NRDC, SELC Challenge FERC's Approval of CP2 LNG Project in DC Circuit

WASHINGTON - Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of impacted commercial Fishermen, landowners, Fishermen Involved in Sustaining Our Heritage, and For a Better Bayou, and in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council, challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) authorization of the CP2 LNG liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana in the DC Circuit.

FERC's approval of CP2 violates the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and illustrates FERC's failure to consider and approve projects that are truly in the public interest, and to fulfill its duty to protect frontline communities, U.S. consumers, and the environment.

The sprawling CP2 project, proposed by Virginia-based company Venture Global, would consist of an 85.1-mile gas pipeline to connect the LNG export facility to a pipeline carrying methane gas from eastern Texas, which would impact over 1,800 acres of land. The Project is estimated to emit approximately 8,510,099 metric tons per year of CO2e, which is the equivalent of putting more than 1,850,000 additional gas-fueled automobiles on the road. CP2 would devastate the fishing community of Cameron Parish, and the surrounding communities already overburdened by industry, where many of our clients work and reside.

The "need" for this project is entirely derived from an agreement with a Venture Global affiliate that would export the gas to foreign markets. FERC's authorization of this project, which did not identify a single public benefit for U.S. consumers, was unlawful.

Statement from Travis Dardar, Indigenous fisherman of Cameron, Louisiana, and Founder of FISH - Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage:

"Fossil fuel companies and their government allies moved LNG projects into the region and turned our fishing community upside down. Calcasieu Pass LNG has decimated our fishing industry, and we won't recover if CP2 LNG is built next to it. Last month, FERC made a terrible and unjust decision when they approved CP2, but it's not too late for the court-or even the Commission-to right this wrong."

Statement from James Hiatt, Director of For a Better Bayou:

"The approval of the CP2 LNG project is a clear indication that FERC is serving the interests of powerful industry actors rather than protecting vulnerable communities and upholding the public interest. We hope the court will see that FERC must reconsider its approval of the CP2 LNG project and take meaningful steps to prevent further irreversible damage to Cameron Parish, its residents, and commercial fishermen. Only then can it begin to fulfill its mandate to serve the public interest."

Statement from Rickie Clark, Shrimper in Hackberry, Louisiana, formerly of Cameron Parish, member of Fishermen Involved in Sustaining our Heritage, on impacts of the LNG industry in the area:

"Our catch used to come in with two or three thousand pounds daily. The catch has completely dried up in Hackberry, where our boats are docked. There are no longer any shrimp houses in Cameron. They're out of business. There's [only] one left in Hackberry. We're pretty much out of business."

Statement from Megan Gibson, SELC Senior Attorney:

"FERC's authorization of this project is not only legally indefensible but shocks the conscience. FERC's rubberstamping of all proposed export projects before it, without any proper examination of need or adverse impacts, risks not only crushing already overburdened communities, but also undermining any existing integrity of the regulatory framework. FERC's continuous sanctioning of the rapid proliferation of LNG export facilities is a crisis for Cameron Parish, its local residents, fishermen, environmental justice communities, the region, and our country."

Morgan Johnson, Senior Staff Attorney for the Sustainable FERC Project at NRDC:

"This is completely at odds with the climate goals that this country has set out and environmental justice imperatives. FERC's dangerous rubber-stamp approvals will have real-world impacts on people, health, and communities, and we will fight to make sure the communities that will be impacted by this harmful project have their day in court. FERC's review of this project failed to take its legally-required hard look at the devastating health and pollution outcomes that will come about if it gets built."

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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).

The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation's most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region's air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 120 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C.

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