Venture Global LNG is working to build a $10 billion natural gas export terminal in Cameron Parish that would be the Virginia-based startup’s third Louisiana facility.
While the project’s supporters believe the terminal would be a boon for the U.S. economy, environmental groups, scientists and activists have mounted a large-scale opposition effort to halt the project’s development, The New York Times reports.
The face-off, which will ultimately be settled in the next few months by whether the U.S. Department of Energy rules that Venture Global’s proposal is in the “public interest,” highlights the tension between economic growth, geopolitics and the environment.
According to the newspaper, the situation forces the Biden administration to confront a central contradiction within its energy policies: It wants nations to stop burning fossil fuels and has heralded a global agreement reached in Dubai earlier this month to transition away from fossil fuels. But at the same time, the U.S. is producing record amounts of crude oil, is the leading exporter of liquefied natural gas and may approve an additional 17 export facilities.
Read the full story about this tension, and how Louisiana finds itself in the middle of a decision that will impact the natural gas industry for years to come from The New York Times.
