After a ten-year delay, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday denied a petition for rulemaking calling on the agency to issue regulations defining whether proposed gas exports are consistent with the public interest. In response to a March lawsuit for unreasonable delay filed, the agency claimed to have “rigorous standards” for approving gas exports, but failed to lay out what those supposed standards are. DOE has never rejected a project on the grounds of harm to the public interest.
The Department of Energy has denied a second request from the developers of the proposed Lake Charles LNG export facility to extend their deadline for beginning to ship gas abroad, likely spelling the end for the controversial methane gas project. DOE also issued a policy statement, to be published in the federal register, stating that the department will be more stringent with extension requests going forward.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) and it underscores how critical the clean energy transition is for global security and energy price stability. The report finds that the global energy crisis, spurred in large part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been felt hardest by low-income communities, but is blunted in regions with a strong commitment to renewable sources of energy.
Groups are urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to take long overdue action in response to a petition for rulemaking regarding liquefied methane gas (LNG) export policy filed by the groups in 2013. The original petition points to the fact that DOE has never specifically articulated a policy for reviewing LNG export applications. Without such a policy, DOE has failed to weigh the environmental and public health impacts of increased fracked gas production for export, nor adequately consider the economic impacts on American consumers who face higher energy prices in the face of increased exports of that gas overseas.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced a six-month delay for CP2 and CP Express, a fracked gas export terminal and its associated pipeline project proposed for construction in Southwest Louisiana. FERC aimed to have the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the facility done by February of next year. It now plans to issue a final EIS by July 28, 2023.
Today, the fossil fuel company NextDecade announced its deal to supply 1 million tons of fracked gas a year for 20 years from its proposed Rio Grande LNG export project and the associated Rio Bravo Pipeline in Brownsville, Texas to Exxon Mobil. Companies like NextDecade and Exxon Mobil push greenwashed marketing campaigns that promote fracked gas as a “clean fossil fuel” and minimize its environmental justice and climate impacts.
After Venture Global LLC failed to provide additional and necessary data regarding its proposed CP LNG export terminal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency announced that it is suspending the environmental review process for project and its associated pipeline,
El Presidente Biden y la presidenta de la Comisión Europea, Ursula von der Leyen anunciaron hoy el desarrollo de planes para ayudar a la Unión Europea a acabar con su dependencia de gas fósil ruso en respuesta de la invasión de este país a Ucrania.
Yesterday, Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, CHISPA Texas, Healthy Gulf, Earthjustice, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and Indigenous Peoples of the Coast Bend, and several hundred individuals submitted comments to the US Army Corps of Engineers urging them to reject Phillips 66 and Trafigura’s 404 permit application for their Bluewater Oil Export Terminal project proposed for construction in the Coastal Bend region of Texas’ Gulf Coast.
Yesterday Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to oil and gas CEOs demanding more information on higher prices of “natural” gas, and the role of increased exports in particular.
Today, EPA Administrator Michael Regan kicked off a week-long tour through Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to meet with marginalized communities and discuss environmental justice issues facing the region. During the tour, Gulf communities threatened by oil and gas exports, joined by environmental advocates, are calling on the EPA to protect frontline communities by stepping in and doing everything in its power to stop the expansion of fossil fuel exports.
Richmond, CA — Today, the Richmond City Council reached a monumental settlement with the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation to phase out the storage of coal and petcoke in the city by the end of 2026. The settlement closes the chapter on a legal fight between the City of Richmond and three fossil fuel companies after Richmond passed an ordinance phasing out the handling of coal and petcoke in the city over three years. Environmental groups represented by Earthjustice quickly intervened in the lawsuit to defend the ordinance alongside the City of Richmond.