Docket No. CP22-493-000
I concur with the result of today’s Order, but I dissent from Paragraph 55, which addresses the Commission’s ability to assess the significance of the impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.[1] This is the same language I have criticized many times. It does not improve with age.
In my concurrence in Transco, I explained the history of the language in Paragraph 55 of the Order,[2] which is part of the so-called “Driftwood compromise.”[3] In Driftwood, the majority abruptly adopted new language declaring that there are no methods for assessing the significance of GHG emissions, and particularly criticizing the Social Cost of GHGs protocol.[4] 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[5] addressing methods for doing so; and (2) the language departs from previous Commission precedent without reasoned explanation, thereby violating the Administrative Procedure Act.[6] I dissent from Paragraph 55 of this Order for the same reasons.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent in part.
[1] Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC, 186 FERC ¶ 61,046, at P 55 (2023) (Order).
[2] See Transcon. Gas Pipe Line Co., 184 FERC ¶ 61,066 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, concurring at PP 2-3) (Transco).
[3] See id. (Phillips, Chairman, and Christie, Comm’r, concurring at PP 1-2).
[4] See Driftwood Pipeline LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,049, at PP 61, 63 (2023) (Driftwood).
[5] Docket No. PL21-3.
[6] See Driftwood, 183 FERC ¶ 61,049 (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 2-3 & n.161); see also 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); Texas 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 Glob. Plaquemines LNG, LLC,185 FERC ¶ 61,037 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Texas 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 Glob. Calcasieu Pass, LLC, 184 FERC ¶ 61,185 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); N. Natural Gas Co., 184 FERC ¶ 61,186 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-3); Texas E. Transmission, LP, 184 FERC ¶ 61,187 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting in part at PP 2-4); Equitrans, L.P., 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); Texas LNG Brownsville LLC, 183 FERC ¶ 61,047 (2023) (Clements, Comm’r, dissenting at PP 14-15).