DOE Greenlights Dirty LNG Export Terminal

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) granted conditional authorization for the Calcasieu Pass 2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal today, granting the project conditional authority to export LNG to non–free trade agreement countries.  

The following is a statement from Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):  

“Greenlighting this terminal is simply selling out the American public to further boost the profits of fossil fuel companies. LNG extraction and export flood frontline communities with dangerous pollution, raises U.S. energy costs, and further locks in our dependence on dirty fossil fuels.  

“Authorization of CP2 violates the public interest and is the latest in a long line of giveaways to the fossil fuel industry from the Trump administration. NRDC sued over FERC’s approval of this project, and we will be closely examining the legality of this DOE approval as well.”  

Background:  

In June 2024, FERC approved Venture Global LNG, LLC's application to construct and operate the CP2 LNG export terminal for the east side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It also approved the CP Express Pipeline, an 85.4-mile pipeline that would feed up to 4.4 million dekatherms of gas per day from eastern Texas to the CP2 facility for the sole purpose of exporting the LNG overseas.  

In September 2024, NRDC and our partners challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the CP2 LNG terminal and the CP Express Pipeline in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. NRDC argued that FERC violated the law by not taking the adverse environmental and socioeconomic impacts seriously when it approved this project. In response to NRDC's win challenging a separate LNG terminal, FERC voluntarily rescinded its approval for CP2 for additional consideration. Today’s announcement from the DOE comes before FERC has made a final determination on whether to reissue authorization for CP2. 

The CP2 LNG project is Venture Global’s fourth permitted major LNG facility. It is estimated that this project alone will emit greenhouse gas amounts that are equivalent to putting more than 1.85 million additional gas-fueled automobiles on the road. FERC also predicts that the ambient air quality around the project will exceed the national air quality standards for multiple air pollutants.  

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).