明日之子Feds OK natural gas pipeline expansion in Pacific Northwest over environmentalist protests_我的网站
A | PORTLAND, Ore. -- Federal regulators on Thursday approved the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest over the protest of environmental groups and top officials in West Coast states, who said it goes against the region’s plans to address climate change and could pose a wildfire risk.The project, known as GTN Xpress, aims to expand the capacity of the Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, which runs through Idaho, Washington and Oregon, by about 150 million cubic feet (4.2 million cubic meters) of natural gas per day. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave it the green light in a vote on Thursday.TC Energy plans to modify three compressor stations along the pipeline — in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon. Compressor stations help maintain the pressure and flow of gas over long distances in a pipeline. Environmental groups criticized the decision of the commission, which "failed to listen to Senators, Governors, State Attorneys General, Tribes, and the public in its rubber stamp of unnecessary fracked gas in the Northwest,” said Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental nonprofit, in a statement.Leonard said potential spills and explosions on the pipeline, which was built in the 1960s, would not only harm the environment but also present a heightened wildfire risk in the arid regions it passes through.“An explosion of that level in eastern Washington or eastern Oregon would be catastrophic,” she said.Leonard said Columbia Riverkeeper will appeal the federal regulators’ decision and submit a petition for a rehearing. The pipeline belongs to TC Energy of Calgary, Canada — the same company behind the now-abandoned Keystone XL crude oil pipeline. The company said the project is necessary to meet consumer demand.Environmentalists and officials opposed to the project have expressed concern about TC Energy’s safety record. Its Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline exploded in Strasburg, Virginia, in July and its existing Keystone pipeline spilled nearly 600,000 gallons of bitumen oil in Kansas last December.The 1,377-mile (2,216-kilometer) pipeline runs from the Canadian border through a corner of Idaho and into Washington state and Oregon, connecting with a pipeline going into California.While Idaho’s Republican governor and congress members said that imposing other states’ climate policies would be “misguided,” Democratic officials in the other states called on federal officials to reject the plan. After the vote, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, condemned the decision.The project is “incompatible with our climate laws,” said a letter to the agency by Democratic U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington.“GTN Xpress represents a significant expansion of methane gas infrastructure at a time when California, Oregon, and Washington are moving away from fossil fuels,” the senators said.The attorneys general of the three states, citing the commission's draft environmental impact statement for the project, said it would result in more than 3.47 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year for at least the next three decades. The agency’s final environmental assessment revised that number downward by roughly half in calculations contested by environmental groups.The agency’s chairman, Willie Phillips, reiterated its stance after Thursday’s vote.“There was no evidence presented that this project would significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions,” he told reporters. “The commission determined that this project was needed and therefore we support its approval.”In its final environmental impact statement for the project issued last November, the federal agency said the compressor stations were in non-forested areas with low to moderate fire hazard. It concluded the project “would result in limited adverse impacts on the environment.”“Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term,” the federal agency said. The agency recommended certain steps, such as requiring the company to train its personnel and contractors on environmental mitigation measures before any construction begins. But environmental groups say the assessment didn’t adequately address the harm caused by the project, including by fracking to obtain the natural gas that flows through the pipeline. Fracking is a technique used by the energy industry to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals. It has been criticized by climate and environment groups for increasing emissions of methane, an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas. ___Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.。 AI摘要 8月20日，《泉州市传承弘扬创新发展“晋江经验”条例》施行，系全国首部“晋江经验”专项法规，聚焦要素配置、企业融通、科技创新、产城融合与政府服务，以法治护航民营经济高质量发展。 8月20日，《泉州市传承弘扬创新发展“晋江经验”条例》（以下简称《条例》）正式施行。作为首部以“晋江经验”为主题的专项法规，《条例》以法治固化实践经验、破解发展瓶颈，为促进全市民营经济高质量发展提供坚实保障。 《条例》共七章五十六条，包括总则、资源要素配置、企业融通发展、产业科技创新、产城融合发展、政府服务保障、附则，突出精神传承、侨台优势、政企互动、实体经济、品牌战略等泉州特色。 资源要素配置方面，《条例》聚焦打破隐形壁垒，明确建立健全机制，落实全国统一的市场准入负面清单制度，开展公平竞争审查；分别对技术、土地、人力、数据、资本等资源要素配置作出规定。同时明确搭建对接交流合作平台，支持华侨华人、台港澳同胞和在外泉籍企业家回乡投资兴业；支持民营经济组织加强与台湾地区合作，促进两岸经济融合发展。
B | 企业融通发展方面，《条例》立足我市中小企业众多的实际，明确推进大中小企业协同融通发展，构建良好企业发展生态。
C | 鼓励、支持民营经济组织参与国有企业改制重组、合资经营和混合所有制改革，并从合规经营、品牌培育、标准制定、上市服务、国际化发展、会展支持等方面为企业发展提供全方位保障。
D | 产业科技创新方面，《条例》坚持以科技创新引领新质生产力发展，推动传统产业转型升级。从研发投入、平台建设、成果转化、政府投资基金体系建设等方面作出具体规定，进一步完善创新支撑措施，优化产业结构，加快培育具有国际竞争力的新兴产业和未来产业。 产城融合发展方面，《条例》从发展县域产业链、促进产业集聚、文体产业发展、城乡融合发展等方面，进一步统筹新型工业化、新型城镇化和乡村振兴。通过固化总结经验，将因地制宜发展“一县一特色”的县域重点产业链、建立常态化跨县域交流机制等转化为法规制度；同时，固化工业园区标准化建设成果，支持专精特新企业集聚建园，建设2.0版本产业社区。 政府服务保障方面，《条例》强调打造一流营商环境，推动有效市场和有为政府更好结合。
E | 一方面，固化“不叫不到、随叫随到、说到做到、服务周到”的服务理念，要求健全民营经济发展综合服务体系，完善政企常态化沟通和问题解决机制。
F | 同时，对规范入企检查、惠企政策兑现、政府诚信履约、防范化解拖欠账款、知识产权保护等作出规定，进一步稳定企业预期、提振发展信心。（融媒体记者 颜雅婷）。 Current article:http://n4eu.sunaichitikouchua.bond/im3n/20260826/90273.html Published on:00:23:46 |
