The Senate’s narrow approval of fossil fuel-defender Bernard McNamee for a seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday provoked anger and dismay from climate action groups, which have demanded the Trump administration listen to scientists and the American people and end its efforts to prop up “dirty, dying, and dangerous” energy industries.
McNamee was confirmed in a 50-49 vote along party lines, after green campaigners successfully pressured Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) to vote against the nomination. Read the full roll call here.
“At a time when consumers, businesses and forward-thinking utilities are embracing the clean energy revolution, we don’t need a FERC commissioner who endorses the Trump administration’s schemes to keep the dying coal and nuclear industries on life support.” —Kenneth Cook, EWG
McNamee has publicly criticized renewable energy and helped engineer President Donald Trump’s bailout of the nuclear and coal industries—even as Americans living in coal-producing states have called for a shift to sustainable energy sources like solar and wind power.
“McNamee’s enthusiasm for dirty fossil fuels and his antipathy toward clean, renewable energy is undeniable, and his claim of impartiality is a blatant charade,” Kenneth Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said in a statement. “At a time when consumers, businesses and forward-thinking utilities are embracing the clean energy revolution, we don’t need a FERC commissioner who endorses the Trump administration’s schemes to keep the dying coal and nuclear industries on life support.”
As an executive director in the Energy Department’s Office of Policy, McNamee rolled out the department’s $34 billion plan to save the nation’s nuclear and coal plants. Last month, he refused to confirm that he would recuse himself from any FERC decisions on the bailout.
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