March 22, 2021: On Monday, Annova LNG cancelled plans for its proposed LNG export terminal in Brownsville, TX, one of three fracked gas export terminals proposed for the Rio Grande Valley.
This news came the day before the DC Circuit was scheduled to hear arguments on FERC's approvals of the proposed terminal; after Annova’s cancellation, the court heard arguments on the neighboring proposed Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG terminals. The oil and gas industry has made their interest in export facilities clear as a pathway to drive new markets for dirty fuels. Communities living near these operations and infrastructure are impacted by pollution and health risks, and then pollution is exported overseas, contributing to climate change and poor health outcomes.
The combined impact of these three proposed projects would be devastating for the region, threatening Indigenous rights, community health, wildlife, and the climate. If built, Annova LNG would have destroyed wetlands, blocked a wildlife corridor threatening the survival of endangered wildlife, and put communities needlessly at risk. Local communities applaud cancellation of the Annova LNG project, but remain opposed to the Rio Grande and Texas proposals.
The Sierra Club has worked in close partnership with community groups Save RGV from LNG and Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera (represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid), and the City of Port Isabel to fight the Annova LNG project. As Sierra Club Gulf Coast Campaign representative Bekah Hinojosa notes: “This victory is the result of six years of tireless efforts of the Rio Grande Valley communities in South Texas who have written comments, attended hearings, protested banks, and more to protect their health, their precious coastline and the climate from Annova LNG’s proposed fracked gas project. No LNG export terminal has any place in our communities or our energy future, and today’s news is a step in the right direction to putting an end to exporting fracked gas across the world.”