Courtney Naquin, courtney.naquin@sierraclub.org
The Sierra Club submitted motions to intervene to the United States’ Department of Energy (DOE) protesting export authorizations for three separate fracked gas “LNG” export terminals: Lake Charles LNG, New Fortress LNG, and Plaquemines LNG. The motion to intervene on Plaquemines LNG was signed with the organization Healthy Gulf. The motion to intervene on New Fortress LNG, a proposed offshore “floating LNG” terminal, was filed jointly with Center for Biological Diversity, Healthy Gulf, and Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
The DOE, the agency tasked with administering the country’s energy policy, has an enormous influence over the fracked gas LNG export buildout that’s looming over the Gulf Coast. The DOE is responsible for reviewing applications to export LNG. For applications to export LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S., the DOE must reject an export authorization if it finds that the project is not in the public’s best interest. Historically, the DOE has not properly considered how fracked gas exports exacerbate the many environmental and climate justice issues that communities and vulnerable ecosystems face in Louisiana and has rubber stamped export approvals for these projects.
Southern Louisiana is one of the most endangered areas in the country due to climate change related events, such as severe hurricanes, flooding, coastal erosion, and sea level rise. It’s also one of the most industrialized regions in the United States with petrochemical and fossil fuel infrastructure- and many Louisianans believe that their communities have become “sacrifice zones” to the fracked gas export industry. Currently, in Louisiana alone, there are three existing fracked gas export facilities, six that have been approved for construction, and an additional six that have pending applications.
The climate impact from these LNG export terminals would also be staggering. A new blog from Sierra Club revealed that when we looked at the same 25 proposed facilities included in the Environmental Integrity Project’s study on LNG, Sierra Club found that the lifecycle emissions (from extraction to the end use of the gas) for the LNG processed from these twenty-five facilities could add greenhouse gasses equivalent to that of 355 million cars, or nearly 450 coal plants, 1,660 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year (MMT CO2e). The impacts from pollution of this magnitude would undoubtedly impact Southern Louisiana as one of the most vulnerable regions in the country to climate change.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.