Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have endorsed a call to reshape FERC as a climate regulator, but is it necessary for a Green New Deal?
Democratic presidential candidates’ promises to fight climate change could hinge on whether they can reshape an obscure federal agency that has overseen a surge in oil and gas projects.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are the only two Democratic candidates so far to have endorsed turning FERC into FREC, although neither has spelled out in detail how they would make that happen.
But activists say they will be ready to push changes if a new president takes office in 2021, worried that FERC’s foundational statutes have created an agency that eases the use of fossil fuels and is already undercutting state and local clean energy goals. Earlier this month, FERC’s Republican majority blocked renewable and nuclear energy from the 13-state PJM power market because their government subsidies lower prices for coal and gas plants in the market. The commission has already instituted a similar program in New England, and many worry it will do the same in other markets as wind and solar energy increase.
Activists have long argued that the Federal Power Act and Natural Gas Act can be interpreted to allow FERC to regulate carbon emissions when it evaluates pipelines and power rates. But for decades, FERC regulators from both parties have disagreed. “The Federal Power Act says nothing about promoting renewable resources or greenhouse gas emissions or any of that kind of thing,” Subramanian said. “If the statutory mandate were clarified, whether or not you have Democratic appointees, they are statutorily mandated to consider environmental impacts or the carbon impacts of generation sources.”
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