We took a ton of actions last week to UnFrack FERC – the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If you missed one of our (many) updates last week, click here to get caught up. But as you probably heard, President Biden has nominated three new Commissioners to FERC. They are Judy Chang, David Rosner, and Lindsay See. And none of them are committed to change at FERC.
FERC is a pivotal agency in the clean energy transition: in addition to reviewing new natural gas infrastructure, they oversee the rules for the US electric grid, including whether new interstate transmission lines get built, and whether electric markets treat rooftop solar and energy efficiency fairly.
If confirmed, those three nominees will represent a governing majority at FERC. So they’ll be able to make or break the rules of the clean energy transition. And that’s why today we’re calling on the US Senate to vote “No” on these nominees.
There’s precedent for this kind of vote. Back during the Trump administration, every Democrat in the Senate banded together to vote no on FERC nominees that were deemed too radical.
We think Lindsay See, in particular qualifies as too radical and pro-fossil fuel. As the Solicitor General of West Virginia — Manchin’s home state — See is best known for suing the Biden Administration to protect coal and fossil fuels. She signed West Virginia on to a lawsuit suing President Biden to overturn the LNG pause on the same day as her confirmation hearing. She’ll definitely make FERC worse, not better.
Rosner is a Democrat, but he’s Joe Manchin’s hand-picked Democrat. According to new research from Friends of the Earth, Rosner has a history of backing fracked gas, and he’s worked with Manchin since 2022 to roll back FERC rules on climate change and environmental justice. Thousands of us signed a petition last week asking the Senate to confirm nominees who are dedicated to the clean energy transition, not fossil fuels. That’s clearly not Rosner.
Chang is the only nominee who’s had experience cutting global warming pollution and prioritizing environmental justice over fossil fuels. So if the US Senate feels like they have to confirm a FERC nominee because Commissioner Clements is retiring in a few weeks, she’s the best option. But in her testimony at last week’s confirmation hearing, Chang also promised to uphold the pro fossil fuel bias at FERC called “technology neutrality.” She didn’t have much choice – Republicans on the Committee and corrupt coal baron Joe Manchin basically forced each nominee to swear allegiance to fossil fuels in order to be considered. But in other words, she’s no reformer.
The best we can hope for is that Chang would be a ‘replacement’ for Clements in that she’d occasionally call for climate change to be considered in FERC’s decision making, and she might issue some partial dissents on some LNG projects, maybe, but not because of their climate and environmental justice impacts.
So, click here to send a message to your Senators telling them to VOTE NO on at least two of the three FERC nominees. Together we can UnFrack FERC and change it into the Federal Renewable Energy Commission we need!
PS – here’s our short (about 1 minute) takes on each nominee from last week in case you missed it:
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