The Louisiana Bucket Brigade released the following statement in response to the Biden Administration’s announcement nominating Judy Chang, David Rosner, and Lindsay See to be Commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The incoming commissioners will preside over upcoming decisions involving potential liquid natural gas (LNG) export expansion – a mega-polluting industry plaguing the Gulf Coast.

The statement should be attributed to Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade Executive Director:

“FERC will soon weigh major initiatives that affect Louisiana residents, and we urge incoming commissioners to use their positions of leadership to prioritize people over the gas export industry.

Gas export company, Venture Global, is requesting extensions and approvals from FERC even though its one operating gas export terminal had over 2,000 permit violations in its first year. That same year, Venture Global made $18 billion. Meanwhile, Louisianans got nothing but polluted air.

Commissioners should listen to those of us in Louisiana who have to live with the far reaching impacts of these facilities. It is no exaggeration to say that the carbon and methane emissions from these plants are making our homes unlivable. Building more of these gas export nightmares would only make matters worse.

Venture Global’s tanker traffic and pollution has nearly wiped Cameron Parish fishing families off the face of the earth. The company’s destruction of wetlands has made Cameron nearly unlivable and threatens Lake Charles. Its proposed facility near New Orleans has made those of us who live here more vulnerable to storms. Instead of just rubber stamping projects at the behest of destructive companies, like Venture Global, FERC should do its job: look carefully at their record, reject all additional permits and send the LNG industry packing.

Unless the incoming FERC commissioners interrupt a proposed, unchecked LNG expansion, they are effectively authorizing the Gulf Coast’s utter destruction, one that would turn this beautiful part of the world into an industrial wasteland.”

There are currently three operating liquid natural gas export terminals in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes in Louisiana: Sabine Pass, Calcasieu Pass and Cameron LNG. Plaquemines LNG is currently under construction in Plaquemines Parish. There are proposals to build or expand 13 more gas export terminals in Louisiana, and 25 nationwide. Local residents are pushing back against these terminals and calling for investments in renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, in an attempt to save their communities from the dangerous gasses these terminals release and the worsening effects of climate change they will cause.

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About Louisiana Bucket Brigade

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade collaborates with communities on the fenceline of polluting industry in Louisiana. We engage in grassroots action to hasten the transition from fossil fuels. Visit labucketbrigade.org for more information.