Local governments can fight pipelines, even though
FERC is funded by the companies it regulates
and
basically acts as a marketing firm for them,
which is why
FERC has only denied two pipelines.
Pass a community bill of rights.
And dare Spectra or FPL or Williams or whoever to challenge it in court.
John Trallo wrote for Sane Energy Project 7 July 2014, FERC and the Regulatory Trap
That is not to say that citizens should not get involved with the FERC regulatory process. You should, to get on record. You just have to also act outside the FERC process on the local municipality level to zone it out, or make it too expensive for the operator.
The ideal way to stop pipelines is by establishing a Community Bill of Rights that essentially “zones out” this kind of activity, or restricts it and establishes safety standards and set-backs in such a way that it is no longer economically worthwhile for an operator to build. The concept of a Community Bill of Rights has been championed by Continue reading Community Bill of Rights against pipelines
