On Thursday, October 19, 2023, GTN Xpress pipeline expansion passed in the small committee tasked with regulating oil and gas pipelines, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). After two years of opposition, this hazardous project would intensify fracked gas delivery through our NW neighborhoods and wildlands, expanding blast zones and fire risk across a drought prone pipeline route.
It is unconscionable to expand fracked gas, when health equity priorities show that gas stoves are linked with heart and lung problems, when gas production is associated with regular–and largely unregulated–leaks of methane with 80 times the climate effects of carbon dioxide in the near term, and burning gas is fueling the climate crisis with disproportionate harms on our most vulnerable community members.
Stop GTN Xpress Coalition Responds
Despite the setback, the Stop GTN Xpress Coalition, which Earth Ministry/WAIPL is a key member, will plan on challenging FERC’s decision in the coming weeks and released a statement saying, “FERC’s approval came without any meaningful acknowledgment of TC Energy’s latest, fiery pipeline explosion in Strasburg, Virginia in July 2023. Late last year, another TC Energy pipeline failed and spilled 588,000 gallons of crude oil into a Kansas creek. A broad coalition of organizations had called on FERC to consider the safety implications of pushing more fracked gas in a decades-old pipeline system, but FERC ignored them.”
In response to the FERC decision, Earth Ministry/WAIPL’s own Executive Director, Rev. AC Churchill said, “Sacred texts are full of people wondering how long pain and suffering will continue for the most vulnerable. Today, when FERC chose the path of profit over people, these wonderings were repeated yet again. FERC’s decision risks community safety, threatens sacred lands, playgrounds, community centers and more, and goes in the opposite direction of clean, sustainable energy for all,” said Rev. AC Churchill, Executive Director of Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power and Light. “We must reject proposals that willingly sacrifice the health and well-being of our communities and, instead, work towards a clean energy infrastructure that ensures equal access and deep respect for all, particularly our most vulnerable in the human family.”
We Grieve This Decision
Unfortunately, this decision respects the interests of the pipeline company over NW people and places. Expanding GTN Xpress does not change the pipeline route, but instead, updates some compressor stations along the route to push more gas volume through pipes built over half a century ago.
Pipeline risk is real. TC Energy does not have a clean safety record, but is known for an August 2023 explosion in Virginia. A recent construction accident in Idaho underscores the unacceptable risk of intensified pipeline use, where a four-square mile evacuation was warranted.
This decision dismisses statements of concern by thousands of residents, dozens of NGOs, and Western state officials, including WA and OR Governors and Senators, WA-OR-CA Attorneys General, and other state and federal legislators from the Northwest. Dissenting commissioners included one Democrat and one Republican on the 5-person commission.
With state legislation supporting 100% clean energy by 2045 in WA, GTN Xpress locks the region into paying for climate harming emissions and
More than any of these concerns, we value our communities, schools, and neighborhoods, and we already face risks from fossil fuel pipelines. Phasing out fossil dependence is part of the work toward a livable world for all of our descendants. What will it take to create a world that works for all of us?
What’s Next?
In the coming weeks, there will be legal challenges ahead. Until then, we invite you to participate in an act of solidarity. For those who are able to join us in-person, we will gather in Spokane for a vigil, because we value our community safety, we value our homes and neighborhoods, we value the wellbeing of our families and communities along the pipeline route. More details will be coming regarding this developing opportunity.
Let us work toward a fossil free, faith fueled future.