We will soon find out if FERC is serious about climate and environmental justice

In February, the obscure, but powerful, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adopted draft policy statements that would require the agency to consider foreseeable greenhouse gas emissions before approving proposed interstate gas pipelines or liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals. These statements would also require consideration of the construction impacts of these projects on historically marginalized communities and communities of color that have long been ignored by FERC and by many other government agencies.

The policies outlined in FERC’s draft documents are not only right, but have been mandated by a number of federal courts, including one ruling last summer that said FERC was wrong for not examining the climate and environmental justice impacts of two fracked gas export terminals proposed for the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. So, it is critical that FERC not succumb to pushback from the gas industry and its allies in Congress and make these court-backed rules final as soon as possible.

As a son and daughter of Puerto Rico, an island inhabited overwhelmingly by persons of color and which has been devastated by climate disasters such as Hurricane Maria in 2017, we have a special concern related to FERC and its oversight.

One company, New Fortress Energy, built a natural gas terminal in San Juan without receiving FERC approval. It’s hard to believe that a facility of that size could fly under the radar of the relevant regulatory agency during the time it was under construction, yet FERC never asserted jurisdiction over the terminal until after it was already up and running. That means FERC never considered either local or national environmental impacts before the terminal was built. 

While we appreciate that FERC has now stepped in, and that the D.C. Circuit Court recently upheld their power to regulate the new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, the reality is it was able to be built beside a cluster of pollution-emitting facilities and proximate working-class communities without any consideration of the impacts. 

The policy changes proposed in FERC’s draft statements would help other communities not have to face what the people of San Juan have regarding the unstudied and unsupervised construction of an LNG terminal.

Last year, we called on President Biden to nominate a climate justice champion to serve on the commission. With the confirmation of Willie Phillips, there is now a 3-to-2 Democratic majority on FERC that can advance the commission’s commitment to environmental justice, address the shortfalls that the courts have repeatedly identified and work to ensure that vulnerable communities don’t continue to be disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel infrastructure. 

Historically, the commission seemingly had never met a gas pipeline or an LNG terminal that it didn’t like. This was the case regardless of local impacts, regardless of whether the facilities were necessary and regardless of the extent to which the facilities would increase greenhouse gas emissions for many decades to come. FERC’s record on these issues was so awful that it was repeatedly admonished in court. 

We had hoped that swift and permanent approval of the policy statements would at least indicate a modest, but positive shift in FERC’s stance on the impacts of gas infrastructure projects on the land and communities surrounding them. As Phillips said during the hearing that earned him his seat, “But to be clear, the D.C. Circuit has been clear to FERC that they have a responsibility to consider climate change and environmental justice. And this is something that, if confirmed, I will also be focused on.”

Unfortunately, even that modest shift is now in jeopardy. Pushback from gas industry allies regarding the proposed policy changes was intense. The Wall Street Journal editorial board also criticized Phillips and two of his FERC colleagues immediately after they made their decision in February. The fact that new domestic gas infrastructure isn’t necessary to address Europe’s need for gas or high domestic energy prices seems irrelevant to those who front for the gas industry. 

There is still time for FERC to defy this political pressure and demonstrate that they are climate and environmental justice champions. They can’t possibly do so unless they take a first step by finalizing the two gas policy statements as soon as possible.     

Ramón Cruz is president of the Sierra Club.

Ruth Santiago is a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.