Louisiana Bucket Brigade’s Southwest Louisiana Coordinator James Hiatt and retired environmental engineer John Allaire held a discussion about a proposed gas export terminal in Cameron Parish. Allaire is an environmental engineer and Cameron Parish resident who has worked with Amoco and BP in the Gulf since 1980.

As part of the Facebook Live discussion, the two experts discussed environmental threats posed by the facility and more.

The Commonwealth gas export terminal is proposed to be constructed in Cameron Parish, in a fragile coastal area that currently serves as a buffer from storms. There are ten gas export terminals planned for construction or expansion along coastal Louisiana in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes. The proposed Commonwealth facility in Cameron Parish is planned to be constructed where the Calcasieu ship channel meets the Gulf of Mexico.

“We’re exporting our national security future and our economic future here in the United States so a few exporters, producers, and pipeliners can generate huge profits,” says Allaire, a retired environmental engineer and former environmental consultant. “And every one of those profits, you look at your own electric bill, your food costs, you’re paying. Your money is going into their pockets as profit.”

The facility would destroy the coast, exacerbate climate change and cause water and air pollution, all while exporting most of the gas to Asia and failing to ameliorate domestic gas prices or Europe’s gas shortage. Since 2019, fuel exports from Louisiana to China have skyrocketed from 6,851 million cubic feet in 2019 to 449,667 million cubic feet in 2021 — an increase of 6,564 percent.

“These gas export terminals are harming Americans, especially the most marginalized and lower- and fixed income Americans,” says Hiatt.

These gas export terminals will destroy the wetlands, one of the country’s strongest lines of defense. Commonwealth LNG states that they will emit over 19 million ton per day of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants.

“Every American is paying for this. The dollars in your electric bill, the dollars in your food cost are going to be directly converted over to these oil and gas companies,” says Allaire. “It makes no sense to keep doing what we’re doing. We need to protect our own energy security here in the United States and limit these [gas export terminal] facilities, especially in the most sensitive marshland habitats in the state of Louisiana.”

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade will host a tour of the Cameron Parish area for journalists on May 17 – 18, including a tour of the sites by land and a tour of the region by air.

Watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the Facebook Live discussion.

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