Senators Must Ask FERC Choice Key Questions

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he would nominate James Danly to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The following is a statement from John Moore, director of the Sustainable FERC Project, which is housed at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“FERC is facing crucial decisions as it responds to energy systems rapidly evolving to keep up with the pace of clean-energy deployment and the threat of climate change. We expect James Danly to address these issues when he appears before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“Danly has said that he wants FERC to be a ‘humble regulator.’ Before they vote on his nomination, senators must ask him what that means. Would Danly defer to the authority of states to set their own clean-energy policies? Would he continue FERC’s flawed climate review of pipelines that he defended in court?

“Critically, the nomination of only one commissioner when there are two vacancies reflects a further erosion of long-standing norms and undercuts the independence and bipartisan decision making at FERC. The White House needs to nominate -- and the Senate needs to consider -- two nominees for two vacancies.”

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC