Shannon Van Hoesen, shannon.vanhoesen@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC - Gulf Coast community groups and environmental advocates are urging the Biden Administration to reevaluate the criteria used to determine whether massively expanding U.S. crude oil exports that lock in decades of fossil fuel dependence and harm Gulf Coast communities is in the “national interest.”
The letter explains the scope of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s duties and how the agency’s evaluation of deepwater crude export applications currently falls short. It lays out the harmful impacts of licensing annual exports of hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil on the climate, environmental justice, air quality, the critically endangered Rice’s whales, and domestic energy supplies.
As with the recent announcement on methane gas exports (or LNG), the groups are also calling on the Department of Transportation to pause any new reviews or certifications of deepwater fossil fuel export facilities while the agency ensures it is properly executing its Deepwater Port Act duties to guarantee that any project it approves is consistent with the national interest.
Currently, there are at least four deepwater crude oil export facilities under review or recently authorized by DOT. In April, DOT rushed out a final license to the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) without first ensuring the project had obtained all its necessary permits and approvals that would help to avoid, or mitigate, the possibility of environmental disaster or harm to the national interest. Issuing just one 30-year license could expand U.S. export volumes by one-half and lead to greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to operating nearly 90 new coal-fired power plants, in addition to other public health and water and air pollution harms.
In reaction, environmental and Gulf Coast groups issued the following statements:
Sierra Club Senior Attorney Devorah Ancel said, “Up to this point, DOT has failed to meaningfully evaluate the wide-ranging harms of licensing massive deepwater crude export facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and the significant upstream production and global consumption the projects would induce. Just like with liquefied gas exports, these projects pose serious threats to the climate, vulnerable communities and ecosystems, public health, and national security. For so many reasons these facilities are not in the national interest. It is critical that the agency update its outdated methods for evaluating crude export projects, applying current science and data, to fulfill DOT’s statutory duty and ensure the Administration delivers on its commitment to protect the national interest in combating climate change and reversing the pervasive environmental injustices of the fossil fuel industry centered in the Gulf South.”
Freeport resident and Better Brazoria community leader Melanie Oldham said, “Two of the four proposed Very Large Crude Carrier export terminals are planned for our overburdened communities in Brazoria County. For four years, we have been asking the Biden Administration to reject SPOT and the other offshore terminals because of the disproportionate public health and environmental harms they will generate in our region. The Maritime Administration granted permits to SPOT anyway, ignoring the technical and public comments detailing all the ways these fossil fuel projects will adversely impact our communities and the climate. It is time for the Biden Administration to halt licensing of offshore crude export terminals, like it has for LNG terminals, to improve the agency’s assessments for determining whether these projects are in the nation’s interest.”
Founder of For a Better Bayou James Hiatt said, “It’s hard to call yourself a Climate President when more fossil fuels are being produced and exported by the U.S. than ever before. Approving massive oil export terminals in the Gulf of Mexico not only exacerbates our deadly fossil fuel addiction, but also blatantly disregards the health and wellbeing of environmental justice communities in the region. This Administration is acting less like a beacon of hope and more like an enabler of dirty energy. It is time for a course correction towards real climate action.”
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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.