Environmental groups, lawmakers decry court ruling allowing GTN Pipeline expansion
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Environmental groups, lawmakers decry court ruling allowing GTN Pipeline expansion
Environmental groups say federal ruling on GTN Xpress pipeline undermines Northwest climate goals. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week in favor of the GTn Xpress project. The pipeline’s operator, TC Energy, is the same company that backed the failed Keystone XL pipeline project, which was canceled in 2021 after it failed to gain regulatory approval. The states of Oregon and Washington have both filed lawsuits to block the project.“We need less fracked gas, we need less climate wrecking fossil fuels in the Pacific Northwest, not more of it,” said Miles Johnson, legal director for Columbia Riverkeeper.
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OREGON, USA — Politicians and environmental groups in the Pacific Northwest are speaking out after a federal appeals court ruling cleared the way for the expansion of a controversial natural gas pipeline project that runs through Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week in favor of the GTN Xpress project — an expansion of the existing Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, or GTN, which carries natural gas from Canada through the Northwest.
Environmental advocates say the ruling undermines state and regional efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“We need less fracked gas, we need less climate wrecking fossil fuels in the Pacific Northwest, not more of it,” said Miles Johnson, legal director for Columbia Riverkeeper, one of several organizations opposing the project.
Columbia Riverkeeper and other groups have long argued the expansion is unnecessary, environmentally harmful and potentially dangerous. The pipeline’s operator, TC Energy, is the same company that backed the failed Keystone XL pipeline project, which was canceled in 2021 after it failed to gain regulatory approval.
The states of Oregon and Washington have both filed lawsuits to block GTN Xpress, which would expand capacity at multiple compressor stations, including one in Sherman County, Oregon.
“It would put 150,000 more dekatherms through that pipeline, which is old. That’s about the equivalent to putting an extra 700,000 cars on the road,” Johnson said.
Elected officials in both Oregon and Washington have also criticized the court’s decision. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the ruling “anti-consumer.”
“I just don’t think it’s in the interest of those folks in rural Oregon,” Wyden said.
Johnson said that without stronger federal climate action, Pacific Northwest states will need to rely on their own authority to meet emissions targets.
“Oregon and Washington and NGOs are going to double down on their efforts within the state using state authority to indeed make sure fracked gas use is phased out,” he said.
Supporters of the expansion argue it’s necessary to maintain energy reliability and ensure an adequate supply of natural gas as the region transitions to cleaner energy sources.