A letter sent by environmentalists, including the Sierra Club, to Energy Secretary Chris Wright demanding a halt to construction on a large liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off the Louisiana coast was signed mostly by out-of-state residents.
Of the 3,000 signatories calling on the Trump administration to end the conditional authorization of the Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) LNG plant, only 34 are from Louisiana, and just 366 live along the Gulf Coast. Most signatures came from California, Oregon, Washington state, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
And at least two of the signers have been charged with felonies, according to public records.
Originally proposed in 2021, the CP2 project was expected to inject more than $20 billion into Louisiana’s economy, according to Venture Global LNG. Officials said the project will create more than 1,000 permanent jobs averaging $120,000 annually, generate roughly $2 billion in local revenue, and export up to 3.96 billion cubic feet of LNG per day.
Environmentalists and fishers say the project damages the shoreline and buries crab traps. Last year, the Biden administration temporarily paused approvals of all LNG projects, because of environmental concerns. A federal judge later declared the pause unconstitutional.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order earlier this year meant to expand domestic energy production. He said the order would encourage offshore drilling to lower energy prices and help restore American prosperity.
Two months later, the Department of Energy gave early approval to the CP2 project. DOE officials said it would help the U.S. unleash its energy potential and meet growing energy demand for decades.
The project received formal approval last month. Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel said CP2 will be safely built and supply new LNG to the global market at a record pace. Construction is expected to be completed by 2027.
Even after federal approval, environmental opposition to CP2 continues.
Groups seized on the accidental release of mud and silt into 260 acres of bayous and wetlands during a dredging operation near Monkey Island. The dredging was to allow large cargo ships packed with construction equipment and materials to access the site. The letter claimed shrimp and oyster populations have declined.
Venture Global officials promised to restore the marshland and work with crabbers in the channel. They plan to work with Louisiana agencies on an environmental fix.
Industry analysts do not believe Venture’s assurances will make opponents feel any better. “They’re anti-oil and gas, full stop,” Trisha Curtis, an oil and gas consultant, told InsideSources.
Environmentalists cited a Greenpeace and Sierra Club report claiming air pollution from all Gulf Coast LNG projects could cause 149 premature deaths and $2.33 billion in health costs each year. The report called for the approval of the Green New Deal and an end to LNG export project approvals and pipelines, even as U.S. greenhouse gas levels have dropped 65 percent since switching from coal to natural gas as the country’s primary energy source, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“It’s not about CO2 emissions,” said Curtis. “If it was about CO2 emissions, we would have been adopting natural gas like crazy.”
The U.S. is the global leader in LNG exports, particularly to Europe. Shipments surged in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. Europe has also increased its LNG storage capacity. Environmentalists have called for Europe to cut ties with the US LNG industry and “terminate their contracts with Venture Global.”
Curtis said the demand for European countries to stop signing LNG contracts fits the environmentalist agenda. She said those contracts stabilize the LNG market by providing assurances for investors. Curtis didn’t think the letter would be successful, but said the European attitude towards natural gas as energy was “pretty split.”
Curtis wasn’t surprised the letter was signed mostly by Californians and other out-of-state residents. She said it was unlikely to convince the Trump administration to change policy.
“I’m not quite sure if they thought they could accomplish anything because there’s a lot of LNG exports on the Gulf Coast anyway,” she said.