A first-time rejection of a natural gas pipeline project request based on new, presumptive threshold for “climate change impact” is buried in the March 7, 2022 Shell Energy North America Weekly Report. This is huge! If understood correctly, this means we may not see any new gas pipelines during the current administration (or any future DEM administration). Below is the excerpt from the March 7, 2022 Shell Energy North America Weekly Report:
“Draft EIS for Williams gas pipe project finds GHG emissions exceed new threshold
US FERC staff for the first time have calculated that greenhouse gas emissions potentially associated with a natural gas pipeline project exceed the commission’s new, presumptive threshold for finding significant climate change impacts. The draft environmental impact statement for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s 829 MMcf/d Regional Energy Access Expansion project, made public March 2, is among the first environmental reports to begin implementing the commission’s interim policy on considering GHG emissions in gas project reviews. The policy, approved Feb. 17, established a rebuttable significance threshold of 100,000 mt/year of CO2-equivalent. Overall, the draft EIS concluded that Transco’s avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures, along with FERC staff recommendations, would reduce project emissions to less-than-significant levels, except for climate change impacts,” (Shell Energy, 2022).
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Reference:
Shell Energy. (2022, March 7). Market Recap – March 7, 2022. Shell Energy. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://image.comms.shell.com/lib/fe321171756404787d1678/m/1/ShellEn_Newsletter_3_7_22.pdf?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3_7_22_Weekly+Market+Update+Newsletter&utm_term=ShellEn_Newsletter_3_7_22&utm_id=44854&sfmc_id=8984028