By Sierra Club Brownsville Organizer Rebekah Hinojosa
By the end of this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) plans to release the draft environmental impact statements (DEIS) for several fracked gas projects proposed for South Texas: Rio Grande LNG, Rio Bravo Pipeline, Annova LNG, and Texas LNG.
If you’ve been following my organizing in the Rio Grande Valley alongside the local Save RGV from LNG coalition, you know that we’ve been opposing the proposed three liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals and pipeline for a while now. Our community has been actively engaged in every step of the permitting process so far and we have no plans to stop now. These terminals are a puzzle piece in the larger dirty fracking network in Texas. A lot is at stake, both for Texas communities and our climate.
But all of this can be still be stopped.
So, what exactly does the release of these environmental impact statements mean for our ongoing campaign against the construction of this fracked gas infrastructure?
To clear up any confusion, the DEIS is not a permit to build. It’s an opportunity for more public pressure to stop these dirty projects.
What Can You Do?
Attend A Public Hearing/Protest This November
FERC is denying our community a true public hearing for the Rio Grande LNG terminal and Rio Bravo Pipeline. Instead, the federal agency has scheduled three "comment sessions" in November, where stenographers will record individual comments with no public audience.
We’re showing up to these “sessions,” but we’re also offering the community more than stenographers to express their concerns about these dangerous projects.
In Port Isabel, we’ll have a People’s Hearing and Protest outside of the session. In Raymondville and Kingsville, we’re hosting press conferences. We’ll have fact sheets available in English and Spanish available on site at all three events.
Rio Bravo Pipeline Public Hearing & Protest - Kingsville
Nov 13, Tuesday, 5 - 8 pm
Texas A&M University - Kingsville
700 University Blvd, Kingsville, Texas 78363
(map)
Rio Bravo Pipeline Public Hearing & Protest - Raymondville
Nov. 14, Wednesday, 5 – 8 PM
La Quinta Inn & Suites Raymondville
128 North Expressway 77, Raymondville, Texas 78580
(map)
Stop LNG Public Hearing & Protest - Port Isabel, Texas
Nov. 15, Thursday, 5 - 9 PM
Port Isabel Events & Cultural Center
309 E Railroad Ave, Port Isabel, Texas, 78578
(map)
Submit A Public Comment Today
Our community has been vocal in our opposition to these proposed terminals, which would make South Texas a sacrifice zone so that fracked gas could be exported to Europe and Asia. We’ve been working alongside French and Irish activists to point out the ironic injustice of Texas fracked gas being exported to countries where fracking is banned. We’ve published numerous letters to the editors and op-eds in local newspapers. We’re on the record, through hundreds and hundreds of public comments, saying no to LNG in the RGV.
If you live in communities directly impacted by the terminals;
If you don’t want to see the pristine South Texas coast carved out for fossil fuel interests;
If you want to be a part of breaking the cycle of treating Texas as a sacrifice zone for dirty fracked gas to be shipped abroad;