BUSYBODY BILL WOULD IMPACT ALASKA, IF PASSED
Alaska Democrats’ leading choice for president would shut down natural gas exports from Alaska.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation this month to block construction of “any compressor station that would be built as part of a pipeline project mean to export natural gas overseas.”
That’s a direct hit to both Warren and Markey’s home state LNG export industry but also would kill the Alaska Gasline project, were it ever to become economic.
The bill is called the Community Outreach, Maintenance, and Preservation by Restricting Export Stations from Subverting Our Regulations (COMPRESSOR) Act, and if it passed it would ban outright any natural gas compressor station that would be part of a project leading to the export of natural gas or facilitate the export of natural gas. Sen. Edward Markey of Masschussets is the cosponsor.
[Read more about the COMPRESSOR Act here]
“Major gas projects like the proposed compressor station in Weymouth increase our reliance on fossil fuels while ignoring the concerns of households and consumers who would be affected the most,” said Sen. Warren. She then accused Enbridge, a Canada-based company, of trying to “line their pockets by exporting natural gas overseas.”
“Instead of continuing our fossil fuel addiction, we need a Green New Deal that transforms our economy to create millions of jobs and protects our communities that have been historically most harmed by fossil fuels,” Markey said.
In the recent Quinnapiac University poll, rated A- by pollster Nate Silver, Warren is in the lead with likely voting Democrats:
- Warren: 30%
- Biden: 27%
- Sanders: 11%
- Buttigieg: 8%
- Harris: 4%
- Others: Less than 2%
The bill, S.2642, was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, where Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is chair, and where the bill will likely die.
