The Shifting Energy Policy Zeitgeist and Investment Implications

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On March 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) made an unexpected and bipartisan about-face on its freshly updated policies for considering the environmental impacts of natural gas infrastructure projects like pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities.¹ Just a month after issuing the new policies—which were issued on partisan lines, and which warned that natural gas infrastructure projects may be scuttled based on their downstream greenhouse gas emissions—FERC placed the policies on hold, labeling them as “drafts” and welcoming stakeholder comments.² FERC also broke a logjam to issue new natural gas infrastructure project approvals on a bipartisan basis.