SETON MOTLEY: It Appears We Dodged A Fake Energy-Carbon Market Bullet In Trump’s FERC

I have long lamented the obscene massiveness of the federal government.

456+ Federal Agencies? The Eternal Push For Ever-Expanding, Redundant Over-Government

One of the infinite reasons to oppose this obscene massiveness?

You have no idea how many crazy people with crazy ideas exist amongst the federal government’s 2.0-2.7 million civilian employees.

(The government is so huge?  Even Grok can’t narrow it down any further than that.)

Another reason?

Bad policies and bad proposed policies are…immortal.  Or at least undead.  They zombie on from year-to-year, administration-to-administration.

To wit:

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  And it’s former (allegedly Republican) Chairman and Commissioner Neil Chatterjee.

What is FERC, you ask?:

“FERC’s Mission: Assist consumers in obtaining reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means, and collaborative efforts.”

Which brings us to the idiocy that is “green energy.”

I have long lamented “green energy.”  Wind, solar, etc.  Because it is neither green – nor energy.  It is awful for the environment.  And it produces very little energy – very expensively.

It is demonstrably unreliable.  If the Sun doesn’t shine?  If the wind doesn’t blow?  You have no energy from “green energy.”

In short: It is fake energy.

Given FERC’s mission statement?  They too should vociferously oppose “green energy.”

Except: Government loves government.  And fake energy requires a LOT of government.

And enter: Donald Trump-appointee Neil Chatterjee.

Chatterjee’s length of tenure at FERC is in…some dispute.  By that I mean:

Chatterjee’s LinkedIn page has him at the commission as “Federal Energy Regulatory Commission · Full-time” from “August 2017 – October 2025.”

Everywhere else on the Internet has him leaving FERC in 2021.  But let’s go straight to the Leviathan’s mouth.

The FERC Chairmen Page has him serving as chair from Oct. 24, 2018 – Nov. 5, 2020.

The FERC Commissioners Page (chairs serve simultaneously as voting commissioners) has him serving from Aug. 8, 2017 – Aug. 30, 2021.

So Chatterjee appears to be being…disingenuous…about his time at FERC.

Now: Let’s examine Chatterjee’s recent (actual) professional history, shall we?

Again, Chatterjee’s LinkedIn page says he was “full-time” at FERC until October 2025.  Which makes the following announcements a little…interesting….

Former FERC Chair Joins Amazon-Backed Carbon Removal Startup – March 27, 2024:

“CarbonCapture hopes Neil Chatterjee, currently a senior adviser at the Hogan Lovells law firm, can help the startup clear the regulatory hurdles associated with powering the direct air capture facilities it’s racing to develop in California, Wyoming and other states.”

Carbon capture is a simply idiotic business model – unless your business model is to plant trees.

Guess what?  That’s not Amazon’s carbon capture business model.  Theirs is based upon LOTS of government mandates – that mandate companies like theirs be hired to meet them all.

Neil Chatterjee, Former FERC Chairman, Joins Palmetto to Lead Government Affairs Team – January 17, 2025:

“Leading the world towards a clean energy future.”

I’m fairly sure one is not allowed to be a “full-time” member of FERC – and hold lobbying gigs with companies FERC oversees.

Even by D.C.’s incestuous revolving door standards – that’s a bit excessive.

What is D.C.’s revolving door?

Government bureaucrats stroll out of government – and directly into private gigs in the sectors they were JUST regulating.  Where they are hired to influence the bureaucracies they JUST left.

So guess what happens?  The bureaucrats treat the private sector VERY well.  So as to grease the skids for getting sector gigs immediately after leaving their government gigs.

And so it appears to be with Chatterjee – and his Amazon and Palmetto gigs.

Which makes one realize:

Whilst at FERC, Chatterjee must have emplaced a lot of fake energy policies.  Which Amazon and Palmetto wish to see continued/advanced.

Which brings us to the eternal undead life of government policy.

I’m going to assume Chatterjee actually left FERC in 2021 – not 2025.  Because everyone except Chatterjee says so.

Amazon and Palmetto seem to have made the same assumption.  Because duh. Because they hired him during his alleged extended FERC tenure.

Why?  Because they knew – with almost moral certitude – most-all of Chatterjee’s fake energy policies were still on FERC’s books.  Several years AFTER Chatterjee had left FERC.

And Amazon and Palmetto wanted Chatterjee to see that they were continued-advanced.

Thankfully – hopefully?  That may no longer be possible.

FERC Terminates Several Long-Pending Policy Proceedings and Initiates New Inquiries, Potentially Signaling a New Regulatory Approach:

“(N)ew Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Laura V. Swett made a series of significant announcements, possibly signaling a new regulatory approach for the agency.

Chairman Swett first outlined her priorities, focusing on cementing U.S. ‘energy dominance.’…

“Marking Chairman Swett’s new approach, FERC acted to terminate several proceedings that have long been pending….”

Here’s hoping that means the end of FERC’s fake energy bent.

And with that?  The end of Amazon and Palmetto’s hopes for Chatterjee – and their fake energy agenda.

Seton Motley is a consultant and the founder and president of Less Government, an organization dedicated to, well, less government. 

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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