says that an average of 37 pipeline deaths per year falls within an acceptable range.This explains why Sunoco – with the worst safety record in the industry – is allowed to continue operating at all, let alone lay a dangerous pipeline in neighborhoods 60 feet or less from hundreds of children’s bedrooms. It’s why there have been100 deaths by pipelines since 2010.
The takeover of agencies is why we’ve gone from an estimated 325 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere in 1970 to 410 ppm today. It’s why 77 degree days in February are costing PA ski areas precious revenue in an ever-shortening season. This is not just about our safety but about jobs and the economy, too. Warmer winters have devastated the Pennsylvania ski industry, with only 20 ski areas remaining from a high of more than 90 in the early 80s. Industries which depend on healthy Pennsylvania forests are losing profits from invasive pests and blights which are not being killed off by cold winters. Corrupted agencies underly the Gulf of Mexico spill which devastated the fishing industry there and the Exxon Valdez disaster which seriously bruised Alaska’s tourism for years. It explains why 20,000 miles of polluted streams in Pennsylvania don’t support healthy fish populations anymore, impacting recreational fishing and eco-tourism. This is the environment of “strict federal regulations” Shields speaks of and it’s why so many kids and adults suffering from asthma need to carry an inhaler to enjoy a simple walk in the woods.