TC Energy (the same company behind the Keystone XL pipeline) has proposed to expand the capacity of the existing 1354-mile-long Gas Transmission NW (GTN) Xpress Fracked 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.
As people of faith, we know #FrackedGasIsNotFaithful, and that it is immoral to expand the GTN Xpress Pipeline in a time when we need to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels. TC Energy is trying to quietly push through a pipeline expansion that would lock us into a fossil fuel future at the same time our state and local governments are trying to move away from reliance on fracked gas and other fossil fuels.
Last year the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community helped Washington state pass among the strongest building codes in the nation, which will soon require new commercial and residential buildings to include electric heat pump space and water heating.
Right now, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is close to issuing a federal permit on this project and has claimed that any negative environmental impacts are “temporary or short term.”
Attorney General of Washington Bob Ferguson alongside the Attorney Generals of Oregon and California have asked FERC to deny GTN Xpress, for a number of reasons including the fact that low income and people of color will face the most environmental harms with gas expansion. The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission has made similar criticisms and has critiqued FERC’s lack of adequate consultation with tribes.
As people of faith, we have a role to play in stopping this pipeline expansion. Through sharing our stories and deepest wisdom from our faith traditions, we can play a unique role in this process. Storytelling is a crucial piece in mobilizing people to act.
Current Action/News
Earth Ministry/WA IPL Signs Coalition Letter Urging Amazon to Stop Using Fossil Fuels to Power Data Centers
Ask Senators Murray and Cantwell to Reform FERC to serve public interest over flawed pipelines
FERC Rejects Community Concerns; Adopts GTN Xpress
Washington State Senator Maria Cantwell Joins GTN Opposition
GTN Xpress Pipeline in Liberty Lake, Spokane County
