Source: AFP
The United States, which ships more liquefied natural gas (LNG) than any other country, is pausing new export facilities, the Biden administration announced on Friday in a step hailed as vital to tackling the climate crisis.
It comes as President Joe Biden tries to shore up young voters energized by environmental issues in a tough rematch later this year. He will likely face Republican nominee Donald Trump, who falsely calls human-caused global warming a “hoax” and has vowed to torpedo his Democratic opponent’s climate agenda.
“This pause in new LNG approvals sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time,” Biden said in a statement.
“While MAGA Republicans willfully deny the urgency of the climate crisis, condemning the American people to a dangerous future, my administration will not be complacent.”
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The US is the world’s top LNG exporter, averaging 11.6 billion cubic feet (328 million cubic meters) per day according to the CEDIGAZ tracker, with seven terminals currently in operation.
Under the plan, new export applications would be subject to an indefinite review taking into account climate and wider environmental and economic impacts, putting the future of 17 planned facilities at risk.
If all 17 were allowed, LNG shipped from the US would be responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire European Union, according to an analysis.
Affected facilities include Venture Global’s proposed Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) in Louisiana, which would be the largest terminal in the country and emit annual emissions equivalent to those of 42 million cars, according to a letter sent to Biden in December by 170 scientists.
Scientists and environmental activists welcomed the move.
“We applaud the Biden administration for taking this critically important step to align natural gas export decision-making with U.S. climate goals,” said Abigail Dillen, president of Earthjustice.
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“As communities across the country grapple with the devastating effects of the climate crisis and fossil fuel pollution, it has never been clearer that LNG exports are not in the public interest.”
Fossil fuel industry groups also reacted strongly. The Independent Petroleum Association of America said in a statement that the plan would “strengthen Russian influence” in the European gas market.
But a recent letter from 60 MEPs to Biden said that while US LNG previously helped the continent avoid an energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, EU member states are now reducing gas demand and “the Europe should not be used as an excuse’ for expanding LNG exports.
Coastal and fishing damage
Robert Howarth, an environmental scientist at Cornell University, told AFP that while natural gas has something of a reputation as a cleaner fossil fuel, “this is based on advertising by the oil and gas industry.”
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Although it produces less carbon when burned than coal or oil, this does not affect the full life cycle of production and transport to end users, which entails leakages of the powerful greenhouse gas methane.
According to Howarth’s research, the overall greenhouse impact of LNG is about 25 percent worse than coal, even when the best technologies are used.
LNG exports were banned by the U.S. until 2016 to safeguard domestic natural gas supplies, but the ban was lifted after a decade-long fracking boom — and the exports led to increases in gas and electricity prices for U.S. consumers. USA, he added.
For Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade campaign, the break couldn’t come soon enough. Existing LNG development has destroyed coastal wetlands and left residents more vulnerable to the effects of hurricanes, he said.
“People have already had to move away because of rising sea levels and increasing storms, yet this industry is planning to build on this fragile coast,” he told AFP.
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Fisherman Travis Dardar added that catches have dropped by more than 50 percent in his native Cameron Parish as LNG companies have bought up and destroyed fishing docks.
“They are sacrificing the seafood industry for the petrochemical industry,” he told AFP.
Source: AFP