The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moved Thursday to more rigorously consider the effects of climate change in weighing whether to approve proposed gas pipelines or related infrastructure projects.
The decision will make it more difficult to build infrastructure for fossil fuels, an outcome sought by environmentalists.
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FERC commissioners voted 3-2 to update the commission’s pipeline certificate policy statement and to adopt an “interim greenhouse gas emissions policy statement” to account for a project’s greenhouse gas emissions as well as its effects on local landowners and “environmental justice communities,” or those which are especially subject to pollution, in gauging if the project is in the public’s interest. The commission’s three Democratic nominees voted for the measures and the two Republicans against.
A fact sheet put out by the commission explains, “The more interests adversely affected, or the more adverse impact a project will have on a particular interest, the greater the showing of public benefits from the project must be to balance the adverse impact.”
It also said pending and future projects are subject to the updated policy statement.
The move was hailed by liberal Democrats and environmentalists, who generally view regulatory agencies like FERC as critical to mitigating climate change.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, praised the decision and called it “a significant step towards protecting the property rights of private landowners and ensuring that environmental justice communities are treated fairly and equitably in the pipeline certification process.”
Meanwhile, critics described the decision as political and threatening to the energy industry.
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Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said the commission “went too far by prioritizing a political agenda over their main mission — ensuring our nation’s energy reliability and security.”
