Today, native Louisiana fisherman and founder of the group Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage (F.I.S.H.) Travis Dardar, joined Tyson Slocum, Director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program and Professor at University of Maryland Honors College, and Anne Rolfes, Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, to brief members of the media on the impacts of the Biden administration’s current pause on permitting new LNG gas export terminals and the need for a permanent ban on gas exports. The pause, first announced in January of 2024, is a strong first step, the panelists showed, as it grants the federal government time to consider the climate impacts of proposed export terminals, but it does not yet stem the flow of liquified methane from the terminals already in operation on the Gulf Coast.

Travis Dardar, who was raised fishing on Louisiana’s waters and who continues to provide for his family as a commercial fisherman and shrimper, set the stage in his remarks to journalists at today’s briefing. “Knowing that the administration is slowing down the approval process for new facilities so that regulators can investigate their negative impacts is reassuring,” Dardar noted. “But for Louisiana fishermen like me, the more urgent issue is the harm already being done by the industry in Louisiana and all around the Gulf of Mexico,” he continued. “We are being run out of business by an industry that is destroying our docks, disrupting fisheries, and damaging our boats and equipment – to say nothing of the mysterious illnesses their pollution is spreading.”

Tyson Slocum, who for 25 years has closely studied the industry and the federal regulatory processes that govern it, provided members of the press with key insights on how the economic impacts of the gas export industry affect Americans even thousands of miles from the Gulf Coast. “Eighty-six years ago, Congress established sweeping protections for America’s household natural gas consumers, including a requirement that most gas cannot be exported until it is first determined to be in the public interest.,” Slocum explained. “America’s record LNG exports have conclusively upended domestic energy markets, exposing American households to increased price volatility and higher prices,” he continued. “The Department of Energy’s public interest review of pending LNG projects must conclude that additional exports are inconsistent with the public interest,” In conclusion, Slocum stated unequivocally, “gas exports are a net detriment to energy affordability for Americans.”

Answering the question of how the industry was able to get away with so much of its harmful activity, Anne Rolfes was clear. “On one side of the debate about gas exports are fishermen and consumer advocates, and on the other are lobbyists paid by the gas industry,” she began. “There is not a question that continuing to export gas will decimate commercial fishermen in Louisiana and raise prices for all of us, yet the lobbyists peddle tired arguments from a decade ago. What they are saying is false. The truth is that gas is a dirty fuel and we need to ban exports permanently.”

In the end, all three panelists agreed that while praiseworthy, the Biden administration’s pause on new gas export terminals was merely the beginning. A true ban on gas exports, they concluded, would be necessary to stop rising energy prices, preserve America’s Gulf Coast fishing fleet, and stop a cascading climate catastrophe.

A recording of Wednesday’s briefing is available at https://bit.ly/LBB0521.

ABOUT GAS EXPORTS TODAY: Gas Exports Today brings together analysts, researchers, advocates, and policymakers each month to discuss new research and analysis on gas exports. It’s proudly convened by the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

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