[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND EN-
VIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: LESSONS
FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
=======================================================================
OVERSIGHT HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND
MINERAL RESOURCES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
__________
Serial No. 116-37
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
or
Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
41-129 PDF WASHINGTON : 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Chair
DEBRA A. HAALAND, NM, Vice Chair
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Vice Chair, Insular Affairs
ROB BISHOP, UT, Ranking Republican Member
Grace F. Napolitano, CA Don Young, AK
Jim Costa, CA Louie Gohmert, TX
Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Doug Lamborn, CO
CNMI Robert J. Wittman, VA
Jared Huffman, CA Tom McClintock, CA
Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Paul A. Gosar, AZ
Ruben Gallego, AZ Paul Cook, CA
TJ Cox, CA Bruce Westerman, AR
Joe Neguse, CO Garret Graves, LA
Mike Levin, CA Jody B. Hice, GA
Debra A. Haaland, NM Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS
Joe Cunningham, SC Daniel Webster, FL
Nydia M. Velazquez, NY Liz Cheney, WY
Diana DeGette, CO Mike Johnson, LA
Wm. Lacy Clay, MO Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR
Debbie Dingell, MI John R. Curtis, UT
Anthony G. Brown, MD Kevin Hern, OK
A. Donald McEachin, VA Russ Fulcher, ID
Darren Soto, FL
Ed Case, HI
Steven Horsford, NV
Michael F. Q. San Nicolas, GU
Matt Cartwright, PA
Paul Tonko, NY
Jesus G. ``Chuy'' Garcia, IL
Vacancy
David Watkins, Chief of Staff
Sarah Lim, Chief Counsel
Parish Braden, Republican Staff Director
http://naturalresources.house.gov
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, CA, Chair
PAUL A. GOSAR, AZ, Ranking Republican Member
Mike Levin, CA Doug Lamborn, CO
Joe Cunningham, SC Bruce Westerman, AR
A. Donald McEachin, VA Garret Graves, LA
Diana DeGette, CO Liz Cheney, WY
Anthony G. Brown, MD Kevin Hern, OK
Jared Huffman, CA Rob Bishop, UT, ex officio
Matt Cartwright, PA
Raul M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio
-----------
CONTENTS
-----------
Page
Hearing held on Tuesday, July 14, 2020........................... 1
Statement of Members:
Gosar, Hon. Paul A., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Arizona........................................... 4
Lowenthal, Hon. Alan S., a Representative in Congress from
the State of California.................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Statement of Witnesses:
Obed, Sarah, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Doyon
Limited, Fairbanks, Alaska................................. 26
Prepared statement of.................................... 27
Patterson, Jacqueline, Senior Director, Environmental and
Climate Justice Program, NAACP, Baltimore, Maryland........ 7
Prepared statement of.................................... 9
Prochnik, Julia, Founder JASenergies, San Francisco,
California................................................. 13
Prepared statement of.................................... 15
Rose, Ella, Union Hill Resident, Buckingham County, Virginia. 11
Prepared statement of.................................... 12
Additional Materials Submitted for the Record:
Buckingham County Ministers, November 20, 2018 Letter to
Governor Ralph Northam on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline...... 5
List of documents submitted for the record retained in the
Committee's official files................................. 45
OVERSIGHT HEARING ON ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE: LESSONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
----------
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, DC
----------
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:02 p.m., via
WebEx, Hon. Alan S. Lowenthal [Chairman of the Subcommittee]
presiding.
Present: Representatives Lowenthal, Levin, Cunningham,
DeGette, Huffman, Grijalva (ex officio); Gosar, Westerman, and
Hern.
Mr. Lowenthal. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral
Resources will come to order. The Subcommittee is meeting today
to hear testimony on energy infrastructure and its relationship
to environmental justice and lessons that we have learned for
building a more sustainable, clean energy future.
Under Committee Rule 4(f), any oral opening statements at
hearings are limited to the Chair and the Ranking Minority
Member or their designees. I ask unanimous consent that all
other Members' opening statements be made part of the hearing
record if they are submitted to the Subcommittee Clerk by 5
p.m. today or at the close of the hearing, whichever comes
first.
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
Without objection, the Chair may also declare a recess,
subject to the call of the Chair.
Hearing no objection, so ordered.
As described in the notice, statements, documents, or
motions must be submitted to the electronic repository at
[email protected].
Additionally, please note that, as with in-person meetings,
Members are responsible for their own microphones. Members can
be muted by staff only to avoid inadvertent background noise.
Finally, Members or witnesses experiencing technical
difficulties should inform Committee staff immediately.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Lowenthal. It is an undeniable fact that in our
country, it is often the very wealthy and politically connected
who have an outsized voice in the public decision-making
process. When a privileged community decides it doesn't want
something in its backyard, quite often, it is the backyards of
the less powerful, less connected, and less wealthy that end up
bearing the burden.
Fossil fuel companies know the toll that their
infrastructure takes on public health and environment. They
know that up front. They look to site projects where they will
face the least amount of political and public resistance,
which, unfortunately, is often in poor, underserved, and under-
represented communities.
That is why for decades people of color and low-income
communities have suffered from fossil fuel companies routing
pipelines, drilling for oil and gas, siting refineries, and
building power plants in their neighborhoods and near their
homes. This pattern holds true for other types of fossil fuel
infrastructure across the country. For example, in
Pennsylvania, multiple studies of the Marcellus Shale region
found there were a disproportionate number of minority and low-
income residents living in areas near oil and gas wells.
For too long, companies paid little public price for this
decision making, which was based on both systemic racism and
unconscious bias.
Just as white Americans can no longer ignore the systemic
inequalities in policing, in public health, and in the criminal
justice system, we cannot ignore the racism that is ingrained
in the systems that keep our lights on, our cars moving, our
homes heated in the winter and cooled in the summer.
Thanks in large part to brave activists who are willing to
put their bodies on the line in order to highlight racial
injustices, there has been an enormous public awakening.
Two recent announcements on high-profile pipelines can be
directly attributed to environmental justice activism. Over the
Fourth of July weekend, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy
announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a
600-mile-long natural gas pipeline that had one of its permits
revoked because of a lack of consideration for environmental
justice issues when proposing to place a compressor station in
a historically black community in Virginia, one that was
founded by freed slaves. One of our witnesses today is from
this community, Ella Rose, and she will share with us the
threat that this pipeline posed for her community.
Thank you, Ella Rose, for your years of activism.
The very next day after the cancellation of the Atlantic
Coast Pipeline, a Federal judge announced that the Dakota
Access Pipeline must be completely emptied and shut down by
August while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes a more
thorough environmental review, which validates many of the
concerns raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who faced
water cannons and police violence while protesting against this
pipeline in sometimes freezing temperatures.
I am proud of the work done by this Committee to address
environmental justice, led by our Full Committee Chair, Raul
Grijalva, and our Subcommittee colleague, Representative
McEachin. Their work on H.R. 5886, the Environmental Justice
for All Act, was recently included by the Select Committee in
their comprehensive report to address the climate crisis.
That legislation is designed to ensure that we don't make
the same mistakes as we look forward to the infrastructure
requirements of clean energy resources, like wind and solar, on
public lands.
While new wind and solar farms will reduce pollution, lower
energy costs, and create new jobs, we must ensure that
infrastructure planning, especially transmission, respects
local input and improves environmental justice outcomes. Clean
energy on public lands should be leveraged to ensure a just and
equitable transition away from fossil fuels, especially for
minority and tribal communities that have been the most
impacted by pollution.
We need to write a new playbook, one that rights historical
wrongs, addresses the existential threat of climate change, and
builds a more just and equitable future.
I want to thank the witnesses for appearing before the
Committee, and I really look forward to your testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lowenthal follows:]
Prepared Statement of the Hon. Alan S. Lowenthal, a Representative in
Congress from the State of California
It is an undeniable fact that in our country, it is very often the
wealthy and politically connected who have an outsized voice in the
public decision-making process. When a privileged community decides it
doesn't want something in its backyard, it is the backyards of the less
powerful, less connected, and less wealthy that end up bearing the
burden. Fossil-fuel companies know the toll that their infrastructure
takes on public health and the environment. They look to site projects
where they will face the least amount of political and public
resistance, which is often in poor, underserved, and underrepresented
communities.
That's why for decades, people of color and low-income communities
have suffered from fossil-fuel companies routing pipelines, drilling
for oil and gas, siting refineries, and building power plants in their
neighborhoods and near their homes. This pattern holds true for other
types fossil-fuel infrastructure across the country. In Pennsylvania,
multiple studies of the Marcellus Shale region found that there are a
disproportionate number of minority and low-income residents living in
areas near oil and gas wells.
For too long, companies paid little public price for this decision
making, which was based on both systemic racism and unconscious bias.
Just as white Americans can no longer ignore the systemic
inequalities in policing, in public health, and in the criminal justice
system, we cannot ignore the racism ingrained in the systems that keep
our lights on, our cars moving, our homes heated in the winter and
cooled in the summer.
Thanks in large part to brave activists who are willing to put
their bodies on the line in order to highlight racial injustices, there
has been an enormous public awakening.
Two recent announcements on high profile pipelines can be directly
attributed to environmental justice activism. Over the fourth of July
weekend Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced the cancellation of
the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile long natural gas pipeline that
had one of its permits revoked because of a lack of consideration for
environmental justice issues when proposing to place a compressor
station in a historically black community in Virginia, one that was
founded by freed slaves. One of our witnesses today is from this
community, Ella Rose, and she will share with us the threat that this
pipeline posed to her community.
The very next day after cancellation of the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline, a Federal judge announced that the Dakota Access Pipeline
must be completely emptied and shut down by August while the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers completes a more thorough environmental review,
validating many of the concerns raised by the Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe, who faced water cannons and police violence while protesting
against the pipeline in sometimes freezing temperatures.
I'm proud of the work done by this Committee to address
environmental justice, led by our full Committee Chair Raul Grijalva
and our Subcommittee colleague Representative McEachin. Their work on
H.R. 5886, the Environmental Justice for All Act, was recently included
by the Select Committee in their comprehensive report to address the
climate crisis.
That legislation is designed to ensure that we don't make the same
mistakes as we look forward to the infrastructure requirements of clean
energy resources like wind and solar on public lands.
While new wind and solar farms will reduce pollution, lower energy
costs, and create new jobs, we must ensure that infrastructure
planning, especially transmission, respects local input and improves
environmental justice outcomes. Clean energy on public lands should be
leveraged to ensure a just and equitable transition away from fossil
fuels, especially for minority and tribal communities that are most
impacted by pollution.
We need to write a new playbook, one that rights historical wrongs,
addresses the existential threat of climate change, and builds a more
just and equitable future.
______
Mr. Lowenthal. I now recognize Ranking Member Gosar for his
opening statement.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. PAUL A. GOSAR, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARIZONA
Dr. Gosar. Thank you, Chairman Lowenthal. And thanks to the
witnesses for taking the time to join us today to discuss
planning for energy infrastructure.
I would like to first note my disappointment in the recent
cancellation of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The
project sponsor cited the risk and uncertainty associated with
ongoing litigation as the primary reason for canceling the
project.
The ACP proposed to transport cheap, clean-burning,
American-produced natural gas across West Virginia, Virginia,
and North Carolina, creating approximately 17,000 well-paying
jobs, union jobs, and $2.7 billion worth of economic activity
in the process.
The project was also expected to generate about $4.2
million in local tax revenue every year to the communities
along the pipeline route. One such community is Union Hill,
Virginia, in Buckingham County. The pipeline proposed called
for a location of a compressor station in this county, as the
pipeline would need to connect to the existing Transco
Pipeline, which runs through that county.
The project sponsors worked with the local community to
create the Greater Union Hill Development Corporation and
offered the organization $5 million to put toward projects for
the betterment of Union Hill's community. Some of these
projects included new recreational facilities, a new health
clinic, job training for the project at a local community
college and a fully funded year-round fire station, as the town
of Union Hill had recently lost theirs due to the lack of
funding. The project sponsors had committed to hiring at least
25 percent of the workforce from the local community in a
county with 10 percent unemployment. This project would have
also allowed local manufacturing facilities to switch from
diesel to natural gas to power their operations.
Five local pastors recognized the potential of this project
to improve life in their community and signed this letter of
support for the ACP. They noted that, once the project sponsors
made an effort to engage with the community, they gained a
better understanding of the residents and their needs and made
a financial commitment to community development projects.
I would like to submit that for the record; did you get
that, Alan?
Mr. Lowenthal. Without objection.
[The information follows:]
Submission for the Record by Rep. Gosar
November 20, 2018
The Honorable Ralph S. Northam
Governor
Commonwealth of Virginia
1111 East Broad Street, 3rd Floor
Richmond, VA 23219
Dear Governor Northam:
We greet you as clergy members and religious leaders in Buckingham
County to share our opinion about Dominion Energy and the Atlantic
Coast Pipeline. In the beginning, Dominion did not really have an
understanding of our community or our concerns. They thought everyone
in Buckingham County thought the same about the pipeline. But we are
all different and hold individual opinions. While Dominion may have not
fully understood our community and its history initially, over the past
few months, they have worked hard and tried to learn more about us.
They have been here many times and met with people in Buckingham and
our communities on different occasions. We greeted them with respect
and they treated us the same, as we can all continue to learn from each
other in this process. We are operating in good faith that Dominion is
trying to help Buckingham by providing jobs for our neighbors and their
families who only want to make an honest living and be safe. That is
not too much to ask.
Our meetings with Dominion have resulted in a positive support
package for Buckingham County and the Union Hill area. The support
package focuses on keeping the community safe and revitalizing the
community. The public safety package includes about $1,520,000 for
salary support for emergency responders, facility upgrades, a dedicated
emergency channel and emergency equipment. Approximately $3,600,00 is
being provided to improve community health, education and economic
development opportunities through building a Community Wellness,
Education and Economic Development Center, community park and event
pavilion in the Union Hill community. They also helped established the
Greater Union Hill Community Development Corporation, which will take
the lead in making sure these decisions come from the community and are
open to everyone and that Dominion makes good on their commitment.
We know that some other people think the compressor station and
pipeline issue is discriminatory and against black people. But a lot of
this information is incorrect, and we do not feel this is the case. In
fact, most of the people living in the area around the compressor
station are white. Regardless of who is affected, all people, voices
and opinions matter and it's not just one group.
We are committed to holding up our end for our community. We will
work with the people at Dominion and the Greater Union Hill Community
Development Corporation to ensure that our community, especially our
most vulnerable residents, benefit from the construction of the
Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Sincerely,
Joe Chambers, Jr., Joii Goodman,1
First Baptist Church CCM
Sharon Williams, George Robert Woodson,
Jerusalem Baptist Church Chestnut Grove Baptist Church
Joseph Scruggs,
New Hope Baptist Church
______
Dr. Gosar. My colleagues have responded to the cancellation
of this project with glee and are here today to take a victory
lap, celebrating the loss of 17,000 new union jobs that
disappeared the instant ACP was canceled. They claim that we
will make up for these missed opportunities for job creation
with cleaner burning energy with a massive scale-up in
renewable projects someday, if these projects can overcome
NEPA, if they can find funding, if they can clear the NIMBYism
that threatens to stop every major project.
In the meantime, my colleagues sign onto the pie-in-the-sky
proposals like the Green New Deal and pass bill after bill
through this Committee designed to kill conventional energy
development. The so-called Unity Task Force, made up of
staffers from the Biden-Sanders camps and Representative
Ocasio-Cortez, have naively called to end carbon-based
electricity generation by 2035 and net-zero emissions in the
United States by 2050.
At the same time, my colleagues block Republicans' attempts
to fast-track renewable energy developments on public lands.
They refuse to mark up Representative Fulcher's bill to promote
geothermal energy because it would speed up geothermal
exploration through the use of a categorical exclusion. The
Majority included my bill in the Public Lands Renewable Energy
Act in their partisan highway bill earlier this month, but
strangely left out language that would have included the Forest
Service lands and targeted planning for renewable energy
development. How sad.
If we are going to take smart planning for renewable energy
on public lands seriously, I encourage my colleagues to work
with us in two critical areas: First, NEPA reform and securing
our endless litigation under NEPA. We must engage in meaningful
NEPA reform if we ever wish to see a significant increase in
renewable generation and transmission on Federal lands.
Further, we must acknowledge that increased demand for
renewable energy will drive up the demand for critical
minerals, which are integral to these technologies. Cobalt, for
example, is required for electric vehicles, satellites, and
wind turbines to function. Sixty percent of the global cobalt
supply is mined in the Congo, where abhorrent child labor
practices are well-documented, and China now controls at least
half of all the cobalt production in that country.
Fortunately, the proposed Twin Metal Mines in Minnesota
would serve as a rare source of domestic cobalt, but, of
course, my colleagues aim to shut that project down as well,
passing language to do so through the Appropriations Committee
just last week.
Our inaction on critical minerals has consequences. We have
sat idly while China has gained almost full global control over
dozens of important minerals, putting our medical,
manufacturing, technology, and energy supply chains at their
mercy. The American people experienced the consequences of
their over-reliance on China firsthand in recent months, and I
think we all agree that the status quo is unacceptable.
If we choose not to engage on these two critical topics,
NEPA reform and domestic mining investment, the vibrant U.S.
economy, powered by significant renewable energy generation,
will remain just that, a fantasy. Delaying the development of
new natural gas pipelines only increases our reliance on
foreign oil and gas while American jobs hang in the balance.
The American people are tired of the delays caused by
endless litigation, delayed jobs, delayed investment in their
communities, and delayed economic certainty that feels like it
will never come. It is time for us to stop delaying, stop
letting litigation and regulation prevent us from modernizing
our infrastructure and start building.
With that, Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Ranking Member Gosar, for your
opening statement.
Now I will introduce today's witnesses. Ms. Jacqueline
Patterson is the Senior Director of the Environmental and
Climate Justice Program at the NAACP. Ella Rose is a resident
of Union Hill, Virginia, and worked for many years as an
activist against the now canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Julia Prochnik is the founder of JASenergies, a consulting firm
which specializes in renewable energy transmission. And,
finally, we have Sarah Obed, the Senior Vice President of
External Affairs at Doyon Limited, an Alaskan Native Regional
Corporation.
Let me remind the witnesses that under our Committee Rules,
they must limit their oral statements to 5 minutes but that
their entire written statement will appear in the hearing
record. When you begin, the timer will begin, and it will turn
orange when you have 1 minute remaining. I recommend that
Members and witnesses jointly use the grid view of the timer so
that they may pin the timer onto their screen.
If your testimony is complete, please remember to mute
yourself to avoid any inadvertent background noise. I will also
allow the entire panel to testify before questioning the
witnesses.
The Chair now recognizes Ms. Patterson to testify.
STATEMENT OF JACQUELINE PATTERSON, SENIOR DIRECTOR,
ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE PROGRAM, NAACP, BALTIMORE,
MARYLAND
Ms. Patterson. Thank you so much. Hopefully you can hear
me. Yes, OK, good.
If he were here today, 10-year-old Thomas of Jacksonville,
Florida, could share his part of the story of the complex
relationship between our energy infrastructure and the health
and well-being of black communities. Thomas lives just 2 miles
from a coal-fired power plant. He has severe asthma and has to
stay home from school on poor air quality days. When Thomas
stays home, his parents, who don't have paid sick leave, miss
income while Thomas loses critical ground in his educational
advancement.
Mr. Hartwell of Charles Town, West Virginia, who is a coal
miner, is in a profession where 76,000 of his comrades have
lost their lives to black lung disease, yet he feels trapped in
the only job he has ever known, one that puts food on his
family's table, provides health care, and guarantees a pension.
When Grandma Maisie of St. Louis, Missouri, was asked about
whether she would be in favor of a hike in her electricity bill
to finance investment in energy efficiency, she responded that
she would gladly pay more if it meant that she didn't have to
take her grandbaby to the emergency room for his asthma attacks
driven by pollution from power plants.
Ms. Egland of Gulfport, Mississippi, says there has to be a
better way than her $400-per-month summer energy bills. She and
her husband are on a fixed income as retirees in a state with
such high energy burden that some people pay upwards of 30
percent of their income on electricity.
These aren't just one-off examples. Each of these is an
illustrative indicator of a widespread pattern of systemic
energy injustice. In our ``Coal Blooded'' report and ``Fumes
Across the Fence-Line'' report, we describe how black
communities are more likely to live in the shadows of coal
plants and oil and gas refineries. These fossil fuel facilities
pollute our communities with mercury, arsenic, lead, sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, methane, and benzene--toxins that are
tied to respiratory, digestive, and circulatory illnesses,
cognitive and behavioral challenges, and endocrine disruption.
Impacts include cancer clusters, poor birth outcomes, adults
who are less likely to smoke but more likely to die of lung
disease, and children who are two to three times more likely to
die of an asthma attack.
Through our partners, we have heard of missing and murdered
Indigenous women around the pipelines and man camps of the oil
and gas industry in South Dakota and beyond. In our report,
``Lights Out in the Cold: Reforming Utility Shut-Off Policies
as if Human Rights Matter,'' we chronicle families who paid the
price of poverty with their very lives, whether they were
burning down their homes in using candles or space heaters, or
dying in their sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning from
bringing a generator inside for safekeeping, or the multiple
examples of respirator-dependent people who had their
electricity cut off over a $60 energy bill.
In our report, ``Ten Equity Implications of the COVID-19
Pandemic,'' we spoke of how the situation has severely
exacerbated energy insecurity as well as how, according to
Harvard University, pollution from energy production creates
particulate matter that has been tied to our differential
COVID-19 susceptibility and mortality.
In our ``In the Eye of the Storm'' toolkit, we detail
impacts of the excessive greenhouse gas emissions that have us
in the crosshairs of catastrophic climate change, which also
disproportionately impacts our communities.
In our ``Fossil Fueled Foolery'' report, we detail how
profits from pollution are invested in anti-clean air and anti-
clean energy lobbying to maintain a status quo that is a death
sentence for too many of our communities.
But it doesn't have to be that way: Robert Wallace of
BithGroup Technologies, a multi-million dollar tech company in
Baltimore; Jihan Gearon, formerly of the Black Mesa Water
Coalition, which owns its own energy infrastructure in
Flagstaff; NAACP leader Rosemary Harris Lytle in Colorado
Springs, who started the PowerUp Employment Project to train
formerly incarcerated persons in solar installations; Denise
Fairchild of Emerald Cities Collaborative paved the pathway for
high-road careers in renewable energy. All of these leaders and
more have seen the promised land.
In our ``Just Energy Policies'' report, ``Power to the
People'' toolkit, and ``Unleashing the Power of the People''
report, we lift up the community-building work of NAACP leaders
in Oregon, Maryland, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and
beyond, as well as partners: Kentuckians for the Commonwealth,
Soulardarity, Co-Op Power, People's Solar Energy Fund, and the
Local Clean Energy Alliance, Native Renewables, and so many
more. We have not only seen what is possible, but we have been
inspired by what is already happening, and our only task is to
scale up.
In closing, if we believe that Black Lives Matter, if we
deeply value taking the knee of white supremacy off the neck of
Black America, if we sincerely want to end the inhumane
practice of sacrifice zones poisoning entire communities, if we
truly want to legislate upholding human and Earth rights, we
must dismantle a utility business model that withholds life-
saving heating, cooling, or electricity for a respirator from
impoverished households while filling the coffers of utility
CEOs to the tune of an average $9.8 million in annual
compensation. We must advance a radical transformation, a just
transition to a new economy. We must have a system that puts
power in the hands of the people, literally and figuratively.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Patterson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Jacqui Patterson, Senior Director, Environmental
and Climate Justice Program, NAACP
Ten-year-old Thomas of Jacksonville, Florida can tell an
illustrative tale of the complex relationship between our energy
infrastructure and the health and well-being of black communities. He
lives 2 miles from a coal fired power plant. He has severe asthma and
has to stay home from school on poor air quality days. When Thomas
stays home from school, his parents, who do shift work without paid
leave, lose income, while Thomas loses critical ground in his
educational advancement.
Grandma Maisie of St. Louis, MO could further elaborate on the
complexities. When she was asked about whether she would be in favor of
a hike in her electricity bill so that the utility could invest in
energy efficiency measures, she responded that she would gladly pay
more, if it meant that she didn't have to take her grandbaby to the
emergency room due to his asthma attacks because of pollution from
power plants.
Mr. Hartwell of Charles Town, West Virginia would say that there
are no easy answers. He is a coal miner who is in a profession where
76,000 of his comrades have lost their lives due to black lung disease.
Yet he feels trapped in the only profession he has ever known that puts
food on his table, provides health care, and guarantees a pension.
Ms. Egland of Gulfport, MS keeps saying there has to be a better
way than the $400 monthly energy bills she pays during the summer while
she and her husband are on a fixed income in a state with such high
energy burden that some people pay upwards of 30 percent of their
income on electricity.
These aren't just one-off examples. Each of these is an
illustrative indicator of a widespread pattern of systemic energy
injustice:
In our Coal Blooded Report, we found that 68 percent of African
Americans live within 30 miles of a coal fired power plant and our
Fumes Across the Fence-Line Report describes how African American,
Latino American, and Native American communities we are more likely to
live in the shadows of oil and gas refineries. These fossil fuel
facilities pollute our communities with mercury, arsenic lead, sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide, methane, and benzene--toxins that are tied
to respiratory, digestive, and circulatory illnesses, cognitive and
behavioral challenges and endocrine disruption. For us that spells
cancer clusters, poor birth outcomes, adults who are less likely to
smoke but more likely to die of lung disease, and children who are 2-3
times more likely to die of asthma attacks.
While we are more likely to suffer the impacts of exposure to
pollution from energy production, we are less likely to have the
benefit of energy. In our report titled, Lights Out in the Cold:
Reforming Utility Shut Off Policies as If Human Rights Matter, we
chronicle family after family that have paid the price of poverty with
their very lives whether they are burning down their houses with
candles or space heaters, or dying in their sleep from carbon monoxide
poisoning from bringing a generator inside, or the multiple examples of
respirator dependent sick people who had the source of energy for their
lifeline cut off over a $60 energy bill.
In our report on the 10 Equity Implications of the COVID-19
Pandemic we spoke of how the pandemic has severely exacerbated energy
insecurity as well as how pollution from energy production creates
particulate matter that has been tied by Harvard University to our
COVID-19 susceptibility and mortality.
Through our coalition building with the groups involved in the
Extreme Extractive Energy convening, we heard of missing and murdered
indigenous women around the pipelines and man-camps of the oil and gas
industry.
In our In the Eye of the Storm Toolkit and Equity in Climate
Resilience Training, we detail the impacts of the excessive greenhouse
gas emissions that have us in the crosshairs of catastrophic climate
change which also disproportionately impacts economically and
politically disenfranchised communities.
And In our Fossil Fueled Foolery Report we detail how profits from
pollution are invested in anti-clean air and anti-clean energy lobbying
to maintain a status quo that is a death sentence for too many in our
society, the oft disenfranchised, whom the Bible refers to as ``the
least of these.''
However, Robert Wallace the African American President and CEO of
BithGroup Technologies, which is a multi-million dollar clean tech
company; Jihan Gearon, Executive Director Emeritus of the Black Mesa
Water Coalition in Flagstaff, Arizona which owns its own energy
infrastructure; Rosemary Harris Lytle, President of the NAACP Rocky
Mountain Area Conference, who started a PowerUp Employment project in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, for formerly incarcerated persons to be
trained in the new energy economy; and Denise Fairchild of Emerald
Cities Collaborative which is creating high road careers in renewable
energy. All of these leaders and more have seen the promised land!
In our Just Energy Policies Report we shared data from the National
Renewable Energy Laboratories that clearly says we have extensive wind
and solar potential from Alaska to Florida and in between.
In our Power to the People Toolkit, we have shared how we can
develop microgrids, create jobs, and ensure access to clean energy for
all!
In the Our Communities, Our Power Toolkit, we describe
comprehensive models of developing and financing community building
anchored by clean energy development.
In our Unleashing the Power of the People Report we uplift the work
of NAACP leaders in like Oregon, Maryland, Indiana, Mississippi, and
Illinois resulting in policies and practices that center human rights
in the new energy economy.
In our work with partners like, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth,
Soulardarity, Co-Op Power, People's Solar Energy Fund, the Local Clean
Energy Alliance, Native Renewables, and so many more, we have not only
seen what's possible. We've seen what's already happening.
Our only task is to scale up!!
If we are truly serious about Black Lives Mattering; If we deeply
value taking the knee of white supremacy off of the neck of Black
America; If we sincerely want to end the inhumane practice of sacrifice
zones and the poisoning of entire communities of African Americans,
Latino Americans, Indigenous Nations, Low income white American
communities, and others with toxins; If we truly want to legislate
upholding human rights and preservation of the earth . . . We must aim
to deconstruct a utility business model that will withhold life-saving
heating or cooling or the electricity to power the respirator of an
oxygen-dependent sick person all while lining the pockets of the
utility baron to the tune of an average of $9.8 million in annual
compensation. We must advance a radically transformative transition to
a new energy economy.
We must have a system that puts power, literally and figuratively,
in the hands of the people. ALL people. Thank you!!
______
Mr. Lowenthal. I want to thank you, Ms. Patterson.
The Chair now recognizes Ms. Rose. Welcome to the
Committee, Ms. Rose. You have 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ELLA ROSE, UNION HILL RESIDENT, BUCKINGHAM COUNTY,
VIRGINIA
Ms. Rose. Thank you. My name is Ella Rose, and I was born
and raised in Nelson County, Virginia. I retired to Buckingham
County, a neighboring county, about 8 years ago.
I learned about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the
associated compressor station in 2014. A neighbor invited me to
a church meeting where a newly organized group, Friends of
Buckingham, were conducting a meeting to share information and
concerns and to learn more about what this would mean for our
neighborhood.
The more I learned, the more I realized that I had to
protect my home and community. This was especially so when I
learned that the location of the compressor station, a very
large, noisy, polluting infrastructure, was on the land only
150 feet from my front door.
There were originally three considerations for the
placement of the compressor station. Dominion Energy decided to
place it in our 84 percent African American neighborhood of
Union Hill. Opposing the pipeline and the compressor station
became a full-time job for me as I became more and more active.
This was not the plan I had for my retirement. I had spent
much of my life working in cities, and they were noisy and
chaotic. This home that I had just moved into 2 years before
and had taken many years to pay for, was the peace and quiet
that I had always hoped for. I enjoy the wildlife nearby,
including looking out of my window to see deer, turkey, and
occasionally a bear. These are simple pleasures, and it is very
important to me to be able to enjoy them.
Although it was not something that I was used to doing, I
began to speak at public hearings. It started with the local
ones, which were necessary for Dominion Energy to obtain for
the county, such as a special use permit, as the rural area of
Union Hill was zoned for agriculture. I also spoke at the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hearing and later
at multiple hearings with the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Despite my efforts to make my voice heard, I felt largely
ignored by the local government, FERC, and Virginia DEQ. No one
from the Federal Government had come to talk to the community
about this project, and Dominion acted like the pipes were
already in the ground. The Department of Environmental Quality
finally came 4 years later, at the invitation of Friends of
Buckingham and only after we had raised the public awareness of
the location in our low-income and African American
neighborhood.
The attitude from Dominion was that the project was
inevitably going to happen, and we needed to accept it. This is
what divided the community. Many who had not been coming to our
meetings weren't as informed as some of us in the neighborhood,
and the community decided to take the deal Dominion was
offering, such as a community center.
Many of us who were on the other side of this were not
invited to those meetings. So, deals were struck based on the
compressor station being built. I was not included in any of
those negotiations nor was the Friends of Buckingham, where I
was now a Council member.
My concerns about the compressor station were multiple. I
was very concerned about the air quality. As I was so close, I
would have been forced to breathe emissions on a daily 24/7
basis for the rest of my life in this location. I was deeply
concerned that I would develop respiratory problems or other
medical conditions as a result of these emissions. My sister-
in-law, who lives across the road, already has a respiratory
problem, as do many others in our neighborhood community.
I was aware that there would be blowdowns, when a large
amount of emissions would be blown into the air. When Dominion
first started talking about these blowdowns during the local
meetings with our Board of Supervisors, they said they would
only occur every few years. Over time, the information changed,
with at last count being multiple times per week. It seemed
that we were getting a lot of misinformation. This did not
increase my trust in them.
I was also concerned about the constant noise and what it
would do to my stress level. I was additionally afraid of what
the pipeline, with all the digging and trenching, would do to
my shallow well, my only source of drinking water, which was
the same for many other community members.
I was also troubled by the reason why my neighborhood was
selected for the location of the compressor station. My
neighborhood is predominantly African American. It is 84
percent African American, settled after emancipation by the
enslaved Freedman people who worked the plantations in the
area. The environmental impact studies never indicated this. It
is one of the reasons I believe we won in the Fourth Circuit
Court.
DEQ did not take into consideration who lived there and the
disproportionate impact on us. I believe that they picked this
location and not the other two they had identified because they
did not think we would speak up. Our lives count, and we should
not be a sacrifice zone for financial interests.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak about my
experiences.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rose follows:]
Prepared Statement of Ella Rose, Union Hill Resident, Buckingham
County, Virginia
My name is Ella Rose and I was born and raised in Nelson County,
Virginia. I retired to Buckingham County, a neighboring county about 8
years ago. I learned about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the
associated compressor station in 2014. A neighbor invited me to a
church meeting where a newly organized group, Friends of Buckingham,
were conducting a meeting to share information and concerns and to
learn more about what this would mean for our neighborhood. The more I
learned the more I realized that I had to protect my home and
community. This was especially so when I learned that the location of
the compressor station, a very large, noisy polluting infrastructure,
was on land only 150 feet from my front door. There were originally
three considerations for the placement of the compressor station.
Dominion Energy decided to place it in our 84 percent African American
neighborhood of Union Hill. Opposing the pipeline and compressor
station became a full time job for me as I became more and more active.
This was not the plan I had for my retirement.
I had spent much of my life working in cities and they were noisy
and chaotic. This home that I had just moved into 2 years before and
had taken many years working to pay for was the peace and quiet that I
had always hoped for. I enjoy the wildlife nearby including looking out
my windows to see deer, turkey and occasionally a bear. These are
simple pleasures and it is very valuable to me to be able to enjoy
them.
Although it was not something I was used to doing I began to speak
at public hearings. It started with the local ones which were necessary
for Dominion Energy to obtain from the county, such as the Special Use
Permit as the rural area of Union Hill was zoned for Agriculture. I
also spoke at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Hearings and
later at multiple hearings with the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality.
Despite my efforts to make my voice heard I felt largely ignored by
the local government, FERC and Virginia DEQ. No one from the Federal
Government had come to talk to the community about this project and
Dominion acted like the pipes were already in the ground. The
Department of Environmental Quality finally came 4 years later at the
invitation of Friends of Buckingham and only after we had raised the
public awareness of the location in our low income and African American
neighborhood.
There was an attitude from Dominion that the project was inevitably
going to happen and we all needed to accept it. This is what divided
the community. Many who had not been coming to our meetings and weren't
informed as some of us in the community, decided to take the deals that
Dominion was offering such as a community center. Many of us who were
on the other side of this were not invited to those meetings. So deals
were struck based on the compressor station being built. I was not
included in any of those negotiations nor was the Friends of Buckingham
where I was now a Council member.
My concerns about the compressor station were multiple. I was very
concerned about the air quality as I was so close. I would have been
forced to breath the emissions on a daily 24/7 basis for the rest of my
life in this location. I was deeply concerned that I would develop
respiratory problems or other medical conditions as a result of these
emissions. My sister-in-law who lives across the road already has
respiratory problems as do many others in our community. I was aware
that there would be blowdowns when a larger amount of the emissions
would be blown into the air. When Dominion first started talking about
these blowdowns during the local meetings with our Board of Supervisors
they said they would only occur once every few years. Over time the
information changed with at last count being multiple times per week.
It seems that we were getting a lot of misinformation. This did not
increase my trust in them. I was also concerned about the constant
noise and what it would do to my stress levels. I was additionally
afraid of what a pipeline with all the digging and trenching would do
to my shallow well, my only source of drinking water, which was the
same for many other community members.
I was also troubled by the reason my neighborhood was selected for
the location of the compressor station. My neighborhood is
predominately African American. It is 84 percent African American,
settled after emancipation by the enslaved Freedmen people who worked
the plantations in the area. The Environmental Impact Studies never
indicated this. It is one of the reasons I believe we won in the Fourth
Circuit. DEQ did not take into consideration who lived there and the
disproportionate impact on us. I believe that they picked this location
and not the other two they had identified because they did not think we
would speak up. Our lives count and we should not be a sacrifice zone
for financial interests.
Thank you for this opportunity to speak about my experiences.
______
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Ms. Rose.
As members of this Committee know, I do not strictly adhere
to the limits. I would like Members and also panelists to try
to keep their remarks to the 5 minutes, but if you go slightly
over, I will not penalize you. And I allow both Republicans and
Democratic Members to do that, and staff.
Now I would like to recognize Ms. Prochnik to testify.
Ms. Prochnik, you have 5 minutes for testimony or slightly
more.
STATEMENT OF JULIA PROCHNIK, FOUNDER JASENERGIES, SAN
FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you. Can you hear me OK?
Mr. Lowenthal. Yes, we can hear you very clearly.
Ms. Prochnik. OK, great. Thanks.
Thank you, Chairman Lowenthal and members of the Committee.
It is an honor to be here with all of you and my fellow
panelists to testify today.
I stand in solidarity with the black communities deeply
harmed by our social injustices and inequalities. As a mother
with young children, I am committed to a clean energy future,
an inclusive economy for the benefit of all, and a just and
equitable society. It cannot come to pass without acknowledging
and overcoming insidious discrimination.
As we become increasingly dependent on electricity, the
United States needs to modernize the grid, expanding capacity
and improving reliability for a strong, prosperous future.
Clean energy will help us achieve this task and recover from
the current COVID-19 recession, but we must act and think
differently to ensure diverse stakeholders, including
disadvantaged and frontline communities, Black and Brown
organizations, are at the table, participating in and
benefiting from each step toward a brighter future.
I will cover challenges and opportunities facing the
electric grid in two themes: Inequities of the grid, and
inclusive planning. The electric grid is the economic backbone
of our country. As with every other aspect of the Nation, it
needs greater inclusivity and equality. In the last 9 years,
U.S. power companies announced the retirement of more than 546
coal-fired power units, most of which are located in frontline
or disadvantaged communities or on tribal lands. Another 17
gigawatts, about three times what Washington, DC uses, of coal-
fired capacity will retire by 2025.
In April 2019, renewable energy overtook coal for the first
time in the United States, providing 23 percent of our power
compared to coal's 20 percent. Historically, planning has
sidestepped social and climate justice concerns. As grid
generation changes, transmission changes too. Public policies
promoting 100 percent clean energy and carbon reduction seek
economic stimulus, and market and regulatory certainty.
Community transition is not always at the top of the list and
must be part of the plan.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution. To change the
inequities in planning a community benefits framework is
recommended as an integrated approach that simultaneously
considers the demand and supply network, as well as the land
footprint and the system as a whole.
Expanding access to data and information will help decrease
the pressure on frontline and disadvantaged communities, who
are continually exploited by fossil fuels. Attention must be
paid to the unique characteristics of rural and Indigenous
communities. When siting transmission lines and renewable
energy, it is essential to have inclusive policy discussions to
discuss options and involve communities in decisions on how
best to reduce land and community impacts.
Reliability standards also need innovation. Transmission
rights-of-way are networked on many Federal public lands where
vegetation management is necessary to maintain reliability.
Tree contacts have caused many wildfires and blackouts in the
United States and around the world. Pathways and benefits of
integrated vegetation management can be balanced, however. An
inclusive cost-benefit analysis of land factors and
conservation can provide a better understanding of grid
hardening.
When transmission cannot be upgraded or built, non-wire
solutions can assist grid reliability. Federal and state
policies provide for consideration of non-transmission
alternatives, like rooftop solar, storage, conservation, energy
efficiency, and local and regional transmission planning
processes.
One tool to bridge inequities in planning is to incorporate
inclusive ``Smart from the Start'', which enables utilities and
developers to engage affected communities early in the process
and discuss potential issues with possible construction sites
and consider multiple alternatives. The existing NEPA process,
using ``Smart from the Start'' planning, should be strengthened
to be more inclusive and expand opportunities for public
involvement in the Federal decision-making process.
Inclusion means impacted communities are treated as equal
partners and their interests are protected equally. Congress,
agencies, and legislators can streamline and clarify the text
of laws to make requirements more understandable, reduce
paperwork burdens, and have multiple agencies that administer
similar requirements jointly approve projects. Federal agencies
need to increase public comment periods, conduct various types
of public hearings for greater accessibility, and translate
information about proposed projects.
The initial West-Wide Energy Corridor's Section 368
interagency plan did not incorporate ``Smart from the Start''.
It was a first-of-its-kind report and a good start, but the
Federal Government has to play an inclusive role, ensuring
environmental justice principles are addressed to close the
climate gaps when developing clean energy infrastructure
projects on public lands.
I offer these recommendations for key changes for the grid.
Keep the just and equitable transition in mind for all types of
planning. Create access to capacity data, planning tools, and
new models, coordinate inclusive state, regional, and inter-
regional planning, improve Federal resource planning and
coordination.
In order to provide a more equitable and inclusive
transmission system on public lands, Congress needs to: (1)
direct the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and
U.S. Department of Energy to publish the final West-Wide Energy
Corridor Plan and begin a new wind and solar programmatic
inclusive study; (2) direct all Federal agencies to implement
tribal and environmental justice policies and include them in
holistic planning; and (3) direct all Federal land agencies to
create criteria protecting tribal, low-income, frontline and
disadvantaged communities from green gentrification.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to
your questions and working together to solve the inequities of
the grid.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Prochnik follows:]
Prepared Statement of Julia Souder Prochnik, Founder, JASenergies LLC
Thank you Chairman Lowenthal and members of the Committee. It is an
honor to be here with all of you and my fellow panelists to testify
before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on ``Energy
Infrastructure and Environmental Justice: Lessons for a Sustainable
Future.''
I stand in solidarity with Black communities that have been deeply
harmed by our society's injustices and inequalities. As a mother with
young children, I am committed to a clean energy future and economy
that is inclusive of all, for the benefit of all, and that contributes
to a Just and Equitable society; it cannot come to pass without
acknowledging and overcoming insidious discrimination.
As many lifestyles become increasingly dependent on electricity,
the United States needs to make major investments in a modernized grid
to expand capacity and improve reliability as we plan for the future.
For the first time in the United States in April 2019, renewable
energy overtook coal, providing 23 percent of U.S. power generation,
compared to coal's 20 percent share.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Oliver Milman, ``US generates more electricity from renewables
than coal for first time ever,'' Guardian, October 2018, https://
www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/26/energy-renewable-
electricity-coal-power, accessed October 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2019, U.S. power companies
announced the retirement of more than 546 coal-fired power units, most
of which are located in frontline or disadvantaged communities or on
tribal lands, and totaling about 102 gigawatts (GW) of generating
capacity. Plant owners intend to retire another 17 GW of coal-fired
capacity by 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information
Administration. After a coal unit retires, the power plant site goes
through a complex, multi-year process that includes decommissioning,
remediation, and redevelopment including a repurposing of transmission
lines. The U.S. electric transmission network consists of over 350,000
circuit miles of lines \2\ connecting communities and provides a
backbone of reliability and economic support.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/03/f49/
2018%20Transmission%20Data%20Review %20FINAL.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As coal plants are retired, capacity opens up on transmission
lines. Renewable energy can step in and provide reliable, inexpensive
and clean power. Solar and wind do not fit on the footprint of every
coal plant site. Economics and public policies are pushing faster
closure of coal plants and accompanied transitioning of local
communities and infrastructure. The Centralia transition agreement is
an example of a well-funded, long-term transition plan. Unlike many
coal plant closures today, it was forged not because the company was
going out of business but to address climate change.\3\ There are only
20 coal plants in the continental West with owners who haven't
committed to fully retiring them by specific dates or given the local
communities a transition plan.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/
stateline/2020/03/04/as-us-coal-plants-shutter-one-town-tests-an-off-
ramp.
\4\ https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-02-04/coal-
power-plants-western-us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transmission planning activities are undertaken to enable future
reliable and efficient utilization of transmission facilities by
addressing many factors but historically have not often addressed
social or climate justice concerns. Transmission constraints and
economic congestion (e.g. when it is too costly to move resources or no
resources are available) are closely related phenomena,\5\ but are
presented separately in reporting and are not shared with other
agencies as openly as possible. Given the diversity of the transmission
system itself--in ownership, operation, planning, and physical
characteristics--presenting the data in a unified framework is
challenging, but achievable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2018/03/f49/
2018%20Transmission%20Data%20Review %20FINAL.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I will cover the need to ensure coordinated planning in three
themes: inequities of the grid, climate change and the grid, and
inclusive planning for the grid. The electric grid is the economic
backbone of our country and must now transition toward increased
inclusivity and equality.
inequity and the grid
Clean energy will help us recover from the current COVID-19
recession, but we must act and think differently to ensure diverse
stakeholders including disadvantaged and front-line communities, Black
and Brown organizations are at the table and able to participate in the
changes.
Over the past few years I have worked with communities,
policymakers, advocates, unions and industry to help transition fossil
fuel assets and infrastructure embedded in communities across the
country. Just and Equitable Transition \6\ must benefit the local
community and must come with financing, retraining, fair wage jobs and
lost income protection. These efforts must prioritize the areas that
are most vulnerable to climate change, including low-income
neighborhoods and communities of color. Due to historic discrimination
and residential segregation, these are often located near fossil fuel
plants and mines, in flood-prone areas, or are exposed to
disproportionately high heat, pollution, and other environmental
risks.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ https://westerngrid.net/wcea/jet/.
\7\ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2019/08/
01/473067/a-perfect-storm-2/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Environmental Justice community strives for fairness and
climate justice where aspects of mitigation and adaptation are uneven.
There is a climate gap, which is an issue of human rights, public
health, and equality and demonstrates how climate change does not
affect everyone equally, and it is people of color and the poor who
will be hurt the most.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/242/docs/
ClimateGapExecSumm_10ah_small.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transmission and distribution planning must be better coordinated.
Confusing jurisdictions, lack of transparency, misaligned agency
missions, lack of funding to bring diverse meaningful stakeholders into
the complex process are all hurdles. But matching supply and demand in
a more unified fashion will help the communities with costs, the
industry with better information and policymakers with clear drivers to
set goals.
To attain these benefits, planning criteria and methodologies need
to be revised to include climate justice and resilience. The design of
resilient power systems starts with the overall planning of the entire
system. Until recently, there had been little work on including climate
considerations in planning.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/
31910/Stronger-Power-Improving-Power-Sector-Resilience-to-Natural-
Hazards.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribal Energy and Infrastructure
The President of the Navajo Nation delivered a heartfelt wake-up to
many white people of the many hardships the Nation has faced and the
strength and resiliency in the Navajo People. President Nez said in his
testimony to Congress, ``I implore you to help address the systemic
changes that need to occur for the improvement and advancement of
Indian Country.'' He also said ``Today, I am asking that our
environment and natural resources be protected, and our needs be
promoted. With the protection of our resource and our participation in
the 21st century, we will be able to live in a more harmonious state in
our permanent homeland for generations to come.''
Renewable energy policies must recognize--and attempt to correct--
the history of fossil fuel oppression and displacement of Indigenous
people. The Federal Government has directive to advance Tribal
Sovereignty and Rights, and 100 percent regenerative energy policies
should include the leadership and consultation of Indigenous
communities, particularly around energy sovereignty.
Federal agencies should collaborate on coordinated processes with
Tribes to be put in place to ensure advocates and policymakers
intentionally consult with Indigenous communities on land, water, and
air rights related to renewable energy.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T1129.001
.epsWhen developers are working with tribes and Federal agencies
there must be attention paid to the unique characteristics of rural and
Indigenous communities, such as siting of renewables on sensitive
lands, ``off grid'' solar options, and ``green businesses''.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ https://www.100percentnetwork.org/uploads/cms/documents/100-
network_comprehensive-building-blocks-for-a-just-regenerative-100-
policy-2020.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As outlined in the 100-network building blocks report,\11\ ``when
planning transmission and generation together it is recommended to
include renewable energy projects both ``located in'' and
``benefiting'' EJ communities (while recognizing that it is not always
feasible to site all renewable energy within target communities)
because it rectifies disproportionality of dirty energy impacts and
structural inequities.'' The public health and economic goals of
achieving 100 percent regenerative energy will only be achieved if
renewables are located in and benefit BIPOC \12\ (black, Indigenous and
people of color) and frontline communities.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ Ibid.
\12\ https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-bipoc.html.
\13\ https://www.100-network_comprehensive-building-blocks-for-a-
just-regenerative-100-policy-2020.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
climate change and the grid
As coal plant closures create changes for the electric system, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) notes that
extreme weather caused by climate change is growing and transmission
lines are at risk across the country as storms grow more severe.
Many leaders have referred to the electric grid in the U.S. as the
largest single machine in the entire world, and it is an incredibly
complicated thing to manage and balance.\14\ The grid on the right
shows areas in the U.S. affected by climate disasters, which always
affect some part of the grid (map on the left).\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-02-04/coal-
power-plants-western-us.
\15\ https://www.anl.gov/.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T1129.002
.epsIn broader context, the total cost of U.S. billion-dollar
disasters over the last 5 years (2015-2019) exceeds $525 billion, with
a 5-year annual cost average of $106.3 billion, both of which are
records. The U.S. billion-dollar disaster damage costs over the last
decade (2010-2019) were also historically large, exceeding $800 billion
from 119 separate billion-dollar events. Moreover, the losses over the
most recent 15 years (2005-2019) are $1.16 trillion in damage from 156
separate billion-dollar disaster events.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2018s-
billion-dollar-disasters-context.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Significant portions of the nation's energy production and delivery
infrastructure are in low lying coastal areas and low income
disadvantaged and frontline communities; these facilities include oil
and natural gas production and delivery facilities, refineries, power
plants, and transmission lines. The traditional approach to
infrastructure design may no longer be adequate. It is important to
capture key features of a changing grid and the additional benefits to
approaching adaptation in a more proactive way in order to adequately
estimate future climate change impacts to all communities. Increasing
transmission capacity within and between regions is critical to
addressing extreme weather events, changes in peak loads, water and
weather constraints on energy production, and sea level rise.\17\
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\17\ https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/
31910/Stronger-Power-Improving-Power-Sector-Resilience-to-Natural-
Hazards.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Nicolas, C., J. Rentschler, A.
Potter van Loon, et al. 2019. ``Stronger Power: Improving Power Sector
Resilience to Natural Hazards.'' Sector note for LIFELINES: The
Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity, World Bank, Washington, DC.
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Anticipated impacts of climate change can be addressed with
increases in generating, transmission and distribution capacity, as
well as through improvements to equipment design.\18\ My colleague Rob
Gramlich mentioned in a 2019 congressional testimony that ``new
technologies are commercially available and are being deployed in other
countries to reduce transmission congestion and improve reliability,
such as Dynamic Line Ratings, power flow control, and topology
optimization. Congress can direct the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) to ensure that transmission owners have an incentive
to deploy these technologies to a wide range of customers including low
income and disadvantaged communities.'' \19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1026811.
\19\ https://gridprogress.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/testimony-to-
roundtable-on-electricity-transmission-infrastructure-.pdf.
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Transmission planning at Federal, state and local levels must be
inclusive of resilience and climate justice concerns as well as
adaptive and mitigation measures.
Renewables and Public Opinion
As a recent Yale study points out ``Voters support establishing a
national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requiring 100 percent of
electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2050 (71 percent)
and say enacting a national 100 percent RPS would have a positive
impact on the environment in the U.S. (77 percent) and the U.S. economy
(61 percent), bring down electricity costs (61 percent), and benefit
rural and farming communities (56 percent).'' \20\ They also say
infrastructure investments should repair old roads and bridges (92
percent), repair and modernize America's public school buildings (84
percent), expand the use of renewables (81 percent), build new power
lines for transmission of renewable energy (81 percent), expand rural
broadband (80 percent), build new roads and highways (79 percent), and
expand public transportation (76 percent). And 76 percent say it's
important to invest in building infrastructure to withstand the effects
of climate change.\21\
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\20\ Climate Nexus, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication,
George Mason Center for Climate Change Communication, 09/13/19.
\21\ Ibid.
U.S. renewable energy development has skyrocketed in recent years.
In 2020, the Energy Information Administration projected that U.S.
solar generating capacity in 2019 and 2020 would increase by 65 percent
from 2018 capacity. And in 2020, approximately 44 percent of new U.S.
electric generating capacity installed will be wind generation, and 32
percent will be solar photovoltaic. Pluralities of voters think a 100
percent RPS policy would help bring down the unemployment rate (46
percent), improve wages for American workers (46 percent), and benefit
communities of color (42 percent).\22\
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\22\ Ibid.
Public policies pushing the need for 100 percent clean energy and
carbon reduction promote the economic stimulus for market and
regulatory certainty; however, community transition is not always at
the top of the list and must be part of the plan. As the electric
generation changes on the grid, the transmission changes too;
especially the capacity on the lines and the upgrades needed.
Cities with 100 Percent Clean Electricity Commitments \23\
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\23\ https://www.cfra.org/sites/www.cfra.org/files/publications/
CapacityForChange.pdf.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T1129.003
.epsClean power commitments have increased at the county and city
level, with a total of 11 counties and 104 cities pledging to 100
percent clean energy goals at the end of 2018. Approximately 50 million
people live in places with these goals, making up about 15 percent of
the Nation's population.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\24\ Ibid.
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The next step is to ensure the commitments also include
environmental justice policies and climate justice goals. There is no
``one size fits all'' solution and this should not supersede the
interests and self-determination of local frontline communities. A
``community benefits'' framework is recommended that includes
ecological, health, and economic benefits.\25\ Public land issues and
eminent domain need to also be considered in the policy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ https://nationaleconomictransition.org/.
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RPS policies should clearly outline and make transparent purchase
agreements of renewable energy and ensuring that policies related to
the grid are linked to disaster preparedness and clear ways to address
the climate gap.
State and local policies have pushed the desire to meet climate
goals and the Federal Government could assist by enacting a Federal
renewable portfolio standard (RPS). State integrated resource plan
planning process, which could facilitate investment-level analysis of
these public policy-enabling projects \26\ as well as a new FERC Order
on mandated coordinated planning.
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\26\ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/
59b97b188fd4d2645224448b/t/59f40357652dea26877 e092e/1509163867513/
RETI+2+Western+Outreach+Project+Report.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
inclusive planning for the grid
Incentives to Drive Inclusive, Data-Driven Planning
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) creates
standards for the electric grid as well as enforces compliance for the
bulk power system. NERC Standards coordinate resiliency and
reliability, but the needs must also account for and include frontline,
disadvantaged and tribal communities.
Transmission standards could also be improved to standardize
equipment for plug and play interoperability, as well as
conventionalize geographic information systems (GIS) to provide
visualization of power outages to Federal and state agencies to better
depict planning for climate change disasters.\27\
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\27\ US National Rural Electric Cooperative Association uses the
Los Alamos tool online to see what upgrades it recommends for their
systems.
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To better account for resilience considerations, utilities will
also have to adopt a holistic approach. Currently, planning exercises
are disconnected from each other and since the power system is a
network, the resilience of the whole system must be considered as a
unit. An integrated approach that simultaneously considers both the
resilience of individual assets and that of the system as a whole would
be highly desirable. Despite challenges, my recommendation is to adopt
interdisciplinary models that can simulate the behavior of the power
system and its reaction to a natural disaster.\28\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\28\ https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/
31910/Stronger-Power-Improving-Power-Sector-Resilience-to-Natural-
Hazards.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
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Transmission infrastructure rights of ways weave across the country
and over 17,000 miles on BLM land \29\ and over 6,000 on Forest Service
public land.\30\ As climate change affects the landscape of Federal
lands, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure effective
management of our limited natural resources, protect wilderness and
conservation sites, establish renewable energy sources and develop
environmental regulation and public participation that includes climate
justice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ https://www.blm.gov/programs/lands-and-realty/rights-of-way/
electric-power-lines.
\30\ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg87850/html/
CHRG-113hhrg87850.htm.
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As mentioned before, transmission right of ways are networked on
many Federal public lands and vegetation management is necessary to
maintain reliability. A critical reliability standard is vegetation
management of rights-of-ways. Tree contacts have caused many blackouts
in the U.S. and around the world. But there can be balance with certain
pathways. Additional benefits of integrated vegetation management are
the reduction of invasive species and the possibility of creating new
pollinator or wildlife habitat, offering a considerable number of acres
in the form of right-of-way corridors in new habitat across the U.S.
These corridors can also serve an important role in providing
transition landscape for several species, promoting biological
diversity while reducing habitat fragmentation.\31\ Conducting an
inclusive costs benefit analysis of various land use factors can
provide a better understanding of hardening of grid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ Benefits of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) on Rights-
of-Way.'' US Environmental Protection Agency, Pesticide Environmental
Stewardship Program, Nov. 4, 2016. epa.gov/pesp/benefitsintegrated-
vegetation-management-ivm-rights-way. Accessed June 2019.
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Costs for transmission right-of-way leases can also change.
Landowners who host wind turbines receive annual land lease payments,
but payments for a transmission line right of way are typically one-
time sums that are much smaller in comparison. Utilities and developers
can form new models providing benefits to communities near transmission
projects.\32\
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\32\ Using underground lines can improve resilience of the grid, as
they are shielded from the elements of nature. However, burying
overhead wires costs $300,000--$1,250,000 per kilometer (compared to
$80,000-$240,000 for above ground wires). The per-mile cost of HVDC
projects ranges between $1.17 million and $8.62 million per mile,
according to a review of recent proposals and relevant regulatory
filings. Additionally, underground wires take longer to restore in the
event of a fault, and repair costs are also higher. The advantages
therefore need to be balanced carefully against the disadvantages of
siting transmission above or below ground and usually in rights of ways
with existing corridors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asking the right questions is key and listening to the diverse
answers is critical. Some groups would say in the California Central
Valley, decarbonizing residential fuel combustion (such as wood-burning
stoves and fireplaces) and diesel-powered transportation is more urgent
than installing rooftop solar for improved air quality. The California
Energy Commission (CEC) helped fund microgrids to strengthen the energy
resilience of communities in the Central Valley and supporting energy
infrastructure, especially in low-income areas affected by PG&E public
safety power shutoffs.
Electrical grid reliability and outages can have a significant
impact on the health and safety of customers, especially in regions
affected by extreme heat and in need of cooling and in low-income and
disadvantaged communities. State policy makers are asking for
additional data in utility integrated resource plans, but more has to
be done to address the climate gap especially since high energy bills
relative to income may drive low-income households to make do with
insufficient heating or cooling, which can increase the incidence of
asthma, especially in children.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ Based on a 2016 study by Drehobl and Ross. https://
www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/publications/researchreports/
u1602.pdf.
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A robust and efficient transmission system will be essential to
reap the benefits of renewable energy resources. Planners should aim
not just for the immediate needs of the transmission grid but take a
long-term view of the changing electric power sector. Utilities and
transmission developers must work to change the process for designing
and constructing grid projects, employing approaches and techniques
that will lead to increased satisfaction for all stakeholders and
improved impact mitigation that provide Just and Equitable outcomes for
each community.
Enhance Data Access and Modeling
The U.S. Department of Energy deployed hundreds of phasor
measurement units to measure the electricity flow on the wires in real
time. This data is immense, and many universities and labs have started
to study the plethora of information.
Transmission and distribution phasor measurement units (PMU)
provide an unprecedented ability to compare time-stamped, synchronized
measurements of voltage and current magnitudes and phase angles. This
data, in conjunction with new and existing distribution-grid planning
and operational tools, is expected to enable better model validation,
event detection and location, and renewable resource and load
characterization, among other applications. Adjunct Professor Alexandra
von Meier is researching and using PMU data to define a nimble and
resilient electricity infrastructure to support a carbon-neutral energy
sector.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/
9781118755471.sgd087.
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Smart grids and advanced metering infrastructure both improve
situational awareness and facilitate rapid restoration of service. PMUs
have averted widespread blackouts even in normal operations. They
rapidly assess and report the state of the transmission network, and,
when employed in wide-area monitoring systems, automatically react to
changes in the network. The information from PMUs and other intelligent
electronic devices helps improve grid performance and resilience, and
is vital to system operators, who are otherwise blind to rapid changes
in the power system.\35\
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\35\ The GridWise Alliance 2013; White House 2013.
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Another type of automation, created at Texas A&M, relies on sensors
at substations--facilities where high-voltage lines that travel long
distances meet low-voltage lines that weave through neighborhoods.
These sensors monitor how electricity is flowing through power lines
connected to the substation. These electrical signals also contain
clues about where problems are--sometimes down to the exact location on
an individual power line.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\ https://www.sciencenews.org/article/u-s-power-grid-
desperately-needs-upgrades-handle-climate-change.
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One key challenge is data recording is rapidly outstripping the
processing capabilities of standard planning and operational tools.
Continuous innovation is a must as we work to improve situational
awareness and gain a deeper understanding of the physics of the
electric grid. The ability to launch new technologies and digitization,
and capabilities in hybrid technologies and storage to counteract
intermittency as well as new tower designs with AC/DC bi-poles is
important in current research, development and deployment. Digital
tools and skills will be key to competitiveness along the asset life
cycle of clean energy tools and infrastructure, from site
identification to project compilation.\37\ Making the data available to
more diverse students can broaden insight into better grid planning.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\37\ https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/electric-power-and-
natural-gas/our-insights/rethinking-the-renewable-strategy-for-an-age-
of-global-competition#.
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Bilateral Contracts Obscurity
There is an unfortunate lack of access to the actual numbers of
megawatts moved around the grid through bilateral contracts. Gaining
access to this data would provide numerous benefits to planning,
operation and resilience measures for the grid.
As the resource portfolio in the western interconnection evolves
into the 2030s, the need for transmission becomes more obvious and
resources will face transmission constraints. Increased transparency
with bilateral contracts is needed to better understand resource
adequacy on the system and adjust for flexibility. Having more access
to information will decrease the pressure to lean on frontline and
disadvantaged communities who are continually exploited by fossil
fuels.
The use of bilateral contracts and electric transfers via
transmission lines are likely to increase in the coming years and such
economic transfers are one of the most effective tools to for
increasing system flexibility. Open and coordinated power markets help
make these transactions more efficient in the short term.\38\
Currently, lack of grid flexibility is leading to more and more
curtailment, a reduction in generation output, which often impacts
renewable energy first due to the variability of these resources across
a region and constraints such as limited transmission capacity.
Decreasing curtailment would infuse the grid and electric markets with
more low-cost renewable energy while improving revenue for generators--
a key concern in the initial planning of projects.\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\38\ https://westernenergyboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/12-
10-19-ES-WIEB-Western-Flexibility-Assessment-Final-Report.pdf.
\39\ Denholm, Paul, et al. ``On the Path to SunShot: Emerging
Issues and Challenges in Integrating High Levels of Solar into the
Electrical Generation and Transmission System.'' National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, US Department of Energy, May 2016, nrel.gov/docs/
fy16osti/65800.pdf. Accessed June 2019.
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FERC, Regional Transmission Organizations and states should provide
a more supportive policy environment for the types of bilateral
contracts that are most beneficial to developing healthy, competitive
electricity markets.\40\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/
download?doi=10.1.1.179.1344&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
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Non-Wires Alternatives
When transmission cannot be upgraded or built, then non-wires
solutions can assist grid reliability. Outlined in Federal and state
policies non-transmission alternatives (e.g., demand-side management,
distributed generation, conservation, and energy efficiency) are also
considered during the local and regional transmission planning process;
however, despite these efforts, new transmission will enable renewable
energy development. Education and outreach are part of early adaption
of non-wires solutions. For example, increasing access to rooftop solar
for low-income customers can reduce energy burden, if energy use
coincides with periods of sunshine or rooftop solar is combined with
energy storage that can be discharged after the sun sets. Sometimes a
non-wire alternative like storage can assist with keeping clean power
on the system longer. Especially if the storage can provide short and/
or long duration storage. This energy can then be used on the
distribution or transmission system.
Transmission and distribution planning should account for the
growing penetration of behind-the-meter resources and energy efficient
appliances and buildings,\41\ and the willingness of customers to
reduce electricity consumption during peak electricity demand. There
are many black and brown communities who pay higher rates for energy
than wealthier neighborhoods and cannot afford EV or solar.\42\
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\41\ https://www.nrdc.org/experts/lara-ettenson/everyone-can-
benefit-electric-homes-heres-how-0.
\42\ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2018/02/
21/447051/systematic-inequality/.
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Inclusive ``Smart from the Start'' Siting
There is a significant value in incorporating environmental
justice, cultural and environmental awareness information upfront in
the transmission planning process, which provides a range of
optionality to reduce the potential for conflict during siting,
permitting, and construction.
My colleague Jennie Chen outlined that the National Environmental
Protect Act (NEPA) and Federal permitting requirements are important
components of ``smart from the start'' planning in her 2019
congressional testimony.\43\ Smart from the Start enables utilities and
developers to anticipate potential issues with prospective construction
sites and consider a multitude of alternatives while engaging affected
communities early in the process. She shared the following principles
outlined by Carl Zichella and Johnathan Hladik: \44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\ https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/
democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Testimony-Chen-EP-
Hrg-on-State-of-the-Nation%E2%80%99s-Energy-Infrastructure-2018-02-
27.pdf.
\44\ Carl Zichella and Johnathan Hladik, Siting: Finding a Home for
Renewable Energy and Transmission. http://americaspowerplan.com/
siting/.
Consult stakeholders early and involve them in planning,
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zoning and siting.
Close collaboration with tribal, state, and local
governments is critical, and robust public engagement is
essential for the credibility of the siting, permitting,
and review process.
Use geospatial information to categorize the risk of
resource conflicts.
Avoid land and wildlife conservation and cultural resource
conflicts and prioritize development in previously
disturbed areas (use WECC environmental data viewer
tool).\45\
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\45\ https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/
index.html?id=658e57d6a5d1450fac532c0110172 d62.
Incentivize resource zone development with priority
approvals and access to transmission. Consider renewable
energy zones or development sites that optimize the use of
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
the grid. Maximize the use of existing infrastructure.
Where zoning is not feasible (as in much of the Eastern
Interconnection), use siting criteria based on these
principles.
I would add:
Agencies and legislatures can streamline and clarify the
text of laws to make requirements more understandable,
reduce paperwork burdens by providing for e-filing and
approval, and have multiple agencies that administer
similar requirements jointly approve projects.\46\
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\46\ For example, renewable energy developers building generation
or transmission in wet areas typically must obtain state approval for
dredging and filling in wetlands in addition to a Federal dredge and
fill permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. When the state and
Corps join forces and allow for one submission of project data to the
state and the Corps and jointly process permit applications, this can
save time and resources (US Army Corps of Engineers n.d.). Oregon
follows a similar joint permitting process for wind energy under a
Memorandum of Understanding between the Oregon Energy Facility Siting
Council and the Bureau of Land Management[5] (US Department of the
Interior, Oregon State Office 2009). As well as Governor Andrew Cuomo
proposed all of these steps in the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth
and Community Benefit Act in February 2020, arguing that this expedited
review will be necessary to meet New York's aggressive climate goals
(Governor Andrew Cuomo 2020). Specifically, he proposed to
``consolidate the environmental review and permitting of major
renewable energy facilities to provide a single forum'' for reviewing
large environmental projects.
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Address and include Climate Gap criteria.
As outlined in the Statement of Principles for Environmental
Justice \47\ mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible
uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable
planet for humans and other living things, and to prevent
disproportionate shares of polluting projects from being sited in
vulnerable communities. The exiting NEPA process should be strengthened
to expand opportunities for public involvement in the Federal decision-
making process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\47\ http://www.energyjustice.net/files/ej/energy-ej.pdf.
1. In any re-evaluation effort agencies need to build an inclusive
process at every level of decision-making including
assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement, and
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evaluation that is ongoing, inclusive and respectful.
2. Inclusion means impacted communities (EJ, Tribal, and frontline)
are treated as equal partners and their interests are
protected equally (if not more than) other industry
interests.
3. All project decisions and evaluations need to fully reflect on-
the-ground realities and cumulative impacts including but
not limited to health and environmental outcomes, pollution
levels, and impacts to sacred/ cultural resources.
Policymakers must craft effective solutions that cut across diverse
policy areas and address region-specific climate change impacts.
Over the last 20 years the grid has changed dramatically as clean
energy has been integrated. We have amazing grid operators who help
keep the lights on and balance the system intricacies, but we must
transition to a new system. As we plan for a better clean energy
future, we will not make the mistakes of the past--disenfranchising
brown and black people and their communities.
Public Lands and Coordinated Policymakers
The International Panel on Climate Change report \48\ emphasizes
how important it is to balance multiple public goods in land use
planning--food security, environmentally responsible renewable energy
development to fight climate change, and conservation of large, intact
landscapes for multiple benefits, including their ability to sequester
carbon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ https://www.ipcc.ch/.
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The Bureau of Land Management, steward of millions of acres of
public lands in the West is charged with implementing innovative
programs including the West Wide Energy Corridors, the Western Solar
Plan (as well as the Wind and Solar Land Leases) and the Desert
Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
All energy sources have some impact on the environment--even
renewables. Fortunately, as compared to fossil-fueled electricity,
renewable energy has the potential to produce large amounts of clean
electricity and reduce impacts on land, water, wildlife, human health
and climate.\49\ Incorporating nature at the outset of energy planning
not only results in lower impacts to wildlife and habitat but improves
energy planning so that new clean energy investments are directed to
the places where they can be developed with more certainty. When clean
energy can be sourced across a larger area, there are more cost-
effective opportunities to create balanced solutions for clean energy
and land conservation.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\49\ https://www.scienceforconservation.org/assets/downloads/
Technical_Report_Power_of_Place .pdf.
\50\ https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-
states/california/stories-in-california/clean-energy/.
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Transmission is a long-lived investment, and it would be prudent to
account for public policies that drive changes in the energy resources
we use to power the grid. Planning should account for modern
transmission technologies and other ways to increase the capacity on
the system, reduce energy loss, and maximize the use of existing lines
and rights of way. The Federal agencies need to continue to work
together to ensure this criteria is incorporated into updated land use
and resources management plans to ensure the inclusive public is
receiving the greatest benefit.
A coordinated and guided development approach to development on
public lands should identify areas with low natural resource values,
high renewables potential, and needed infrastructure like transmission
are suitable for development. By guiding projects to zones, the
agencies can ensure that transmission and renewable energy projects are
built faster, with community involvement, less expensive and better for
the environment, developers and customers.
West-wide energy corridors are considered preferred locations for
energy transport projects on lands managed by the BLM, U.S. Forest
Service. When I worked on the Section 368(a) of the Energy Policy Act
of 2005 (EPAct), interagency plan the National Park Service, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S.
Department of Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service) and the U.S. Office of
Minerals were also working together to adjust land use and resource
plans. It was a first of its kind report, and it was not perfect but a
good start. Federal agencies need to increase public comment periods,
conduct various types of public hearings for greater accessibility, and
translate information about proposed projects.
The lessons learned focused on how to deal with conflicting
interests, control, access and protection as well as a lack of
knowledge in certain areas. The agencies were able to get past the
infighting of mission creep and cross purpose goals to meet the
underlined principle--``what is best for the American people.''
However, at the time we naively did not consider the diversity of
communities and resources available. Our knowledge was limited, and we
didn't seek more and that is a great fault, and now the need for the
process to change for the better is beginning.
key changes for the grid
All planning must be undertaken with Just and Equitable transition
in mind and these key principles:
Create access to capacity data, planning tools, and new
models
Coordinate state, regional and inter-regional transmission
planning
Improve Federal resource planning and coordination
Many of these challenges will require the government, industry,
policymakers, regulators, developers, advocates and stakeholders to
rethink traditional approaches to projects, whether that be the design
phase of a project, conducting community outreach, or the actual
construction of a line. But, implementing changes in the development
process presents opportunities for transmission lines to be routed and
built in ways that better consider the needs and desires of local
stakeholders.\51\
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\51\ https://www.cfra.org/sites/www.cfra.org/files/publications/
CapacityForChange.pdf.
Policymakers can support economic security, protect communities
from the brunt of climate change impacts, and improve the availability,
quality, and accessibility of affordable clean energy in frontline
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
communities.
Congress needs to:
1. Direct BLM/USFS/USDOE to publish final West-Wide Energy Corridor
Study and begin a new wind and solar study.
2. Direct all Federal agencies to implement EJ policies and include
in holistic transmission and distribution planning.
3. Direct all Federal land agencies to create criteria protecting
tribal, low income, frontline and disadvantaged communities
from green gentrification.
``Climate change does not affect everyone equally in the United
States,'' according to Rachel Morello-Frosch, lead author of The
Climate Gap, ``People of color and the poor will be hurt the most--
unless elected officials and other policymakers intervene.'' \52\
Climate change mitigation efforts must consciously protect low-income
communities from ``green gentrification.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\52\ https://dornsife.usc.edu/pere/climategap/.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to
your questions and working together to solve the inequities of the
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grid.
______
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Ms. Prochnik.
The Chair now recognizes Ms. Obed for testimony. Welcome.
STATEMENT OF SARAH OBED, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, EXTERNAL
AFFAIRS, DOYON LIMITED, FAIRBANKS, ALASKA
Ms. Obed. Thank you, Chairman Lowenthal, Ranking Member
Gosar, and members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify on considerations regarding
environmental justice in the context of American energy
infrastructure needs.
My name is Sarah Obed. I am an Athabascan shareholder from
the Native Village of Minto, approximately 130 miles northwest
of Fairbanks, right in the heart of Alaska. I serve as the
Senior VP of External Affairs for Doyon Limited.
Doyon is 1 of 13 Alaska Native regional corporations
established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of
1971. We are based in Fairbanks, and we have more than 20,000
Alaska Native shareholders. We are the largest private
landowner in Alaska, with a land entitlement of more than 12.5
million acres.
Our mission is to promote the economic and social well-
being of our shareholders and our future shareholders, to
strengthen our Native way of life, and to protect and enhance
our land and resources.
We operate a diverse family of companies in industries,
including oil and gas service contracting, natural resource
development, government contracting and tourism, and utilities,
among others. We are also pursuing several mineral, oil, and
gas exploration projects in Interior Alaska. If successful,
these projects will provide substantial benefits to Doyon and
our shareholders.
Responsible development of our energy and other natural
resources is of significant importance to Doyon and to our
shareholders. Our success as an Alaska Native corporation
demands that our investments in energy infrastructure and
development be done with consideration for the needs of our
people and the health of the land and water that has always
supported our communities. The revenues, jobs, and economic
activity from oil exploration and development are important to
the present and future well-being of all Alaskans, including
Native people, our village, and regional corporations. Services
and contracts associated with oil exploration and development
are a key source for jobs and revenues for Doyon and many
others throughout the state.
At the same time, our lands and the resources thereon are
critically important for customary and traditional subsistence
uses of fish and wildlife. Our mission requires that we honor
all of these interests, pursuing responsible economic
development, while at the same time protecting and enhancing
our socio-economic welfare, our culture, and our lands and
resources.
When Congress in the late 1960s debated the merits of
establishing corporations as the mechanism for settling
aboriginal land claims in Alaska, Members spoke to the merits
of empowering Alaska's Native people to own our own natural
resources in Alaska. Our land was selected by us for our use.
Many of our lands which were selected near villages are
intended for traditional activities, such as hunting and
fishing. Many of our lands were selected in regions that have
oil and gas potential or have mineral potential.
For Doyon, environmental justice includes a focus on
celebrating our way of life, a way of life that has existed
since time immemorial. It is also an opportunity for Doyon to
ensure socio-economic benefits for our people. This includes
cash benefits, jobs, wages, and educational scholarships.
The Alaska oil and gas industry is important to Doyon. We
have built a healthy and sustainable business that employs
hundreds of our Alaska Native shareholders and provides career
opportunities.
The economic impact of Doyon, together with other local
Alaska Native organizations, including corporations and tribes,
hit $1.05 billion in 2016. Last year, we employed 968
employees, of which 316 were Doyon shareholders. We also
contributed last year $2.4 million to tribes, schools, non-
profits, and our affiliated education foundation, the Doyon
Foundation, including $200,000, which is an annual contribution
meant to rejuvenate and support indigenous languages of our
region. We also distributed $26 million in cash to our
shareholders through the Doyon Settlement Trust. In addition to
ensuring these benefits are shared with our people, we also
recognize that we are engaged in project development.
We do recognize the critical importance of meaningful
outreach and engagement with the Alaskan Native people, as our
people have social, economic, and corporate interests in
critical development.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I will answer any
questions for members of the Subcommittee.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Obed follows:]
Prepared Statement of Sarah Obed, Doyon Limited
Chairman Lowenthal, Ranking Member Gosar, and members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on
considerations regarding environmental justice in the context of
American energy infrastructure needs.
My name is Sarah Obed. I am an Athabascan shareholder from the
Native Village of Minto--approximately 130 miles northwest of
Fairbanks, in the heart of Alaska. I serve as Senior Vice President,
External Affairs of Doyon, Limited.
Doyon, Limited (Doyon) is one of the 13 Alaska Native regional
corporations established by Congress under the negotiated terms of the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Headquartered in
Fairbanks, Doyon has more than 20,000 Alaska Native shareholders. Doyon
is the largest private landowner in Alaska, with a land entitlement
under ANCSA of more than 12.5 million acres. Doyon's lands extend from
the Brooks Range in the north to the Alaska Range in the south. The
Alaska-Canada border forms the eastern border and the western portion
almost reaches the Bering Sea.
Doyon's mission is to promote the economic and social well-being of
our shareholders and future shareholders, to strengthen our Native way
of life, and to protect and enhance our land and resources. Our land
and our resources serve and support our shareholders, whether as land
to support subsistence hunting and fishing or as land to support the
development of resources that serve the interests of Americans
throughout our Nation.
Doyon, Limited operates a diverse family of companies in industries
including oil and gas service contracting, natural resource
development, government contracting and tourism, among others. In
furtherance of our mission, Doyon is also pursuing several mineral and
oil and gas exploration projects in Interior Alaska. If successful,
these projects will provide substantial benefits to Doyon and our
shareholders, and, by providing new employment opportunities and
helping alleviate the energy crisis in Interior Alaska, to all
Alaskans.
Congress's establishment of Alaska Native corporations in Alaska
was unique in the history of Indian law, aboriginal rights, and self-
determination. When Congress in the late 1960s debated the merits of
establishing corporations as the mechanism for settling aboriginal
lands claims in Alaska, Members spoke to the merits of empowering
Alaska's Native people to own our own natural resources in Alaska. The
objective was to settle land disputes, allow access to Natural
Resources for development, and for Alaska Natives to retain large
amounts of aboriginal land. These lands were conveyed to Alaska Native
corporations in settlement of aboriginal land claims, which would be
used to serve our villages--in part, as land on which our people would
continue to engage in subsistence hunting and fishing and, in part, as
land from which we could extract or otherwise develop natural resources
to serve the economic interests of our Native communities. For Doyon,
environmental justice includes a focus on celebrating our way of life,
a way of life that has existed since time immemorial. It also means the
opportunity for Doyon to ensure socio-cultural and economic benefits
for our people, for our shareholders, and for our future generations.
This includes cash benefits, jobs, wages, and educational scholarship.
Energy and natural resource development in Alaska plays a critical
role in providing economic resources to individuals, communities, and
governments to help meet these needs. Even today, some rural Alaska
Native villages continue to lack access to basic services like running
water, low cost energy, and other public services that most Americans
are able to take for granted. Funding to address infrastructure needs
like these is hard to come by, and contributes to significant public
health risks for these communities. Despite the State's significant
natural resource reserves, energy costs particularly in rural Alaska
are very high, and our communities have some of the highest costs of
living anywhere in the country. Alaska is blessed with significant
energy and other natural resources, the development of which provides
critical economic resources to help meet these needs, including for
underserved, rural Alaska Native communities.
Such activities, however, are very often targets of nationwide
campaigns by environmental groups that choose to ignore these important
benefits. According to the Environmental Protection Agency,
``Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin,
or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and
enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.'' When it
comes to energy and other resource development and infrastructure
projects in Alaska, this demands that the voices of those who might
support these activities, and who directly or indirectly benefit from
them, must also be heard and respected--not only those who might choose
to oppose them.
Responsible development of our energy and other natural resources
is of significant importance to Doyon and our shareholders. Our success
as an Alaska Native Corporation demands that our investments in energy
infrastructure and development be done with consideration for the needs
of our people and the health of the land and water that has always
supported our communities. The revenues, jobs and economic activity
from oil exploration and development are critically important to the
present and future well-being of all Alaskans, including Native people
and our village and regional corporations. Services and contracts
associated with oil exploration and development are a key source of
jobs and revenue for Doyon and many others throughout the State. At the
same time, our lands and the resources thereon are critically important
for customary and traditional subsistence uses of fish and wildlife.
Doyon's mission requires that we honor all of these interests, pursuing
responsible economic development, while at the same time protecting and
enhancing our health and welfare, our culture, and our lands and
resources.
Natural Resource Development Creates Substantial Benefits for Doyon and
Our Alaska Native Shareholders
Alaska's oil and gas industry is important to Doyon. We have built
a healthy and sustainable business that employs hundreds of our Alaska
Native shareholders and gives them career opportunities. Many of our
positions are well-paying blue collar jobs, something that seems
increasingly rare these days. It has also been a profitable business
that allows us to fund scholarships and training opportunities for our
shareholders and to pay dividends.
The economic impact of Doyon, together with other local Alaska
Native organizations hit $1.05 billion in 2016. In Doyon's fiscal year
2019, we employed 968 employees of which 316 were Doyon shareholders.
In fiscal year 2019, Doyon contributed $2.4 million to our
affiliated education foundation, the Doyon Foundation, and to other
nonprofits, cultural programs, and Alaska Native Tribes. The $2 million
donation to the Doyon Foundation included donations for the endowment,
operating expenses and scholarships, and for the Athabascan language
revitalization program run by the Foundation, where we are working to
enhance 11 Alaska Native languages. The contribution is possible, in
large measure, because of our oil and gas services companies.
As an Alaska Native regional corporation, Doyon also shares our
profits with our shareholders. We do this through a settlement trust
that was created by a vote of our shareholders in November 2018. The
purpose of the Doyon Settlement Trust is to promote the health,
education, and welfare of its beneficiaries, and to preserve the
heritage and culture of Alaska Natives. It accomplishes this by making
distributions to its beneficiaries (shareholders). A cash distribution
to shareholders was made in FY2019 totaling $13 million from the Doyon
Settlement Trust in December 2018, and a second distribution totaling
$13 million was paid on June 3 of this year. Much of the profit Doyon
makes and that supports these distributions is from our oil and gas
contracting business.
Doyon's shareholders are not the only Alaska Natives that benefit
from oil and gas and other energy development. Subsidiaries of a number
of other Alaska Native corporations provide services to the industry on
the North Slope. The State as a whole benefits from new development.
Each new development results in new jobs for Alaskans, tax revenue for
the State, and potential profits for Alaska Native corporations and
other companies in the industry. This results in continued services for
our shareholders and Alaska citizens.
The broader Alaska Native community also benefits from energy
development through Sections 7(i) and 7(j) of ANCSA, a unique revenue-
sharing mechanism included by Congress in ANCSA by Congress to help
ensure that all Alaska Natives benefit from resource development on
ANCSA lands. Under Section 7(i), all regional corporations share 70
percent of their net revenue from timber and subsurface mineral
resources developed on their lands with the other Native regional
corporations; and, under Section 7(j), each regional corporation
annually shares 50 percent of the money received under Section 7(i)
with all of the village corporations in its region. Between 1982 and
2015 over $2.5 billion cumulative was shared through the 7(i) formula,
and oil and gas resources (56 percent) were from oil and gas resources.
Meaningful Outreach to and Engagement with Potentially Impacted Alaska
Native Interests is Essential
Both as a developer of energy projects and an organization whose
direct and shareholder socioeconomic and cultural interests may be
affected by proposed energy development, Doyon recognizes the critical
importance of meaningful outreach to and engagement with Alaska Native
interests, including potentially impacted Alaska Native villages, our
Tribes, and Alaska Native corporations.
Indeed, Doyon often participates actively in land management
planning and other agency processes to ensure that those processes are
consistent with and protect Alaska Native socioeconomic and cultural
interests, such as subsistence use and access. In Executive Order
(``EO'') 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal
Governments, the President required Federal agencies to implement an
effective process to ensure meaningful and timely consultation with
tribes during the development of policies or projects that may have
tribal implications. Tribal consultation is intended to assure
meaningful tribal participation in planning and decision-making
processes for actions with the potential to affect tribal interests.
While EO 13175 applies specifically to federally recognized tribal
governments, pursuant to Public Law No. 108-199, as amended by Public
Law No. 108-447, Congress specifically extended these obligations to
Alaska Native corporations, requiring the Office of Management and
Budget (``OMB'') and all Federal agencies to ``consult with Alaska
Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive
Order No. 13175.''
In accordance with this mandate, in August 2012, the Department of
the Interior (``DOI'') issued its Policy on Consultation with Alaska
Native Claims Settlement Act (``ANCSA'') Corporations. In this Policy,
the Department purported to ``recognize[] and respect[] the distinct,
unique, and individual cultural traditions and values of Alaska Native
peoples and the statutory relationship between ANCSA Corporations and
the Federal Government.'' Thus, the Policy states that ``[w]hen taking
Departmental Action that has a substantial direct effect on ANCSA
Corporations, the Department will initiate consultation with ANCSA
Corporations.'' In recognition that ``Federal consultation conducted in
a meaningful and good-faith manner further facilitates effective
Department operations and governance practices,'' it further commits
that the Department will ``identify consulting parties early in the
planning process and provide a meaningful opportunity for ANCSA
Corporations to participate in the consultation policy.''
This process provides an important mechanism for Doyon and other
ANCs to participate in Federal land management and project permitting
processes related to energy development that could impact our ability
to fulfill the purposes for which we were established under ANCSA and
to protect and advance the economic, social, and cultural interests of
our shareholders. It allows us to help ensure that the interests and
concerns of Alaska Natives and their communities are meaningfully
considered, and that impacts are appropriately mitigated.
Doyon is at the Forefront of Efforts to Develop and Deploy New
Technologies to Reduce Impacts
The industry in Alaska has made great strides toward responsibly
designing projects with minimal impact on the environment, wildlife,
and subsistence activities. And we at Doyon are proud to be at the
forefront of developing and deploying new, modern technologies to help
reduce the impacts of energy development.
New technologies help minimize the footprint and impacts of new oil
and gas development. When oil companies developed Alaska's Prudhoe Bay
oil field in the early 1970s through the 1980s, they had to drill wells
straight down and the spacing of the wells on the surface was usually
about 120 feet. The roughly 3,000 wells sunk at Prudhoe Bay and their
spacing caused the surface development there to affect about 19,000
acres.
Technological advances made since the Prudhoe Bay oil field's
development in the 1970s have resulted in increased oil recovery rates
from fewer oil wells with far smaller surface impacts as a result of
fewer and smaller drill pads. The technology has resulted in
dramatically less overall surface disturbance, meaning far less impact
on wildlife habitat and other resources.
Today's drilling rigs can easily drill wells from a single pad that
can access over 100 square miles. That means that pads can be spaced up
to 10 miles apart and habitat between pads can be protected with little
or no surface disturbance. One of Doyon's wholly owned subsidiaries,
Doyon Drilling, Inc. (``DDI'') has played a significant role, and
continues to lead its industry, in innovation and the adoption of this
new technology. DDI currently has over 300 employees. DDI has
demonstrated our commitment to remain competitive in the industry by
continually reinvesting in our employees and rigs. Investment and
innovation in our fleet has helped to make our rigs more efficient and
protective of the environment and local communities.
As an example of the implications of these innovations, Doyon's Rig
142, in 2017, drilled a penta-lateral well in the Kuparuk field on
Alaska's North Slope. Five production wells were drilled from a single
surface well bore. Doyon directionally drilled each of the legs of the
penta-lateral well.
DDI's Rig 26, an extended reach rig, to be commissioned into
service on the North Slope later this year. Rig 26 will be able to
drill up to 35,000 feet horizontally. That capability will allow the
rig to drill wells covering 125 square miles from a single surface well
pad. For perspective, that means that Rig 26 could drill horizontally
from Capitol Hill in Washington, DC and hit a target the size of a
small room at the National Harbor Resort and Convention Center on the
Potomac River, 6\1/2\ miles away.
Doyon's Rig 26 will allow our client to develop known but currently
untapped oil resources from existing surface infrastructure. In other
words, our client will not need to build any new pads, roads or
pipelines to produce known oil reserves.
As renewable energy resources are developed, we may or may not see
continued need to develop nonrenewable fuels. But natural gas, at a
minimum, has an important role to play as a ``bridge fuel'' in any
transition from fossil fuels to intermittent renewable resources like
wind and solar. And the need for nonrenewable resources will continue.
After all, wind and solar require an enormous amount of copper. Lithium
batteries require an enormous amount of cobalt. All of us must weigh
the trade-offs between renewable energy and mining. Whatever our
Nation's energy mix may be at any given time, environmental justice
demands that we continually look for better ways to both protect and
serve the needs of our communities at the local level.
In conclusion, as established by Congress, Doyon and other Alaska
Native corporations have a unique perspective on these issues. We were
created both to develop our land and resources economically for the
benefit of our Alaska Native shareholders, as well as to protect our
cultural heritage and preserve our lands and resources for the benefit
of future generations. The responsible development of energy resources
and infrastructure in Alaska is part of our DNA. We have an obligation
to both engage in meaningful outreach when we are in a project
developer role; and we have an obligation to seek meaningful
participation to protect the interests of Doyon and our shareholders
when Federal agencies' and third party activities implicate our
interests.
Energy resource and infrastructure development provides employment
opportunities and contributes essential economic resources to meet
public health needs and to otherwise enhance the general health and
well-being of Alaska Natives and others in the State. It is our
communities in Alaska that are best positioned to judge how these
activities move forward and how impacts from them are appropriately
addressed and mitigated. Environmental justice demands fair treatment
and meaningful involvement of vulnerable populations, regardless of
their views; it should not be viewed narrowly as a means to block
energy resource and infrastructure development.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be pleased
to answer any questions the members of the Subcommittee may have.
______
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Ms. Obed. Thank you for being the
witness that tried to keep it within 5 minutes also. I
appreciate that.
I thank all the panel for your testimony. I want to remind
Members now that Committee Rule 3(d) imposes a 5-minute limit.
I am going to let you also go over by a little bit, but try to
keep it as close to 5 minutes as possible. I am going to
recognize Members for any questions they may wish to ask the
witnesses.
I am going to recognize Representative Levin for the first
5 minutes. Welcome, Representative.
Mr. Levin. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Great to see
you. Good to see my colleagues. And I want to thank you for
holding today's hearing. And I really want to thank the
witnesses, both for their activism and for their testimony. And
I wanted to start with a question for Ms. Patterson.
From what I have read, the African American community not
only suffers from higher rates of pollution from fossil fuel
infrastructure but, on average, they also pay higher home
energy bills than white people.
Ms. Patterson, what is the better option, in your view, for
addressing these inequities, expanding use of fossil fuels or
investing in clean energy and energy efficiency?
Ms. Patterson. Thank you so much. I appreciate the
question, Representative Levin.
So, yes, for us, because of all of the other challenges
around pollution from fossil fuel-based energy production, we
definitely find that increasing investments in energy
efficiency and clean energy is better for the well-being of our
communities, both because of investing in energy efficiency,
reducing the amount of energy that needs to be produced in the
first place as well as reducing the bills that folks have to
pay and investing in clean energy removes the burden of
pollution that we have in our communities and also offers an
opportunity for ownership of the energy infrastructure, which
also increases financial security. Thank you.
Mr. Levin. Thank you for that, Ms. Patterson.
Ms. Prochnik, do you agree with that, and do you think that
clean energy offers the best way to reduce the electricity
bills for low-income people?
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you, Representative Levin. Yes, I do
agree with Jacqui. I think she makes valid points that need to
be heard and recognized. All of her points that she raised
about acknowledging what needs to be done in low-income and
disadvantaged communities, starting with energy efficiency
conservation and helping fund a lot of the initiatives, is very
beneficial.
Mr. Levin. Expanding on that, what role does transmission
play in that effort? Could more efficient transmission planning
and integration with renewables help lower household
electricity bills, as well?
Ms. Prochnik. Yes, thank you again for that question.
Transmission does play a role. It brings a lot of access to
renewable energy that is on public lands across the country.
So, transmission lines help bring inexpensive solar and
wind to urban centers, and it is a great way to bring resources
from different communities together. It also provides a great
way for reliability and really making use of our existing
right-of-way system in our transmission lines.
Mr. Levin. I wanted to ask you also, Ms. Prochnik, about
your time at the Department of Energy. I think you worked on
the Section 368 West-Wide Energy Corridors. Could you describe
what worked and what didn't work with that project and how
updated corridors will help our transition away from fossil
fuels and toward a clean energy future?
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you for the question. I did work at the
Department of Energy, enjoyed my time there, learned a lot. And
I think bringing together agencies, bureaus, and offices who
had never really worked together before and had competing
interests was a challenge, but we worked through the various
expectations and found a common purpose.
We still missed sections that, if we would have been more
inclusive, we would have produced a much better product. The
updated report, which I look forward to reading, should be
built on inclusive ``Smart from the Start'' planning and really
have a more inclusive component for environmental justice,
frontline, and tribal interests.
I hope they have also looked at the expanding need for new
corridors in appropriate locations to access areas with high
renewable energy potential and low-conflict renewable energy
zones.
Mr. Levin. Thank you for that. What are the benefits to
developers of working inside these designated corridors, and
what are the environmental benefits?
Ms. Prochnik. There are many benefits to working inside
these corridors because you have had the agencies work together
and coordinate and streamline criteria. There could be a lot
more benefits of more dialogue and discussion and more
opportunity for public comment. It does help the process in
time, that since you are coordinating, you can decrease the
long lead time to build transmission, but I think there needs
to be more on inclusivity.
Mr. Levin. Thank you, Ms. Prochnik. Your work at DOE
reminds me of the Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act,
the bill that I have introduced with Ranking Member Gosar. Our
bill provides a ``Smart from the Start'' planning framework for
renewable energy generation on our public lands. And that is
better for developers and better for consumers and ultimately
will help facilitate more renewable energy projects.
I am very pleased that our Committee unanimously approved
the bill, and I hope it will be considered soon on the House
Floor.
Mr. Chairman, I will yield back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you, Representative Levin.
I now recognize Ranking Member Gosar for his 5 minutes of
questioning.
Dr. Gosar. Thank you, Chairman.
And my friend from California, it would have been nice to
see in the infrastructure bill our full bill placed in there,
not excluding Forest Service, because we are stewards of the
Federal inventory, and we need to have everything on the table.
And I think Ms. Prochnik would actually agree on that.
My question is for Ms. Obed. Is it a one-size-fits-all,
that we can't have our cake and eat it too? Isn't there a way
that we can actually have energy production and still protect
the environment? As particularly a Native American, you are one
with nature. Tell us your aspects of having it both ways.
Ms. Obed. Thank you, Ranking Member Gosar. I would agree
that oil and gas development will continue to be our ongoing
business model looking forward into the future. We do support,
as you mentioned, it is not a one-size-fits-all type of deal.
You have to look at what fits each community and look at those
considerations as we go forward and develop.
Here in Fairbanks, I burn diesel at my house. And if you
move out to more areas into rural Alaska, they are burning
diesel. And until it is economically feasible to do more of the
renewable energy, I don't really see it transitioning very
quickly to a lot of renewable resources until we have a plan
that tells communities on how to transition. Without a plan, it
is not very feasible to say we are going to transition.
Dr. Gosar. So, that brings me to my point. The weakest link
in renewable energy is batteries, is base load power. We have
tons of power during the 11 to 6 o'clock period of time, and we
have no place to actually put it. So, the batteries are
actually problematic because they are the weak link in here.
That is going to require a lot of critical minerals. How do
you see that playing out within your Alaska domain?
Ms. Obed. As I mentioned, we do have growing mineral
import/export opportunities on land. We have 12.5 million acres
of land, some of which will be for mineral development. And
what we have seen is the push for renewable energies rise with
increased investment in minerals export. People are looking for
gold and copper, so it is definitely--the transition has
benefited more people. So, if you are looking for renewable
energy, it is driving interest and investment in minerals for
construction.
Dr. Gosar. Now I want you to tell us a little bit about the
corporation set up, because the tribes are in charge of their
resources, are they not, and they bid it out. Can you tell us a
little bit about that, that you are empowered by overseeing the
natural resources and how that parlays into shared revenues.
Ms. Obed. Sure. I will do my best. There are lots of Native
tribes in Alaska, and there are lots of corporations, and I am
a tribal member, and I am a chairwoman member.
Doyon is an Alaskan Indigenous corporation and one of the
things that is required of the 12 regional corporations is
revenue-sharing. So, if there is mineral resource development
on Alaskan Native land from timber, oil and gas, or mineral,
there is a requirement that we share 70 percent of the profit
earned from these natural resources across the state. So, if
there is development of resources on Doyon land, Doyon would be
responsible for sharing those revenues with other Alaskan
corporations who are in the state, both regional and village.
Dr. Gosar. I want to get back to renewable energy. Right
now, in Alaska, you have lots of daylight, right? Very little
dark. But in the wintertime, you have lots of dark, very little
sunlight.
So, that makes it very problematic when you are looking at
natural resources or things like solar and wind. However,
geothermal could also be an opportunity. But that is part of
the problem, is it not?
Ms. Obed. I think it is due in large part on how many
people live in each community and what resources are put aside.
Geothermal is only available on microgrids, and don't benefit a
large number of people across a large geographic area.
Similarly, we have solar panels on our roof, and I think
the technology there is growing every day, but I think it has a
very modest impact to our building. It works more in the summer
than the winter, but, really, in the winter what you need is to
focus on heat and that is really a mixed bag, in terms of
looking at energy you are using.
Dr. Gosar. Ms. Obed, thank you so very much. Thanks for
your time. Wish I was in Alaska. Talk to you soon.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you both for those questions.
I now recognize Representative DeGette for 5 minutes of
questions.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
And I love Alaska too, but I am glad to be in Colorado
right now. And I do have to say, as what appears to me to be
the only female Member of Congress on this hearing, I am really
proud of the fact that every single one of our witnesses
talking about environmental justice is a woman. And for you
guys--you know, this doesn't happen for me very often. Every
one of you was a powerful, powerful witness, talking about how
important these issues are to the health of our families and
future generations, and I want to thank you.
Ms. Patterson, we saw you last month at the Energy and
Commerce, Energy Subcommittee meeting, so welcome back. Glad to
see you again.
And, Ms. Rose, I want to tell you, your story was so
powerful to me because I represent Denver, Colorado, and we
have a lot of environmental justice areas in my district. In
particular, we have an area up in the northern part of my
district that is right adjacent to some industrial areas,
Swansea, Elyria, and Globeville.
And the residents who live in these areas, they tend to be
communities of color, lower income neighborhoods, but very
solid historic communities of home ownership, people who have
lived there for a long time and who have been subjected for
many generations to environmental degradation in their areas.
And, of course, their kids have health problems. There is an
increase in asthma. All the things that you talked about today
in your testimony, we are seeing in these communities in my
district.
So, I want to ask a little bit to some of the witnesses
about this, and I want to start with you, Ms. Patterson. When
you hear something--and let me just back up for a minute, one
of the issues I have been focusing on lately right near my
district is there is a Suncor refinery. There is a refinery
right near these neighborhoods.
Ms. Patterson, when you hear about something like a
refinery located right next to a minority or low-income
community, does that set off any alarm bells for you?
Ms. Patterson. Yes, thank you. As we detailed in our
``Fumes Across the Fence-Line'' report, from reviewing multiple
communities that are on the fence lines of these oil and gas
refineries, we have found, along with our work with groups like
Physicians for Social Responsibility, the National Medical
Association, the Clean Air Task Force, that the health impacts
of being on the fence lines of these facilities are extremely
detrimental. There is a pattern of cancer clusters, other types
of illnesses, asthma clusters, and so forth that are causing
morbidity and mortality for our communities.
Ms. DeGette. And, you know, that is what we have seen as
well. And then just to add, the Suncor plant has a huge pattern
of air quality violations. And the standard that they had was a
standard that the state of Colorado let them set. So, they were
complying with their own standard that they set, and what the
standard was for was hydrogen cyanide. And I actually
introduced Federal legislation to set a Federal standard that
people would have to comply with.
And I guess I just want to ask you, how important is real-
time monitoring and reporting of pollution if there is an
energy infrastructure right next to these neighborhoods, these
really vulnerable neighborhoods?
Ms. Patterson. Yes, extremely important because, for one
thing, you have different times when there is an escalation of
emissions. So, we really need to know at all times what is
happening at these plants. If there are flaring or peaker
plants that are operating at some times and not others, we need
to know.
Ms. DeGette. We have to look at the cumulative impacts as
well, right, of all sorts of pollution?
Ms. Patterson. Yes.
Ms. DeGette. Recently, I introduced the Clean Energy
Innovation and Deployment Act to drive the deployment of clean
energy and to also provide assistance to low-income households
and help energy workers in communities.
I am wondering, Ms. Prochnik, if you can tell us why it is
important to seek environmental justice in communities when we
are looking at the transition to a clean energy economy.
Ms. Prochnik. It is critical, and thank you for the
question. I think the clean energy industry should start with
three steps: acknowledging and incorporating environmental
justice principles and the fact that racism exists and work to
change this; conduct conclusive policy discussions and change
the process and decision making and being more inclusive; and
provide needed data to all decision makers so they can make
informed choices in planning, standard development, and
compliance.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you.
I just have one last question.
Ms. Patterson, is climate change an environmental justice
issue?
Ms. Patterson. Absolutely, because we see across the
continuum where communities of color, frontline communities,
are most impacted, from the pollutants that cause climate
change to the impacts of climate change, whether it is shifts
in agricultural yields, sea level rise, or disasters. We see
how communities, vulnerable communities, politically and
economically disenfranchised communities, are deeply impacted
disproportionately.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you so much.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for having this important hearing.
It is really important, and I appreciate it.
I yield back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you.
I now recognize Representative Westerman for 5 minutes of
questions.
Mr. Westerman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and greetings from
the front lines of Washington, DC, where I believe
congressional business should take place.
There has been a lot of talk about social and environmental
justice in this hearing today, two things I think we are all
concerned about, and it reminded me of an article that I read a
few years ago that Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street
Journal where she talked about two classes of people in this
country. She talked about the protected and the unprotected.
In her words, she said, ``The protected are those who make
the rules. The unprotected live with those rules.''
She said, ``The protected are the accomplished, the secure,
the successful, those who have power or access to it. They are
protected from much of the roughness of the world. More to the
point, they are protected from the world they have created.
Again, they make public policy and have for some time.''
In March of this year, Peggy Noonan did a follow-up to that
article, and within 1 day of that, a writer for the New York
Times, Bret Stephens, he quoted that article, and he talked
about not the protected and the unprotected but the remote and
the exposed.
And I think that is what we are talking about here today
are those people who are on the front lines and those people
who are able to work from the basements of their homes who
don't have to get out to make a living.
And I wanted to ask Ms. Obed this question. If some of
these heavy-handed policies proposed by the left were
implemented, what would happen to the hardworking men and women
of the Doyon Regional Corporation who are on the front lines
every day so we can do our jobs remotely by WebEx from the
safety of our office?
Ms. Obed. Thank you for the question, Representative
Westerman.
I think Doyon, as an Alaskan Native corporation, makes
decisions based on the long term, we don't have quarterly
reports. As an Alaskan corporation, we can't buy and sell their
stock, so we make long-term decisions. We really aim to hire
our Alaskan shareholders. I actually started at Doyon as an
intern years ago, and [inaudible]----
Mr. Westerman. Ms. Obed, if I can interrupt. It is
inaudible. If you can answer that and submit it to the record.
I think it is just a poor connection. That is one of the
problems of doing these types of hearings.
I am going to move on. And talking about the Atlantic Coast
Pipeline and looking at it in the light of environmental
justice and social justice, let's look at it environmentally.
This pipeline was going to be carrying clean domestically
produced U.S. natural gas. If you look at the biggest advocacy
group for the Appalachian Trail, I would say that is the
Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and in an NPR article in
February 2020 that I would like to submit for the record,
called ``The Supreme Court Pipeline Fight Could Disrupt How the
Appalachian Trail is Run,'' the Appalachian Trail Conservancy
said that they do not oppose the pipeline.
The group warns that a ruling could upend the complicated
structure that allows them to maintain the trail. The
Appalachian Trail is being used as a tool to stop it. That was
a quote from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The Conservancy
said that it saw complications from the case as the Forest
Service asked them to halt maintenance due to ongoing
litigation.
Let's look at it from a social justice standpoint. There
were going to be 17,000 well-paying union jobs that were lost
because this pipeline would stop. The potential benefits of the
Atlantic Coast Pipeline for Union Hill were that the project
sponsors created a local development corporation and had
prepared to offer $5 million for projects like a fire station,
a health clinic, recreational facilities, and job training for
local residents to work on the pipeline. There is currently 10
percent unemployment in the area. The project sponsors were
offering well-paying union jobs during the pandemic. Local
manufacturing facilities have been able to switch from diesel
to natural gas, which would improve the environment. And the
list goes on and on, on both the social and environmental
justice benefits of this project.
And as the left is taking a victory lap on this project
cancellation, I have a question. I guess I could open it to the
whole panel, but I want to start with Ms. Prochnik. Given the
documented environmental, social, and economic benefits of the
pipeline, are you celebrating a victory for the unprotected and
exposed who deserve justice or the remote and protected like
yourself who got their way on this project?
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you, Representative, for the question.
I do think that natural gas is a fossil fuel, and I do
think that we need to transition to a clean energy economy.
Mr. Westerman. I want to stop there for just a second.
You can put this in a written statement because you
probably don't have time to answer it, but please explain to
me--and I am a big supporter of renewable energy--how do you
have renewable energy without coal, natural gas, or nuclear
power? Now you can carry on.
Ms. Prochnik. I would love to provide a written statement,
too, with a lot more data and background, but I will point out
that it can be done. Renewable energy----
Mr. Westerman. I am an engineer, and I would love to see
that. I would love to read that data.
Ms. Prochnik. OK.
Mr. Westerman. Renewables are less than 10 percent of the
mix right now.
Ms. Prochnik. Actually, it is almost 25 percent, and they
are very reliable. In the last 5 years, we have realized that
renewables provide ancillary services to keep the lights on.
And when you combine long duration and short duration storage
with renewable energy, you can get to 100 percent clean coal,
and the grid will work because we have grid operators.
Mr. Westerman. If you had the storage, which we don't.
Ms. Prochnik. And wind and solar, and geothermal and hydro,
and we do. Our Nation has wonderful natural resources that are
clean that we can use.
Mr. Westerman. Yes.
I am way over time, Mr. Chairman. So, I will let you decide
whether you want to let others answer or move on.
Mr. Lowenthal. Actually, you each can have a very short
answer if you want to ask others, but you are over.
Does anyone else on the panel want to answer that?
Ms. Patterson. I would just point to data in terms of the
work that comes out of Stanford, I think it is Dr. Mark
Jacobson, on some of the scenarios for how we can actually
achieve 100 percent renewable, given the technology at hand and
the technology that is in the pipeline, so to speak.
Thank you.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you.
I am going to let the other panelists answer it in a
written form because we have gone over.
And I am going to move forward to Representative Huffman.
Representative, you have 5 minutes.
Mr. Huffman. Thank you very much, Chairman Lowenthal. And
just following on my colleague, Bruce Westerman's interesting
questions just now, I am coming to you from Northern California
where the lights are actually on in my house, and it is an
amazing thing because that is happening with 100 percent clean
energy here in Marin County. We have a community choice
aggregator, Marin Clean Energy, and, amazingly, they are able
to generate electrons using 100 percent clean renewable energy
for me and for much of Northern California.
So, there is really no mystery to it, and I know the COVID-
19 crisis has canceled a lot of our plans. I had hoped to have
Mr. Westerman out to my district for a district exchange as
part of the Bipartisan Policy Institute. I now know to include
more than just forestry in that visit. I want to show him how
we actually have a modern clean energy grid and that we can do
this.
So, I appreciate that question.
Mr. Chairman, to the point of this hearing, I think we have
a series of recent decisions involving pipelines that highlight
the reality that impacts on local communities, as well as basic
economics, are contributing to the movement away from these
dirty destructive fossil fuels and away from unnecessary and
dangerous pipelines and toward these cleaner energy, climate
friendly, and environmentally just practices that many of us
want to see.
I also know that this pandemic has, unfortunately, shed a
light on deep and pre-existing racial disparities, and I think
we have a moment right now to really consider the voices of
minority and tribal communities, how they have been
disproportionately impacted by harmful fossil fuel pollution
and how we can use all of this societal momentum to advance our
transition to safe clean energy and to include our public lands
in that.
I would like to start, if I could, with a question for Ms.
Prochnik. I am interested in the fact that we continue to hear
these dismissals of clean energy. You heard it just now--you
can't get there from here, you can't balance the grid, the sun
doesn't always shine, the wind doesn't always blow. How do
these characterizations square with the reality of our
increasingly nimble interconnected grid, the magic of me being
able to turn on my light switch right over here and to actually
power my home and much of the North Coast of California with
100 percent clean energy?
And then, while you are answering that, could you speak to
how transmission and an increasingly interconnected grid plays
a role in making this magic happen?
Ms. Prochnik. Sure. Thank you, Representative.
And it is great that you have solar on your roof, and I
hope that more communities can have that benefit because there
are still a lot of inequities out receiving renewable energy,
but it is great in that we do have clean energy.
As you pointed out, when the wind dies down, grid operators
do a fantastic job of moving power around the high voltage
transmission systems. They are linked over hundreds of miles on
the West Interconnection, for example, moving wind from the
Rockies, hydro in the Northwest, solar in the Southwest.
Back when we had the solar eclipse, that was a huge deal in
our country, I stood in the control room of Peak Reliability
and watched the operators get prepared for watching 9,000
megawatts of solar come off the grid and then watch it come
back on. It is amazing during this huge, what could have been
an epidemic, there was no blackout. The operators, the
agencies, the states, the utilities all worked together for
almost a year to prep for this.
We can do this. We have the tools. We have the information.
We need to include more people at the table so we can get even
better decision making, but we know how to manage the grid, and
as we transition, we can do this in a much more reliable way.
Mr. Huffman. I believe during your time at the Department
of Energy, you worked on efforts to identify West-Wide Energy
Corridors and to do a little bit more preplanning so we could
bring more of this clean energy on line and make the grid work
without some of these false choices we hear, that you have to
have coal and you have to have natural gas.
I would like to ask you what worked and what didn't with
that energy corridor project and how updated corridors can help
our transition away from fossil fuel.
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you for the question.
The clean energy economy will only be successful if it is
truly inclusive of all of the communities affected. It is
really important that the ``Smart from the Start'' funding that
I mentioned in my testimony from NEPA needs to be inclusive.
There were conflicting missions and goals that we as different
agencies had to come together on. But we still missed huge
areas because we didn't have all of the resources at the table.
So, really incorporating environmental justice principles,
frontline communities, and a more diverse group to be part of
the planning inclusive is really critical.
Mr. Huffman. I am out of time, but thanks so much for that
answer. And thanks for the hearing, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you.
I now recognize Representative Hern for your questions.
Welcome.
Mr. Hern. Mr. Chairman, Republican Member Gosar, thank you
for this opportunity. Thank all of the witnesses for being here
today. While we may disagree totally on some of the positions
that are on this Zoom meeting, I certainly appreciate one's
expertise coming to bear.
I do find it interesting that some of the companies that we
know as some of our greatest companies in the world, I will use
one in particular, one we all know very well in Google, has its
largest data server farm in the world literally 30 miles from
my house here in what probably many of the folks on this call
that are representing California would say is probably one of
the dirtiest states in the world. So, it is just sort of
interesting how it is literally sitting a thousand yards from a
natural gas plant so they have reliable energy, but I digress.
As a Member, as an engineer as well--I am not a forestry
engineer as my colleague from Arkansas is--but an engineer who
appreciates technology. I am a Member who has stated many times
that I have an all-of-the-above approach to energy production.
I actually spent most of my life within about 15 miles of a
nuclear power plant in Arkansas, so I know the reliability you
get there and the importance of how clean that energy is. And
my colleague from Arkansas now represents that area, so we have
a lot in common.
I am very interested in listening to what you all have to
say about energy initiatives and production, but we also have
to talk about costs around this. We have had these dialogues
before in hearings in the past, and I think it is interesting
how we talk about the sustainability, but we don't talk about
the costs, the hard costs associated with what many of the
minority in low-income areas would have to pay for these costs,
assuming you are not seeking a Federal subsidy or a state
subsidy to offset those costs. Because, at the end of the day,
as we have talked about many times over in our hearings, it is
more costly to do some of these New Green Deal ideas.
As we increase the world's carbon footprint by pushing
production to countries with minimal regulations, as we move
folks out, we are not isolated from CO2 emissions.
While we may be lowering, which we have, other parts of the
world are making up for that exponentially.
We need to stop making America more reliant on foreign
adversaries for energy production as we have talked about
changing some of our refineries so that we use more of our
fossil fuels here as opposed to bringing in heavy crudes from
around the world, to put refined products back out around the
world.
All of this is applicable to a bill introduced by Chairman
Grijalva in the so-called Environmental Justice for All Act, a
veiled attempt by the Chairman to stop American energy
production, and my colleagues will claim this bill implements
necessary reporting requirements to gauge the health impacts of
energy production. What they won't tell you is that the
considerations already there are unnecessary as they are
already addressed in NEPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water
Act, and other applicable statutes.
What they also won't tell you is that these assessments
will not consider benefits of proposed energy infrastructure
projects, including thousands of well-paying jobs, access to
reliable or affordable energy for communities, and the
prevention of energy poverty.
The same is true in this hearing today. This is not an
effort to find solutions to environmental justice. This is an
attempt by Democrats to bash the fossil fuel energy production
in America.
And I have a question today for Ms. Obed. Through your
work, your business generates economic opportunities for its
shareholders through responsible natural resource development.
Could you explain these benefits of natural resource
development for tribal communities in Alaska?
Ms. Obed. Yes, Representative. Thank you for the question.
At Doyon, we seek to provide benefits to our shareholders
through jobs, wages, charitable contributions, donations, and
scholarships for education for our future shareholders. Those
are the reasons why we have strong shareholder support for a
lot of the natural resource development projects that we
participate in.
Mr. Hern. Thank you so much.
I appreciate everybody being on here today to express your
points of view, and it is great to hear some of the benefits of
energy production, and I hope that my colleagues will
understand that I see these benefits, too.
Mr. Chairman, as always, I appreciate being with you on the
Committee, and I will sell you a razor when we get back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Well, thank you. Thank you, Representative
Hern. I look forward to being back with you also.
I now recognize Chairman Grijalva for 5 minutes of
questions. Welcome, Chair.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Thank you for the hearing. I
appreciate it very much.
And, first of all, I just want to tell Ms. Rose that I
wanted to congratulate her for the recent success of the
cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It is good to see
her again. I think it is a success story that other people
across the Nation could learn from, and her leadership and the
coalition that she was a part of took this environmental
justice issue of great significance to that community and, with
persistence, succeeded. And I just want to congratulate her.
I think that the question that I have, there is no either/
or here. There are some important points. Renewable alternative
energy is, like it or not, an inevitability for this Nation.
That is the direction we are going. And much of what we see in
the decline of fossil fuel in this country, coal being the
primary one, has to do with the economies of that extraction of
that fuel and the consumer preferences that are going on
worldwide and certainly nationwide. And to say that the straits
that those companies find themselves in is all a consequence,
including the Atlantic Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline,
is because of the protests around those issues is disingenuous
at best. Now, we have all of these bankruptcies going on across
the country from gas, from fracking enterprises, from
extraction enterprises, and as they leave, they leave their
pollution behind, and they leave the bill to the American
taxpayers to have to clean up after them. And I think, when you
look at this, it is a much more comprehensive package than a
simple either/or.
I wanted to ask, Ms. Patterson, you are probably aware that
the failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy
Act resulted in the Dakota Access being shut down. Along with
my colleague, Representative McEachin, as the Chairman
indicated at the beginning of the meeting, we want to introduce
the Environmental Justice For All Act. It is not so-called, it
is real, and all of us are going to have a chance to deal with
it in the near future. And to try to get more public input for
major projects, like oil, gas pipelines, in this instance, and
begin to address the impacts of environmental discrimination,
racism, and to deal with the cumulative effect.
What is your assessment of the bill, and do you think it
could have a meaningful impact going forward?
Ms. Patterson. Thank you so much.
I think that the bill is absolutely critical, having the
communities, as we have seen from my co-panelists, particularly
Ms. Rose, that communities know the solutions that work for
them, and it is really having communities on the front lines of
making the decisions that result in decisions that are the real
solutions versus advancing those who aren't of the community
making decisions for the community.
So, even when we think about examples like in New York, in
response to the heat waves, there was a well-meaning attempt
to--recognizing that cooling centers are difficult in this
COVID-19 reality, there was a decision to give window units of
air-conditioning to communities, but because there was that
dialogue, they heard back from the community that that would be
great, but we are already suffering from energy burden. So,
combined with giving the air-conditioning, they also provided
relief for bills. So, those are the kinds of integrated policy
making that only results from having community input.
Mr. Grijalva. And I think, Ms. Prochnik, let me ask you the
same question essentially that Ms. Patterson just dealt with
about your assessment of the Environmental Justice for All Act.
Have you had that opportunity?
Ms. Prochnik. Thank you, Representative. Thank you,
Chairman.
I think the clean energy economy--and I agree with Jacqui
Patterson because it really is about inclusivity. Clean energy
economy will only be successful if it is truly inclusive of all
of the economies affected. For so long energy production
delivery has focused on depleting the resources from frontline
communities or burning them with health hazards. For example,
the Navajo Nation provided land, water, coal, labor and did not
receive electricity produced from the land. Some utilities
today are starting to right the wrong, but to be more good
stewards, we need to demonstrate how the industry is different
and how environmental justice principles and community voices
must be included.
Mr. Grijalva. OK. Thank you very much.
Mr. Chairman, again, thank you. And this is a very
important hearing, and I appreciate the witnesses and our
colleagues that have shown up. Thank you a lot, I appreciate
it.
And I yield back.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you.
I am going to recognize myself now for the final 5 minutes
of questions.
And I am going to preface my statement with--because we are
talking about environmental justice, I want to share with you
what happened the other night at a community meeting online,
which was held by having my neighborhood be responsive--Long
Beach is very unfortunate where I live to have our own health
department and our director of the health department was there.
And the first thing, one of the early things that she said was,
on the west side of Long Beach, which is primarily an
industrial complex with a lot of stable neighborhoods,
primarily neighborhoods, people of color, first generation into
our community--it is the home of the Port of Long Beach, lots
of the warehouses, distribution centers, all of the rail lines,
the freeways that lead in and out of the port with large
numbers of truck traffic. And I was struck when she said the
life expectancy of someone on the west side of Long Beach is a
little over 69 years. And then she said when you are talking
about on the east side of Long Beach, the life expectancy of a
new child is 86 years. That means just a few miles away from
me, a child already starts with a life expectancy difference of
17 years.
That is unconscionable. I have not been able to get that
out of my mind for the last week or so. It brings it home to me
we have this responsibility to ensure that as we do new
development, new energy, that we make sure that we do not
repeat some of the mistakes of the past and make it such that
impacts--I am not saying that people do it deliberately or not.
I do know that, Ms. Patterson, that you have another
appointment and you need to depart in 1 minute from this
hearing. I just want to ask you one quick question. We are
talking about reducing pollution, helping environmental justice
communities, primarily low-income minority communities. Can we
do that in Congress through voluntary actions, or do we really
need to have State and Federal Government engage in more
regulatory action? I would like to hear your opinion quickly.
Ms. Patterson. Thank you. Yes, we absolutely need to have
mandatory action. Our advocacy has been around renewable
portfolio standards that are mandatory, energy efficiency
resource centers that are mandatory, recognizing that without
having that kind of compelling legislation, that we won't make
the aggressive shifts that we need to make to take the toxic
pollution out of these communities and shift us to a new energy
economy that provides the energy that we need while protecting
the health and well-being of communities that are currently in
harm's way.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you.
And you may leave the meeting. I know you have to leave.
Ms. Patterson. Thank you.
Mr. Lowenthal. I would now like to turn to Ms. Rose. First
of all, I want to thank you for your long-term commitment and
activism as a volunteer, someone in your community who, as you
say, you moved to this community to retire, and look what
happened. You became a community activist. And I want to know,
what was the pressure? We have heard for years about the needs
to rush the Atlantic Coast Pipeline because we have a dire need
for more natural gas. As a local resident, did you feel that
pressure, that there was some sort of rush to get this pipeline
approved and it would be better for you just to get out of the
way because of this?
Ms. Rose. Thank you for the question. Dominion Energy
always told us through their mailings, through their
informational meetings, TV ads, and even a few meetings they
had in Union Hill, after we raised the poverty awareness here,
that the gas was needed, would bring jobs and would be
inevitable. It was as if the pipes were already in the ground.
Some people believed this, and so they did not feel they could
resist it.
Mr. Lowenthal. Thank you for that. So, you did feel the
pressure?
Ms. Rose. Yes.
Mr. Lowenthal. I am really at the end. I have many more
questions, but I will submit them in writing. I want to thank
all the panelists. I want to thank all the witnesses. I have
found this to be an extremely productive hearing, and I like
the attitude between all of us, even when there were
disagreements, that we dealt with this in a very positive,
congenial manner.
So, with that, I want to say that there is no further
business----
Mr. Westerman. Mr. Chairman?
Mr. Lowenthal. Yes.
Mr. Westerman. Mr. Chairman, I have some items to submit
for the record.
Mr. Lowenthal. Without objection.
Mr. Westerman. I will start with some articles that
highlight that access to natural gas continues to be a
challenge for some minority communities because there is not
yet pipeline infrastructure connecting those communities to
natural gas.
The first article is a Chicago Tribune article, dated
December 2019, titled, ``Residents of impoverished Pembroke
Township live without natural gas heat. Now Jesse Jackson is
joining the push to bring a pipeline to the community.''
The second article is an Axios article entitled, ``Inside
Rev. Jesse Jackson's push for natural gas pipeline,'' from May
2020.
I would also like to submit for the record a lawsuit filed
by a group called The Two Hundred. I think my California
colleagues will recognize that group. I believe it is led by a
Democratic California assemblyman. It is an organization that
works on affordable housing issues, and the lawsuit is against
the California Air Resources Board. In 2018, the suit argued
that California's climate policies, including a net zero
requirement for all housing projects for construction for
operation, were hurting the ability of low-income Californians
to obtain affordable housing and driving up the cost of
transportation.
Also, I have some charts here from the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. It may be hard to read, but this
little green slot shows that of all energy consumption, a
whopping 11 percent of that was from renewables. And you know I
am a huge fan of renewables, especially biofuels. And 43
percent of that 11 percent came from biomass.
And then I also have this additional chart that shows that
of all electrical generation, there was less than 10 percent
that came from solar and wind.
And, finally, without objection, I would like to submit a
documentary by an icon of the left, Michael Moore, called the
``Planet of the Humans'' that delves into the fallacy behind
reducing all carbon emissions by going to things like electric
vehicles.
Mr. Lowenthal. Without objection, they are now submitted
into the record.
Mr. Westerman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lowenthal. Again, the members of the Committee may have
some additional questions for the witnesses, and we will ask
you as the witnesses to respond to these in writing. Under
Committee Rule 3(o), members of the Committee must submit their
witness questions within 3 business days following the hearing,
and the hearing record will be held open for 10 business days
for these responses.
If there is no further business, without objection, this
Committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:36 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD RETAINED IN THE COMMITTEE'S
OFFICIAL FILES]
Submissions for the Record by Rep. Westerman
1. NPR Article--Supreme Court Pipeline Fight Could Disrupt
How The Appalachian Trail Is Run, Becky Sullivan, February 21,
2020:
https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/807417611/supreme-court-pipeline-
fight-could-disrupt-how-the-appalachian-trail-is-run
2. Documentary--``Planet of the Humans'' by Michael Moore:
https://planetofthehumans.com/
3. EIA chart--Renewable energy explained:
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/renewable-sources/
4. EIA data--What is U.S. electricity generation by energy
source:
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3
5. Chicago Tribute article--Residents of impoverished
Pembroke Township live without natural gas heat. Now Jesse
Jackson is joining the push to bring a pipeline to the
community. John Keilman, December 2019:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-pembroke-nicor-gas-
jackson-20191217-3lxvyxklwvgshfbxznbh3t5gyy-story.html
6. Axios Article--Inside Rev. Jesse Jackson's push for a
natural gas pipeline. Amy Harder, May 2020:
https://www.axios.com/jackson-natural-gas-3e1af88d-a823-4096-975d-
c9b0ad207806.html
7. Lawsuit filed by ``The Two Hundred'' against the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2018, Superior Court
of the State of California, Case No. 18CECG01494:
http://www.thetwohundred.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/
Complaint_signed.pdf
[all]