Virginia pipelines set off 'an alarm bell' for skeptical energy regulator

[TexasTowelie]

WASHINGTON — Most Americans have no idea who Cheryl LaFleur is.

The wonkish attorney, a Massachusetts native and electricity expert, has spent nearly a decade as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a federal agency that regulates the transmission of oil, electricity and natural gas pipelines, among other responsibilities.

It’s not often that she gets recognized in the supermarket.

“I believe we have important jobs, but there’s a lot more famous people in this town,” LaFleur told the Virginia Mercury in a recent interview in her office a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. “It’s not like being a congressperson where every time you’re sitting and having a glass of wine with a friend, somebody might be snapping you on their iPhone. Being a FERC commissioner is definitely not like that.”

Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2019/04/01/va-pipelines-set-off-an-alarm-bell-for-skeptical-energy-regulator/

[elleng]

1. 'LaFleur, who is not being nominated for a new term, has been central figure in the battles

playing out in Virginia and around the country over the necessity and environmental impacts of gas pipelines — behemoth infrastructure projects that can cost developers billions of dollars and that often ignite fierce opposition campaigns.

“LaFleur has been an important voice in mobilizing the conversation for a comprehensive approach to analyzing climate impacts,” said Gillian Giannetti, a staff attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

LaFleur, appointed to the commission by President Barack Obama in 2010, made waves a couple of years ago when she split with her Republican colleagues over the approval of the controversial Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley natural gas pipelines, massive projects slated to run through Virginia.

The GOP-led commission approved both pipelines, but LaFleur wrote in her Oct. 2017 dissent that she couldn’t conclude that either project was in the public interest.

“I am particularly troubled by the approval of these projects because I believe that the records demonstrate that there may be alternative approaches that could provide significant environmental advantages over their construction as proposed,” she wrote at the time.'>>>

[TexasTowelie]

2. Thank you for adding the additional text.

It was a somewhat wordy introduction to the article and I was trying to adhere to the four-paragraph rule.