CLAIM: After federal regulators declined to reconsider permits allowing three major natural gas projects to go forward in Texas at the Port of Brownsville, environmental activists say they plan to file a lawsuit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Opponents argue that FERC commissioners did not take the combined pollution, noise and other impacts of the projects on neighboring communities and endangered species such as the ocelot, jaguarundi and aplomado falcon.

“These projects would disproportionately impact our already-marginalized Latino community, subject us to increased air pollution, and threaten our local tourism economy,” Sierra Club Brownsville organizer Rebekah Hinojosa said …

CLAIM: A column in Crain’s Chicago by the president of Save Our Illinois Land objects to a proposal to increase the capacity of oil that can be transported through the Dakota Access Pipeline. The objections center on two primary claims:

• The pipeline is inherently unsafe and jeopardizes Illinois residents; and
• The pipeline provides little to no benefit for Illinois as oil is shipped from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast.

RATING:

False

FACT CHECK:

First, the safety issue. The writer cites a 1999 accident at a pipeline in Washington state as proof that pipelines are unsafe. This neglects to acknowledge …