Ask Washington Leaders to Oppose Gas Pipeline Expansion
In the past three years, Washington has taken major steps to curb our region’s reliance on climate-polluting fracked gas. Case in point: Washington law requires reductions in greenhouse gas pollution by 2030. Yet, TC Energy plans to expand its Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline, which would result in more annual emissions than all commercial buildings in Washington, combined.
Dear Governor Inslee, Senator Cantwell, and Senator Murray,
Please tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject TC Energy’s plans to expand its Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline by 150,000 dekatherms per day. The GTN XPress project would result in more annual emissions than every commercial building in the state of Washington, combined. Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act requires a complete phase out of fossil fuel-generated retail electricity—so Washington simply does not need expanded fossil gas infrastructure.
In November, FERC released its Final Environmental Impact Statement for GTN XPress. In response, the Attorneys General of Washington, Oregon, and California filed comments explaining that FERC drastically underestimated the project’s downstream greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also criticized FERC’s refusal to calculate the project’s upstream emissions.
Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden recently sent a letter urging FERC to deny GTN XPress because it is “incompatible with climate objectives and is not in the public interest.” Now, it’s time for Washington’s leaders to take a stand.
Thank you,
Stopping the nation’s largest new fracked gas (a.k.a. "natural" gas) users is important to fighting climate change. At a time when we need to move aggressively away from fossil fuels—and towards efficiency and renewables—building more fracked gas infrastructure would dramatically increase our region’s fossil fuel consumption for decades.
Want to learn more? Check out this new 3-minute video:
Background
In the past three years, both Washington and Oregon have taken major steps to curb our region’s reliance on climate-polluting fracked gas. Case in point: both states have passed laws requiring a complete phase out of fossil fuel generated retail electricity. Yet, TC Energy is full steam ahead with plans to expand its Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline by up to 250,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d). That’s enough gas to service 1.2 million households each day. Read more
Want to learn more about TC Energy’s plan?
Columbia Riverkeeper recently sat down with Barbara Bernstein to discuss the expansion project. If you missed Monday’s discussion on KBOO’s Locus Focus program, click here to listen to the recording.
