The more we can throw FERC into the limelight and put our senators on the spot for their unacceptable acceptance of business as usual, the better. To that end, please take a few moments this week to submit a Letter to the Editor (LTE) to your local paper regarding the FERC Vacancies Campaign.
Todd Larsen from Green America provided the FERC Vacancies Coalition with advice and a template for writing an LTE in opposition to Trump’s FERC nominations. Please take a look at the below material, and consider sending in your own LTE to local press outlets.
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This advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists is helpful: http://www.ucsusa.org/action/writing-an-lte.html#.WNfI-jvyvIU
It is best to write in response to an article that was run in the paper/new source and reference that article in the first sentence, keep the LTE short (200 words is ideal and no more than 300), and provide full contact info at the end.
TEMPLATE LETTER
[Insert leading sentence or two regarding a previous article or connecting your letter to local interests/recent events]. As early as next week, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources could vote to approve climate denier Neil Chatterjee and friend of the industry Robert Powelson to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the most powerful agency many people are likely to know little or nothing about. This agency is responsible for rubber stamping fracked gas pipelines and infrastructure projects that damage the land, air, and drinking water of communities nationwide, as well as the global climate. In the past 30 years, FERC has sided with the fossil fuel industry repeatedly and has rejected only one pipeline. Currently, FERC only has two commissioners and thus lacks a quorum, preventing the agency from approving new projects. That’s why nearly 170 organizations nationwide are using this moment to demand that the Senate reject both Chatterjee and Powelson, and thereby prevent FERC’s approval of any more pipelines until Congress holds hearings on the agency’s pro-industry bias and refusal to listen to the legitimate concerns of communities. Congress needs to take steps to replace FERC with an agency dedicated to a just transition off fossil fuels. Holding hearings would be a first step. Senators [XX and XX – of your state] need to take a strong stand to oppose Chatterjee and Powelson. Let’s call our senators and make sure they know we want them to vote no!
FULL NAME
ADDRESS
CONTACT EMAIL
CONTACT PHONE
(Newspapers will need to contact you to ensure that you actually wrote the LTE and approve of publication. They may also want to edit the piece and run edits by you)
Beyond Extreme Energy 