Circus act at FERC lampoons revolving door w/ gas industry
On the 28th of May, the Third Siege of FERC continued with the FERCus-go-round, a circus act that emphasized the revolving door between FERC commissioners and the gas/fracking industry. The commissioners were called weasels, images of their faces mounted on mock carousel horses, a turkey, even a seahorse. Meanwhile, very few FERC staffers tried to run the door blockades, one speaker estimated only a tenth of the normal workforce showed up.
It is theoretically possible that FERC staffers entered the building prior to 7AM but those at the protest said this was unlikely. There were few signs of activity. The only people approaching the blockaded back door were parents of small children going to the day care center and two truck deliveries. All week those going to the day care center have been allowed to pass unopposed, protesters and police both opening the same end of their respective lines to let them pass. A truck delivery was also let through. FERC staffers have been vigorously opposed when they tried to pass earlier in the week, but there were none to be seen. Some wondered whether they were told to stay home.
The circus act (clowns included) did not use only horse imagery. The turkey and the seahorse, being images of carousel horses like children would ride, had saddles on them too. Perhaps FERC is being called as useful as a saddle on a seahorse? Certainly FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has done nothing to stop the spread of fracking and gas export projects. Seemingly every project to cross their desk has been rubberstamped, and the public is being aggressively kept out of FERC's "open" meetings.
