THE GUARDIAN
Joe Biden’s administration is under mounting pressure to block construction of what would be one of the world’s largest gas export hubs, and which would be perched near the rapidly eroding Louisiana shoreline, due to concerns over its impact on the climate and communities living amid an unprecedented expansion of new gas infrastructure along the Gulf of Mexico.
The $10bn project, known as Calcasieu Pass 2 (or CP2), is being planned for Cameron parish, on Louisiana’s coast. It would involve bringing gas extracted via fracking through a new pipeline to a terminal where it would be condensed into liquid, chilled to -260F (-162C) and sent on ships for export to other markets, including in Europe.
CP2, which would ship up to 24m tons of liquified natural gas (LNG) each year once built, is at the vanguard of a huge surge in new gas pipelines and terminals that are increasingly dotting the Gulf coast. The Biden administration, which has so far mostly allowed this enormous build-out, has talked up gas exports to European allies in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Environmental groups have warned that Biden risks blowing apart his own efforts to combat the climate crisis in the US and endanger international climate goals by allowing terminals such as CP2, which is likely to be decided upon by federal regulators within the next month.
“That we would even consider doing anything like this in 2023, which scientists have told us is the hottest year we have experienced on this planet for 125,000 years, is obscene and dangerous,” said Bill McKibben, the climate activist and co-founder of 350.org, who said the magnitude of the new gas facilities is still largely unknown to most Americans.
“The world has never been hotter – why on Earth are we even talking about finding a way to spew even more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?”
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