Beyond Extreme Energy

No new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Renewable energy NOW.

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One Hell Of An Editorial

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GIF edition!

Sometimes you read something so good, you just have to high five the internet a little bit.

5sThe Recorder, the “newspaper of record serving scenic Bath and Highland counties, and the Allegheny Highlands of Virginia”, published a stellar editorial on March 26th that deserves to be read by far more than the paper’s 5,000 subscribers.

In “Aww, FERC Is Frustrated,” the editors respond to FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur’s infamous and telling comment, “We have a situation here.” If the commissioners are perplexed by the recent groundswell of opposition to fracking and its associated infrastructure, The Record, at least, is not.

“Why the “unprecedented” outcry, Ms. LaFleur? Because of the industry’s failure to adequately protect us, and your agency’s failure to do the same.”

slm

“We see little evidence of a sturdy, unblemished record of oversight or protection. What we do see is the gas industry has much more control over FERC, state agencies, and lawmakers who make up the rules than it should.”

pwnt

“You are not representing our interests, Ms. LaFleur. You are representing industries that have full and powerful resources to mostly glide through your processes with ease.”

slammed

“Until your agency can balance its mission to help the energy sector with its mission to minimize risk, Ms. LaFleur, your in-box will remain flooded for the foreseeable future. Get used to it”

bckhnd

We here at Beyond Extreme Energy could not agree more.

Read “Aww, FERC Is Frustrated” at https://recorder.our-hometown.com/news/2015-03-26/Opinions_%28and%29___Commentary/Aww_FERC_is_frustrated_002.html.

Maryland Governor Hogan Celebrates TOWN-breaking At Cove Point

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Hogan town-breaking ceremony

Tracey Eno of Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community had this to say about Dominion Resources’ groundbreaking ceremony today for its LNG export plant at Cove Point.

“The residents of Lusby are NOT celebrating Dominion’s ‘TOWN-breaking Ceremony’ today. It’s no surprise that this event was kept a secret until the last minute and is closed to the public ‘due to security concerns,’ according to Dominion PR spokesperson, Karl Neddenien. If Dominion is worried about security, they should think twice about building a dangerous liquefaction train next to the 20,483 residents of Lusby. We worry about security every day and the risk of vapor clouds and explosions of propane and LNG, with potential for grave catastrophe. The 2006 Maryland Department of Natural Resources study shows that 360 families are at risk of a flash fire right now.

“We look forward to meeting with Governor Hogan to tell him the truth. We can only assume he hasn’t studied the details of the project. We recommend he Google ‘Images Skikda Algeria 2004’ as a primer.”

Cove Point Residents Protest At FERC Meeting

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1fercmarch

reposted from www.baynet.com

Washington, DC – This morning, March 19, singing and chanting members of We Are Cove Point (WACP) from Lusby, Maryland, and their supporters from Beyond Energy (BXE) attempted to sit in and read a statement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s(FERC) monthly meeting, protesting FERC’s failure to rule on a Request for Rehearing of its Sept. 29, 2014 order approving Dominion Resource’s construction permit for Cove Point even while construction at the hotly-challenged site continues. They were immediately removed from the building and the doors were locked behind them.

The prepared statement read:

You are continuing to allow Dominion to proceed with construction while simultaneously asking for a lot of new information from them—why didn’t you ask for this before you granted the permit in the first place? You are taking months to rule on local residents’ request for a rehearing. You are refusing to rule on a request from their legal team to stay all construction while FERC considers their request for a rehearing.  The combined result of this is that Dominion gets to continue construction for many months before the case gets heard at the Court of Appeals.

The community groups and their supporters also presented FERC with a petition – supported by nearly 20,000 signatures – demanding that FERC order construction at Cove Point to stop while the agency considers the health, safety, and legal issues raised by the Application For Rehearing, which was filed by Earthjustice, and when granted would invalidate the permit – bringing the Cove Point project to a halt.

Today’s protest at FERC is the latest in a series of continuing and escalating community protests at FERC’s monthly meetings. The protests have led FERC Chair Cheryl LaFleur to declare, “We have a situation here.” FERC has also issued a gag rule to silence these protestors. (The rule was imposed in early March, but will not go into effect until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.)

As to the gag rule, BXE says:

FERC must get its priorities straight – beginning with stopping construction at Cove Point. It is outrageous that FERC cares more about suppressing citizen protests – which are necessary because of its failure to act – than it does about acting promptly to protect the health and safety of the communities in and around Cove Point. FERC must no longer be the first line of defense for the fossil fuel industries in setting energy policy.

BXE will continue to bring these concerns to the Commission, and emphasized that concerned citizens and communities will not be silenced by an industry-friendly gag rule.

BXE has also called for large-scale non-violent direct action later this spring to protest FERC’s arbitrary, secretive and industry-friendly policies. Hundreds of concerned citizens, families, and community groups will converge on FERC to demand that the agency “Stop the FERCus” by turning FERC’s natural gas policy around and opening up a clean, renewable energy future.

http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/0315/plantprojectfoesescortedfromcommissionmeeting.html

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