WA, OR, CA request feds to reconsider fracked gas pipeline expansion
By Terry Murry on Friday, November 24th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
OLYMPIA – Attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and California filed petitions Wednesday for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider the expansion of the GTN Xpress gas pipeline. Wednesday was the deadline for the petitions.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and western attorneys general Bob Ferguson, Ellen Rosenblum, and Rob Bonta, all Democrats, expressed opposition to the project’s approval.
According to their analysis, this project would be an unnecessary expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure with major climate risks and no demonstrated public need. Expanding the pipeline also runs counter to laws in Washington and Oregon that mandate reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving to clean energy. Inslee’s office says that if GTN’s pipeline operates as proposed, in 2050 it would represent 48 percent of the region’s target greenhouse gas emissions from all sources.
“The FERC decision totally ignores both the legal requirements in the state of Washington and our vision to decarbonize our economy and wean ourselves off of dangerous, toxic methane gas,” Inslee said during a news conference Wednesday.
