The UnFrack FERC Campaign launched in March of 2024- with a focus of increasing the pressure on FERC to move towards full decarbonization, renewable energy, environmental justice, and community participation in proposed energy development.
The UnFrack FERC Coalition is made up of folks from BXE, Third Act DMV, Third Act Ohio, XR DC, IPC Climate Program, and other groups.

Our goal is to use non-violent direct action to increase the pressure on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to halt all new fossil fuel development projects.

We will UNFRACK FERC!

Campaign Launch:

In March frontline organizers held a press conference in front of the FERC offices and 4 activists interrupted the FERC meeting.

In April we wheatpasted fliers around FERC chair Willie Philips’ house and the FERC office.

In May we pushed the envelope. More than a dozen activists interrupted the FERC Commissioners meeting, frontline groups held a press conference outside, and those banned from the meeting for past actions entered the building singing.
- A group of ‘Lamentors’ wearing ghostly sackcloth and moving silently- were a core part of the action. Lamentors bear witness to the climate fueled horrors already happening around the world: ecocide, megafires, floods, polluted air, drought, biodiversity loss, and hunger.

Court Victories:

In July and August the D.C. Circuit Court made landmark rulings against FERC’s approval of several Texas LNG terminals and pipelines. The court has ruled that the permits on the Rio Grande LNG, TX LNG, and Rio Bravo pipeline are to be completely vacated due to lack of climate emission analysis and clear violations of environmental justice standards. This is an unprecedented legal ruling against FERC’s rubber stamping!

With grassroots movements escalating against FERC and the D.C. Circuit Court finally issuing consequences for FERC’s rubber stamping- is this the beginning of the Fall of FERC?

The Fall of FERC:

September:

Elders blocked the FERC staff parking entrance in rocking chairs holding banners reading “The Fall of FERC” and “US Courts: FERC is a Climate Denier.” They held the blockade for 1.5 hours.
Dozens of adults and kids from Gulf Coast communities in Louisiana and Texas rallied with their supporters outside FERC, demanding that commissioners listen to their concerns about FERC continuing to greenlight LNG export terminals. Many spoke to personal harm caused by their exposure to pollutants and the hypocrisy of FERC ignoring court orders revoking project permits.
The FERC meeting was disrupted 15 times, grinding the meeting to a halt for 30 minutes. Others pushed into the building lobby to sing and chant.

October:

We held a 24 Hour Haunting of the FERC office- a vigil camped outside from noon to noon the following day. We submitted petitions containing about 7,000 signatures calling for FERC to stop construction on LNG export and pipeline projects whose permits were overturned this summer by the federal DC Court of Appeals. Calls were made to the offices of top FERC officials.

November:

Nine ‘Lamentors’ held a picket blocking the driveway into FERC’s parking garage. The grieving Lamentors blocked the driveway for nearly an hour before dispersing.
A rally was held, and four people disrupted the FERC meeting. The group made their way to the Senate building to demand a meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer and deliver a petition signed by nearly 9,000, but were stopped by the police.
- Teya, a 15-year-old from New York, passionately accused the five commissioners of “killing my future and my children’s future” with its incessant approvals of ever more methane gas projects like pipelines and LNG (liquefied “natural” gas) export terminals. “You are destroying the world that will be passed down to me. I am here because I am angry and I am terrified. Today I mourn for my future. You need to do SOMETHING!”

An Intro to FERC:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the government agency in charge of regulating our national electric grid and all fossil gas (EG methane, or “natural” gas) infrastructure that crosses state or international borders.

FERC issues the permits for most major new fossil gas energy projects- including interstate fracked gas pipelines and natural gas export terminals.

This means FERC is a core part of exacerbating the climate crisis, but also a lynch pin institution in any possible transition to renewable energy and full decarbonization.

Unfortunately, FERC is well known as a rubber stamping agency for the fossil fuel industry. They have almost never rejected a pipeline project.

From 1999-2017 they rejected only 2 out of over 400 proposed pipelines!
FERC has NO climate impact standards and does minimal greenhouse gas emissions analysis when looking at proposed energy projects.
Communities that are struggling against the construction of new polluting projects in their areas are faced with a FERC comment and appeals process that one DC Circuit Court judge described as a ‘Kafkaesque regime.’
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has continually reprimanded FERC for allowing unnecessary pipelines to be built for corporate profit, for their lack of emissions standards, and weak environmental justice standards.
Recent attempts by progressive FERC commissioners to reform the agency from within have failed and all dissenting Commissioners have been ousted.
Most recently FERC approved the massive CP2 liquified natural gas export terminal, breaking with the Department of Energy’s pause on LNG terminals and adding another 197m tons of annual emissions.

FERC is escalating- so we are escalating!