Monday, Feb. 5, 2024 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
In the application that Lake Charles LLC (owned by Shell and Panhandle Energy) submitted to the Department of Energy to approve the transfer of liquefied methane gas (liquefied natural gas, or LNG), it said “the export of this amount of LNG is not inconsistent with the public interest under NGA Section 3.”
However, NGA (the Natural Gas Act of 1938) Section 3 says, “The Commission shall issue such order upon application, unless, after opportunity for hearing, it finds that the proposed exportation or importation will not be consistent with the public interest.”
This application is not aligned with the public interest. LNG is the transfer of gas from its original form into liquid and back into gas, causing huge emissions that would disrupt air quality.
LNG causes respiratory problems and higher electricity prices in the communities it enters, usually disproportionally communities of color.
The new LNG export project starting in Southwest Louisiana, called Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), will have huge, negative ripple effects in the community. This is why the Department of Energy should act swiftly and boldly dismantle the CP2 project before its application due date of Feb. 19.
The subsequent impact would be too much of a financial and physical burden on the people surrounding the project for us to ignore.
