When everything changes, lead the way
In a democracy, public participation is a fundamental right to give everyone a voice on how public resources and funds are used for the long-term benefit of the communities.
Early involvement is needed to create a shared vision, select the best choices, avoid harm to public health, and promote environmental justice.
Public participation is often denied. At best, early plans and resources are kept secret while deals are made before the public hears about the plans. One-time public notices are posted in obscure places, hoping no one will see them, and requiring great effort to understand the proposed action. Notices are posted to meet the minimum legal requirements and to discourage comments. This is happening at state and federal levels with negative consequences for the climate, public health, and environmental justice.
Drax Biomass
The Drax saga as Arkansas BioEnergy shows the need for public participation. The construction of the three pellet mills was approved with pending air pollution permits. Drax is trying to avoid a hearing of the flawed permits. The permits granted to the adjacent sawmills were previously granted by the attorney for Arkansas BioEnergy. The Pollution Control and Ecology Commission condones rubber stamping, revolving doors, and lack of public participation. Stay tuned.
The Instant Gratification Monkey
When people say it is all about the money, it seems too simple to be true. What is it about money that would make rational people make poor choices? The Instant Gratification Monkey says it is all about time. Now is better than later, why wait for the money just to avoid pollution and contagion?
This also explains selling the forests, fracking for oil and gas, and burning wood pellets.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
FERC was created as an independent agency to provide oversight to interstate pipelines and transmission lines regulated as “common carriers.” In 2020, FERC tried to stop distributed solar generation by taking over the state’s oversight of net energy metering. The Arkansas Public Service Commission led the fight and later confirmed the reasonable 1:1 exchange of kilowatt-hours for grid-tied solar customers.
FERC does not work, it is funded by the fossil fuel industry, and the commissioners work for Oil and Gas. More than 500 pipelines have been approved by FERC in the last 30 years and only two have been denied. FERC determines the tariffs and the rules for the type and quality of the oil flowing in the pipelines.
FERC is supposed to review utility mergers to make sure that they do not harm the public. FERC can issue fines when companies manipulate power prices to cheat consumers, other businesses, or both, but they don’t.
In 2017, after six years of study by two awesome activists, FERC was forced to order the failed Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline project to refund more than $7 million it had charged electric ratepayers for an advertising, lobbying, and advocacy program to persuade state regulators to approve its project. Public participation wins!
Light a candle
You may have heard the phrase “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” Going to the moon in 1963 was just a dream, but the goal was clear. It was not going to be easy, but it was going to get done. The Apollo program involved more than 400,000 people from all over the U.S. working around the clock, including many women doing the most delicate tasks and all the calculations. It took around 10 years at a cost of $260 billion in today’s dollars.
Today, the darkness is a world of suffering, violence, and fear. Something so dreadful no one wants to think about it. Like Apollo’s challenge, we have 10 years left to avoid catastrophic climate change.
Participate!
Everyone knows we need to transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy now. FERC’s new Office of Public Participation will have a workshop on Friday, April 16, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. CDT. For information, visit ferc.gov.
Please also consider joining the online petition, “Turn FERC into FREC, The Federal Renewable Energy Commission.”
Dr. Luis Contreras