Today, Gulf Coast and environmental groups filed petitions for review challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Venture Global’s proposed CP2 LNG. In a 2-1 vote, FERC voted to approve the controversial liquified methane gas export project at its June meeting despite significant flaws in its analysis and information gaps in its review.
Cameron, Louisiana – Today, community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop construction of a massive methane gas facility. If built, the facility would create greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 14 coal-fired power plants or 13 million new gasoline powered vehicles.
Groups submitted a request for rehearing to challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Venture Global’s proposed methane gas export facility, CP2 LNG. FERC made the highly controversial decision at its June meeting with a slim 2-1 vote and a strong dissent from former commissioner Allison Clements. Niskanen Center submitted the request on behalf of Sierra Club and a coalition of environmental organizations and impacted community members.
Washington, DC - Yesterday, a Trump-appointed judge in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration's pause on liquefied methane gas export approvals. While the order does not require the authorization of any new LNG facilities, it requires the Department of Energy to continue its review of pending LNG export applications. The judge’s order does not stop the DOE from its ongoing update of the data and analysis used in its Public Interest Determination process for determining whether to authorize new LNG export permits.
Washington, DC - Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted to approve Venture Global’s gas export facility, CP2 LNG, despite clear evidence the facility will contribute to harm to the local community, climate, and nationwide energy price spikes and volatility.
Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced that CP2 LNG is on the agenda for its June meeting, in the midst of robust and ongoing frontline and national opposition to the gas export project. Evidence shows that expanded gas exports would be harmful to local communities, significantly contribute to dangerous climate change, and raise domestic energy prices nationwide.
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club sued the federal government today for failing to properly evaluate harms from the Alaska LNG project to several threatened and endangered species.
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.”
House Republicans are threatening to withhold funding for the collapsed Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore unless President Biden reverses the pause on approvals for new methane gas exports, or LNG. In a visit to Maryland on Friday, the President reiterated his commitment to reopen the Baltimore port and provide federal funding. The funding would be allocated to the reconstruction of the bridge, which could take from 18 months to several years.
Today, 110 organizations sent a letter to Secretary Granholm and President Biden to thank them for the pause on approvals for new LNG export licenses and urge them to not only update the previous economic and environmental analyses that the Department of Energy (DOE) relies on for considering LNG export applications, but also to incorporate factors not currently analyzed like environmental justice.
Yesterday, sixteen attorneys general filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over the recently announced pause on approvals of new gas exports, known as LNG. The temporary pause is in place to give the Department of Energy time to update the outdated studies it uses to determine the environmental and economic impacts of increasing LNG exports, something the agency is required to do under the Natural Gas Act.
Today, Sierra Club and allies filed legal responses to American Petroleum Institute and Commonwealth LNG requests for rehearing of Department of Energy’s pause on review of new applications for methane gas exports, or LNG. The groups make clear that the industry requests “should be denied as procedurally improper because there is nothing to seek rehearing of.”