Advocates Blast DOE Approval of LNG Exports from CP2 For Raising Costs, Imperiling Communities and Climate

Contact: Grace Nolan, [email protected]
Rebecca Stoner, [email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC — This morning, the Department of Energy (DOE) granted conditional authorization for the massive and dangerous proposed CP2 LNG facility to begin exports if its construction is completed. The decision by the Trump Administration’s DOE comes amid glaring warnings about the impacts of LNG exports, widespread opposition to new LNG, and a recent landmark LNG study from the DOE itself. Moreover, the authorization comes before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has even completed its assessment and analysis of the project.

The comment period on the DOE’s 2024 LNG Export Study: Energy, Economic, and Environmental Assessment of U.S. LNG Exports is scheduled to close on the afternoon of Thursday, March 20th. Already, a broad coalition of local residents, fishermen, economists, environmental organizations, and retired military officials have submitted comments echoing the reports damning findings and telling the Trump Administration that LNG exports are not in the public interest. 

The Biden Administration released this study in December, finding that: 

• There are enough LNG exports already approved to meet global demand for decades to come;
• Unfettered exports of LNG will increase wholesale domestic natural gas prices by over 30%;
• LNG facilities tend to be concentrated in communities overburdened with petrochemical pollution;
• Increasing LNG exports threatens our ability to meet our global commitment of limiting warming to 1.5°C and would displace more renewables than coal globally. 

Community leaders in Southwest Louisiana, where the facility would be located, and advocates around the country point to CP2 as a looming threat to the public’s health and safety and a prime example of all the problems with the LNG export expansion.

• In addition to the recent DOE report, numerous forecasts and reports find that new LNG exports will increase domestic energy prices in the US;
• If completed, CP2 would generate pollution equivalent to the emissions from more than 47 million gasoline-powered cars or 53 coal-fired power plants.
• CP2 LNG would sit adjacent to Venture Global’s already-existing export facility, Calcasieu Pass LNG. This facility was found to have over 2,000 air permit deviations and violated its permit on 84% of the days it was initially in operation. 
• The potential permitted air pollution alone from CP2 has been estimated to cause 5 to 9 premature deaths and $81 M to $134 M in health costs in the Gulf region annually.
• CP2 is already contracted with China Gas for a portion of its LNG exports, even amid concerns from national security experts that companies connected with the Chinese Communist Party are leveraging US gas to build geopolitical power for China.
• Shrimpers and fishermen have helped lead the opposition to CP2, citing the likelihood that the project will wipe out their way of life because LNG export facilities like CP2 require heavy dredging of channels and rivers, devastating wildlife and commercial fishing in the process.  
• Venture Global has reportedly failed to deliver $3.5 billion of product, been fined for permit violations for ignoring environmental rules, and still faces lawsuits from its employees.
• Already, one of Venture Global’s other facilities, Plaquemines LNG, has affected emergency services and depleted water supplies in the local community. The Guardian first reported that Venture Global was using as much as a quarter of all water in Plaquemines parish. 

Below are statements in response: 

Roishetta Ozane, Founder, Director, & Chief Executive Officer, Vessel Project of Louisiana: 

“As a mom living in Sulphur, I feel a profound responsibility to protect my children’s future. The decision to authorize the CP2 LNG facility is a direct threat to our health and safety. We cannot allow our community to become a sacrifice zone for corporate interests. The proposed facility, with its potential for devastating air pollution and harmful impacts on our local environment, jeopardizes everything we hold dear. Our children deserve clean air, safe water, and a thriving ecosystem. I completely oppose this project and all others like it for the sake of my children and everyone else.”

Gillian Giannetti, senior attorney, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): 

“Granting authorization to the CP2 export terminal violates the public interest and would spike greenhouse gas emissions. NRDC sued over FERC’s approval of this project, and we will be closely examining the legality of this DOE approval, as well”  

Mahyar Sorour, Director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy, Sierra Club:

“CP2 LNG will be a disaster for local communities devastated by pollution, American consumers who will face higher costs, and the global climate crisis that will be supercharged by the project’s emissions. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had to reconsider its approval of the project after it failed in 2024 to consider the cumulative impacts of air pollution. By conditionally approving this massive project, Trump’s Department of Energy is once again failing to protect the American people from an unnecessary LNG project set to generate billions for corporate executives and leave everyday people with higher energy costs. Despite his hollow promises on the campaign trail, Trump continues to fail to prioritize the livelihoods and future of our country over the profits of the dirty fossil fuel industry.”

Bill McKibben, Founder, Third Act:

“This will increase the temperature of the earth, and it will damage the people of Louisiana. It’s a historic step in just the wrong direction.”

Ashfaq Khalfan, Director of Climate Justice, Oxfam America:

“This decision will have devastating impacts for the people of the Gulf Coast, who are predominantly low-income and communities of color, and will instead predominantly serve wealthy fossil fuel companies and the ultra-rich. This authorization ignores clear findings that LNG exports increase inequality by driving up domestic energy prices, threatening public health, and fueling increasingly worse climate disasters. Instead of enabling corporate polluters to make short-term profits at the cost of everyone else, policymakers must prioritize protecting communities and investing in clean energy solutions. We urgently need leaders committed to a clean, equitable, and sustainable energy future — not more permission slips to fossil fuel companies at the expense of our health, environment, and economic security.” 

Kelsey Crane, Senior Policy Advocate, Earthworks:

“Approving another mega-polluting fossil fuel project in the Gulf South makes it clear this administration is only interested in allowing the people who get rich off of harming communities with oil and gas pollution to be in charge of U.S. energy policies. Louisianans whose health, safety, and livelihoods are impacted by this decision were counting on the Department of Energy to stop the injustices they face every day and reject CP2. This approach to energy policy is not in the public’s best interest, and will cause serious harm across the country.”

Elizabeth Purcell, Environmental Policy Coordinator, Turtle Island Restoration Network:
“Granting authorization of CP2 LNG will be catastrophic for both frontline communities and the environment. Ignoring the findings of the most recent DOE LNG Export Study and authorizing CP2 LNG is irresponsible and reprehensible. This administration proves time and time again that they prioritize corporate interests and profits over our planet and our people.”

Raena Garcia, Senior Energy Campaigner, Friends of the Earth U.S.: 

“The cost of the CP2 carbon bomb will be borne by communities, consumers and the climate. The completely unnecessary LNG supplied by the Trump Administration’s approval of CP2 will flood an already glutted global market while consumers will suffer from higher domestic gas prices. Ultimately, this CP2 approval is a loss for Americans and the planet.”

Allie Rosenbluth, United States Campaign Manager, Oil Change International: 

“The Trump administration’s conditional approval of CP2 LNG illustrates everything wrong with Trump’s fossil fuel agenda. It comes on the same day as Trump invited oil and gas industry donors to the White House to brag about the favors he’s done them – clear evidence of who this administration actually serves. There is overwhelming evidence, including from DoE itself, that U.S. LNG exports mean higher energy bills, accelerated climate chaos, toxic pollution in frontline communities, and LNG expansion outpacing global demand. Investors should remain wary of this project as Trump’s ‘drill baby drill’ and trade war policies result in volatility and as people across the country stand with people in the Gulf South fighting to stop CP2 and other LNG expansion.” 

Lauren Parker, attorney, Center for Biological Diversity:

“Approving CP2 is just the latest example of President Trump making life more expensive and more dangerous for Americans. Approving additional LNG exports will raise our energy bills, especially in red states like Texas and Louisiana where gas prices may go up 42%. This project’s pollution will have devastating consequences for people’s health, our climate and endangered animals like the Rice’s whale. The lightning-speed approval of CP2 shows Trump simply doesn’t care about people’s wallets or their wellbeing.”