{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/west-coast-senators-warn-ferc-against-approving-flawed-and-unwanted-pacific-northwest-gas-expansion", "West Coast Senators Warn FERC Against Approving Flawed and Unwanted Pacific Northwest Gas Expansion", "2023-10-18", "2023", "2023-10", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", "wyden", "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "FERC is scheduled Thursday morning to consider a major and unnecessary expansion of gas infrastructure in Oregon and Washington State - despite dangerous climate impacts, repeated failure to demonstrate public need for the project, safety risks, and a failure to properly consult with Tribes.\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), today urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject a proposal from TC Energy for a major expansion of methane gas infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest, as FERC is scheduled to take up the proposal at a Thursday meeting.\n\nThe Senators pointed to a myriad of problems with TC Energy\u2019s proposal and FERC\u2019s consideration process, including the proposal\u2019s direct conflict with Washington, Oregon, and California climate laws; a potential rise in energy costs for consumers; TC Energy\u2019s troubled safety record; and FERC\u2019s failure to properly and sufficiently consult Tribes prior to a final decision. FERC is poised to make a decision despite the serious climate impacts of this project, which would undermine state climate laws and with Biden administration\u2019s climate goals. FERC\u2019s decision Thursday will prove to be a major litmus test on whether the Commission can pivot towards a clean energy future or whether it will continue to approve projects that are incompatible with avoiding the worst impacts of climate chaos.\n\n\u201cWe write to express our opposition to TC Energy\u2019s proposed Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress Project, and to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject TC Energy\u2019s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. TC Energy\u2019s project would increase rates for consumers, cause over $8.8 billion in climate damages and undermine our states\u2019 efforts to combat the climate crisis just so that a Canadian company can increase the shipment of Canadian fracked methane gas. Elected officials from across Washington, Oregon, and California have been clear: this project is incompatible with our climate laws,\u201d the Senators wrote in a letter to FERC\u2019s four commissioners.\n\nThe GTN Xpress Project faces opposition not only from Senators, but also from Governor Tina Kotek (D-OR), Governor Jay Inslee (D-WA), and the Attorneys General of all three West Coast states.\n\n\u201cOregon passed strong clean energy and decarbonization laws and regulations in 2020 and 2021. These laws are not arbitrary or abstract,\u201d said Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. \u201cCompanies have enforceable regulations to meet in order to help prepare our state for a cleaner, more resilient future. I\u2019m opposed to the proposed Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress project because I do not believe it can comply with Oregon\u2019s clean energy laws and regulations.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are in the midst of a climate crisis, and the only way to defeat climate change is to end our use of fossil fuels. That\u2019s it,\u201d said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. \u201cEvery new fossil fuel project leaves another generation chained to the damage of climate chaos. We must focus intensely on building up our clean energy infrastructure and ensure our children and grand-children have access to the clean energy options and opportunities they deserve and need.\u201d\n\nThe Senators also raise concerns that FERC failed to properly consult with impacted Tribes, which is a trust obligation and raises questions about whether the proposal could impact tribal treaty rights. The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission was not consulted as part of the environmental review of the project, despite the fact that the pipeline travels near the Snake River and a safety incident could potentially impact endangered fish.\n\n\u201cGTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels. It will increase public safety risks and does not have the support of impacted tribes. Further, the project will raise energy costs for consumers, it is incompatible with laws in all three aforementioned states, and there is not adequate demonstrated need. We oppose GTN Xpress and urge you to deny TC Energy\u2019s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity,\u201d the Senators concluded in their letter.\n\nThe full text of the letter is available here and below.\n\nToday\u2019s letter follows previous letters that highlight how the proposed expansion is not in the public interest and how TC Energy has failed to demonstrate adequate need for the project.\n\nDear Chairman Phillips and Commissioners Christie, Clements, and Danly:\n\nWe write to express our opposition to TC Energy\u2019s proposed Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) Xpress Project, and to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject TC Energy\u2019s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. TC Energy\u2019s project would increase rates for consumers, cause over $8.8 billion in climate damages and undermine our states\u2019 efforts to combat the climate crisis just so that a Canadian company can increase the shipment of Canadian fracked methane gas. Elected officials from across Washington, Oregon, and California have been clear: this project is incompatible with our climate laws.\n\nThe West coast is leading the race to transition to clean energy and combat the climate crisis, but TC Energy\u2019s proposal is inconsistent with the state laws underpinning those efforts. As the Attorney Generals of California, Oregon, and Washington pointed out, \u201cif GTN continues business as usual with its pipeline in 2050, that would represent 48 percent of the region\u2019s target GHG emissions from all sources.\u201d Put simply, there is no way that our states can meet their emissions goals if this project moves forward.\n\nTC Energy\u2019s proposal is also bad for consumers, forcing existing customers to subsidize the costs of pipeline expansion to the benefit of TC Energy and Canadian fossil fuel producers. Pacific Gas and Electric and Puget Sound Energy have both intervened because they fear GTN Xpress will unfairly force existing customers to subsidize new customers. TC Energy has filed \u201can improperly segmented review, hiding the full scope of environmental impacts and costs to consumers.\u201d\n\nFurther, TC Energy has failed to demonstrate that there is need for the project. TC Energy has entered into a precedent agreement with Tourmaline Oil, a Canadian fossil gas producer that is not a utility. FERC\u2019s own Final Environmental Impact Statement for GTN Xpress acknowledged that it is unclear where Tourmaline\u2019s gas would be delivered to, or for what purpose, and then concluded that \u201cdownstream emissions from Tourmaline Oil\u2019s subscribed capacity are not reasonably foreseeable.\u201d Since Tourmaline Oil\u2019s uses for the fossil gas are not reasonably foreseeable, they should not serve as the justification for a pipeline expansion.\n\nWhile it is not primarily FERC\u2019s responsibility, we would be remiss not to mention the poor safety record that TC Energy has demonstrated. In the last year, TC Energy\u2019s Keystone pipeline spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of bitumen oil in Kansas and their Columbia Gas Transmission Pipeline exploded in Strasburg, Virginia. This project intends to increase capacity solely through higher compression, meaning greater safety risks.\n\nFinally, we have strong concerns that FERC did not engage in proper and sufficient tribal consultation. FERC, as a part of the federal government, has a trust obligation to engage in robust government-to-government consultation with impacted tribes. As noted in the letter sent by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) to FERC, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process does not address several key concerns, including the impacts this project may have on aquatic resources and endangered species. While the Final EIS acknowledges consultation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, CRITFC is a co-manager of some critical fishery resources in the Columbia River Basin and should have been consulted as well. The Starbuck Compressor Station is only five miles from the Snake River, which the pipeline crosses en route to Oregon. Whether a safety incident could impact endangered fish, thus impacting tribal treaty rights, does not appear to have been considered.\n\nGTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels. It will increase public safety risks and does not have the support of impacted tribes. Further, the project will raise energy costs for consumers, it is incompatible with laws in all three aforementioned states, and there is not adequate demonstrated need. We oppose GTN Xpress and urge you to deny TC Energy\u2019s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/west-coast-senators-warn-ferc-against-approving-flawed-and-unwanted-pacific-northwest-gas-expansion"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.6121940463781357, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}