Sierra Club attorney Elly Benson (right) speaks to the press after the Court of Appeals hearing on the Sabal Trail pipeline. |
The three judge panel of Justices Brown, Rogers and Griffith asked thoughtful and detailed questions, having clearly scrutinized the case. They asked about FERC's resistance to using the tools at hand to calculate the ghg impact, and strongly questioned FERC's process for granting a high rate of return for the project's backers.
Judge Rogers said at one point to the FERC lawyer, regarding their need to assess the full climate impacts of the project, "So, FERC just doesn't have to do it's duty because it thinks someone else will?" Not to press our luck, but it was hard not to get up and cheer when the Justice asked that question!
We expect a ruling in a few months time. Fingers crossed.