A United State Senator from Washington State (left coast) and a Congressman from New Jersey, both of them liberal Democrats, have sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over “troubling reports” regarding Energy Transfer Partners and the Rover Pipeline project. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is a ranking member of Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. She looks like a kindergarten teacher. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He looks like an extra on The Sopranos. In their roles on their respective committees they are asking FERC to conduct a wide-ranging investigation of ET and Rover–even though the pipeline doesn’t traverse a square inch of either Washington State or New Jersey. They begin by regurgitating old news about ET knocking down a dilapidated “historic” house, and move on to leaks of drilling mud. All of it old news. All of it currently being handled/reviewed/remedied. They go on from there to ask FERC to investigate *all* ET projects. While one could say this dynamic duo have an “interest” in the Rover project because of their role on the energy committees to which they belong, it’s a stretch. This is more swamp politics–a couple of obscure backbenchers trying to raise their profile with their own constituents. They don’t care a scintilla about the people in Ohio (or West Virginia) that may or may not have been impacted by the Rover project. The real purpose of the letter is to cast doubt on FERC itself. Near the end of the letter, they ask a series of questions, including a question for how many applications has FERC received over the past 17 years, and how many they have denied. It’s a setup by two backbenchers to try and question the authority (and competency) of FERC. We say let them eat white noise. Refuse to even acknowledge the letter…
