A massive and controversial liquefied natural gas export project in coastal Louisiana and its associated pipeline won key approval from federal regulators last week.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order authorizing Venture Global to construct and operate CP2 terminal in Cameron Parish along the Gulf Coast and will construct and operate the CP Express pipeline connecting the terminal to a network of natural gas pipelines in east Texas and southwest Louisiana. Earthjustice, an environmental law group, he said terminal “will export more liquefied methane than any other approved terminal in the U.S.”
The only voice of dissent came from Commissioner Allison Clements, who attended her final commission meeting after deciding not to seek another term. Clement has consistently called on the Commission to carry out more thorough monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas projects.
“The commission failed to adequately address the project’s environmental and socioeconomic impacts, including negative impacts on communities fighting for environmental justice,” Clements said.
“These projects will have massive greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to putting more than 1.8 million new gas-powered cars on the road every year. The regulation does not meaningfully assess these emissions.”
As the Sierra Club notes, the project will still need an air emissions permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and other permits. It also won’t be able to export gas to countries that haven’t signed free trade agreements (which account for about 90% of the global liquefied natural gas market) without a permit from the U.S. Department of Energy.
President Joe Biden’s administration introduced a pause on LNG export authorizations in January to allow DOE to update its authorization analyses.
“Today, we have a better understanding of the market demand for LNG, the long-term supply of LNG, and the dangerous impact of methane on our planet,” the White House said at the time. “We must also adequately protect ourselves from the health risks to our communities, especially frontline communities in the United States that disproportionately bear the burden of pollution from new export facilities.”
In April, 25 Republican governors called on the administration to end the freeze.
“This creates instability and threatens future energy security around the world at a time when our allies need us most. It sends a signal that the United States is not a reliable energy partner,” they said. in the statement issued by the Republican Governors Association.
In the statement reported in an industry publication, Venture Global’s CEO praised “the FERC commission and staff for their independent and thorough review and approval of CP2 LNG.”
Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, called CP2 “carbon bomb” terminal and Sierra Club CP2 said is “a disastrous project that puts polluters before people.”
The terminal is planned next to the existing Venture Global Calcasieu Pass The LNG facility that already exists he took it violations of air pollution regulations and approximately two miles from the proposed Commonwealth LNG FacilityThe Sierra Club noted that the area “has more low-income residents than 88% of the country.”
At a news conference after the FERC meeting, Chairman Willie Phillips, who voted in favor of the project, said the priority was environmental justice, which aims to protect low-income and minority communities from polluting infrastructure projects.
“I believe we have a responsibility to these communities. We also have an obligation to follow the law,” Phillips said, adding that FERC’s environmental impact assessment “goes beyond the requirements” of the National Environmental Policy Act. The order, he said, contains “more than 130 conditions relating to public safety, engineering and environmental impact.”
The Sierra Club said that while FERC acknowledged the need to do more to protect overburdened communities from environmental injustice, “it requires more than just lip service, and this approval is a clear step in the wrong direction.”
