The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will soon decide (as early as March 16) to approve or deny TC Energy’s proposal to increase the capacity of the existing GTN gas pipeline by 150 million cubic feet of fracked methane gas per day. The GTN pipeline starts in British Columbia and runs through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon before ending in California.
Before FERC makes this crucial decision, we are inviting faith leaders* to sign a letter to FERC asking them to protect our communities and deny the GTN pipeline expansion proposal. This letter will include faith leaders from across ID, WA, and OR, and we’re working on this in partnership with our friends at Oregon Interfaith Power & Light and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
*Note: Faith leaders include not only clergy and members of religious orders, but also lay leaders and anyone serving in a leadership capacity in spiritual and religious communities. If this is you, please sign!
There are many reasons why faith leaders are speaking out about the GTN Xpress pipeline expansion proposal. Pushing more pressurized gas through 60-year-old pipes in populated areas and under many rivers and streams is a safety and environmental hazard, especially given TC Energy’s track record, including the recent Keystone pipeline spill in Kansas. This proposal would also require 660 new fracked gas wells to be drilled in northeast British Columbia, on Indigenous land.
Most importantly, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), whose member tribes include the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, has raised serious concerns about FERC’s inadequate tribal consultation, the lack of public need for the pipeline expansion, and the project’s direct conflict with tribes’ and states’ climate goals.
As people of faith, we are called to care for each other, our neighbors, and this one planet we call home. Please join us by signing on to the faith leaders’ letter if applicable and sharing with clergy, religious order members, and lay leaders in your community.
