FERC Meeting Call In 2/18

This Thursday will be the first meeting chaired by FERC Commissioner Richard Glick. Glick has been an outspoken opponent of rubber stamping fossil fuel infrastructure and FERC’s failure to account for cumulative greenhouse gas emissions.
BXE is glad that Glick was named chair of FERC last month by President Biden. We still believe that FERC cannot be reformed from within, and must be fully replaced by a Federal Renewable Energy Commission (FREC) focused on sunsetting fossil fuels and fully transitioning to renewable energy. We’re cautiously optimistic about Glick’s plans for environmental justice, a funded office for public participation, and other major changes at FERC. But we are not so naive as to believe what can be done in the course of one administration cannot be undone by subsequent administrations. The global crisis of climate change requires the creation of a new agency with a mandate rooted in the issues of the 21st century.
On Thursday we will be emailing, calling, or tweeting at FERC to congratulate Glick as he gavels in his first commissioners’ meeting. At the same time, we will be urging him and the other commissioners to stand up to the fossil fuel industry consistently and repeatedly, stop being a rubber stamp for them. We’re keeping our eye on FERC, and will keep the pressure on!
You can join us in this effort by sending a message to the five commissioners or live-tweet at them during the meeting with us. You can find sample messages and tweets here.

Twitter:

@FERC
@RichGlickFERC
@FERChatterjee
@ClementsFERC

Telephone:

BXE’s FERC Hotline: (866) 455-3498
Commissioner Christie: 202-502-8110
Commissioner Chatterjee: 202-502-6477
Commissioner Danly: 202-502-8338
Commissioner Clements: 202-573-2699

E-mail:

Sample Messaging:

‘We’re excited for big changes at FERC under Chairman Glick. However, we remain skeptical that FERC can be reformed in ways that truly meet the challenges of the climate crisis. We’re keeping our eyes on FERC, especially with new promises of environmental and climate justice.’

‘I’m calling to congratulate Richard Glick on his new position as Chair of FERC. I’m excited that he is looking to make big changes at FERC regarding cumulative greenhouse gas emissions, environmental justice, and renewable energy. We hope he continues to take a stand against fossil fuels as we seek to build long term solutions like the creation of a Federal Renewable Energy Commission.”

Sample Tweets Based on FERC’s current Agenda:

Where is the tolling order for #FrackedGas infrastructure certificates @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC?

The transportation of #FrackedGas and the sale thereof in interstate and foreign commerce is contrary to the public interest @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC

Public convenience and necessity means community and ecosystem and planetary factors have equal priority with other NGA goals @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC

The @FERC #FrackedGas project approval process has been captured by industry @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee

In 2021 @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC are hearing about a Colonial offer to extend in-transit storage privileges for TransMontaigne’s Collins facility in 2016 #FREC has more important things to do.

The Quality Bank’s valuation of #Resid continues to be just and reasonable. Our valuation of #Resid?Less than zero.

#KeepItInTheGround (-0) @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC

We are in a #ClimateCrisis, we need a moratorium on all #FrackedGas expansion so we can #BuildBackBetter @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC

“The compressor is a threat to our neighborhood and should never have been placed in such a densely populated [area] in the vicinity of a fertilizer plant”- C Vallee.

Continue expanding #LNG export facilities like #Freeport?No! We are in a #ClimateCrisis @RichGlickFERC @ClementsFERC @FERChatterjee @FERC

We need a moratorium on all #FrackedGas expansion so we can #BuildBackBetter

More Background:

Richard Glick has done more than this in his three-plus years as a FERC Commissioner. He has openly opposed and written strong dissents, primarily but not only on climate grounds, to majority decisions approving new gas pipelines, LNG terminals and compressor stations. Those dissents likely helped lead the DC Court of Appeals to strike down last year, FERC’s “Kafkaesque” (their words) decades-long abuse of eminent domain to the extreme detriment of landowners around the country faced with planned fossil fuel infrastructure on their land.

We hope for and will continue to work for the best possible results from a FERC chaired by Richard Glick and, later this year, with a Democratic majority of commissioners. But we are acutely aware of FERC’s long, rubber-stamp history and its continuing ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Accordingly, we will continue to advance our FERC Into FREC campaign. We call for and are working toward Congressional legislation that mandates that this new Federal Renewable Energy Commission have as its primary mission to lead the transition from fossil fuels to renewables, battery storage and energy efficiency. Commissioners of FREC must be champions of renewable energy and free of conflicts of interest. They must be serious about environmental justice, transparency and active promotion of community-based involvement in decision-making as a new electrical grid is built based on jobs-creating renewables with storage. And much more.

Why do we need a new FREC if Richard Glick is chair and will soon lead a Democratic majority of commissioners? One reason is that if a Republican wins the Presidency in 2024, we can expect FERC, under Republican control, to experience the same efforts to advance fossil fuels that we’ve seen under Trump. And we remember 20-plus years of FERC doing its rubber-stamping thing for the fossil fuel industry under both Republicans and Democrats. Without FREC legislation any positive actions by FERC will be hampered, litigated against, and not complied with by the fossil fuel industry.

So as we congratulate Richard Glick on Thursday, we will let him and the other commissioners know that we are watching and we will keep pressing in every way we can for the creation of the kind of 21^st century, federal energy regulatory body we desperately need.