The Sierra Club and its partners filed two letters with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) arguing that body must do new analyses of two fracked gas pipelines. While FERC has already issued Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for both the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), neither sufficiently considered the pipelines’ impacts, including the long-term effects of the greenhouse gases produced from burning the gas transported by these pipelines.
Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Williams Transco the right to begin construction on the fracked gas Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline despite a faulty water review and a piecemeal permitting process. FERC’s review lacked public oversight and is currently evading judicial review, while the Wolf administration’s review of the project downplayed known impacts to water quality that other states took action on.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission upended Governor Andrew Cuomo’s rejection of the fracked gas Valley Lateral Pipeline. Under section 401 of the Clean Water Act, states must certify that a pipeline will not violate their clean water standards before construction on that pipeline can begin. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation previously refused to give the Millennium Pipeline Company the section 401 certificate it needed and today’s move by FERC overrides that.
RALEIGH, NC -- Late yesterday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requested additional information from Duke Energy and Dominion Energy in order to conduct a more thorough examination of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s (ACP) effects on the state’s water quality.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection filed a motion in federal court to invalidate its earlier approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Under section 401 of the Clean Water Act, individual states must certify that interstate gas pipelines will not have significant effects on water quality before construction can begin.
Today, President Elect Donald Trump held his first press conference since July 27, 2016 while the Senate Foreign Relations committee held a hearing on his nominee for Secretary of State, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson.
Oklahoma City, OK -- Today, the Western Oklahoma District Court announced, after the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), the state agency tasked with regulating oil and gas operations, took several steps towards tackling the earthquake epidemic, that it planned to dismiss without prejudice a landmark lawsuit against three of the largest fossil fuel companies in Oklahoma. The week after the notice of intent to sue was filed, the OCC announced a volume reduction plan for several dozen disposal wells in western Oklahoma.
Washington, DC -- Today, Donald Trump rescinded a Office of Natural Resource Revenue rule that prevented companies from selling fossil fuels extracted on public lands to a subsidiary at a low price, paying royalties on that initial sale, and then reselling the fuel at a far higher price without paying royalties on the second sale.
In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection program Director Athan Manuel released the following statement:
Boston, MA -- Seventy-four city and town conservation commissions across Massachusetts today urged Governor Charlie Baker to drop his support for wasteful and costly fracked-gas pipelines in Massachusetts.
Ina joint letter, the conservation commissions say new pipelines impede the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals in the Global Warming Solutions Act and Baker’s Integrated Climate Change Strategy.
Washington, DC -- Today, just after Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to undermine U.S. climate policy, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke signed a Secretarial Order cancelling the moratorium on new and modified coal leasing on public lands. The temporary pause was put in place by the Obama Administration in 2016 as taxpayers were losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year while public lands, critical water resources, and the climate were being threatened and damaged.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, the Auto Alliance, a trade association representing Ford, General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, Volkswagen AG, and eight other automakers sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt requesting the withdrawal of an Obama administration decision to lock in vehicle emission rules through 2025.
This letter follows an earlier letter sent by the Auto Alliance asking Trump to roll back the same standards.