skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Post-presidential debate poll shows a shift in WI' Teamsters won't endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump; IL energy jobs growth is strong, lacks female workers; Pregnant, Black Coloradans twice as likely to die than the overall population.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Teamsters choose not endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least seventeen states.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

FERC Moving Pipeline Projects Forward Over Objections

play audio
Play

Monday, August 15, 2016   

RICHMOND, Va. – Federal regulators are moving forward with huge pipeline projects across Virginia and West Virginia, although opponents say the projects are risking overbuilding and locking in a fuel that causes climate change.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC confirmed it won’t require a collective environmental impact statement on all the lines designed to ship Marcellus and Utica gas to East Coast markets.

Two of them – the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) – could end up costing ratepayers $9 billion.

And Rick Webb, coordinator of the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, says FERC is looking at the need for and total impact of each line separately.

"As if the others don't even exist,” he points out. “And analysis that has been done, including by FERC's own staff, indicates that we will very shortly have an excess in pipeline capacity – yet FERC doesn't want to address that."

FERC is moving ahead with timelines for the ACP, MVP and others that could see construction starting in about a year.

The energy companies behind the pipelines say they have contracts in hand to ship the gas, proving the need.

Webb says many of the contracts cited by the energy conglomerates are between subsidiaries of the same parent corporation.

One recent analysis found two-thirds of the contracts for the A-C-P are between branches of Dominion. Webb says FERC isn't challenging that.

"FERC is accepting at face value the argument that there is this need, this compelling need, to get gas to Newport News and Hampton Roads,” he states. “There's nobody in a position of making a decision willing to actually analyze that objectively."

Critics also contend it's foolish to build billions of dollars worth of fossil-fuel infrastructure at a time when the world is rapidly moving away from energy that causes climate change.

They argue the hundreds of miles of 42-inch gas pipelines could have the impact of locking consumers into using a fuel that creates carbon pollution.






get more stories like this via email

more stories
Including the $236 million in federal funding for wildland fire management recently announced for 2025, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has invested a total of $1 billion to the cause, according to the Department of the Interior. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

This month, the federal government announced funding for next year's wildfire management, totaling $236 million and experts hope threatened …


Social Issues

play sound

From gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson to Superintendent of Public Instruction hopeful Michele Morrow, some Republicans running for office have …

Social Issues

play sound

California is home to more than 181,000 people who are unhoused, with 75,000 in Los Angeles alone, so the Los Angeles Food Policy Council will host a …


The California Department of Conservation is holding a public meeting online on Sept. 24, to update the public on its progress in plugging abandoned oil wells. (Alizada Studios/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Groups concerned about pollution and climate change are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a trio of bills dubbed the "make polluters pay" package…

Social Issues

play sound

This week, National Voter Registration Day was another timely reminder for Ohioans preparing for the 2024 general election. The latest reports from …

The American Heart Association said caregivers often experience personal and spiritual growth, discovering their own resilience, competence and capacity for sacrifice as they help a friend or loved one. (Justlight/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

September is Self-Care Awareness Month and the American Heart Association in Missouri is urging caregivers to take some much-needed time for themselve…

Environment

play sound

In Virginia's waters, the decline of a small but critically important fish is causing growing concern among conservation groups and fishermen alike…

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado voters will decide whether to change the state's constitution to ensure families have school choice as a fundamental right. Kallie Leyba…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021