Above: Meme quoting FERC Chair, Cheryl LaFleur.
FERC puts industry ahead of public interest, now “focused on further shutting out citizen voices”
FERC leaders have apparently had more than enough of the anti-fracking protests that have disrupted their meetings — and in very FERC-ian fashion, they’ve approved a new rule on it. Order No. 806 clarifies that for the public, the right to observe meetings “does not include disruptive behavior.”
The rule notes that “unscheduled statements” are forbidden ex parte communications and “will not be included in the record or considered by the Commission.” It doesn’t impose any real penalties on disruptive individuals, though, so protestors will still simply be escorted out of the room.
The protests have come from opponents of expanding natural gas use who have increasingly targeted FERC because of its role in approving gas infrastructure and export facilities, much to the chagrin of the agency’s commissioners, who view broader climate change as outside their bailiwick.
The protests have also irked industry officials who say that if they made similar outbursts, it would count as an unlawful ex parte communication with the commissioners. The most recent provocation came during a technical conference FERC hosted on Feb. 19, when about a half-dozen protestors were booted out after they began chanting “Gas is dirty, wind and solar now.”
The new rule, approved earlier this week, goes into effect 30 days after it’s published in the Federal Register.F
You can still expect protestors to be FERC and center
Ted Glick, national campaign coordinator at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, one of the groups involved in the FERC protests, told Politico that FERC has failed to protect human health and the environment. “People facing new pipelines, compressor stations, and liquefaction plants in their communities have voiced concerns through every ‘official’ means possible, only to see FERC put the interests of the gas industry over the public interest at every turn,” he said. “Now, instead of focusing on doing its job, FERC appears to be focused on further shutting out citizen voices. As long as FERC continues to fail the public, people will face no choice but to keep showing up at their doorstep.”
For more information on FERC protests check Beyond Extreme Energy.