Energy & Fuel

SEJ Objects to Non-Public FERC Comment Meeting Format

In the face of rising protests from anti-fracking and anti-pipeline activists, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has adopted a format for some meetings that prevents the press from covering public comment in real time. The Society of Environmental Journalists has expressed concern to FERC about this practice, which also prevents the public from engaging in dialogue. The text of SEJ's Feb. 23, 2017 letter is here.

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"Dakota Pipeline Protest Camp Nearly Empty As Holdouts Face Removal"

"CANNON BALL, N.D. -- All but a few dozen of the last holdouts from a months-long mass protest against a proposed oil pipeline in North Dakota peacefully vacated their riverside camp as an eviction deadline passed on Wednesday."

Source: Reuters, 02/23/2017

News Media Hamstrung at FERC “Listening Session.” SEJ Objects.

FERC’s calendar listed it as a “public comment meeting.” Later, FERC said it wasn’t a public meeting, but a “listening session” to which the public was invited. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulates things like interstate pipelines and powerlines, and has been no stranger to controversy in recent years. In Wilson, N.C., the night of February 14, 2017, FERC officials would not allow the news media to work inside the auditorium where a “public” listening session was being held. The Society of Environmental Journalists today wrote FERC expressing concern about the procedure.

Source: SEJ, 02/23/2017

"Trump Seeks To Quell Ethanol Industry Worry As Pruitt Enters EPA"

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday assured ethanol industry advocates of their importance in U.S. energy strategy in an apparent bid to quell concerns over potential changes to policies that mandate the use of such renewable fuels."

Source: Reuters, 02/22/2017

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