THREAD: Watching @EnergyGOP @EnergyDems confirmation hearing (via Facebook for now) for @FERC nominees Allison Clements and Mark Christie. Some background here: https://www.law360.com/articles/1295807

@lisamurkowski questions nominees about how they would uphold @FERC's "role as an independent economic regulator, not as agency as responsible for implementing the administration's policy decisions."

@FERC nominee Mark Christie says "reliability in America is largely at the state level because it's the states that approve generation plants."

@Sen_JoeManchin quizzes nominees on @FERC's #pipeline permitting authority, laments cancellation of projects like Atlantic Coast pipeline.

@FERC nominee Allison Clements: "I would go into each case with an open mind." Nominee Mark Christie says a project's need must be justified, brings up landowners and eminent domain.

@SenBillCassidy asks about upcoming @FERC tech conference on carbon pricing in wholesale markets.

@FERC nominee Mark Christie: "The question of whether FERC has the legal authority to order a carbon price or carbon tax in RTOs is a legal question that I certainly haven't come to a conclusion on."

@FERC nominee Allison Clements on choosing energy sources: "The question the commission has to ask is does the grid have the right service to provide reliability along with the electrons that flow along transmission lines?"

@RonWyden quizzes @FERC nominee Allison Clements about #climatechange: "In your view, how can @FERC best utilize climate science when deciding whether #pipelines and natural gas plants are in the public interest?"

Clements said @FERC is "not a direct climate regulator" but that it must take climate and future weather patterns into account when ensuring electricity supply meets demand and the grid remains reliable.

Clements brings up DC Circuit's Sabal Trail ruling that @FERC should evaluate downstream #GHG emissions: "That is something that would be incorporate in a NEPA analysis."