Feds Approve Expansion of Gas Pipeline Despite Strong Opposition Over Its Threat to Climate Goals
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Democratic leaders, tribes and environmentalists say the increased delivery of Canadian gas to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California would jeopardize state and national emissions reduction targets.
By Grant Stringer
October 20, 2023
Federal regulators approved the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest Thursday morning, bucking fierce objections from Democrats and environmentalists in the region who say the decision is incompatible with climate policies.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously approved the Canadian energy giant TC Energy’s plan to upgrade the Gas Transmission Northwest system. The 1,400-mile pipeline can move up to 2.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from western Canada to utilities and customers in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California.
The commission signed off on the firm’s $335 million plan to increase the pipeline’s capacity by 150 million cubic feet of gas per day, which would involve construction upgrades to three compressor stations along its path that regulate the flow of gas through the pipeline.
The decision is the latest development in a series of battles over fossil fuel infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon-based environmental nonprofit Columbia Riverkeeper vowed to challenge the decision when it’s finalized. Dan Serres, the group’s advocacy director, called it “a huge gift to the fossil fuel industry.”
Natural gas is mostly methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is one of the main drivers of climate change and often leaks into the atmosphere when it is extracted and piped to users. Burning methane also releases carbon dioxide, the gas most responsible for warming the atmosphere.
In a draft environmental impact statement, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the upgrade to the Gas Transmission Northwest system would release 3.47 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, mostly as customers use the additional gas. The agency later downgraded that estimate to 1.9 million tons, citing uncertainty in TC Energy’s supply of gas. Environmentalists viewed that change skeptically. An independent analysis by Peter Erickson, senior scientist at the Stockholm Environment Institute’s U.S. Center, determined that the agency undercounted the potential emissions.
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