Consumers looking for a break in the high cost of energy were shown a glimmer of hope by a federal court ruling in favor of a natural gas pipeline serving New York and Pennsylvania.
Ruling on a lawsuit brought by the environmental group Food & Water Watch, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had properly evaluated a plan to expand the pipeline. The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company is making its way through the approval process to expand service in the Northeast.
The lawsuit argued that the regulatory commission did not adequately assess any greenhouse gas emissions the pipeline would generate and their effect on climate change. Writing for a three-judge panel, Justice Gregory Katsas said that FERC “reasonably concluded that there was too much uncertainty regarding the number and location of additional upstream wells” that the environmental group had noted in its complaint.
The Tennessee Gas Pipeline is a series of natural gas mains that run from the coasts of Texas and Louisiana into the heart of the U.S. They deliver natural gas to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other northeastern states, according to Kinder Morgan, which operates the system, one of the largest pipelines in the U.S.
Since the election of President Joe Biden and his embrace of the Green New Energy Deal, fuel prices have skyrocketed. The country went from energy independent under former President Donald Trump to dependent on other countries, many unfriendly to America, for its energy needs. New York sits on a Saudi Arabia-sized natural gas supply, but its Progressive Democrat leadership in Albany won’t allow it to be touched, leaving residents to rely on outside sources.
Environmental groups funded by partisan interests and foreign governments have come under increasing criticism for undermining U.S. sovereignty and the economic interests of its citizens.
Another Kinder Morgan gas pipeline expansion project in Louisiana and Mississippi survived an environmental challenge to its FERC approvals. The projects are part of a buildup of liquified natural gas export capacity from the Gulf of Mexico. Last year, the U.S. became the world’s largest exporter of liquified natural gas, a capacity expected to double by the decade's end.