Southwest Louisianans Connect Climate Change and LNG at International Fracked Gas Conference During COP26

Lake Charles, LA - Today, local residents and community advocates of Southwest Louisiana led an outdoor press conference near the Golden Nugget Casino and Resort, calling for federal, state, and local officials attending the “World LNG & Gas Series: Americas Summit & Exhibition” to seek community input and involvement and place people over profits. The press conference also included a media tour to where new facilities are proposed for construction and expansion, including Magnolia, Cameron, Lake Charles and Driftwood LNG.

In the last year, people of Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes have endured catastrophic weather, including a record breaking February freeze, record floods, two hurricanes. In the last week, tornadoes destroyed homes in Lake Charles. It’s been over a year since Hurricanes Laura and Delta ripped through Southwest Louisiana, and people are still in recovery. Hundreds to thousands of homes are still covered in blue tarps. Just last week, a cluster of tornadoes damaged many Southwest Louisianans’ homes, who only recently were even able to settle in their houses again after Laura’s wreckage. 

The international gas conference is happening during COP26, where nations from around the world come together to discuss how to tackle climate change, including reducing reliance on fossil fuels. While Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is in Glascow attending COP26, he plans to promote Louisiana as an ideal location for renewable energy, while also encouraging new fossil fuel and carbon capture facilities that will not put Louisiana on track to achieve climate goals. Meanwhile, Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser is attending The World LNG & Gas Series Summit to support fracked gas and dirty energy sources in Louisiana.

 Naomi Yoder, staff scientist with a Healthy Gulf, said:

“‘Clean fuel’ is a smokescreen. LNG is a fossil fuel that’s set up to justify the exploitation and extraction of our resources and line the pockets of a few CEOs. If LNG is so clean, why is industry gathering here of all weeks? Why are the industry leaders not at the United Nations' international conference on climate change, the Conference of Parties 26?”

Roishetta Ozane of the Vessel Project and Healthy Gulf, said,

“You can see Cameron LNG, West Lake Chemical, and Conoco as you drive down 210 and I-10. But now when you go into town, all you can see are blue tarps on roofs. That’s what’s lining our skylines. There are so many people with housing insecurity. So our question is, with these new proposed facilities, this LNG summit going on, and billions of dollars in tax cuts going to new and existing projects, what are you actually doing for the community? How can you provide for the community and rebuild these homes? When are you going to ask us what we need?”

Michael Tritico, biologist and president of RESTORE, said: 

“LNG and blue tarps go together. We have two hurricanes, an ice storm, a flood, and a tornado all in fourteen months. That’s not natural. It’s because of the proliferation of LNG and other fossil fuels that are not renewable that have ruined our renewable natural resources and our climate. They are making it unsafe to recreate, fish, and live right here.”

General Russel Honeré of GreenARMY, issued the following statement:

“We should be transitioning away from LNG, not building more LNG, and certainly not building them in hurricane-prone places like Louisiana. LNG is one of the largest producers and emitters of greenhouse gases - one of the largest emitters of Methane and Carbon Dioxide. Methane is an odorless, colorless gas that is not even controlled or regulated by the EPA - and one of the most dangerous greenhouse gasses. From the well-head to the transformation into liquid, on down the line until finally burned, LNG is not clean energy.  Natural gas may be essential today but we don’t need to be investing in unsustainable solutions. What we are doing is a continuation of what we’ve been doing for over a century. Exporting LNG is not a solution to pollution and does not contribute to our energy independence or national security."

James Hiatt, organizer for Louisiana Bucket Brigade, said: 

"We need more people to become aware of everything we give away to corporations and industry, the billions of dollars in tax exemptions we have granted to industry that should be going towards our drainage, our schools, our roads, and even the I-10 bridge. We need people to become aware of the intentions of these Big Gas companies, and become aware of how many are being proposed along our beautiful Calcasieu river. We should be transitioning to sustainable and renewable forms of energy and not doubling down on fossil fuels. We are tired of being resilient, and SouthWest Louisiana will not become a sacrificial climate community."