FERC Approves Polluting LNG Export Terminal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) reapproved the Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Friday, essentially greenlighting the polluting project.
In September 2024, NRDC and partners at the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center challenged FERC’s approval of the CP2 LNG terminal and the CP Express Pipeline in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
“Moving forward with CP2 is bad news for the American public and for our climate,” said Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney at NRDC. “LNG extraction and export contaminates our water, spews toxic pollution into our communities, releases climate-warming emissions, and drives up U.S. energy costs. FERC once again greenlighting CP2 is throwing the health of our communities and the public interest out the window just to line the pockets of fossil fuel industry billionaires. NRDC remains dedicated to protecting Gulf communities affected by this dangerous proposal.”
“This decision is both unlawful and morally indefensible,” said Megan Gibson, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “FERC is once again rubber-stamping fossil fuel infrastructure that will permanently displace fishermen, effectively eradicate their way of life, bulldoze fragile coastal wetlands, and lock in decades of pollution for export. There is no public benefit here—only private gain for a company aiming to export U.S. gas overseas.”
Background:
In June 2024, FERC approved Venture Global LNG, LLC's application to construct and operate the CP2 LNG export terminal located in 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 LNG overseas.
In September 2024, NRDC and our partners challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s 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, economic, 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 In response to NRDC's win challenging a separate LNG terminal, FERC voluntarily rescinded its approval for CP2 for additional consideration. In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy granted conditional authorization for the terminal to export LNG to non–free trade agreement countries.
The CP2 LNG project is the fourth permitted major LNG facility for Arlington, Virginia–based Venture Global. It is estimated that this CP2 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).