The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) February policy statements on interstate natural gas projects drew strong objections from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and the two out of the five FERC commissioners who voted against the statements. Those statements, which add consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts, including on “environmental justice communities,” for FERC to approve natural gas infrastructure, were the subject of a March 3 hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources (ENR). While FERC previously determined project need on the basis of contracts to ship the gas from a prospective pipeline, the first new policy statement adds factors to assess “need.” In addition, it directs FERC to consider environmental impacts, landowner impacts, and impacts on “environmental justice communities,” among other factors. The second statement presumes that a project emitting 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents has a significant impact on climate change, meaning the project …