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OUTRAGE: FERC bans the public from their monthly meeting, but invites testimony from the climate killing corporation responsible for the Aliso Canyon methane leak - SoCal Gas. Click here for more details and then call FERC chair Norman Bay at 1-800-571-2435.
Friend,
When it comes to the rebellion against fossil fuels and fracked gas infrastructure, in particular, you need to do more than tune in -- you need to show up, speak out and get radical to make change. Fortunately that's exactly what we've been doing all week as part of the #RubberStampRebellion in Washington, D.C.
But the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has not made it easy. FERC commissioners closed their regularly scheduled May 19 meeting to the public due to "security concerns," with less than a day's notice.1 They then held their meeting with members of the press and "invited guests," -- including executives from the infamous SoCal Gas -- while inviting the rest of us to watch them via a televised webcast.
Polluters are invited in while the public is told to stay home and watch T.V.?! If you're as angry as I am at FERC right now, join the rebel alliance of pipeline fighters right now by:
- Pick up your phone and call FERC chair Norman Bay at 1-800-571-2435. Tell him that it's an outrage to ban the public FERC's meetings while inviting testimony from one of America's climate polluters - SoCal Gas.
- Chip in $5 or more right here to keep the calls free for everyone and support the #RubberStampRebellion against FERC.
You probably remember SoCal as the company that brought us the Aliso Canyon methane leak. That disaster, at a gas storage facility, spewed pollution for months, causing the governor to declare a state of emergency as residents complained of headaches, nose bleeds and respiratory distress. The spill forced hundreds of families to evacuate their homes and became the single largest source of global warming pollution in California. Mitchell Englander, the city councilman who represents the neighborhood said it was, "the equivalent of the BP oil spill, except it’s on land, in a populated community.”2
And yet, SoCal Gas was an invited guest of FERC at their closed-door special meeting, while the doors were quite literally barred to citizens, including Rev. Yearwood from the Hip Hop caucus, Jane Kleeb from Bold Nebraska and numerous front line activists who had traveled many miles to meet FERC in person at their supposedly "public" meeting.3
You can read all about the real public meeting - the one we held outside on the sidewalk, where non-corporations were permitted to stand and be heard - in my blog post here. And then please:
- Pick up your phone right now to call FERC chair Norman Bay at 1-800-571-2435. Tell him that it's an outrage to ban the public FERC's meetings while inviting testimony from one of America's climate polluters - SoCal Gas.
- Chip in $5 or more right here to keep the calls free for everyone and support the #RubberStampRebellion against FERC.
Thanks,
Drew and the #RubberStampRebellion crew at Environmental Action
1 - Eric Wolff et all, FERC bars the door, Politico Morning Energy, May 19, 2016
2 - Suzanne Goldenberg, A single gas well leak is California's biggest contributor to climate change, The Guardian, January 5, 2016
- Ian Lovett, Governor Declares Emergency Over Los Angeles Gas Leak, The New York Times, January 6, 2016
3 - BXE, Day 4: FERC blocks the public but not pipelines, Beyond Extreme Energy Blog, My 19, 2016
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