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Our View: LNG ruling should be the last straw Wednesday Dec 14, 2016 at 12:01 AM The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's announcement that it will not reconsider its denial of a natural gas pipeline through Oregon should spell the end of that on-again, off-again project, although the company that requested the rehearing can still go to court — or start the whole process over again. The FERC ruling is, in large part, testimony to the effectiveness of the well-organized opposition, which united property owners and environmental activists in a common cause. Fears that an incoming Donald Trump administration could easily reverse the FERC action are likely overblown, judging from an analysis by Bloomberg News. Even the World newspaper in Coos Bay, where a liquefied natural gas export terminal was proposed, said in an editorial this week that it's time for that community to move on. Support for the Jordan Cove terminal and Pacific Connector pipeline was strongest there, where jobs are especially hard to come by. Bloomberg energy industry reporter Catherine Traywick wrote Tuesday that the way FERC is structured and its independent status within the Department of Energy make it unlikely the Jordan Cove project could be quickly revived. Three of the five FERC commissioners are Democrats serving five-year terms. The one whose term expires first still has seven months to serve. An energy industry consultant told Bloomberg that "short of, literally, an act of Congress," changing how FERC operates is "wishful thinking." Despite Trump's vow to speed up pipeline approvals, FERC is required by law to take into account market demand for each natural gas pipeline project and its environmental impact, and to consider public comment. All of those factors played a role in FERC's denying the Jordan Cove project. FERC ruled last March that the public benefits of the project did not outweigh the effects on landowners along the pipeline route, which would have traversed 232 miles across southwestern Oregon and directly affected 630 property owners. On Friday, the agency said project proponents "failed to demonstrate the existence of 'extraordinary circumstances' that overcome the need for finality." FERC's March denial of the project came after Pacific Connector failed to show it had commitments from gas purchasers for the pipeline's capacity, despite having three and half years to do so. Company representatives said it can take 10 years from the time a pipeline is proposed before gas is delivered, so it's unrealistic to expect to have commitments that far in advance. But this project was originally proposed to import gas from Asia for the U.S. market. After increased production of gas in this country dropped the price, the companies involved reversed the project to export gas instead. There is no guarantee that exporting gas still will make economic sense years from now. FERC has decided the project isn't justified now. The Jordan Cove Energy Project and Pacific Connector should cut their losses.