Docket No. CP22-138-001
I dissent from Paragraph 23 of the Order,[1] which is the so-called “Driftwood compromise” language claiming that the Commission is incapable of assessing the significance of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In my concurrence in the 2023 Transco order, I explained the history of this language.[2] In Driftwood, the majority suddenly declared that there are no methods for assessing the significance of GHG emissions, and particularly criticized the Social Cost of GHGs protocol.[3] I have dissented from this language in Driftwood and subsequent orders because (1) it reflects a final Commission decision that it cannot determine the significance of GHG emissions, despite the fact the Commission has never responded to comments in the GHG Policy Statement docket[4] addressing methods for doing so; and (2) the language departs from previous Commission precedent without reasoned explanation, thereby violating the Administrative Procedure Act.[5] I dissent from Paragraph 23 of this Order for the same reasons.
As I have said before, the Commission has not seriously studied whether the Social Cost of GHGs protocol or another tool can or should be used to determine significance. Rather, the majority simply decided there is no acceptable method, with no explanation of why the Commission departed from the approach taken in earlier certificate orders.[6] I cannot condone the Commission’s refusal to objectively consider potential methods for assessing the impacts of GHG emissions and transparently incorporate analysis of GHG impacts in its determination of the public convenience and necessity under the Natural Gas Act.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent in part.
[2] See Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 184 FERC ¶ 61,066 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, concurring at PP 2-3) (Transco).
[3] See Driftwood Pipeline LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,049, at PP 61, 63 (2023) (Driftwood).
[4] Docket No. PL21-3. On February 18, 2022, the Commission issued an Interim GHG Policy Statement, Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Nat. Gas Infrastructure Project Revs., 178 FERC ¶ 61,108 (2022), which proposed a NEPA significance threshold of 100,000 tons per year of CO2e. The Commission subsequently suspended the Interim GHG Policy Statement and opened it to further public comment. Order on Draft Policy Statements, 178 FERC ¶ 61,197, at P 2 (2022). The Commission has not yet addressed the comments in the reopened docket.
[5] See Driftwood, 183 FERC ¶ 61,049 (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3 & n.5); see also Saguaro Connector Pipeline, LLC, 186 FERC ¶ 61,114 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Tenn. Gas Pipeline Co., 186 FERC ¶ 61,113 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 186 FERC ¶ 61,063 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, 186 FERC ¶ 61,048 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 186 FERC ¶ 61,047 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 8-9); Tenn. Gas Pipeline Co., 186 FERC ¶ 61,046 (2024) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 1-2); ANR Pipeline Co., 185 FERC ¶ 61,191 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 185 FERC ¶ 61,133 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 185 FERC ¶ 61,130 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Tex. LNG Brownsville LLC, 185 FERC ¶ 61,079 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 9-10); Rio Grande LNG, LLC, 185 FERC ¶ 61,080 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 9-10); Gas Transmission Nw., LLC, 185 FERC ¶ 61,035 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, concurring in part and dissenting in part at PP 7-8); WBI Energy Transmission, Inc., 185 FERC ¶ 61,036 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Venture Global Plaquemines LNG, LLC, 185 FERC ¶ 61,037 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Tex. E. Transmission, LP, 185 FERC ¶ 61,038 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Trailblazer Pipeline Co., 185 FERC ¶ 61,039 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Equitrans, L.P., 185 FERC ¶ 61,040 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Port Arthur LNG Phase II, LLC, 184 FERC ¶ 61,184 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, LLC, 184 FERC ¶ 61,185 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); N. Nat. Gas Co., 184 FERC ¶ 61,186 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Tex. E. Transmission, LP, 184 FERC ¶ 61,187 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Equitrans, LP, 183 FERC ¶ 61,200 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r dissenting at PP 2-3); Commonwealth LNG, LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,173 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 5-8); Rio Grande LNG, LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,046 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 14-15); Tex. LNG Brownsville LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,047 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 14-15).
[6] Before its decision in Driftwood, the Commission had explained that it was not determining the significance of GHG emissions because the issue of how to do so was under consideration in the GHG Policy Statement docket. See, e.g., Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 182 FERC ¶ 61,006, at P 73 & n.174 (2023); Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC, 182 FERC ¶ 61,171, at P 46 & n.93 (2023). To depart from prior precedent without explanation violates the Administrative Procedure Act. See, e.g., W. Deptford Energy, LLC v. FERC, 766 F.3d 10, 17 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (“[T]he Commission cannot depart from [prior] rulings without providing a reasoned analysis. . . .”) (citations omitted).