President Joe Biden continues to appoint anti-energy activists who push counterproductive policies that make extracting energy harder and more expensive. Judy Chang, one of the president’s latest nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a federal agency in charge of approving energy projects for all 50 states, is the latest example. Chang will not only compromise thousands of jobs for workers in states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio but will also further inflate energy costs for all while generating more of the rolling energy blackouts people have seen nationwide.
Despite positioning herself as a “moderate” over the last couple of weeks, Chang, the former Undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions for Massachusetts, has made a career of embracing and implementing dubious environmental agendas.
Chang, for example, has explicitly said it “doesn’t make sense” to build new gas pipelines and power plants. It seems that she’d prefer for the country to experience regular rolling blackouts, similar to the ones experienced by states that have refused to embrace an all-of-the-above energy approach.
To say that Chang doesn’t mind energy blackouts is not hyperbole, given that while in leadership in Massachusetts, she admitted she admired Germany’s Green New Deal-style energy transition, which has been infamous for creating energy shortages throughout the country. Putting ideology before efficiency and energy security is not only wrongheaded, it’s incredibly irresponsible.
Even the more “moderate” Chang that Congress has seen over the last couple of weeks hasn’t come across as reasonable. For example, in a recent confirmation hearing, senators pressed her on the most important issue facing FERC: whether the agency should adopt Biden’s whole-of-government approach to climate changes and throwing vital energy sources such as natural gas to the curb. Her evasive response — “I am not a lawyer.… I have not fully reviewed [the issue]” — gave a pretty clear indication of what her positions are toward the natural gas industry.
For all these reasons, it should be abundantly clear that the Senate cannot confirm Chang unless she makes explicit promises to protect the natural gas industry and commit to using an all-of-the-above energy approach.
As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), my home state senator, holds enormous leverage over the fate of Chang’s nomination. Many believe he might be the deciding vote on whether she ultimately gets confirmed. That’s good news because this longtime hero for West Virginia’s natural gas workers certainly has a significant grasp on what’s at stake with this confirmation vote. According to former Democratic West Virginia Lt. Gov. Jeff Kessler, one of the things at stake might even be Manchin’s energy legacy.
West Virginia is one of the largest natural gas-producing state in the nation. The industry provides the state with more than $4.8 billion in labor income annually, equating to nearly 10% of the state’s total labor income. The workers in this industry, many of whom are my former constituents, are unionized and paid and treated very well. They speak very highly of their jobs and are proud of their careers.
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These West Virginians, along with the rest of the country, are counting on their representatives in Congress to protect their interests and hold Chang accountable. The Senate, in particular, must secure firm commitments from Chang as a condition for confirmation — specifically, promises that she will commit to embracing an all-of-the-above energy approach.
And if Chang isn’t willing to make them, lawmakers should vote against her nomination. It’s the only right and just thing to do, and it’s as good politics as it is economics.