Shrimping boat in Cameron with Calcasieu Pass LNG construction
Article and photos by Roddy Hughes, Senior Campaign Representative for Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign
Recently, I drove through Port Arthur Texas, across Sabine Pass, and over to Louisiana, following route 82 to Cameron, a small town on the Calcasieu (pronounced Kal Ka Shoo) River. Ignoring, for a moment, the oil refineries and chemical plants in Port Arthur, and the LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) export terminals to the south, that 50 mile stretch of route 82 is spectacular. On one side of the two-lane road is a seemingly endless, rich green bayou. On the other, is the Gulf of Mexico, which the day of my drive was dark and turbulent.
This time of year, Sabine Lake and surrounding wetlands are populated by hundreds of species of waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds, gulls, terns, raptors, and songbirds, many of which are migrating north. I also saw several alligators swimming in waters just off the road. In the small town of Johnson Bayou, I passed a colony of white ibis with their long bills and lanky legs.
Sadly, I wasn’t out for a wildlife tour. My purpose was to visit Port Arthur, then head out to Cameron to see the construction of Calcasieu Pass LNG and the sites of three other proposed LNG export terminals - CP2 LNG, Commonwealth LNG, and G2 LNG. These four huge projects are planned for a small, nine square mile area right on the Calcasieu River - Commonwealth and G2 on the west bank, and Calcasieu Pass and CP2 LNG on the East bank. There are at least four more LNG export terminals planned up the Calcasieu River closer to Lake Charles, one offshore LNG export terminal in the Gulf, one offshore oil export terminal, as well as the proposed Port Arthur LNG project, Golden Pass LNG, which is under construction, and the Sabine Pass LNG expansion project. I count 13 projects in this region, but there may be more.
The fossil fuel industry is planning at least two dozen LNG export terminal projects around the U.S. and more than half are in this small region of the Gulf Coast -- Port Arthur to Lake Charles. The majority of these projects already have their federal and state permits and are waiting to make their Final Investment Decision (FID), which is when a company decides a project will be profitable and they are ready to start construction. Companies generally move to FID after they sign long-term contracts with buyers and are certain that their capital investments will make money. Even though countries in Europe and Asia consider fracked gas to be a bridge to decarbonization, customers seem unwilling to sign long-term contracts, making the construction of new LNG export terminals an even greater financial risk. Venture Global LNG is moving ahead with Calcasieu Pass LNG, even without long term contracts, while Port Arthur LNG and others are postponing their FID until they are more certain about market stability and demand.
It’s easy, if not boring, to follow global gas markets and export projects from my computer screen. It’s also easy to buy the narrative that gas (fracked gas) is a bridge fuel to decarbonization, a narrative written and paid for by the fossil fuel industry. I drove to Port Arthur and Cameron to better understand what these projects look like and to get a glimpse at the real human and environmental impacts that 13 new fossil fuel export facilities would have.
A friend in Port Arthur often tells me that his part of the Gulf is the epicenter of environmental justice and the climate crisis. The majority of Port Arthur's 55,000 residents are Black or Latinx, and the industry has impacted most everyone’s health and wellbeing. In town, it’s one facility after another -- Valero, Motiva, Bechtel, Chevron Phillips, Total, and many others. The morning I stopped in, several flares were burning and the gray, sour air burned my eyes, nose and lungs. This is the air that locals live and die with every day. Port Arthur’s fossil fuel and chemical related health issues are well-documented, going back to 1981. A 2020 Vice article titled “Sentenced to Death: What it’s Like Living in a Cancer-Plagued Oil Town” details the grim reality of Black and Latinx residents of Port Arthur. This report backs what my friend says to anyone who will listen - everyone in town is impacted by cancer or other chronic illness. The Vice article cites studies that put the cancer rate among Black residents at 15 percent higher than the rest of Texas, and the mortality rate at 40 percent higher. A 2001 study reported that 80 percent of residents in one Black neighborhood suffered heart and lung ailments, and conditions have only gotten worse over the years.
Cheniere's Sabine Pass LNG
Not only are many residents of Port Arthur in poor health, many aren’t getting jobs in the plants. The city suffers some of the highest rates of unemployment in Texas (true before COVID-19 and after), and 27.5% of the population live under the poverty line. Driving through town, it’s easy to see that this was once a nice city. But the businesses and large homes in the downtown are largely boarded up and abandoned, and the majority of traffic is industry trucks.
As far as climate change goes, over the past sixteen years, the stretch between Port Arthur and Cameron has experienced many extreme hurricane events and storm surges. In the early 2000s, Cameron Louisiana had a population of more than 10,000 people. But Hurricanes Rita (2005) and Ike (2008) forced 79% of the population to relocate, leaving just 406 people by the 2010 census. Last year, Hurricanes Laura and Delta flooded Cameron and wrecked what was left of the already battered town, leaving skeletons of homes and churches, and debris fields full of siding and roofing. Every small town along route 82 -- Johnson Bayou, Holly Beach, and Cameron -- still has piles of trash, broken furniture, and old appliances out on the road, waiting for someone to come help clean up.
Even though the town of Cameron is washing away, Venture Global LNG continues to build the Calcasieu Pass LNG export terminal -- the cranes are visible from miles away. Venture Global’s website says they are mitigating the risk of hurricane damage by pre-fabricating a lot of the infrastructure in Italy and shipping it over. Golden Pass LNG is still building their facility on the water just south of Port Arthur, and Delfin LNG and Energy Transfer are still planning to build export terminals offshore out in the Gulf.
Despite the ever more frequent hurricanes, the multiple health crises that plague the region, and the destruction of beautiful and biodiverse wetlands, fossil fuel companies want to build 13 more fracked gas and oil export facilities. They want to export their fossil fuels to Europe and Asia and make just a little more money before people finally say enough.They don’t care about the deaths and chronic disease, and they don’t care about the bayous and wildlife. They don’t care about hurricanes.
They just care about money.
Gulf communities are resilient and know about recovery and rebuilding. They have a vision for a sustainable, healthy economy, and a culture without fossil fuels. Industries like fishing, shrimping, bird watching, tourism, and many others have sustained people in the past, but they cannot exist alongside the fossil fuel buildout. And there are so many other new opportunities emerging in renewable energy and creative economies that provide good paying jobs and connect people around the world.
The fossil fuel industry has already caused too much harm to the region, and the plans to build more fracked gas export terminals are incompatible with the Biden Administration’s commitment to addressing climate change and global plans to move away from carbon-based economies. All efforts to stop these projects must also focus on just transition and providing the people of Port Arthur and other communities access to good-paying jobs in industries that celebrate and protect the region’s natural resources. State and federal agencies must take immediate steps to properly monitor air pollution in the Port Arthur region, and hold companies responsible for the harm they are causing to Black and Latinx communities. Finally, local, state, and federal agencies have to do more to protect the bayous and wetlands, which are key in protecting coastal communities like Cameron from hurricanes and storm surges.
For too long, people in the Gulf region have paid a huge price for our fossil-fuel based economy. It’s time for us to help them recover and start moving towards a sustainable future.
Route 82 along the coast between Port Arthur and Cameron and beyond is special, unlike any place I’ve ever seen. If you’re ever down that way, it’s worth a visit.