FERC Finally Empowers Environmental Justice Advocates and Public Health Experts
Feb 16, 2021
FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency) wields tremendous power in the environmental justice area, due to its leading role in approving interstate pipelines and transmission lines for gas, oil, and electricity. All too often that power has been shunted aside, but the agency finally appears ready to flex its justice muscles at the onset of the Biden administration.
FERC asleep at the wheel on environmental justice
Because FERC has an interstate mission, its direct impact on energy infrastructure is limited. For example, FERC does not regulate coal mines or other local energy infrastructure such as fossil fuel power plants. The agency also does not oversee nuclear power plants or the transportation of coal.