February 26, 2018
By Ted Gleichman. First of a Series.
Part One:
What in the Bloody Blue Blazes is Really Going On With the LNG Push?
Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=640516
As we fight the constant brutality of the fossil fuels industry, feeling stuck in perpetual whack-a-cockroach mode, we are confronted with the fact that there is no honor among cannibals. These exploiters know full well that we are in the throes of climate breakdown, and yet they continue at breakneck speed into the apocalypse.
Fracked gas (and oil) exploitation and export are the second-largest 21st Century energy revolution on the planet — second only to renewables. Here’s a simplified framing for what we face: Globally, there has never been more turmoil in the present and future of the political economy of energy than there is now. Locally, the Jordan Cove Energy Project (JCEP) & Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline (PCGP) scheme exemplifies a couple of the reasons why this is happening — and shows how.
As to why:
First, the industry knows that the projects that will be stopped first are those that haven’t started yet. As the momentum for “Keep It In the Ground” builds, human psychology and standard political operating procedures dictate that — except for traditional emergencies like explosions — shutting down existing fossil fuels infrastructure (FFI) will be hardest and happen last. So they are getting as much new FFI under construction and putting it into service as fast as they can. They see this as their best way to protect market share, cash flow, and stock value.
Second, they are cut-throats — not just to front-line communities and the global atmosphere, but to each other. Again, they know the climate science and they know that stranded assets are coming (see: coal). They also know that demand for their products will fall — so they need to be the fastest guns in this new Wild West at piling up cash now.
And part of the how:
The Jordan Cove & Pacific Connector (JC/PC) project set is a perfect example. The last of three proposals for Oregon, and now the only one still alive on the US Lower-48 West Coast, JC/PC has fought with no scruples to market itself both as inherently good and as inevitable.
Both these claims are completely bogus, but the level of desperation within the LNG / fracked gas export industry is so high that this form of vulture capitalism fights dirty by its very nature. This political / scientific pseudo-wizardry dovetails with the JC/PC efforts to game the federal, state, and local permitting processes to push the new agenda of the Trump regime down our throats here.
“Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain…” {The Wizard of Oz}
