Washington, D.C. - Today the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S House of Representatives began its mark-up of budget reconciliation language, which includes a Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP), a fee on methane polluters, funding for electric vehicles, environmental justice block grants, building electrification and energy efficiency. The committee is expected to send the bill to the full House in the coming days.
Washington, D.C. -- Today President Joe Biden nominated Willie Phillips to fill a vacant position on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation’s independent energy regulator. FERC will play a key role in helping transform our power system and lead the equitable transition away from fossil fuels and toward the clean electricity system needed to address climate change.
Phillips is currently Chairman of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission and former Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
PTT Global Chemical America (PTTGC) has announced that a final investment decision on its massive petrochemical facility, known as an “ethane cracker,” remains delayed indefinitely due to the company’s inability to line up a partner for the project.
Richmond, VA -- Today, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) issued a draft water quality certification for the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline under section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In March, the VADEQ asked the Army Corps of Engineers for a year to review and issue the draft water permit, and in June the Corps granted VADEQ only six months.
Environmental justice advocates and community members will attend the annual meeting of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to express concern about the fossil fuel industry’s proposed expansion of fracked gas exports.
Yesterday, the Port of Corpus Christi announced a plan to convert an existing facility into a hydrogen production plant. The Port claims the project will be carbon neutral, but in fact it will create blue hydrogen, which is made from polluting fossil fuels, and not green hydrogen, which is made from water and can be carbon neutral.
Sabine Pass, LA -- Federal regulators have hit LNG operator Cheniere Energy with a $2.2 million fine over a dangerous gas leak from its Sabine Pass LNG facility in early 2018. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration determined that the leak was caused by “incorrect operations” and that the company knew the tank design was inadequate and allowed it to operate anyway.
Washington, DC -- In a victory for Gulf Coast communities, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) failed to conduct an adequate analysis of the climate and environmental justice impacts of two fracked gas export terminals proposed for the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas.
Poland’s national oil and gas company has terminated a 20-year deal to import fracked gas from Sempra’s proposed export facility in Port Arthur, Texas.
EL PASO, TX -- Yesterday, the Lone Star and Rio Grande Chapters of the Sierra Club submitted over 1,000 public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calling for action to bring El Paso into compliance with federal, health-based standards for ground-level ozone (“smog”) pollution. The comments come on the heels of years of community outcry about unacceptable levels of air pollution in the El Paso area, including a 2018 lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and Familias Unidas del Chamizal. As a result of that lawsuit, the D.C.
Backers of the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline announced a new scheme today to purchase carbon offsets to make up for the operational emissions of its first 10 years in service. These offsets would do nothing to address the climate impact of extracting or burning the fracked gas that MVP would transport.
RICHMOND -- Today, the Richmond Times reported that Michigan-based NOVI Energy is no longer pursuing the planned development of the C4GT gas power plant in Charles City County.