Houston Chronicle by James Osborne 2/13/2019
Pipeline executives are urging President Donald Trump to assert federal authority over interstate pipelines and prevent states from blocking projects that run within their boundaries.
The lobbying is another front in a legal and political fight that shows no signs of ending since New York state blocked a series of pipeline projects carrying natural gas to New England from the gas-rich Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania three years ago. That has left multi-billion dollar investment decisions facing more uncertainty as environmental activists target pipelines in their fight to reduce fossil fuel consumption.
Congress has been reluctant to intervene in a debate encompassing two deeply partisan issues in climate change and federal authority over state regulators. At the same time courts have so far upheld states’ ability to use environmental law to block pipelines projects that have come under fire for their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
Even if Trump intervenes to overrule states, any relief would likely be a long time coming. A deluge of lawsuits from environmental groups would almost certainly follow, tying up the executive action in court for years, said Steve Weiler, a Washington energy attorney.
“It probably wouldn’t be implemented in this president’s administration,†he said. “Nothing’s going to happen quickly.â€
The uncertainty around permitting pipelines comes as U.S. natural gas production shows little sign of slowing down, as hydraulic fracturing continues to unlock shale gas deposits from Texas to Pennsylvania. In November, U.S. gas production exceeded 2.6 trillion cubic feet, enough to heat 45 million U.S. homes for a year and up 30 percent from five years ago.
But the climate change movement is also gaining momentum after a series of dire forecasts, including one from the federal government last year that predicted that crop failures, wildfires and flooding would shrink the U.S. economy by 10 percent by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are left unchecked.
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