When Louisiana launched the country’s liquefied natural gas export boom in 2016, LNG was touted as a cleaner, climate-friendly alternative to coal and oil.
But the state’s first LNG terminal, Sabine Pass LNG, quickly became one of Louisiana’s largest sources of climate-warming pollution, releasing more greenhouse gases than the state’s biggest oil refineries.
An even larger source is on the way. A sprawling LNG facility under construction near Lake Charles, about 40 miles east of the Sabine Pass terminal, is projected to produce substantially more emissions — eclipsing every LNG export terminal built in the United States so far and exceeding the dozens of LNG projects proposed for the next decade, according to a Verite News analysis of state and federal records.
“Wow, that’s really distressing,” said Anne Rolfes, executive director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group, in response to the findings. Louisiana faces several climate threats exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions, including rising sea levels... Read more
